Help with P.C Gaming hardware

[Ricky 49]

i know there has been very similar topics but...

here is my situation

I?m looking to start university soon and I?m going to buy myself a new P.C for gaming as my current P.C is crap to say the least.

so here is the real problem. I'm quite nooby at P.C hardware specs

and I?m looking for a P.C for around £700 ($1,140) I can go as high as £800 ($1,300) but only if its a major jump in quality

I would prefer a laptop but if that's going to put me at a real disadvantage then I can go with a desktop

so has anyone got any recommendations for a P.C that can play the latest games at decent graphics settings?

or at the very least point me to a website that can really help

when googled this i kept getting alienwere and from what I hear they are really overpriced and not too good

 

[megapenguinx]

DO NOT GET ALIENWARE, or anything pre built for that matter. It's cheaper to build your own and yes a laptop will put you in a pretty big disadvantage.

 

[TundraWolf]

Check out this link:

http://www.itjustworksbetter.com/building-a-pc/

There was a guy by the name of Eggo who was on here a while ago, he has some pretty awesome builds for gaming PC's. My suggestion is just to read through that list, take a look at the builds he has, and find one that fits your price range. All of them will pretty much be able to run games well, with varying degrees of awesomeness (depending on how much you put into them).

Hope that helps.

 

[The Political Gamer]

Use Newegg [http://www.newegg.com/], best deals anywhere on the web.

 

[Cuniculus]

I own an Alienware laptop, and it plays games excellently. However I will agree with the overpriced comment. I simply had the money lying around and, as with you, had very little knowledge of the workings of a computer. As far as gaming goes, I can play any game at max graphics... except effing Crysis.

 

[YuheJi]

You should check out our PC Hardware Thread
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.105715?page=1

 

[Ricky 49]

DO NOT GET ALIENWARE, or anything pre built for that matter. It's cheaper to build your own and yes a laptop will put you in a pretty big disadvantage.

yeah that is the thing

it seems that if i want a decent desktop i got to build myself...hmm that?s going to be challenge

though I hear novatech isn't bad if your living in the u.k

but i'm thinking building one is the way forward ... right?

Use Newegg [http://www.newegg.com/], best deals anywhere on the web.

um do they ship to the U.K?

 

[uhgungawa]

Try these ;

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/Default.asp

http://ibuypower.com/

Got the wifes laptop through Cyberpower, and it's great. And you'll save big bucks vs. the big names.

 

[not a zaar]

Aren't you going to be too busy with school to do much PC gaming? Don't waste your money now. Get a part time job and buy your hardware at the beginning of summer break, so that you'll actually be able to use your computer for gaming without sacrificing your grades.

 

[Ricky 49]

Aren't you going to be too busy with school to do much PC gaming? Don't waste your money now. Get a part time job and buy your hardware at the beginning of summer break, so that you'll actually be able to use your computer for gaming without sacrificing your grades.

this is the start of my summer break

i start uni in about 4 months

 

[megapenguinx]

DO NOT GET ALIENWARE, or anything pre built for that matter. It's cheaper to build your own and yes a laptop will put you in a pretty big disadvantage.

yeah that is the thing

it seems that if i want a decent desktop i got to build myself...hmm that?s going to be challenge

though I hear novatech isn't bad if your living in the u.k

but i'm thinking building one is the way forward ... right?

Use Newegg [http://www.newegg.com/], best deals anywhere on the web.

um do they ship to the U.K?

Build it, and newegg I think ships internationally I'm not 100% though.

 

[Gruthar]

i know there has been very similar topics but...

here is my situation

I?m looking to start university soon and I?m going to buy myself a new P.C for gaming as my current P.C is crap to say the least.

so here is the real problem. I'm quite nooby at P.C hardware specs

and I?m looking for a P.C for around £700 ($1,140) I can go as high as £800 ($1,300) but only if its a major jump in quality

I would prefer a laptop but if that's going to put me at a real disadvantage then I can go with a desktop

so has anyone got any recommendations for a P.C that can play the latest games at decent graphics settings?

or at the very least point me to a website that can really help

when googled this i kept getting alienwere and from what I hear they are really overpriced and not too good

For that price, I'm afraid you're not going to get much of a gaming laptop. Though decent, they won't have enough graphics horsepower for the latest and greatest. You can build (or buy, if you're not up to the task) quite a decent desktop for that much, however.

Since you're gonna be deluged with suggestions, I'll leave it at that.

 

[jamesworkshop]

cyberpowerpc gamer infinity 600 is a nice machine and cheap then grab a monitor of ebay 1680x1050 is about the most you would want.
Customise it with a GTS 250 and its still under £500 with a 500GB HDD and 4GB DDR2 memory remove the supplied monitor and you save £60 TFT screens are nasty.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/gamer_infinity_600

 

[uhgungawa]

cyberpowerpc gamer infinity 600 is a nice machine and cheap then grab a monitor of ebay 1680x1050 is about the most you would want.
Customise it with a GTS 250 and its still under £500 with a 500GB HDD and 4GB DDR2 memory remove the supplied monitor and you save £60 TFT screens are nasty.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/gamer_infinity_600

He gave a link to a UK site, better than mine.

Intel based I'd look @ http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/mega_sales_IV
Looks ok as is

AMD gets more bang for the buck http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/gamer_ultra_sli_basic
But up the power supply on this one a bit

 

[bkd69]

Yeah, pretty much what everybody said up there, more or less.

However, I do have a few pence to add:

When building your own, a few components are going to be at a relatively fixed cost:

Case: buy to your liking/budget
Power Supply: buy according to your power needs
Motherboard: buy according to the featureset you require, but in general, among the boards you want, there will be a fairly small price delta. The only hard decision here will be to decide if you want crossfire/sli support right off the bat, or would you rather swap out your motherboard as well as add the second graphics card later
Optical Drive: there's no compelling need for Blu-Ray just yet, so this is a trivial cost. You might want to pay a little extra for Lightscribe...great for gifted photo cds
KB+Mouse: don't skimp here...you'll be spending a lot of time fondling and caressing these gadgets, and you'll be carrying them forward through a few generations of machines, so don't skimp
Monitor: buy what you can afford, the longer you wait, the cheaper they get

Now for the variable costs:
CPU: at equal prices, take the faster dual core over the slower quad core, unless you're studying something like animation or graphics in Uni where you'll be running software that takes advantage of the quad core
Memory: 4Gb, costs fluctuate over time. And remember, more memory plus a slower cpu is better than less memory with a faster cpu
Hard drive: don't be afraid to skimp here. Adding more later is nearly trivial, and the way prices drop on hard drives, you can always afford to wait until later to go big
Graphics board: buy as big and fast as you can afford, and buy it with SLI/Crossfire support. Even if you're not using it immediately, the card you buy now will be significantly cheaper in a year, so you can always add it then. The question is whether you buy a motherboard with support from the beginning, or get a new one when you get a second card. Note that this may also require upgrading your power supply.

Stuff that's completely optional:
Add in sound: it's nice, sure, but the onboard sound will certainly be sufficient, and you can always add it later.
If you already own a KB+Mouse that you like, well there's one less thing to shop for, ditto for a monitor.

As far as shopping goes, I use Newegg, but again, I'm in the US. But their user reviews will still be useful, even if they don't offer a UK shop. Also, check manufacturers websites, particularly Creative Labs, as they'll often offer good deals on recerted or discontinued products.

 

[not a zaar]

Aren't you going to be too busy with school to do much PC gaming? Don't waste your money now. Get a part time job and buy your hardware at the beginning of summer break, so that you'll actually be able to use your computer for gaming without sacrificing your grades.

this is the start of my summer break

i start uni in about 4 months

In that case play games until you're sick of them, that way you won't be tempted to slack off during the semester

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

i know there has been very similar topics but...

here is my situation

I?m looking to start university soon and I?m going to buy myself a new P.C for gaming as my current P.C is crap to say the least.

so here is the real problem. I'm quite nooby at P.C hardware specs

and I?m looking for a P.C for around £700 ($1,140) I can go as high as £800 ($1,300) but only if its a major jump in quality

I would prefer a laptop but if that's going to put me at a real disadvantage then I can go with a desktop

so has anyone got any recommendations for a P.C that can play the latest games at decent graphics settings?

or at the very least point me to a website that can really help

when googled this i kept getting alienwere and from what I hear they are really overpriced and not too good

For that price, I'm afraid you're not going to get much of a gaming laptop. Though decent, they won't have enough graphics horsepower for the latest and greatest. You can build (or buy, if you're not up to the task) quite a decent desktop for that much, however.

Since you're gonna be deluged with suggestions, I'll leave it at that.

I got a fairly good gaming laptop at the price. Processor is only 2.13ghz but graphics card is top notch. I can play crysis so it does me

I got it from laptops direct. They have some good deals

 

[Satki]

i know there has been very similar topics but...

here is my situation

I?m looking to start university soon and I?m going to buy myself a new P.C for gaming as my current P.C is crap to say the least.

so here is the real problem. I'm quite nooby at P.C hardware specs

and I?m looking for a P.C for around £700 ($1,140) I can go as high as £800 ($1,300) but only if its a major jump in quality

I would prefer a laptop but if that's going to put me at a real disadvantage then I can go with a desktop

so has anyone got any recommendations for a P.C that can play the latest games at decent graphics settings?

or at the very least point me to a website that can really help

when googled this i kept getting alienwere and from what I hear they are really overpriced and not too good

You can make an awesome PC for that amount... It all clips together easily, only things you need to worry about are getting a decent PSU, (300V should be fine for anything) and heat paste.
I got a laptop and I rarely move it, depends on your course I suppose...
Where are you hoping to go to Uni?

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

*snip*

It is strongly suggested you assemble the computer yourself. You can save quite a lot of money by doing that, in exchange for a few hours of dedicated work. But it is a big choice to make. You should be able to do it by using all the manuals, and perhaps some on line tutorials, and of course yer old' common sense.

If you are absolutely sure you won't be able to do it yourself, than you can ask a shop to do it for you. If I recall correctly, they ask about 50 quid to assemble a computer, but you should be better off than buying a pre made gaming PC. Get some help (from this forum perhaps) for which parts you need to get. Search those parts on internet shops, and check how much they cost. Now go to a local gaming shop, and ask if they can assemble a comp with the parts you chose. Ask how much it will cost, and if its around the sum of the individual parts, plus the 50 quid for assembly costs, than you are not being ripped off.

But building your own PC is way cooler, and you get to be a geek for once! It is not that hard, but you need to know what you are doing, and going against your manly instincts for once (read the manuals!). Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

 

[Gruthar]

I got a fairly good gaming laptop at the price. Processor is only 2.13ghz but graphics card is top notch. I can play crysis so it does me

I got it from laptops direct. They have some good deals

What's graphics card did it come with? I will eat my e-hat if it's anything much better than an 9600GT. And at what settings are you playing Crysis? What's the framerate? Inquiring minds want to know!