Gaming PC Components...

I seem to do this every 6 months or so, I'll tell myself "hmm maybe I should get a gaming pc?", I begin researching components, get completely confused from the torrent of conflicting information and eventually give up. As a computing graphics student I really ought to know what I'm doing here but this stuff just flies past my head.

I'm looking to buy/create a machine that can match or exceed the current big consoles (ps3/360) with a budget of ~£800.

I stumbled across this list of components on Amazon - disregarding the monitor and Windows8 is this a good list to try? Is it a simple case of slotting the bits together in the case or do you have to do a lot of wiring and paste applying? Could I install Windows7 instead?

I also explored some pre-built systems but I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking at. Any good?
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range/Award-winning+Gaming+PCs/Gladiator+FX+Predator+650Ti+Boost+FX-6300+4.10GHz+Gaming+PC+?productId=55341&page=3&rqcType=q
http://www.buildyourbox.co.uk/pc/apollo-i5-gaming-pc-2

A word of advice. Do not buy pre-built PCs. they are usually more expensive. Do some research, buy the components and pay the company to build it for you. It's not hard.

Doom_RO is right. And sometimes pre-built PCs sold at retail can sometimes be not nearly as in good quality as one built from the ground up using purchased components. HPs and Dells are a good example of this.

I've actually looked at the pre-built PCs. OMFG, do not buy them, only chums would buy them at that price.

Or better yet, if you want to be the owner of a gaming rig AND have street cred as such, you need to go the extra mile and learn to build and maintain your gear yourself. Otherwise none will believe you're a 1337 0v3rcl0xx0r fux0r d00d who's t3h h4x 4nd t3h p4wn etc.

Prebuilt PCs? Only for fucking non-1337 n00b scrubs etc.
Prebuilt "gaming" PCs? Only for fucking non-1337 n00b scrub posers etc.

Step up at least to the level of a Gentoo ricer if you don't want the other (cool & 1337) kidz to laugh at you, build your own rig.

Haha yeah Maes, I suspect that's what half of it is about to a lot of people. The stuff like the flashy LEDs is just tacky.

I tried messing about with some configurations - how is this? Comes to ~£700.

That should allow you to play anything comfortably. It's also fairly easy to slap it together. You can't really mess anything up or put things in the wrong spot as long you pay attention to what you're doing. I had no idea what I was doing first time I built a pc, now I can slap them together within an hour.

OR if you are feeling squeamish about working with expensive components, you could have the company do it for you. In my country this service is very cheap, could be different in yours. Also, it MAY be a good idea to wait for the new generation stuff. Do some research about the near future before doing anything rash. Something new and better might come in the following 3 months. If that's the case, maybe you should wait. It's up to you.

That setup is pretty good. See? It's not that hard. The video card is about as powerful as my HD6950 (unlocked). Be aware that this card isn't future proof though but it will max out most games until BF4 comes out. It will struggle to maintain 25-30 FPS on High - Very High on Crysis 3 and Ultra High Metro: Last Light is out of the question. Maybe you should get a Mobo with 2 PCIe slots? That way you could put in an extra card when you need the extra juice.

What resolution is you monitor? Also, from what I know, Newegg is the best place to get components.

I'd say get, at the very least, a 660 graphics card. 670 would be great. Especially now with the new consoles coming up to crank up system requirements shortly you don't want to get stuck on a lower mid-mid tier card.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it.

I miss an SSD on that spec list. These days this should be a requirement.

I'm also not sure about the fans. They say 'standard case fans' but I have no idea how loud they are.

Noisy computers can be the biggest annoyance imaginable and I'd rather sacrifice a bit somewhere else if I could reduce the fan noise.

DooM_RO said:

A word of advice. Do not buy pre-built PCs.

However, buying a refurbished or barebones model is perfectly acceptable. I can get a quad-core machine for about US$250. Double that for a good video card and PSU, and you've got a gaming PC.

If you get chinese motherboards like MSI then you may run into some confusion when connecting the front panel lights/buttons, their manual documentation and wire labeling is hilarious. Otherwise everything is pretty foolproof with kindergarten-style "match the plug shape".

About the only thing you can screw up is handling components on a carpet or blanket and zapping them.

And if you want to be frugal and buy components that are 1-2 years old, you can probably put together something much more powerful than a ps3 for ~200 pounds (not counting monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers).

Here is a link that Bloodshedder provided for me: logicalincrements.com

I have constructed my newest PC recently. The only components that immigrated to the new rig are my old hard drive, and GPU. I added another 8 GBs of RAM totaling 16 now, over the weekend.

Vorpal said:

If you get chinese motherboards like MSI then you may run into some confusion when connecting the front panel lights/buttons, their manual documentation and wire labeling is hilarious.

I agree, I installed an MSI Z87 MPower motherboard. The manual had only pictures that barely resembled the actual sockets of the motherboard.

Graf Zahl said:

I miss an SSD on that spec list. These days this should be a requirement.

I'm also not sure about the fans. They say 'standard case fans' but I have no idea how loud they are.

You can do just fine without an SSD, given that you have a good 7200 rpm drive with large caches. Also, avoiding "green" drives (like the Western Digital green label ;) ) for your primary drive is crucial. They are great for data storage, if you don't mind the initial spin-up time though.

As for fans, really depends on the case. If you've got the money to throw away, investing on a good quality case that'll keep your system quiet and cooler without going overboard with water is sooo worth it. From personal experience, I'd recommend checking out Fractal Design's models. I've got a Define R4, and it keeps my system ridiculously cool and quiet with no additional doodads whatsoever, and its air filter placement and design make it perfect for anyone who hates doing computer maintenance.



Ps. if your case has the PSU planted on the bottom, and there are air holes below the PSU, the fan is supposed to point down rather than up. I don't know why, but apparently a lot of people seem to think that having your PSU blast hot air straight up to your graphics cards is better than blasting that air out.

Get 2x4GB RAM, not 1x8GB.

Ah yes, you should probably wait until the new consoles come out. Who knows how this will change the system requirements in games. Battlefield 4 also comes out then, you don't want to be stuck on medium, right? That shit looks amazing. Maybe you can even save some money until then and get something even better.

As someone who owns an Alienware X14 Laptop I have to say there is nothing wrong with going pre-built.

I've had this laptop now for about 4 month's and it's the best computer I've ever owned.

And probably more expensive than it's worth.

UltimaDweedleXVers said:

Laptop ... pre-built.

Riiiiight. Relevancy to the discussion overwhelming.

Jodwin said:

Riiiiight.

Gaming and Laptops don't go well together...especially during Summer. Am I the only one who thinks Alienware PCs are huge ripoffs? Just a shiny computer case.

DooM_RO said:

And probably more expensive than it's worth.

At the end of the day they both cost the same. If you buy the parts individually then it appears cheaper until you factor in paying someone to put it together, then the cost evens out. At least where I live.

Then there is costs of shipping.. where I live if I wanted to buy PC Parts, 9 times out of 10, I'd have to import them from Overseas, or the person I buy them off imports them from overseas, putting the cost onto me.

PC building maybe cheaper in some places, but in others it's more expensive than pre-builts. It's not a set formula.

UltimaDweedleXVers said:

At the end of the day they both cost the same. If you buy the parts individually then it appears cheaper until you factor in paying someone to put it together, then the cost evens out. At least where I live.

Building PCs is the easiest thing ever. If you can set up a home theater system, you can build a PC as well. No point paying someone else to do the job unless you want some custom cooling solutions or other e-dick shit.

Jodwin said:

Building PCs is the easiest thing ever. If you can set up a home theater system, you can build a PC as well. No point paying someone else to do the job unless you want some custom cooling solutions or other e-dick shit.

Good point. But in paying someone else you have that peace of mind that you don't have if you do it yourself (unless you're very experienced of course).

DooM_RO said:

Gaming and Laptops don't go well together...especially during Summer. Am I the only one who thinks Alienware PCs are huge ripoffs? Just a shiny computer case.

I've never had any heat issues with this laptop.

I don't think Alienware are ripoffs, they're solid systems and if anything does go wrong then you don't have as much to fear as Dell is a widely respected company with excellent support.

With building your own you just don't have a lot of insurance to protect yourself if something goes wrong.

Prebuilt and getting the components assembled by the company is not the same thing. Pre-built computers are usually at least 100$ more expensive.

DooM_RO said:

Prebuilt and getting the components assembled by the company is not the same thing. Pre-built computers are usually at least 100$ more expensive.

It could, again, just be because of my location.

In New Zealand I can testify that pre-builts and Do It Yourself jobs are very very closely together in price.

If the price differences are very large in your guys countries.. well, I envy you haha.

Vorpal said:

chinese motherboards

Are there non-chinese motherboards (or anything electronic) on the market anymore (or during the last 30 years, for that matter)? And don't give me that "designed in the EU/USA/Japan, assembled in China" crap ;-)

Maes said:

Are there non-chinese motherboards (or anything electronic) on the market anymore (or during the last 30 years, for that matter)? And don't give me that "designed in the EU/USA/Japan, assembled in China" crap ;-)

http://www.roc-taiwan-hn.com/asus.php

Maes said:

Are there non-chinese motherboards (or anything electronic) on the market anymore (or during the last 30 years, for that matter)? And don't give me that "designed in the EU/USA/Japan, assembled in China" crap ;-)

Well, MSI I think serves mainly other chinese, and so their documentation, bios, software etc., is frightening to use if you are an english speaker. Their hardware is great for the price though. But yeah pretty much everything in the tech industry is manufactured in China of course.

But there's plenty of companies out there who focus on their english speaking customers in terms of the hardware, software, and support.