11 replies to this topic

[Ferrers]

Advice needed Got a limited budget and want a system that can play the latest mporpgs. I know its a tough ask could possible stretch a tiny bit more cash but not very much. Im guessing the key points would be processor / memory / graphics card As im not needing a huge harddisk as I use my laptop for downloads ect. So would I be best off getting a dell coupon special? Or build ya own? Also for the love of god someone explain the dell offers , theres loads of em can you only choose one like £100 off or can you use several?

[mandarinvx]

The Dells do look pretty good, you have to bear in mind that some items (like PSU, motherboard) may be unique to the system so the upgrade path may be limited. I had a look on the website, and for the budget you have I'd go for: Home Essentials E520, then downgrade to 1 years supports (it defaults to three and then puts the price up ), a 19" monitor and a X1300 Pro graphics card and Vista Home Premium. Thje total comes to £420 inc VAT and delivery with a 160GB disk and 1GB ram and a 2.8 dual core pentium with 2mb cache In comparison, if you build the same spec in ebuyer like this: Antler PC-132 Beige Mid Tower Case - With 350W PSU 20+4pin 124727 90 in stock £17.00 £17.00 LG GSA-18x DVD±RW/RAM Black - Bare drive 124905 465 in stock £16.78 £16.78 ebuyer MW9K 19" Widescreen (1440 X 900) 5ms 800:1 Black MultiMedia TFT Monitor 3 Years Warranty 124787 402 in stock £92.99 £92.99 MSI X1300 Pro 256MB DDR2 TVO DVI PCI-E 099361 8 in stock £37.32 £37.32 Seagate ST3160811AS 160GB 7200.9 SATA II 7200RPM Drive - OEM 112227 316 in stock £30.56 £30.56 Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 110 - USB/PS2 093725 4596 in stock £14.45 £14.45 Kingston Valueram 1Gb 667MHz DDR 2 None Ecc Cl5 091121 595 in stock £34.03 £34.03 Abit SG95 SKT 775 7.1 Channel Audio PCI-E DDR2 mATX 118027 99 in stock £26.25 £26.25 Intel Pentium D 915 (2.80GHz) Socket 775 FSB800 2x2MB Retail Boxed Processor 114196 376 in stock £48.59 £48.59 Microsoft OEM Windows Vista Home Premium x32Bit (DVD) - 1PK This little lot (using lesser components in many cases) comes out at £460, so the Dell looks like even more of a bargain!

Edited by mandarinvx, 24 March 2007 - 11:06 PM.

[Crimson_Killa]

Do not go for the x1300, if you want to play the latest mmorpgs then you will want a better GFX card. If you could strech to £600 you could pull together a much better machine. If you are serious about gaming then dell is not the way to go.... also do research and buy the newest tech you can now. The last time I did one i bought a 700pin (cant remember the exact number) processor for it to be replaced by the 939boards about 3 months later, a little research can go a long way. such as crossfire or sli, you dont have to get both gfx cards straight away, it will run with one then when you can afford it you can buy the second!.... Anyway I will look for you tonight but if you are atarting from scratch ie no monitor its a tough ask tbh.

[Ferrers]

Do not go for the x1300,

if you want to play the latest mmorpgs then you will want a better GFX card.

If you could strech to £600 you could pull together a much better machine.

If you are serious about gaming then dell is not the way to go....

also do research and buy the newest tech you can now.

The last time I did one i bought a 700pin (cant remember the exact number) processor for it to be replaced by the 939boards about 3 months later, a little research can go a long way.

such as crossfire or sli, you dont have to get both gfx cards straight away, it will run with one then when you can afford it you can buy the second!....

Anyway I will look for you tonight but if you are atarting from scratch ie no monitor its a tough ask tbh.

Ta for the help guys, all appreciated , I could probally stretch to £400 for the system and getting a moniter slightly afterwards.

[Crimson_Killa]

OK then I dont know how I managed it but here is a very good system for the money..... Extra Value Gold 600W 12cm Fan Silent PSU - PFC 20+4pin 119227 222 in stock £19.35 £19.35 Asus M2V Socket AM2 VIA K8T890 SATA2 Onboard Audio ATX 116475 87 in stock £31.20 £31.20 Kingston 1GB DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4200 Non-ECC CL4 1.8V Unbuffered Dimm 240 pin 064183 355 in stock £31.55 £31.55 LITEON DVD8900/DW1670 16x DVD±RW/RAM Bare Black - OEM 119566 606 in stock £14.75 £14.75 Sony 3.5" Pearl White Floppy Drive - OEM 023925 5658 in stock £3.20 £3.20 Western Digital WD800JD Caviar SE 80GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM 059556 386 in stock £24.29 £24.29 Sapphire X1950Pro 256MB 256bit GDDR3 Dual DVI TVO HDCP PCI-E 119203 50 in stock £86.30 £86.30 Extra Value Silver/Black Wired MultiMedia Keyboard and Optical Mouse - USB 106535 647 in stock £6.80 £6.80 Kinyo Black 2.1 Speaker System - 8W RMS 105380 264 in stock £6.79 £6.79 Microsoft OEM Windows Vista Home Basic x32Bit (DVD) - 1PK 123059 1786 in stock £45.99 £45.99 Casecom KB-7720 Beige ATX Midi Tower Case - No PSU and no Case Fans Included 108271 86 in stock £8.50 £8.50 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Socket AM2 Dual Core OEM Processor 119732 198 in stock £51.03 £51.03 Cart Total: £329.75 Deliver my Order: Within 5 Working Days (Super Saver) Approx Cart Weight: 15.89Kg *FREE SHIPPING ON THIS ORDER» Shipping Band: £0.00 Shipping Surcharge: £0.00 Subtotal: £329.75 VAT: £57.76 Total: £387.51 No monitor but like you said you can wait till the month after..... Would need to buy a few 80mm case fans but im sure you can manage that bit for about a tenner.....

Edited by Crimson_Killa, 28 March 2007 - 02:11 PM.

[siztenboots]

I would say stick with XP, Vista is really crap for games. There should be plenty of XP license second hand from all the people upgrading, so spend the £40 saved on more ram. As far as monitors , we can't give them away. Should have loads of 17" in the summer.

[Crimson_Killa]

I would say stick with XP, Vista is really crap for games. There should be plenty of XP license second hand from all the people upgrading, so spend the £40 saved on more ram.

As far as monitors , we can't give them away. Should have loads of 17" in the summer.

Yeh im not moving to Vista

You cant buy XP though, well not from Ebuyer anyway otherwise i would have put that on the list rather than Vista

Oh and yeh the idea of my one is that you can easily upgrade the ram and if you ever wanted to get crossfire you only need one more card of that one and a new motherboard.

If you ever wanted to upgrade the processor the AM2 platform is the latest one so should last atleast another year

Only put in a 80 gig hdd but as your laptop does the downloading it will be fine for now but just add more as you need it

the case is cheap and so is the psu but the 350w in mandarinvx's quote is far to underpowered and these are things that can be upgraded in time, i would prefer to have a cheap case and good internals than expensive case and crap insides.

hope it all helps

[Ash]

I've always gone to Novatech for my PC's (it helps that it's just round the corner from me),
if you have your own copy of XP, they'll put that on the machine for you,
I found >>THIS<< system, not sure how it measures up to the build your own suggestions from CK (I'm not very techy), but I reckon it'd run some fairly decent games.

I bought the next range up last year (NForcer Range) and it's awsome compared to my old clunker.

[Crimson_Killa]

I've always gone to Novatech for my PC's (it helps that it's just round the corner from me),
if you have your own copy of XP, they'll put that on the machine for you,
I found >>THIS<< system, not sure how it measures up to the build your own suggestions from CK (I'm not very techy), but I reckon it'd run some fairly decent games.

I bought the next range up last year (NForcer Range) and it's awsome compared to my old clunker.

better hard disk and more ram but thats about it.

im more of a ATI and AMD man myself (especialy now ATI are owned by AMD it makes sence to pair them together) so im a little slow on my knowledge of Gforce stuff and I have never liked Intel

Oh and that one is £133 over budget inc OS but not a screen.

Novatech are also good and if you used both ebuyer and novatech you could save a couple of quid on the components i suppose i just prefer to get it all from one place that way it all arrives at the same time....

[Ash]

Good points CK, my Nforcer has an AMD in it, and I always stick to XP, Vista's a rip off and uses to much RAM IIRC. PS have you order C&C3 yet? If so, shall we have an online scrap next week sometime?

[Crimson_Killa]

Good points CK, my Nforcer has an AMD in it, and I always stick to XP, Vista's a rip off and uses to much RAM IIRC.

PS have you order C&C3 yet? If so, shall we have an online scrap next week sometime?

Im gunna pick it up from tesco on friday, i will have to see if i can get online but im moving house today but hopefuly will be on on friday if anyone is up for it

[Ash]

I don't know when mine will arrive, it's coming from Amazon with some other bits. But will get in touch with you sometime next week if you like. Good luck with the house move mate, hope it goes smoothly.