What's the best value "off the shelf" Gaming PC right now?

jayteecork

Hey all,

A couple of years ago I bought a PC from Ankermann.

It was an e8400, 4GB RAM, and a 9800GTX+ graphics.

I paid like ~€500 and was very very happy with the purchase.
In terms of usage I don't think I've made a better purchase.

However since I don't have a quad core (and all newer games will be designed around this) and my gfx is outdated I'm wondering what the best deal currently is.

I not sure about using Ankermann again as he kept emailing me with excuses the last time, about waiting on components and whatnot (my friend had the exact same problem) plsu distance in shipping back to the Fatherland may be a pain.

Also he doesn't ship with an OS and Id like to upgrade to W7 as I have Vista installed on my current system.

Anyways I haven't a clue about building so I'd greatly appreciate any links. Dell, Dabs, Komplett or whatever. If Ankermann have a particularly good deal right now then tell me, I'm not sure what to look for as I don't keep up with all the latest GFX cards.

Thanks for looking and I'd greatly appreciate any replies.

Solitaire

Or you could always chance a HWVS system with the System Builder option on, adding another €20 to the cost as opposed to another €200 as you get with Dell etc. :rolleyes::p

massy086

jayteecork wrote: »

Hey all,

A couple of years ago I bought a PC from Ankermann.

It was an e8400, 4GB RAM, and a 9800GTX+ graphics.

I paid like ~€500 and was very very happy with the purchase.
In terms of usage I don't think I've made a better purchase.

However since I don't have a quad core (and all newer games will be designed around this) and my gfx is outdated I'm wondering what the best deal currently is.

I not sure about using Ankermann again as he kept emailing me with excuses the last time, about waiting on components and whatnot (my friend had the exact same problem) plsu distance in shipping back to the Fatherland may be a pain.

Also he doesn't ship with an OS and Id like to upgrade to W7 as I have Vista installed on my current system.

Anyways I haven't a clue about building so I'd greatly appreciate any links. Dell, Dabs, Komplett or whatever. If Ankermann have a particularly good deal right now then tell me, I'm not sure what to look for as I don't keep up with all the latest GFX cards.

Thanks for looking and I'd greatly appreciate any replies.

why not stick a new graphics card in and a quad core cpu job done

Solitaire

+1 depending on PSU model

lmimmfn

Agree totally,just upgrade what you have and save on total cost by flogging the old stuff( makes upgrading a lot cheaper )

jayteecork

Thanks for the replies.

I hear my mobo, the Gigabyte G31M-S2L is pretty poor.

I've never upgraded anything in my life so is it an easy process with said mobo.

Also could you guys recommend the best value quad core and gfx, pretty please!

Ta.

dnme

OP
I'm currently building a really decent machine made up almost entirely of secondhand deals on adverts.ie.

Intel Core i7 920
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C CPU cooler
Asus P6X58D-E Motherboard
Corsair dominator 6GB RAM
Corsair HX750 PSU
Coolermaster HAF 932 full tower
Sapphre 5870 vapour x graphics (may shop around for a second one in crossfirex mode)
Razer LYCOSA Gaming Keyboard
Razer Deathadder mouse
Sony 22x DVD Burner

I have bought all of the above secondhand in mint condition (cw boxes, manuals etc) mostly off adverts, but one or two items off ebay. So far I have spent around €1000. All I have left to get is a monitor or three.

marco_polo

The good news is the CPU is very upgradeable on that board anyway
http://ee.giga-byte.com/products/mb/cpulist/ga-g31m-s2l.html

Solitaire

Yup, you're just a BIOS update away from sticking a 45nm quad on

I'd be more worried about OCing on those cheapie boards, you really need to get a C2Q up to at least 3GHz for it to remain beastly even compared to current CPUs

As for GPU keep an eye out for GTX460 1GB models going cheap first-hand - I've seen pre-OCd models go for around €165 on a couple of occasions - or second-hand HD5850s (which are rare as hen's teeth ), so long as you have a decent enough PSU

massy086

jump on this good deal if you ask me http://www.adverts.ie/306091/hardware/intel-q6700/

jayteecork

Solitaire wrote: »

Yup, you're just a BIOS update away from sticking a 45nm quad on

How do I update the bios?!

I downloaded the update and got these files:

Clicking on any of them doesn't seem to do anything.


anyone help?!

PogMoThoin

You'll need the Gigabyte bios update utility, look on their website

jayteecork

PogMoThoin wrote: »

You'll need the Gigabyte bios update utility, look on their website

Thanks found it and updated.

However for some strange reason my "computer" is stating that I now have a floppy disk drive.

lmao, wtf?

PogMoThoin

jayteecork wrote: »

Thanks found it and updated.

However for some strange reason my "computer" is stating that I now have a floppy disk drive.

lmao, wtf?

You can disable that in the bios

jayteecork

massy086 wrote: »

jump on this good deal if you ask me http://www.adverts.ie/306091/hardware/intel-q6700/

Hey guys.
I put in an offer for the q6700 and the seller accepted.
However I'm not sure wheather or not I'll need a new fan
or "heatsink" (I have no idea what a heatsink is)

any ideas before I finalise the trade?

Ps: what's a good price for an e8400 on adverts.ie?

massy086

the heatsink off the e8400 will work fine the 8400 should still be worth 60-70 on adverts

jayteecork

I've actually decided not to go through with the trade.
That quad is outdated now and when I took off the side panel of my PC I just said f it.

I'm not going near it. I'd completely f up the system messing around in there.

So what I was thinking is if I could get rid of this rig to someone (e8400, 9800GTX+, 4GB, 500GB HD) then I could go for this:

http://ankermann-pc.shops4ecommerce.de/shop/sp.php?artnr=85382&pr=NzU5LjAw

i7, gtx40, looks mouth watering. What do you guys think the spec and the price?

I could probably get ~€200 for my current system.

lmimmfn

jayteecork wrote: »

I could probably get ~€200 for my current system.

youll easily get 250euro for it, possibly 300euro( if youre lucky )

Monotype

That PSU is more than likely a load of junk.

You could probably do just as good with parts from hardwareversand.

Tea_Bag

why go for i7? i5 would be just as good at gaming, and is alot cheaper.

also, build it yourself and itll save you a few bob.

Monotype

Looking at the prices on hardwareversand, you could definitely do better. Building it yourself is not as hard as you're probably thinking, but hwv put them together for something like €20.

How is "Intel® Original Box Cooler" a selling point?

Solitaire

Because it appeals to the pseudo-clueless - Ankermann's favourite victims...

seraphimvc

jayteecork wrote: »

How do I update the bios?!

I downloaded the update and got these files:

Clicking on any of them doesn't seem to do anything.


anyone help?!

hold on there m8, be very very very careful now! no matter what brand of mobo you are looking at, there is 50/50 chance that you can kill the bios. personally i killed 3 mobo by flashing the bios...(the rma process is a headache). google around about what should you do before update the bios.

and as everyone suggested, get a cpu+gpu upgrade then you have quite a machine there. i bought a pc from ankermann in 2007 and it is still running strong with a 5770+psu+ram upgrade. also, personally i would get a Win7, it is actually the simplest big performance upgrade from vista - well you at least 4gb ram to see that.

build the pc by youself if you are buying a new one. ankernann has some real bargain back then but now with the increased popularity of many websites(pix, hwv), ankermann deal is kinda meh.

jayteecork

seraphimvc wrote: »

hold on there m8, be very very very careful now! no matter what brand of mobo you are looking at, there is 50/50 chance that you can kill the bios. personally i killed 3 mobo by flashing the bios...(the rma process is a headache). google around about what should you do before update the bios.

and as everyone suggested, get a cpu+gpu upgrade then you have quite a machine there. i bought a pc from ankermann in 2007 and it is still running strong with a 5770+psu+ram upgrade. also, personally i would get a Win7, it is actually the simplest big performance upgrade from vista - well you at least 4gb ram to see that.

build the pc by youself if you are buying a new one. ankernann has some real bargain back then but now with the increased popularity of many websites(pix, hwv), ankermann deal is kinda meh.

The bios updated ok. At least I think it did. Althought anyone what button it is to enter on the bios on start up as I can only seem to get into the boot menu.
But according to "msinfo32" I have the bios version I installed going.

A also bought my system from ankermann(in 2008) and it's definitely one of my best ever purchases. That system I linked above looks juicy though. Although I might wait until these new "non bios" PCs come out next year.

Also, sorry if this is noob question but say I bought a copy of win7 can I keep all my files on my computer if I upgrade?

Thanks.

Monotype

Upgrade your existing vista computer to windows 7? Yes you can do that, but most people here will agree that clean installs are always the best. Two years worth of rubbish can slow down your computer quite a bit.