Questions on buying a 'gaming' PC

[Troglodyte]

I'm thinking about buying a new PC at some point this year, and using it as my main way of playing games.  However, although I know the basics when it comes to computers, I'm a bit out of the loop when it comes to what to be looking for, and where to be looking for it, in a 'current' gaming PC.

 

I'm also wondering if it would be worth it with the new Xbox possibly being released within the next year; I assume that'll be retailing for £400 tops, and would I actually be able to get a much better system for anything like that money when that time arrives?  I think I'd prefer to play the likes of FIFA on the Xbox, but I'm feeling more and more inclined towards the PC gaming route in general, for various reasons.

 

It seems, from minimal research, that a really strong system would cost somewhere around £1000, which I won't have spare any time soon at all.  So, would it be possible to get a gaming PC that will still be stronger than the next generation of consoles for £400-600 (possibly more, if it was something particularly impressive), or might I as well get an Xbox?  Or is there maybe a certain time I should wait for, for prices to drop/new technology?  Or should I save for ages to get something very decent in the slightly-more-distant future?

 

Advice appreciated!

[Davkaus]

A high end system for £1000+ is overkill for any game out there now, or that will be out any time in the next few years if you're happy playing at 1920*1080. ridiculous high end systems with GTX690s and i7 3370ks are only needed if you're wanting the games to display over several monitors or just have more money than sense.

 

Does your budget need to take in to account a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, or do you have these on another machine? Are you comfortable building yourself, or do you know someone who is, or do you want to buy pre-built (it'll cost you).

Edited February 4, 2013 by Davkaus

[tarjei]

Inter i5 cpu is better value for gaming now, but if you are thinking something long lasting i7 might be worth it if you can find a good deal. Ram is dirt cheap. Might want to get a decent SSD, in addition to a mechanical harddrive, but it's not necessary. I doubt you'll need £1000 just for the pc. Unless you want that extra 10% that will cost you twice as much.

I got a new one 18 months ago for around £600, but I left it half way around the world. The one I'm using currently is 5-6 years old and still run new games at decent settings.

[Troglodyte]

I have a monitor but I'm not sure it's great - it's a 22" Acer one that cost about £100 three years or so ago.  I could possibly hook it up to my TV though (42" LCD, 1080p) for stuff where I wouldn't be sat right in front of it.

 

Wouldn't be too bothered about an expensive keyboard and mouse, unless they're much more important than I think?  Wouldn't be incorporating the cost of speakers, either.

 

As for building my own machine, it's something I've always I've fancied doing, but I'd have to do some reading up.  Not sure I'd want to play about building one that was so expensive, though?  I know a guy who'd probably be able to do it for me, but haven't spoken to him in ages.  He'd probably be able to give me some tips, though.

[Troglodyte]

Inter i5 cpu is better value for gaming now, but if you are thinking something long lasting i7 might be worth it if you can find a good deal. Ram is dirt cheap. Might want to get a decent SSD, in addition to a mechanical harddrive, but it's not necessary. I doubt you'll need £1000 just for the pc. Unless you want that extra 10% that will cost you twice as much.

I got a new one 18 months ago for around £600, but I left it half way around the world. The one I'm using currently is 5-6 years old and still run new games at decent settings.

 

My current PC has an i5 CPU.  4GB of RAM and I can't remember the graphics card exactly but it's slightly better than the bog-standard dedicated ones that you often get (not by a huge amount though, I think).  I don't think it'd be too bad with quite a few modern games, but I'm really debating whether I'd rather shell out and buy the new Xbox or go a little further and get a really good new PC instead.

[tarjei]

That doesn't sound too bad.. Maybe all you need is a few upgrades or a fresh OS. Test show that i5 is equal or better than i7 for games because games don't take advantage of threading (yet). i5 3570k comes recommended. The i7 3770k is not that much more expensive though (£50 maybe).

On building, it's very easy to physically put together. Where you might make a mistake is when you buy the parts. I.e. you must buy a motherboard that has the cpu-socket you need for the cpu and make sure you get the ram that fits the MB and that the MB it has the connection you need for harddrives and graphics card. Also you will a power supply unit that has enough power.

It's kind of addictive though. Before you know it you will have spent all you money on coolers and heat sinks.

[tarjei]

I currently have a Core-2-duo e8500 3.15 GHZ. Graphics Card is 8800GT. Not very new, in other words.The 8800GT was released in 2007, but I was still able to play games such as Dishonored and Metro 2033 on medium settings at 1900x1080 with no problem.

[Davkaus]

Inter i5 cpu is better value for gaming now, but if you are thinking something long lasting i7 might be worth it if you can find a good deal. Ram is dirt cheap. Might want to get a decent SSD, in addition to a mechanical harddrive, but it's not necessary. I doubt you'll need £1000 just for the pc. Unless you want that extra 10% that will cost you twice as much.

I got a new one 18 months ago for around £600, but I left it half way around the world. The one I'm using currently is 5-6 years old and still run new games at decent settings.

 

My current PC has an i5 CPU.  4GB of RAM and I can't remember the graphics card exactly but it's slightly better than the bog-standard dedicated ones that you often get (not by a huge amount though, I think).  I don't think it'd be too bad with quite a few modern games, but I'm really debating whether I'd rather shell out and buy the new Xbox or go a little further and get a really good new PC instead.

 

 

Might be worth posting a DXdiag.

 

It's hard to say as there are some really excellent i5s, and some pretty poor ones.

 

Potentially going by what you're saying, you could have the best of both worlds, a decent graphics card to play games on the PC, and enough left over for a new console in a year.

[Troglodyte]

I don't think the graphics card is that good, I just remember it being a little better than the cheapest dedicated ones that were included in the models I was looking at.  It'll have some big weaknesses, I'm sure - it was only from Curry's, but I got it refurbed, which made it a lot cheaper, and had some kind of great Quidco offer at the time, too.

 

It's not currently set up but I'll get it going later and post the dxdiag.

[Davkaus]

Yeah, the graphics card will be the weak link, what I mean is as long as the CPU is mid range and the PSU can cope, you could probably just stick a good graphics card in there rather than getting a completely new PC, for considerably less. Hard to say until we see the full specs though.

[Anthony]

Do that. Have a butcher's at Tom's Hardware too. They have features like 'best graphics card for the money' and stuff like that. As for where to buy, ebuyer, scan or dabs would be worth looking at. Could be that you can get away with just getting a better graphics card... Might need to get a better PSU though.

 

Ha! Davkaus posted while I was typing...

[The_Rev]

I always recommend this thread.  You need to make a forum account to read it, but if you are thinking of dropping a grand on a PC, it's probably worth spending a few minutes making an account. 

[Troglodyte]

Hello again gents - completely forgot to post my dxdiag before.  Not sure how much of it is necessary, but here I'll paste in what look like the important bits below.  As I said, I don't reckon it's anything great for gaming, but I'm no expert. Oh and Rev, I don't intend on spending anywhere near £1000, I just wondered if that would be the kind of price range to set something up that would be at least on a par with (preferably superior to) the next generation of consoles.

 

Anyway, dxdiag:

 

 

------------------

System Information

------------------

   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.101026-1503)

           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: Packard Bell

       System Model: ixtreme M5740

               BIOS: Default System BIOS

          Processor: Intel® Core i5 CPU         650  @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz

             Memory: 4096MB RAM

Available OS Memory: 4024MB RAM

          Page File: 1847MB used, 6196MB available

        Windows Dir: C:\Windows

    DirectX Version: DirectX 11

DX Setup Parameters: None

   User DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled

     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode

 

 

---------------

Display Devices

---------------

          Card name: ATI Radeon HD 5570

       Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.

          Chip type: ATI display adapter (0x68D9)

           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_68D9&SUBSYS_E142174B&REV_00

     Display Memory: 2769 MB

   Dedicated Memory: 1014 MB

      Shared Memory: 1755 MB

       Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)

       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor

      Monitor Model: Acer V223W

         Monitor Id: ACR0027

        Native Mode: 1680 x 1050(p) (59.954Hz)

        Output Type: HD15

        Driver Name: aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll

Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1065 (English)

     Driver Version: 8.821.0.0

        DDI Version: 10.1

       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1

  Driver Attributes: Final Retail

   Driver Date/Size: 3/24/2011 15:48:33, 708608 bytes

        WHQL Logo'd: Yes

    WHQL Date Stamp: 

  Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-2B99-11CF-D270-48C1BEC2C535}

          Vendor ID: 0x1002

          Device ID: 0x68D9

          SubSys ID: 0xE142174B

        Revision ID: 0x0000

 Driver Strong Name: oem13.inf:ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1:ati2mtag_Evergreen:8.821.0.0:pci\ven_1002&dev_68d9

     Rank Of Driver: 00E62001

        Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C 

 

 

If I've missed something important, let me know.  Advice/recommendations appreciated 

[Chindie]

Graphics card is an immediate issue. You could go up in the graphics card world quite easily for not serious money and see improvement I think.

 

Might want to consider chucking in a bit more RAM as well, it's still cheap and always useful.

[Troglodyte]

So would I be able to buy a decent new graphics card and shove it in without too much trouble?

[Chindie]

About the only issues I can possibly see you having are whether you can power it (which is entirely dependent on the psu you have, its capacity and ultimately the type of connectors you have from it) and then possibly clearance issues, which comes down to the case and the size of the card.

Otherwise the motherboard should be fine and its largely a case of chucking it in.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Chindie

[villanmike]

I have bought a new PC and thinking of selling my old PC as parts...one being the old graphics card a Radeon HD 6950 1GB...great card but I am not sure if it's future proof. (it also has the switch to upgrade it to HD 6970). It is PSU hungry tho (around 250 watts I think).

[villanmike]

Also, my opinion is, if you do buy a new PC for gaming you will want it future proofing, Crysis 3 is due out soon and some high end PC's of last year will not beable to run it on ULTRA setting...that's the sort of thing that is happening already!