Need PC advice pls

[Nymphette79]

I have £500 to spend a new PC from scratch but tbh I have no idea what I really need inside and whats the best I can get for my money. All I really want is to be able to play games ok. I would love some help on components please.

Thanks in advance

[Matanius]

I'm sorry, but it was SO hard not to reply to this...

I have no idea what I really need inside...

EDIT: on a serious note, I'm just as clueless as you are with computers so I can't help I'm afraid!

[Nymphette79]

Thats a different kind of ram ^^

[Matanius]

HA HA! Yes, it certainly is

[Zeninja]

If I understood clearly, you want to buy new components to replace some in your current PC ? Then you have to tell us which ones you already heve so people could help you.

Btw I could give an hand for the webcam testing once it's plugged in

[Nymphette79]

LOL, no I want to start a brand new one from scratch, all new parts.

[Matanius]

Btw I could give an hand for the webcam testing once it's plugged in

NOOOO! That's my job! lol

EDIT:I need to get off these forums and get out more methinks

[Zeninja]

LOL, no I want to start a brand new one from scratch, all new parts.

Then 500 boxes sounds a bit too low for a "hardcore" gaming PC I think. Depends on the games you're planning to play though ?

Any decent GFX card alone could handle popular games like Counter-Strike with not too much RAM, average HD, and a cheap CPU (processor), but don't expect playing eye catcher recent games with it.

edit : maybe I've spoken too fast (I didn't realise 500£ was worth > 700 euros), it's up to you saving money by keeping the still decent parts you already got. Just fill in what follows (that's all I can do for you - I'm not well aware of current brands and prices), then I have no doubts someone else will help :

- Power supply : ..........
- Motherboard : ..........
- Hard Drive : ..........
- Graphic Card : ..........
- Ram (SDRAM ? DDR ? DDR2 ?) : ..........
- Sound Card (integrated ?) : ............
- OS : ..........

[Serious_Sam]

Check out eBuyer for some decent components. Or even better, order from US dealerships since the pound is double the dollar!!

Anyway, i take it you want to concentrate on the box itself, not peripherals (as it will just add to the cost).

The pricier item will be the gfx card & cpu. If you can get a decent deal on those three, you should be good for the other parts too.

The best way to find out what you need is look for benchmark tests and roundups of current components (which also tell you how much they are).

Remember, Google is your friend.

[CMaster]

http://www.tomshardware.com

Learn to love their charts and so on, so you can see just what you are getting for your money.

[ashley watts]

check out ebuyer for some general parts

[jini]

Nymphette you have to do 3 things:
1. Forget that the site cmaster showed you even exists !
2. DONT build one up yourself and the most important:
3. Go get a finished product from a company you like and trust say, like Dell or something. Alternatively you might have big companies in UK that builds good and cheap PCs. Basically you are looking for a good company that will give you warranty, upgradeability and fast tech support. Maybe its also near where you stay which is also a good idea, but it has to be a large company that you trust. Last, for the cash you want to spend, you go and tell a sales person what you need and he will suggest you one right away.

As an example, we have such a company here in Greece, its the largest retailer/manufacturer all over Greece, and his tech response time is less than 4 hours! Yes, Dell might be bigger but only in the USA...

[Apocalypsox]

Jini, the problem with buying a built PC from one of those fucktard companies is how much more it cost to get it when you could have built one just as good if not better for about 1/6th the price.

[Bredahl]

Well.. IMO it kinda depends on how much the person knows about computers.. If he/she dont know much about computers, then go to one of em expensive companys. Since there can be quite alot of problems with making your own machine.
If you on the other hand knows loads about it, then it would be completely idiotic to buy a such a machine, since you really do get alot more for the money when making one self.

But it all depends on how much the person knows about this shit.

[WaRü]

Maybe there`s something similar in your city, i`ve build my sys on my own, with self choosen parts, the local hardware store where i bought it, gave me a guarantee to switch parts if they wouldn`t have worked together, since theres the possibility, some parts don`t like each other.
But what i want to say is, small hardware stores are mostly way cheaper compaired to the big one`s selling rdy to go computer.
Just have a look if there`s one near you, they should be able to help you, with components which work fine together, and should even have a service to build it, atleast here in germany its that way, even with this you re going way cheaper.
Btw, if you have an old computer you don´t need anymore, you might be able to use some components again, like the tower or cd/dvd drive, maybe the HDD too.

And for the components go for DDR2, for games should 1 GB enough, 2 is even better, atleast for neocron.. RAM doesn`t need to be the fastest mine is
CL5, f.e. has a slower timing, but was a lot cheaper, works fine that way for all games.

And the question you need to answere: Do you want Intel or AMD ? & for graphics Ati or Nvidia.

Thats important because eighter way you go, there are compatibility lists for the components.


sry for teh bad english, hope its understandable...


€: I`ve just read what Zeninja wrote, mine was exactly around €700, here is my hardware:

Mine:

Asus P5B-E
E6600@2,4 @Zalman CNPS9500 AT
2xCorsair 1GB xms2 ddr2-800, CL5
Asus radeon EAx1950pro @Syncmaster 171s
seagate 250gb,16mb,sata²
Samsung SH203-B sata² cd dvd rw
BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 430W

Thats the stuff i bought, except the TFT, i am using it since about 5 years..