Ready made pc or self build

steamjetjoe

Hello all,

My current PC is about 4 or 5 years old (Dell ). I have been holding off for a release date for GTA IV (21st nov ) before I forked out on a new pc. I have been reading through the stickys but im still worried I might not be able to self build without screwing things up as I have never done it before. So firstly are the savings on a self build worth it compared to ordering a ready made pc. I reckon my budget will be around the 1200 euro mark and that price must include a monitor. The PC will mainly be a gaming & net surfing PC. Thats all I can think of at the mo.

Thanks for any advice

Joe

papu

steamjetjoe wrote: »

Hello all,

My current PC is about 4 or 5 years old (Dell ). I have been holding off for a release date for GTA IV (21st nov ) before I forked out on a new pc. I have been reading through the stickys but im still worried I might not be able to self build without screwing things up as I have never done it before. So firstly are the savings on a self build worth it compared to ordering a ready made pc. I reckon my budget will be around the 1200 euro mark and that price must include a monitor. The PC will mainly be a gaming & net surfing PC. Thats all I can think of at the mo.

Thanks for any advice

Joe

hardwareversand will build the Pc for you for about 25 quid

But still , the biggest kick people get on buying new computers is putting it altogether for allot of people

pogcica

That is a decent budget you have, you should get a good rig for that.
If i were you i would begin doing some research on components,
there are plenty of similar threads here where you will get some good ideas
then post up your needs and the good people who frequent these boards will give you all the advice you need.
There is also a lot of satisfaction to be had building yourself and its no more difficult than putting flat packed furniture together;)

dazftw

Yea I would say build it yourself purely for the satisfaction! Make sure though to check out tutorials about building pcs 1st. Youtube have alot of videos that would be helpful!

Sqaull20

Build yourself tis the job.Dont let anyone convince otherwize.

E8500, HD4870, 4GB PC 6400, x38/48 must be.

steamjetjoe

Thanks for the info. I must check out the youtube videos.

Sqaull20

Your budget is perfect for a class system, if you went lower you could get similar performance but you wouldnt be getting the features or build quality.€1200 will allow you to get 24" Monitor, high end psu and motherboard ( most important parts in a pc ) and a class case, Q6600 and HD4870 should be enough to max out GTA 4 and if it isnt you can always add another HD4870 later on.

Build below includes everything you will need besides a keyboard ( dont get one of that site, they're european layout )

steamjetjoe

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Your budget is perfect for a class system, if you went lower you could get similar performance but you wouldnt be getting the features or build quality.€1200 will allow you to get 24" Monitor, high end psu and motherboard ( most important parts in a pc ) and a class case, Q6600 and HD4870 should be enough to max out GTA 4 and if it isnt you can always add another HD4870 later on.

Build below includes everything you will need besides a keyboard ( dont get one of that site, they're european layout )

Hello Sqaull,

What site did you spec this from.
Looks like a dream pc but if I can Im going to try and get one for just under the 1000 euro mark. Plus would I not get away with a 19'' monitor, to try and save a few quid.

Sqaull20

steamjetjoe wrote: »

Hello Sqaull,

What site did you spec this from.
Looks like a dream pc but if I can Im going to try and get one for just under the 1000 euro mark. Plus would I not get away with a 19'' monitor, to try and save a few quid.

Its from Hardwareversand.com

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/2Vl6RbiFltlfwx/home.jsp

Even for a grand you should be getting minimum 22", games like GTA need that imo.

You can knock it down to €1000 easy, crossfire motherboard isnt really needed unless you plan to have a monster, 750watt psu can go too, a less fancy case can go as well, while keeping all the speed.



Changes: Monitor is 22" with lower refresh rate, motherboard is a decent P35 with no crossfire, 2 hard drives instead of one ( probably better that way incase one failed ), a nice case and slightly lowered power psu.

Its still a monster.

Moneymaker

Definetly self build it. 1200 should get you some juicy stuff. Quad core cpu, 4gb of ddr3, and 22inch+ monitor should be considered.

steamjetjoe

The more I look around the more I realise I dont need to spend over 1000 euro to get a decent pc. I have been browesing through some of the german ebay sites for component bundles & the price seem good eg http://cgi.ebay.de/10000MHz-QuadCore-X4-PHENOM-ASUS-780G-HDMI-2GB-800-CL4_W0QQitemZ200243277001QQihZ010QQcategoryZ115479QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now for a stupid question no doubt. Is there mush difference between intel chips and AMD??? Pros & Cons??

pogcica

http://cgi.ebay.de/10000MHz-QuadCore...QQcmdZViewItem

@10000MHz+QuadCore X4 PHENOM

:D:D;)
Thats some drop in budget
that MOBO has on board graphics and i don't think it will play GTA IV,I don't know what the processor is like but don't let the description sway you, its a cheap marketing gimmick.
most people on here reccomend intel CPU's.
You have been Spec,d a couple of top of the pops PC's for the original budget you mentioned,So is it a gaming PC you want or what

Rgds D

jonny72

Read reviews if you can..

I would go for intel over AMD, the current intel chips are very good, especially the quadcore 6600 and the core2duo 8400.. however amd are always lowering prices..

I wouldn't really touch those german ebay bundles to be honest, quite often a lot of those are not huge savings and you are better off getting a decent machine..

Hardwareversand.de and Ankermann-pc have good track records, but I wouldn't venture into anything else, too risky, especially if you don't know much about PC's.. its very easy to fall for the 1000000000000 mhz!! ULTRA RAM, ULTRA KOOL MOTHERBOARD, when they aren't really..

Hardwareversand are the cheapest for individual parts I've seen.

Ankermann-PC are decent, but recently have excellent deals on ebay.

Dell from Ireland are good for standard machines.

steamjetjoe

I understand what you are saying. I can hardly tell my bits from my bites At the mo I think Ill go for a pc that has been spec'd earlier by on of you guys but as someone suggested I might get the pc built in factory. Alot of the clips I watched on youtube of people building their pc actuall seem shocked when they power on the pc and it actually works:eek:. As mentioned before Hardwareversand.de can put it together for 25 euro.

PogMoThoin

[QUOTE=Sqaull20;56853775
Even for a grand you should be getting minimum 22", games like GTA need that imo.[/QUOTE]

GTA4 on Xbox and ps3 was only 630p, not even 720p, hope they improve the resolution for the pc release and allow antialiasing unlike San Andreas

Imagine 630p on my 24', meh, i'll give it a miss if it is

steamjetjoe

Thanks for the info & help guys. Ill more than likely order the pc at the start of november so I have a bit of time yet to organise things. Cheers Sqaull20, Ill work off your recomendations.:)

Overheal

my mate built his own crysis killer machine. somehow he managed to melt the gpu. He forgot to apply any thermal paste in the build at all >.< and after we told him to do that he used half the tube

steamjetjoe

Overheal wrote: »

my mate built his own crysis killer machine. somehow he managed to melt the gpu. He forgot to apply any thermal paste in the build at all >.< and after we told him to do that he used half the tube

This is exactly why ill let the pro's build the pc for me. If I were to attempt it I can imagine a Homer Simpson sceneario ( when he caused a nuclear meltdown on a training reactor ):)