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Posted this in the gaming forum and then realised this place existed, so ummm here's the same post again.
Looking into getting a PC and to be honest I know jack all about computers these days. So I'd be greatful of any advice you can give me on specs to be looking for. I want a good PC that won't need to be upgraded for a while, doesn't have to be top of the range though.
Oh and also where's a good place to look for one? I'm the sort of idiot who buys the first one he sets eyes on when he walks into PC world so I really could do with some advice.
Oh and please don't tell me I'd be best off making it myself. I know it'd probably work out a lot cheaper but I have neither the time or the L337 skills for something like that.
Cheers for the help...if you helped.
Looking into getting a PC and to be honest I know jack all about computers these days. So I'd be greatful of any advice you can give me on specs to be looking for. I want a good PC that won't need to be upgraded for a while, doesn't have to be top of the range though.
Oh and also where's a good place to look for one? I'm the sort of idiot who buys the first one he sets eyes on when he walks into PC world so I really could do with some advice.
Oh and please don't tell me I'd be best off making it myself. I know it'd probably work out a lot cheaper but I have neither the time or the L337 skills for something like that.
Cheers for the help...if you helped.
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Things like that are generally fine, it tends to be anything more "complex" - e.g. the PSU has different connectors on for the mobo, so you can't easily upgrade the motherboard or PSU. I think I'm correct in saying there have been some upgrade issues with graphics cards as well.
Ah, I see.
SHEEPY wrote:
> Don't go near a Dell
I've got 5 DELL's - 3 desktops and 2 laptops. Very happy...
(I always paid the extra and gone for 3 years onsite hardware warranty - it's good for the piece of mind and I've used them for a new harddrive and a laptop mobo).
> Don't go near a Dell
I've got 5 DELL's - 3 desktops and 2 laptops. Very happy...
(I always paid the extra and gone for 3 years onsite hardware warranty - it's good for the piece of mind and I've used them for a new harddrive and a laptop mobo).
Buy a MESH.
I have one. I've always bought from them. It's whack.
I have one. I've always bought from them. It's whack.
I'm currently on a MESH at the mo.
Getting the Dell sent up here though as it's my music station. :)
Getting the Dell sent up here though as it's my music station. :)
Hedfix wrote:
> I'm currently on a MESH at the mo.
>
> Getting the Dell sent up here though as it's my music station. :)
OT:
Hedfix are you on BT ?
> I'm currently on a MESH at the mo.
>
> Getting the Dell sent up here though as it's my music station. :)
OT:
Hedfix are you on BT ?
OT?
Yes I'm on BT, why?
Yes I'm on BT, why?
Tilta I paid £600 for mine and it's pretty much top of the range except for RAM. (Someone no doubt has a better one, pfft.) So with £1000 you can get a beast.
EDIT: And mine is one of the latest Dell deals/products and it's perfect(?)
EDIT: And mine is one of the latest Dell deals/products and it's perfect(?)
Get a secondhand beast and save some money. :)
If you definitely aren't going to build one then...
Make sure you avoid PC World, Dixon's, Currys, Comet etc. If you can find a small business who will also be able to help you on site without going for a tumble with the manager in the back office then that would be your best bet.
CPU wise, go AMD, preferably Athlon 64, I wouldn't go nay less than an AMD 64 3000, also worth noting is that AMD processors don't run at their said speed. Where as a Pentium 3.0GHZ will run at 3000mhz, an AMD 3000 will run at around 2200mhz, this is normal. Performance wise the AMD in this case will out perform the Pentium providing it is an Athlon 64. I would avoid Intel if I were you.
RAM - at least 1GB, you can never have enough RAM and for smooth gaming the more the better. If you want to be able to run games for a few years to come I would grab the 1GB now. Get the best you can afford. RAM timings, latency etc do matter but I don't suppose you give a rats aid infested peni about this so for now just grab the 1GB - dual channel has very little performance gain but if you are buying it will most likely be Dual Channel DDR400 which is all you need to know.
Sound card wise, onboard sound has a pretty big performance hit. Try to grab one with either an Audigy 2 or Audigy 2 ZS. The only difference between the two is the gold plated connectors on the back where you insert the speakers etc, gold plated = less signal loss which = better sound. Again, you won't notice anything different.
Monitor wise, look for a TFT with either 17ms or 16ms delay time, lower the better. As a benchmark look for one that can handle 1280 x 1024 at 75hz. If you ask/look for both the delay time and refresh rate at higher resolutions that’s all that really matters. No point in buying a fairly decent rig if your monitor can only display 60hz signals as you won't get the benefit of the better hardware.
Keyboard, grab a Zboard, both Bullet and myself have one and I think I can say on behalf of both, it is far better than a standard keyboard. It comes with a standard layout and gaming layout, the gaming one you will find is much less bearded to use, far more user friendly.
Mouse wise I recommend the Razer Viper. Means nothing to you but it is smoother to use than a standard optical mouse due to the higher DPI, again you don't need to know/care but it is a decent mouse.
Graphics card wise. Personally, ATI due to the better picture quality over Nvidia cards in general. Some will say go for Nvidia. Either way, make sure if you go ATI get on of the X800 cards, if you go for Nvidia one of the 6800 cards and also make sure it has 256mb rather than 128mb, again purely for smoother gaming. Nvidia cards are more widely available, either way make sure you get one of their latest range cards.
The rest doesn't matter if you are buying as the motherboard, PSU, hard drive etc will be standard and will be compatible with your chosen hardware. One thing you may want to make sure if that the board has 4 RAM slots in case you want to upgrade in the future.
Make sure you avoid PC World, Dixon's, Currys, Comet etc. If you can find a small business who will also be able to help you on site without going for a tumble with the manager in the back office then that would be your best bet.
CPU wise, go AMD, preferably Athlon 64, I wouldn't go nay less than an AMD 64 3000, also worth noting is that AMD processors don't run at their said speed. Where as a Pentium 3.0GHZ will run at 3000mhz, an AMD 3000 will run at around 2200mhz, this is normal. Performance wise the AMD in this case will out perform the Pentium providing it is an Athlon 64. I would avoid Intel if I were you.
RAM - at least 1GB, you can never have enough RAM and for smooth gaming the more the better. If you want to be able to run games for a few years to come I would grab the 1GB now. Get the best you can afford. RAM timings, latency etc do matter but I don't suppose you give a rats aid infested peni about this so for now just grab the 1GB - dual channel has very little performance gain but if you are buying it will most likely be Dual Channel DDR400 which is all you need to know.
Sound card wise, onboard sound has a pretty big performance hit. Try to grab one with either an Audigy 2 or Audigy 2 ZS. The only difference between the two is the gold plated connectors on the back where you insert the speakers etc, gold plated = less signal loss which = better sound. Again, you won't notice anything different.
Monitor wise, look for a TFT with either 17ms or 16ms delay time, lower the better. As a benchmark look for one that can handle 1280 x 1024 at 75hz. If you ask/look for both the delay time and refresh rate at higher resolutions that’s all that really matters. No point in buying a fairly decent rig if your monitor can only display 60hz signals as you won't get the benefit of the better hardware.
Keyboard, grab a Zboard, both Bullet and myself have one and I think I can say on behalf of both, it is far better than a standard keyboard. It comes with a standard layout and gaming layout, the gaming one you will find is much less bearded to use, far more user friendly.
Mouse wise I recommend the Razer Viper. Means nothing to you but it is smoother to use than a standard optical mouse due to the higher DPI, again you don't need to know/care but it is a decent mouse.
Graphics card wise. Personally, ATI due to the better picture quality over Nvidia cards in general. Some will say go for Nvidia. Either way, make sure if you go ATI get on of the X800 cards, if you go for Nvidia one of the 6800 cards and also make sure it has 256mb rather than 128mb, again purely for smoother gaming. Nvidia cards are more widely available, either way make sure you get one of their latest range cards.
The rest doesn't matter if you are buying as the motherboard, PSU, hard drive etc will be standard and will be compatible with your chosen hardware. One thing you may want to make sure if that the board has 4 RAM slots in case you want to upgrade in the future.
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