Seeking Advice From The Glorious PC Master Race

[RabbidKuriboh]

I've never had a pc before let alone a gaming pc, and the only games my laptop can run on a decent level are wow and league of legends.

But i really want to get into PC gaming, mostly for The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, and some other things like amnesia,tf2,starcraft etc.

So i've found a reasonably priced(800 euro) desktop at a pc shop near where i live, but i haven't picked it up yet, and the specs seem decent but any advice on changes would be greatly apreciated!


Model:iXtreme 5726

Processor:Intel core i5 processor

Memory:6GB

Hard Drive: 1TB

Graphics Card:1GB NVidia GT420

Oh and also I'm pretty sure building one is almost out of the question as i know almost nothing about the guts of technology or building anything

 

[YawningAngel]

It's a PoS for gaming.

 

[somonels]

Glorious PC Master Race != PC Hardware Enthusiasts, even if they do tend to know a bit more than the average user.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

That doesn't sound bad, but don't discount building your own, I didn't know how to build PCs, I learned by googling it, getting all the parts and going step by step. Don't underestimate yourself, you'll be surprised how easy it is.

 

[Josh Laubscher]

Mmmm... Thats actually quite nice, but I personally wouldn`t skimp out when it comes to a computer and go get an AlienWare

 

[Josh Laubscher]

*shit double post, damn code of conduct*

 

[Coffinshaker]

eh... doesn't take much knowhow to build one. a if a techtard like me can make a rig, anyone can!

but I digress... that's a Packard Bell computer. I'm not overly sure how the guts look in those, but I don't like the manufactured pcs like Dells cause you can NEVER upgrade them. I'd look into it first what kinds of mods you can make. otherwise, it's not a bad computer... (don't know now euros translate, assuming that's near $1000) not sure what the going rate of prebuilts are, so it may or may not be over priced for the specs.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

Mmmm... Thats actually quite nice, but I personally wouldn`t skimp out when it comes to a computer and go get an AlienWare [/

That doesn't sound bad, but don't discount building your own, I didn't know how to build PCs, I learned by googling it, getting all the parts and going step by step. Don't underestimate yourself, you'll be surprised how easy it is.

but would it really be practical, both financial and difficulty wise, building an entire one from just parts without a base model to improve on?

 

[Vonnis]

I know everyone says this, but don't buy a pre-built system. If you really don't want to put the thing together yourself you can most likely go to a computer store and select what you want and have them put it together for you. The problem with nearly every pre-built system, including the one you're interested in, is that even if most of the parts are decent they'll still have a woefully underpowered graphics card, which happens to be the absolutely most important component in a gaming pc.

 

[YawningAngel]

I've never had a pc before let alone a gaming pc, and the only games my laptop can run on a decent level are wow and league of legends.

But i really want to get into PC gaming, mostly for The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, and some other things like amnesia,tf2,starcraft etc.

So i've found a reasonably priced(800 euro) desktop at a pc shop near where i live, but i haven't picked it up yet, and the specs seem decent but any advice on changes would be greatly apreciated!


Model:iXtreme 5726

Processor:Intel core i5 processor

Memory:6GB

Hard Drive: 1TB

Graphics Card:1GB NVidia GT420

Oh and also I'm pretty sure building one is almost out of the question as i know almost nothing about the guts of technology or building anything

Please, for the love of god, ignore the people who tell you this will do the job. The GT 420 is an OEM card with a miserly CPU designed specifically for OEMs who want a PC that "will play" games without having to use extra power for it. If you are buying a PC to game on, then it won't really do the job: it's designed for playing DVDs and light gaming. Look for a GTX 460 1GB or equivalent AMD card, and give serious thought to building your own: there are guides on the internet that will basically walk you through the entire process, and there's nothing intrinsic to it that requires a huge amount of knowledge.

 

[TheEverix]

That would work for most games. I mean...if you wanna run Skyrim and Crysis 2 or whatnot at max settings you might need to buff it up, but that will get you by. These are my basic specs:

CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 - 3.2ghz
RAM - 8GB
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX460SE (1gb)
AUD - 7.1 On-board Sound
HDD - 2x1TB

Mine was $1800 AUS (I don't know the exchange rate), for comparison, and I have no problem running anything at max specs....at least, not that I've encountered.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

I've never had a pc before let alone a gaming pc, and the only games my laptop can run on a decent level are wow and league of legends.

But i really want to get into PC gaming, mostly for The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, and some other things like amnesia,tf2,starcraft etc.

So i've found a reasonably priced(800 euro) desktop at a pc shop near where i live, but i haven't picked it up yet, and the specs seem decent but any advice on changes would be greatly apreciated!


Model:iXtreme 5726

Processor:Intel core i5 processor

Memory:6GB

Hard Drive: 1TB

Graphics Card:1GB NVidia GT420

Oh and also I'm pretty sure building one is almost out of the question as i know almost nothing about the guts of technology or building anything

Please, for the love of god, ignore the people who tell you this will do the job. The GT 420 is an OEM card with a miserly CPU designed specifically for OEMs who want a PC that "will play" games without having to use extra power for it. If you are buying a PC to game on, then it won't really do the job: it's designed for playing DVDs and light gaming. Look for a GTX 460 1GB or equivalent AMD card, and give serious thought to building your own: there are guides on the internet that will basically walk you through the entire process, and there's nothing intrinsic to it that requires a huge amount of knowledge.

wouldn't building an entire one from parts be terribly expensive? even if i can find a good enough guide?

 

[Super Toast]

Mmmm... Thats actually quite nice, but I personally wouldn`t skimp out when it comes to a computer and go get an AlienWare

Alienware is ridiculously over-priced, all things considered.

OT: I suggest you find a good website which lets you pick your own specs. The computer you've described doesn't sound too great.

 

[YawningAngel]

Depends on the parts. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/05/10/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-may-2011/3 is roughly right to be honest, even if you choose not to overclock. You'd just be losing out on the overclocking potential of the i5-2500k, but you replace it with an i5-2500 and save £15 without losing out.

 

[XDravond]

yep for some reason most pre-builds tend to but more on the cpu than the graphic card last one i built went on about 850? and put about 120? on the cpu and 200 on graphics

I would recomend to look at:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4456/sandy-bridge-buyers-guide/4
and
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21164/4

those sites tend to make a few most bang for X bucks.... and worth giving a chack (if you want to know what you buy...)

 

[Tragedy's Rebellion]

wouldn't building an entire one from parts be terribly expensive? even if i can find a good enough guide?

It's actually cheaper to get all the parts and build it yourself. Also, don't get alienware, they are waaaaay too overpriced.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

Depends on the parts. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/05/10/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-may-2011/3 is roughly right to be honest, even if you choose not to overclock. You'd just be losing out on the overclocking potential of the i5-2500k, but you replace it with an i5-2500 and save £15 without losing out.

is the sample build they provide a good rig for that price? it's a little more expensive but the one i was looking at is aparently awful =p

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

wouldn't building an entire one from parts be terribly expensive? even if i can find a good enough guide?

It's actually cheaper to get all the parts and build it yourself. Also, don't get alienware, they are waaaaay too overpriced.

huh ok then, some people here have given a couple good links for parts, i'll try and look for some building guides

 

[Zoomy]

Mmmm... Thats actually quite nice, but I personally wouldn`t skimp out when it comes to a computer and go get an AlienWare

Nah, I don't recommend them. In my mind, they suffer from the "Porsche Effect". PE is what I call anything when you're paying for a name rather than the best price/quality ratio.

Porsche make good cars, but there's always a better alternative, and a cheaper one at that. I went on the site, and the cheapest Boxster cost >£30,000 new. Want a fast racer? Get an Ariel Atom or similar, it's cheaper and faster. Want a car for day to day living? There's hundreds of cars out there for a similar price that is far more practical (and often has the same technical specs). So why would anyone buy a Porsche? To say that they have. It's not about the car, more the name on the front.

As to the topic, don't buy pre-built. The price is high, and the warranties will screw you over, especially if you want to upgrade. If you don't have a friend who knows computers and will build one in front of you, Google a website/shop that will build one for you. Customise every part to your standard, keeping in your budget. When you have a decent set-up, come back and ask us again. Or try www.techimo.com, the forums there are a great help. Lovely guys for the most part.

And my last piece of advice? Someone said the graphics card is the most important bit for a gaming rig. This may be true, but it's also the easiest to upgrade. One screwdriver is all you need to change it. If you need to, you can buy a system with an amazing processor, the best RAM, maximum hard-drive space, a brutal power supply (which is important) but a mid-range card. Change it next time you can afford one. Trust me, there's nothing worse than having a top graphics card bottlenecked by a rubbish processor. Those things are tricky to replace. You might have to run games on medium settings for a few months, but that's better than the alternative.

Hope you get a good one.