rsnutters1

looking for a tower only and have upto 500 sheets to spend, spent ages looking and to be honest i goes straight over my head

i want the best possible spec as i've just bought cod4 for the pc and it won't run https://passionford.com/forum/viewto...378&highlight=

i basically need a new graphic's card, bigger ram and also a legit copy of XP whilst i'm at it

so, rather than buy all the individual bits of kit i may as well buy a new tower

what do you recommend chaps.....

go hunting

xr4x4rs

iTrader: (5)

get the new thermaltake armour 2 case

board

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/prod...de=MBA-M2NSLID

cpu

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/prod...e=CPA-AD64CZ-B

graphics card

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/prod...e=GCX-XN88GT5X

memory

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/prod...MEC-D22048T80K

possibly under or over your price range not sure, buts thats what i would run in a budget spec

i will be buying the board and ramthis week, i already run 2x7800 gtx cards in sli

i would advise going sata raid if you dont already have it aswell and a good quality power supply

rsnutters1

vibrating_cake

good memory, very good memory.
but if you want more of a budget spec for cod4 get a 8600 gt runs full on everything and costs a 3rd of the price of the 8800gt

BM08

good reply for someone who knows about pc's

He doesnt so prebuilt it is.
Id have a look at Dell or a site like this http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/viewPr...&idproduct=110
Cost abit but great spec and a super douper fast processor, would last you years that pc.
Or pay abit more and have more comeback should anything go wrong http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

As far as prebuilt goes your not going to get a much better deal than the two sites ive listed, plus that has a good amount of comeback(Dell is the better for that out of my two)
Whatever you do though, DO NOT go to pcworld or your local pc shop in town, they will screw you over

BM08

I havent got time right now to go into any more detail but ill be about tomorrow morning/afternoon so drop me a pm with any questions

xr4x4rs

iTrader: (5)

pre built costs more lol for a decent spec

rsnutters1

thanks for the links mate

will have alook later after work

DaveZS

Of course it does. Someones not going to put it together for you, and then charge less are they?

Also check out ebuyer as they had, or did have last time, a fair amount of decent spec case systems. Would have a look for you but i can't get on it at work

vibrating_cake

super duper fast processor lol its only got a 1gig fsb, get the amd's equivilant, cheaper and with a 2gig fsb.... only saying this cause i have it and ive never managed to get it anywhere near maxing out on games

arch

So, you`re saying that you have never managed to max out on games,?From you earlier comments are you running a 8600gt?

vibrating_cake

max out on games (processor wise) lol got a few screenies of the quads cores (2 never got over 25% useage) one was full, and the last trickled along about the 50% mark.
n thats on cod4/bioshock/needforspeed prostreet (full everything on 1680x1050) bar bioshock which was 2 resolutions down with forced anti analysing cause i had a bit of lag issues between the mouse and game.

vibrating_cake

oh yea the lowest fps (on cod) in smoke etc never drop below 15-20fps, but averages a very reasonable 40-50fps which is nice n smooth to play.
not bad for my "budget buy gfx card"

BM08

Were talking to someone who knows next to nothing about pc upgrades, i could have said "good processor" or "fast processor" to someone who's in the know and they would know just how fast, where as this guy doesnt, so i used those words to describe it

BM08

They dont really, not like Q6600, 8800 graphics cards etc, their pre built ones tend not to be very well balanced specs, like a E6750 and a piece of crap graphics card, or a not so bad graphics card with a dog slow processor, prices arent too hot either.
Dont get me wrong ive ordered 4 pc parts off Ebuyer in the past, good prices and next day delivery was spot on, but for a base unit or system i wouldnt use them.

BM08

Ok had another look on Dell site now ive got more time and if you go here http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...hs1&l=en&s=dhs
click on "customize" underneath the "Inspiron 530"

Then select the "Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6550 Processor"
scroll down and select the "256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 2600 XT" graphics card.
£429.00 and then if you dont want the monitor you can knock £110 off that price, and the rest ill leave up to you but for the price that would be a damn good pc with warranty

rsnutters1

what about the ones on gaybay

looking at this and spec looks very good for the price

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INTEL-CORE2DUO...QQcmdZViewItem

or would you stay the hell away from buying on there

Stu.H

Was going to recommend Dell.

vibrating_cake

lmao at the description though LOL

TURBO CACHE! haha
BWAAARP TSSS

BM08

yes.

what is wrong with my links? too expensive or what?

That one on Ebay is good spec yeah, apart from the graphics card, thats not too hot, but as i say i wouldnt get one on there, spend a little more for brand spanking new and one with a warranty

rsnutters1

the links are good mate, you get 12 months just like the dell ones, the only thing thats missing is the os system

i pressume there new on there

tonyk

Nutters, do you not have a mate or somebody who can build you a system? This will save you money!! A decent pre built gaming system will set you back a fair few quid more than a self build.

A website called www.overclockers.co.uk sells pre built systems though most a more than your budget. If you want to play modern games on high settings then a geforce 8600GT or ATI 2900xt is the minimum graphic cards you should look for. Here is a system below which is a decent spec and should give you an idea what spec to look for.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=966&subcat=

BM08

I dont know, hence i wouldnt buy on ebay, especially as its not much difference in price to the Dell one, once you have taken off the £110 for the monitor

BM08

The one i posted from dell is around that spec, minus the graphics card is not quite as powerful, and it costs less...............

vibrating_cake

and you'll need 60ish quid for windows (xp) and more for vista.... and i wouldnt trust postage from ebay on something so..... fragile to damage

tonyk

I didnt check the prices, just letting him know what spec he should be looking for regardless of who makes it. Unfortunately, as im sure you will agree for an above average pre built gaming system £500 is not a lot of money and you tend to look st more the self build range at this price.

BM08

yeah but dont forget its just the base unit, nothing else.
And also stuff like psu etc wont be like £90 OCZ/ Seasonic items, so they save on this aswell.

vibrating_cake

pc's are a piece of piss to build nowadays.
with mine it was...
dump hdd dvd cd etc into case easy peasy
dump power supply into case easy peasy
get motherboard, gently align memory holding from each edge, press in until it locks in
processor align pins up (with aligning arrow) and drop in, flip over lever to lock in place, then gently place heatsink+fan on top, clipping the clips... and flip over another lever
case... place motherboard in gently and allign up the screws----screw in
put gfx card into the slot gently, screw onto case.
same wi any other card u want lol.
errr plug everything on the power and plug in the reset button n power button in lmao.

anywayyyy ill shut up now. its probably more difficult to change springs on a car lol

tonyk

Vibrating_Cake,

Yeah its a piece of piss for some people, but nutters stated he does not have any knowledge of PC Building. If he did he would not be asking for advice on what to buy etc..

BM08

Its not the putting together, its when you turn the thing on the first time and you get no display and it doesnt post etc, then he will be screwed.

Plugging in the tiny wires for the case's power/reset buttons takes abit of working out aswell

rauri

i bet he wishes he hadnt asked now

vibrating_cake

i just started mine up with the windows xp cd in and it booted off the cd automatically just a case of a cd key+next next next button lol
n then installing drivers on all the cd's i got with the parts lol

BM08

yeah its bound to have got a little out of hand what with the few knowledgeable people on here giving their 2 cents worth and then not agree with the other person and so on

He has enough info on this thread now to be able to make a decision on what spec he wants and whether or not he will buy it pre built or get someone else to build it up

vibrating_cake

1. find a friend who has the know how about pc's just ask around you'll be suprised the type of people actually know these things!
PRO itll save u a helluva lot of money and leave u with a kickass pc!
CONS no warrenty on everything... warrenty on only separate things so you have to keep a lot of boxes books and reciepts

2. buy one pre-built from a good supplier
PRO warrenty!
CONS costs more n ull end up updating it in a couple of years.

whereas... with the custom built one you can build it.... "to be upgraded" so you can buy your budget now
and in a few years time just update the graphics card/processor/put a little more memory in to keep upto date. if you watch someone do it once, thats all you will need to learn how

BM08

You can upgrade everything inside a Dell pc if you wanted

vibrating_cake

depends what motherboard they use... but meh. true aswel, but you've still got the problem you have now, of not knowing how to upgrade it or not knowing someone to do it for you

rsnutters1

i do mate because with every reply i'm learning more and more

tonyk

Nutters, in Mondays Sun Newspaper there was dell inspiron pc with a quad core cpu and an 8600gt for £599 or via there website with an ATI Card 2600XT for £519. I know its ver your budget but it fits what you are aiming at.

vibrating_cake

very good price