11 replies to this topic

[(FG) Merlin]

Right I'm thinking I might be able to scrape together enough to finally get a new rig in the next few months (touch wood!).  But I'm a complete idiot when it comes to knowing what to do/where to look.  I know all of the advantages of building your own pc, but frankly I don't have the knowledge, time, patience and more than likely I will make a complete cock-up of it and waste pounds I don't have.

So....I need some help on where to look for a decent pre-built system, preferably one that could be upgraded easily enough when necessary (even I can cope with slotting in a new card or memory stick. Hopefully!).  Budget is a bit rough at the mo, but I'm hoping I might be able to stretch up to say £600 (depending on how things go for me in the near future) so that's a kind of ballpark figure.  I do need a new monitor at some point, but if necessary that can be put off a bit. Obviously I want the best spec I can get for my money, but at the same time I know that you get what you pay for so I'd like to have quality parts where possible so they don't have to be replaced too soon.

In other words, this is me begging for help so I get something decent that will allow me to play some of the newer games on the market (I'm still on an old Dell running XP on a P4 3.00 ffs!) and I hope some of you might be able to point me in the right direction. Any help will be much appreciated!  

[Game4it]

Merls i'll have a look for you but tbh building your own means better components for the same/less money.
As for you building it i could walk you through every step of it on vent and its alot easier than you would think.

[(FG) Merlin]

Cheers Game    I won't completely rule out building but it is a little intimidating having never done anything like it before, and as I said I really don't know if I have the time or patience, but if it would be a significant difference I'll consider it.

[Game4it]

(FG) Merlin, on 18 July 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

Cheers Game    I won't completely rule out building but it is a little intimidating having never done anything like it before, and as I said I really don't know if I have the time or patience, but if it would be a significant difference I'll consider it.

Ok i'll have a look at a pre built system for you for say about £600 and i'll compare what you can build yourself for the same money.

Will you need anything else bar the tower itself like keyboard,mouse etc etc?

Do you need an operating system?

What size monitor are you planning to get and what resolution do you game at?
This will help with picking out a suitable gfx card.

[(FG) Merlin]

(FG) Game4it, on 18 July 2010 - 09:53 PM, said:

Ok i'll have a look at a pre built system for you for say about £600 and i'll compare what you can build yourself for the same money.

Will you need anything else bar the tower itself like keyboard,mouse etc etc?

Do you need an operating system?

What size monitor are you planning to get and what resolution do you game at?
This will help with picking out a suitable gfx card.

Keyboard and mouse I have so no worries there.  No need for speakers or anything as I just use my headphones.  Will need an OS as only on XP and should upgrade, as for monitor I need to upgrade to flatscreen (still good ol' CRT here!), won't be looking at anything huge tho and res I have no idea - best I can manage I guess!

[(FG) juliankr]

here are some ideas for you

buying a ready built comp
overclocked i3 system
https://www.aria.co....productId=39879
os
https://www.aria.co....productId=38272
gfx card
https://www.aria.co....productId=40330


building yourself from aria you could have an i5 750 with 4Gb of ram and a 5550 gpu for about £600.(similar spec bits as the i3 system above)


always look at their web specials. cheapest place to buy the i5 750 in the uk.

[(FG) Orrible]

can i have ye olde one for me caravanette ?

[(FG) DejayT]

(FG) Merlin, on 18 July 2010 - 09:28 PM, said:

I don't have the knowledge, time, patience and more than likely I will make a complete cock-up of it and waste pounds I don't have.

Rest assured mate it's very easy.

With no previous experience I built a Core2Quad from scratch last year... trust me a few tips from Game plus the processor/MB manual and it will be a doddle.

The most difficult part was connecting the little wires from MB to case, I had to study the manual for 10 mins to figure out which went where, still easier than building Argos flatpack furniture!

Basic steps are (not necessarily in this order):

Earth yourself
Bolt in MB, HDD, DVDR, PSU
Plug in processor/cooler and slot in GPU
Plug in RAM
Connect Sata/ATA cables
Connect PSU cables to MB, GPU, drives
Connect MB wires to case
DONE!

Installing the OS is also a fairly easy step by step process.

[(FG) Merlin]

Ok hopefully I'll be able to get something in the next month or so, I've been recommended this website by a friend but thought I'd ask you experts to have a look and see if you think the deals are any good: http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

And if so, what would you recommend? I'm completely out of touch with what's good and what's not, what's futureproof or soon to be obsolete etc.  My budget is still around the same, may be able to stretch a little further if it's worth it.  Any help will be much appreciated!  

[(FG) juliankr]

you'd get a better deal building yourself m8. it's easy, like building lego. lol

[(FG) Mafialad]

some of those look quite good, and you will always get a better deal building your self, it all  hangs on weather you can be bothered to build..