Gaming pc help for WoW mainly but will play other titles

Italian Bear

ok so my budget is 950 euro and i would like the pc to be able to run WoW beautifully but i will be playing other graphic intesive games such as dead space 2 and others.
the resoloution will be 1920x1080

primarily i will be playing wow, maybe try guild wars or aion or eve online but i will also play other games so it has to have that capability to run them flawlessly if you guys get me.

so ive been looking in pc world incase they got any off the shelf set ups i cud start with, i asked them to get in some because i was interested in buying and they came up with an advent one which is crap and an acer predator g5900-1, these are the specs for that one

acer pred g5900-1
intel i5-650
4 gigs ddr3 im 1333mhz dual channel
nVidia gts340 1 gig

its really low end with the graphics card and their asking 949 euro so i wudnt be considering that model at all due to the graphics card.

the dell model was this
studio xps
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
intel® Core™ i7-2600 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB)
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 5770 graphics card
6144MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [2x2048 + 2x1024] Memory
*not a fan of the ram set up so i will change it myself*
this set up cost 979 euros

the alienware aurora with new second gen intel processors is my favourite so far over all BUT again it is dell and i dont know, i need peoples opinion on dell's alienware upgradeability and performance, everyone says there is better than alienware, well not exactly when you dont have a pc to begin with or upgrade anyways this is the spec.

alienware aurora @ 1099 euros, willing to stretch.
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i5-2400 (3.10GHz 6MB L3 Cache, 4C)
1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 (ill admit big fan of this offer)
3072MB (3x1GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (i can upgrade this off dabs.ie for like 50 and get 3 extra gigs of the same brand)
plus they come watercooled, the processor that is.


so far they are my options, people say ow its easier to build a better spec for 1000 euro, well if u take away the OS cost it leaves u with 900 euro and after that its so not easy.

but please offer your help or experience. again im willing to get a normal system and upgrade it over time so do your magic forums!

Kiith

Don't buy a pre-built pc. You'll pay through the roof for something that you could build youself for a lot cheaper. Have a look at overclockers.co.uk, komplett.ie or other similar sites, and DIY it. It's really very easy to do. Check out http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842 for some great advice on building your own.

Shougeki

Can always run linux and games under wine. It aint that bad any more.

Personally im currently in the market for a PC too, but want a lappy, and budget is 600-1000.

While most ppl hate Dell, ive had no problems with them through the years (i work in IT, and the failure rate isnt as high as ppl say), but one thing i am a stickler for is 3yr warranty or the ability to continue after a year.

The one bonus about building yourself is a lot of parts come with longer than 3yr standard. Certain make of PSU come with 7yr, Seagate (?) drives come with 5 etc

Italian Bear

Thanks for your replys, ive spent all day between dabs and komplett and they both have one or two bits that are more expensive than the other but komplett.ie came out on top where dabs had my build at 1050 eur0 and komplett.ie came to 920 before i added ram so it was 1000 or just under.

this was the specs for both systems, near identical except for disk drive brands and stuff like that.

Antec 900 case or Cooler Master Haf 922

intel i5 2500k 3.3 gig 6mb L3 cache
corsair 850 watt psu
windows 7 home premium 64 bit
4 gigs ddr 3 1600 mhz pc3 10600
sapphire ati 6850 1 gig
Asus P8P67 LGA 1155 intel p67 ddr3 atx or MSi p671-c43 ip67


im going to do another rebuild with them and see how it goes, the only thing is that dabs has better selection overall, even though komplett has the good brands in stock, its dabs selection that draws me in, but i can pick up the parts myself from komplett so i would be willing to order maybe one thing from dabs but not the whole set up because i would get it sooner from komplett

deceit

Italian Bear wrote: »

Thanks for your replys, ive spent all day between dabs and komplett and they both have one or two bits that are more expensive than the other but komplett.ie came out on top where dabs had my build at 1050 eur0 and komplett.ie came to 920 before i added ram so it was 1000 or just under.

this was the specs for both systems, near identical except for disk drive brands and stuff like that.

Antec 900 case or Cooler Master Haf 922

intel i5 2500k 3.3 gig 6mb L3 cache
corsair 850 watt psu
windows 7 home premium 64 bit
4 gigs ddr 3 1600 mhz pc3 10600
sapphire ati 6850 1 gig
Asus P8P67 LGA 1155 intel p67 ddr3 atx or MSi p671-c43 ip67


im going to do another rebuild with them and see how it goes, the only thing is that dabs has better selection overall, even though komplett has the good brands in stock, its dabs selection that draws me in, but i can pick up the parts myself from komplett so i would be willing to order maybe one thing from dabs but not the whole set up because i would get it sooner from komplett

Thats a much better choice than the prebuilt ones especially with the k series with its overclocking can get up too 4.5ghz on air.

Overheal

As long as you're going with a sapphire card go with a Vapor X. Though, I know they dont have a 6-series vapor X as of yet

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/VaporX/VaporX_index.aspx?cid=4

uncle_sam_ie

I was running WoW on a Mac mini and like you I decided that I wanted to play the game at its full glory. My intention was to build my own. The biggest problem I found when it comes to building your own is getting together the right bits and were to buy. So, I called a friend for advice and he gave me a number of a guy near me that builds PC's. It only cost me 70 euro's for him to build it plus the cost of the parts. In the end it only cost me 600 euro's. If I had bought it from the likes of Dell I would have had to pay over a thousand to get what I got. I play WoW now at it's highest setting in 25 man raids and it's absolutely awesome. I totally recommend doing it this way. Your getting a less expensive hand built PC with better components, oppose to a PC built with cheap proprietary parts whipped up in a China sweat shop. Have a look to see if there is anyone in your local area building PC's, if you don't want to do it yourself or PM me and I'll give you the number of the guy that built mine.

Dermighty

Ankermann

My brother bought one of these through pixmania. Great value, he got the one for 700 or 800. It's really fast and very quiet. You need to get a copy of windows and buy a monitor, keyboard and mouse but otherwise it's great value.

Italian Bear

thanks very much for all the replies so far! its been a great help, and now i just got the bane of all luck and was told my budget was dwarfed to 650 euro, yes mammy decided it was too expensive, funny how that works, a bit of personal information why not i say, im 19 btw so not exactly a child u know but we were in pc world and the premade pc was 950, my dad whos divorced is giving me 500 euro as a late birthday and xmas present, im delighted with that, the deal with my mum was i give her MY 40 inch full hd plasma tv t put in her room and she gives me the money she would have spent on a new tv instead, like why get a third tv when a new computer would be of more use, i say 3rd cause the one in the sitting room is only good as a wreckin ball haha but she was gonna spend 650 on a new tv and she said she wud give me 500 for it which is again fantastic. but now she said 950 is too much and said shes giving me 150 euro......my tv is already in her room.....yeh i dont think so there mam.. so yeh the budget is 650, minus 100 euro for windows 7, and another 100 for say a case and power supply which is quite under budgeting im still left with 450 to get everything else, so that wont work.


thank you very much though dermighty for the link, it does seem like a great website and im going to check it out more. my mum is also against me building it myself incase i mess it up and its all the money down the drain, like i said ive done my work on it and im confident i can build it myself, thank you uncle_sam_ie, it is of great help, your offer i mean but i dont think ill be using it on this occasion, non the less i shall keep it in mind.

so now im off with a budget of 650 eur0, to be honest if i can stretch it i might just go for a new dell studio xps with the second gen intel chips but that is a last resort.

keep an eye on this post because ill be back with my findings on a premade buillt pc i mean, just dont expect it to be like that one i posted originally, my god it looks even better now that i cant get it haha cyas in a while, probably tonight ill have something to post!

Shougeki

Italian Bear wrote: »

the second gen intel chips but that is a last resort.

The intel integrated graphics are AWFUL for games. I was using a 945 and getting about 10 FPS outside Raid/party. About 3FPS in a dungeon.

Just my €0.02

Italian Bear

sorry i wasnt clear enough, what i mean by second gen intel chips was the likes of the i5 2500k or i5 2500 processors , the (k means the processor chip can be overclocked as the multiplier for overclocking is not restricted unlike the i5 2500 which is restricted hence why the k version costs around 20 euro more.)

but i didnt mean using an intel integrated graphics card haha no way!

uncle_sam_ie

With that budget you should have look on Adverts.ie for a secondhand gaming PC. They have some good deals going.

Italian Bear

i was looking at the website dermighty linked above and found this for 600 eur0 and to be honest its waaaaaaay better than the acer predator g5900-1 with the i5 processor that pc world are selling for 950,

here are the stats at 600 euro
Phenom II X4 '965'
4x 3.40GHz
ATI Radeon® HD 6850 1024MB OC
4,00GB RAM DDR3 1600MHz PC1600 (2 Module)
GigaByte GA-880GA-UD3H, 880G
HardDisc 500GB SATA-2 HDD
24x DL DVD±RW Multi Format Writer
8 Channel High Definition Audio
DSL Ready Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Ankermann 905 Case | Cardreader
750 Watt | Cooler XILENCE Silent cooler

im still looking fellas

Retrovertigo

It doesn't take that much to run WoW on max but if you are going to build a PC you'll not find anywhere cheaper than http://www3.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp

They can assemble it for you.

Willow01

I was hoping to do this aswell but Im not all that expierienced with this kind of stuff would these specs go well together? If someone could tell me what else I need (apart from a case of course, although any advice there wouldnt go amiss) Id much appreciate it

ASUS M4A87TD, AM3, ATX

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Box

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB, 32MB


8GB-Kit Corsair DDR3 PC1600 CL9 Dominator

Sapphire VAPOR-X HD5750 1G

Antec True Power Quattro 1000W

Overheal

You dont need a surprising amount of technical knowledge to plug a PC together but it helps.

The only thing I would suggest differently there is go for an X6 black because I mean hell - more power. That and 8gb ram is overkill, unless its cheap (and its not) you should only go with a 2x2 kit, leave 2 of your channels empty until the price on the other 4 comes down and thats then assuming you even need it. Its going to be another couple years I wager before anything consumes that much memory. WoW certainly doesn't require it. you also want to go to ASUS's website, find the Compatability List for that motherboard and make sure the model RAM you are buying is supported: the serials should match up. If they don't, you can't guarantee the Machine will Post when you power it on.

If going for Vapor-X get the 5770. Not much more and already it's not quite enough to pound out WoW on a big screen with full settings (1920x1080). The Vapor-X comes in handy though if you plan to do after-market overclocking but that takes quite a bit of knowledge in hardware that even I don't dick around with to be honest. Stock settings, Vapor-X is a nice quiet little card.

Shougeki

Overheal wrote: »

If they don't, you can't guarantee the Machine will Post when you power it on..

You mean won't POST. The power on self test is part of the startup. :P

TheDoc

Sorry I didnt come in here earlier.

I think the " dont buy prebuilt" philosophy of thinking is long dead.

There are so many companies out there making fantastic built rigs at great prices.

I paid 600 for a beasty machine from www.overclockers.co.uk

They overlocked the hole thing aswell safely and provided me a guide to show how to adjust the overclocking.

I've everything set to basic, I run all my games on full 1900x1080 and get great fps.

Wow runs on full and I get about 80fps in stormwind and roughly 120-160fps in raids/dungeons.

Granted you only need between 40-50 to operate smoothly, its a good indication how your machine handles games

I'd defo recommend them, at my house 72 hours after purchase ready to go, full warranty on every component aswell

noworries

TheDoc wrote: »

I paid 600 for a beasty machine from www.overclockers.co.uk
l

:eek: Did you get the Hogger:eek:


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-168-OE&groupid=43&catid=1892&subcat=

Willow01

Ah okay cool so the RAM would be the only major thing? also would their maybe be a better graphics card on the market in the same price range?

Jonny7

Willow01 wrote: »

I was hoping to do this aswell but Im not all that expierienced with this kind of stuff would these specs go well together? If someone could tell me what else I need (apart from a case of course, although any advice there wouldnt go amiss) Id much appreciate it

ASUS M4A87TD, AM3, ATX

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Box

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB, 32MB


8GB-Kit Corsair DDR3 PC1600 CL9 Dominator

Sapphire VAPOR-X HD5750 1G

Antec True Power Quattro 1000W

Woah for a start you don't need 1000 watt power

The graphics card is entry level for gaming (but still good)

Go to the building and upgrading forum and give your budget and your monitor resolution and they'll spec something up for you

Overheal

Yeah you wouldn't even need 500, but the differences in prices below that are negligible and i you go too cheap, you Get cheap.