what pc will i get for 700GBP???

[infinity4]

i own a old laptop with XP on, but now i want a pc for gaming over next 1.5-2 years this summer. i have no knowledge on pcs, i can get someone to build it for me.

any recommendations on any parts would be helpful.

by the way i need to get everything new as i don't have any pc components. would 700GBP be enough to get everything (monitor, speakers, mouse + keyboard, everything!) working fine for next 1-2 years???

and i want to play latest games in next 1-2 years without any problems, as soon as they come out.

sorry for bad structuring, i just do not have a clue where to start :lol:

[Rainbow Man]

Might I dare to suggest you look at a Dell?

I know people tend to say blah blah dell sux but my last two PCs have been dells and they've been nothing short of astoundingly stable and reliable. Chugging on and on no problem no matter what the workload.

And good components throughout. Good chassis too especially the last one. Mostly screwless design throughout and good cable routing possibilities inside.

Looks nice too and price wasn't bad.

Peace.

[infinity4]

i need calculations from scratch now. does anyone know

1, how long pcs will last if i buy one for 700 pounds,
2, and how often i need to upgrade to stay on middle visual option (i don't want or care about full option, it's too costly)

[Tahir2]

OK my take on it:

Case: Antec NSK6500 - £59 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/114046)
Motherboard: MSI P935 - £67 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128047)
CPU: Core 2 Duo 6550 2.33GHz 4MB - £110 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130485)
Memory: 2GB DDR2-6400 CL4 Kingston - £80 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128660/rb/0)
Gfx: 8800GTS 320MB - £180 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125114)
HDD: Samsung 500GB - £61 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130454/rb/0)
DVDRW: NEC SATA DVDRW 18x - £18 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125208/rb/0)


Monitor: Hyundai 22" DVI 1680*1050 - £178 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128412)
Speakers: Logitech X230 2.1 - £25 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/116852/rb/0)

Keyboard: About £15?
Mouse: Logtiech RX1000 - £15 (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/114181/rb/0)

Total: Approx £725

Anyone else wanna try?

[Skrying]

I don't know, I'd personally save a bit more for the 640MB 8800GTS if you want 1 to 2 years of gaming life out of it and good settings up to that point. But at the price point that's about the best parts you're going to get. Not a bad system at all.

[Tahir2]

If I was buying I would save money on the CPU by going for a lower end model and put the savings towards an X2900XT 512MB... the CPU in my system would then be overclocked.

But it is not my system and everyone has slightly different needs...

One thing I left out was the OS.. which would need to be purchased too :oops:

[Davros]

where about are you if you want someone to build it for you ?

ps: as tahir2 said you can save about £50 by going with a slower core2 duo
i guess another £30 buying a cheaper case and about £75 with a 19inch widescreen
depends how tight money is

ps: if you do decide on dell be carefull the basic price looks very cheap but they charge through the nose for upgrades
might be better to get the basic system off them and source your upgrades somewhere else

for example to go from integrated to 8600gt costs £94 yet they retail for around £70 (£66 the cheapest)

[infinity4]

what i found from dell...

Components
AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
Dell™ 19" Silver Wide Flat Panel (SE198WFP) - UK/Irish
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GT graphics card16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse
Accessories
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
No Speakers
13-in-1 Media Card Reader
No Modem
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
Services & Software
1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
No Accidental Damage Support
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English
Also Includes
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)
English Documentation with UK/Irish Power Cord
List D08517 Inspiron 531
Inspiron Desktop Order Uk
1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
Save £40 inc VAT
Dell Internet Order.Compatibility Alert
Recalculating Price

Any comments? I am unsure about warranty scheme :???: as i have no knowledge of PC hardware.
And thanks for help so far everyone!

[bigtabs]

Seems like a rip off to me, but that's because I build my own. For £700 I'd have something akin to what Tahir2 posted. When you buy components seperately, they each come with a warranty anyway so there's no worry about that.

An 8600GT just doesn't cut the mustard, and why have an AMD duallie at this stage in the game? Intels are offering outstanding performance for pennies at the moment.

Good thing with that deal though is that you get the OS bundled with it, but if you already own a copy you don't need it.

[infinity4]

Oh they cost 550. ;) I WILL look at intel ones, this is just my provisionals.

Edit: just found out that if it go E6550 I get to pay only 50 more - total outstanding at 595GBP approximately.
- Update 2:and i could go for E6750 at extra 50.

[BrynS]

Dell's Vostro lineup (targeted at small businesses) seems quite reasonable at the moment.

It's possible to spec the high-end Vostro 200 (http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_200?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd) (mini-tower rather than the slim-line, which won't likely accommodate a decent discrete graphics card) with a Core 2 Duo E6550 (2.33GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB), 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 22" LCD, 1-year Business Warranty, etc for under £500 including VAT & delivery at the moment -- add in a 8800GTS 320MB for ~£180 and you're sorted. It does come with Vista Business as standard, but can be configured with Windows XP Pro for no extra cost or Vista Ultimate for an extra £50.

I favour going the DIY route generally, but if one's a bit daunted by the prospect or looking for something pre-built, configurations such as this can form a good base to work on.

[Davros]

Oh they cost 550. ;)

Edit: just found out that if it go E6550 I get to pay only 50 more -

- Update 2:and i could go for E6750 at extra 50.

Bad deal the 6550 is only £30 more than a x2-4400

and the e6750 is that £50 ontop of the price of the 6550 ? or the X2-4400

I hope its the x2 as the e6750 is only £47 more than a x2-4400

ps:

[Tahir2]

If you want to play games you will need to upgrade that graphics card too - 8600GT is a lot slower than the 8800 GTS 320MB or 640MB.

[infinity4]

I think Tahir2's given me good prices for the components. i might change monitors and gfx cards.

Does it matter who manufactures cards? Ie ASUS or Sapphire or Gigabyte(?), I really can't know what difference for an 8800 between them except price and tech specs. I might miss something?

[Davros]

it matters a bit infinity not a huge deal, as long as its not a brand no ones ever heard of you wont go far wrong (no doubt someone will dissagree)

ps: buy yourself a copy of micromart (out weekly) some cheap places advertise in there

some places you can look

pcspecialists.co.uk (build to order)
advancetec.co.uk (do a e4500 base unit for £350)

and theres quite a few others + they sell parts as well

[infinity4]

I thought Dell SE198WFP (19' with HDCP support) would be good monitor for the PC as well as my Xbox 360 Elite for its value for money and excellent specs. Does anyone know if this supports fixed aspect ratio, ie it won't stretch 360 games vertically?

[Davros]

I think Silent_Buddha is the man to answer that question

ps: nvidia cards ahve much better scaling options than ati
read this:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43883

[bigtabs]

Yes they do. Really peeved with ATI for neglecting that side of things for so long. It's not like they don't have a ton of tickets about it and requests for better options around the web.

[infinity4]

Doesn't monitor support it themselves (if possible)

[Davros]

some do some dont + finding out which ones do isnt easy

[infinity4]

That's why I now chose to go for 1280x1024 ones. ;)

[Davros]

do you play many older games
scaling shouldnt be an issue with recent ones

[infinity4]

No, it is just that Xbox 360s on its own do not have 16:10 resolutions (1280x768 if anyone is quoting, is 15:9. ;)) and on monitors that do not support 1:1 pixel mapping it is just stretched vertically as full screen. I tried stretching images vertically from 16:9 to 16:10, I was convinced that the difference was huge IMO.

[Davros]

dont x-box's use hd that would be 1280 × 720 (ive no idea what that is as an aspect ratio ;) )

[infinity4]

X360s support 15:9 resolution (1280x768), 16:9 resolutions (720p, 1080p, 480p), 5:4 resolution (1280x1024) and 4:3 resolutions (640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768). Obviously if they supported 16:10 resolutions I would be pleased, though doesn't seem so.

Edit: Forgotten 1366x768 (16:9). :smile:

[Davros]

but i thought the games are only made to support 720p, 1080p, 480p or interlaced

ps: monitors that support 1:1 pixel mapping ? does that just mean for example a game running at 800x600 will be displayed at that res with black borders ?

[infinity4]

but i thought the games are only made to support 720p, 1080p, 480p or interlaced

If you connect 360 to a monitor the 360 will display conventional monitor resolutions, if you connect to a telly (HD or SD whatever), it will display in 480i,480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p.

ps: monitors that support 1:1 pixel mapping ? does that just mean for example a game running at 800x600 will be displayed at that res with black borders ?

Yes

[Davros]

Ah...

ps: when connected to a monitor how high will a 360 go

[infinity4]

1920x1080. I think that is max limit of HDMI 1.2 and Component/VGA. HDMI 1.3 supports 1440p :smile:

[Davros]

do the games run at that or are they stretched ?

[infinity4]

do the games run at that or are they stretched ?

just at resolutions i have mentioned earlier. Consoles are not meant to be complicated you know, though it should be flexible as a pc when it comes to 16:10 resolutions! ;)