Gamer spec ?

Piliger

Hi all, Came here in december with a spec but couldn't come through with the cash ... looking at it again from Marx Computers: Could someone look this over and point out anything I should swap in/out ?

It's for my 20yo son who wants to play WoW and LoL and SkyRIM.

Intel Core i5 2500 / 3.3 GHz - LGA1155 Socket - L3 6 MB - not overclockable
Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro Quiet Cooler
Intel MicroATX with GB LAN USB3
CoolerMaster Elite RC-430 Case
Antec High Current Gamer HCG-750 Power Supply
HIS HD7750 iCooler 1024MB PCI-E DVI/­HDMI/­DP DDR5 ret
8GB DDR3 (2x4GB)
Cardreader
500GB SATA III
DVD-Writer SATA
HP 2004 Standard Keyboard PT USB Keyboard
Logitech USB Mouse
Windows 7 Home Premium
24" DVI LCD Screen

Thanks !

Eboggles

Piliger wrote: »

Hi all, Came here in december with a spec but couldn't come through with the cash ... looking at it again from Marx Computers: Could someone look this over and point out anything I should swap in/out ?

It's for my 20yo son who wants to play WoW and LoL and SkyRIM.

Intel Core i5 2500 / 3.3 GHz - LGA1155 Socket - L3 6 MB - not overclockable
Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro Quiet Cooler
Intel MicroATX with GB LAN USB3
CoolerMaster Elite RC-430 Case
Antec High Current Gamer HCG-750 Power Supply
HIS HD7750 iCooler 1024MB PCI-E DVI/­HDMI/­DP DDR5 ret
8GB DDR3 (2x4GB)
Cardreader
500GB SATA III
DVD-Writer SATA
HP 2004 Standard Keyboard PT USB Keyboard
Logitech USB Mouse
Windows 7 Home Premium
24" DVI LCD Screen

Thanks !

Absolute rip off, and I haven't even seen the price

Fill this out, and we'll sort you out

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

also for the love of god there's no need to capitalise RIM in skyrim.. it's not that kind of game

Piliger

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

also for the love of god there's no need to capitalise RIM in skyrim.. it's not that kind of game

ooooh ... sorry about that ... I am not a gamer so who knew !! :rolleyes:

frozenfrozen

Isn't skyRIM what you call a rimjob in an aeroplane?

Whatever the price of that build is you could build it yourself for a lot less. And if you don't feel confident doing it yourself, you can either pay hardwareversand to do it or get someone from this forum who lives near you to do it

Piliger

Eboggles wrote: »

Absolute rip off, and I haven't even seen the price

Fill this out, and we'll sort you out

I really do appreciate you taking the time ... are you saying that the specs are bad choices ? out of date ? or that Marx will inevitably be too expensive ?


1. What is your budget? 1,100 to 1,250 incl VAT

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming :: WoW, Skyrim

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? YES

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No unfortunately.

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes.

5a. If yes, what size do you need? about 21" will be fine.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] We will source a mouse and card reader and speakers. Looking for a low profile keyboard similar to iMac. Saw a HP one in PCWorld that looked good.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No. Not techy enough.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] Any and all.

9. When are you purchasing? As soon as spec looks right. Ready now.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] I am in Ranelagh, but reluctant to get into self build. Not because of the actual construction, I am pretty nifty with a screw driver and have upgraded and fiddled about in the backs of computers for decades. But because of having to order multiple parts with multiple arrival times etc to my Apartment. I don't have a car.

frozenfrozen

Piliger wrote: »

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] I am in Ranelagh, but reluctant to get into self build. Not because of the actual construction, I am pretty nifty with a screw driver and have upgraded and fiddled about in the backs of computers for decades. But because of having to order multiple parts with multiple arrival times etc to my Apartment. I don't have a car.

You can order all parts from one website. The website we commonly use here is called hardwareversand. You need to send them a bank transfer, but it's either a single trip to the bank or you can maybe do it online. They give you a swift code and iban number. It's really straight forward. Like you've said you're good at putting things together, just think of this as expensive lego, except it's more rewarding . For 20 euro extra hardwareversand will build it for you. Also I'm sure someone from near where you are on this forum would be happy to help put it together for you, if you don't mind supplying some tea that is!

Eboggles

Piliger wrote: »

I really do appreciate you taking the time ... are you saying that the specs are bad choices ? out of date ? or that Marx will inevitably be too expensive ?


1. What is your budget? 1,100 to 1,250 incl VAT

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming :: WoW, Skyrim

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? YES

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No unfortunately.

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes.

5a. If yes, what size do you need? about 21" will be fine.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] We will source a mouse and card reader and speakers. Looking for a low profile keyboard similar to iMac. Saw a HP one in PCWorld that looked good.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No. Not techy enough.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] Any and all.

9. When are you purchasing? As soon as spec looks right. Ready now.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] I am in Ranelagh, but reluctant to get into self build. Not because of the actual construction, I am pretty nifty with a screw driver and have upgraded and fiddled about in the backs of computers for decades. But because of having to order multiple parts with multiple arrival times etc to my Apartment. I don't have a car.

This a much, much, much better build.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Tray, LGA1155|€210.97
Thermalright True Spirit 120|€21.97
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€36.71
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€86.69
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-550W 80plus bulk|€60.18
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€53.79
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€90.03
BenQ G2255|€100.98
EVGA GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€361.81
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€18.57
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€61.61
Samsung SSD 830 64GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€69.29
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1191.59

If you're not comfortable building it, someone here will happily do it. It's great fun. If you don't want that, Hardwareversand do a building service (here) for €20

This is how much better the build is.

Piliger

frozenfrozen wrote: »

You can order all parts from one website. The website we commonly use here is called hardwareversand. You need to send them a bank transfer, but it's either a single trip to the bank or you can maybe do it online. They give you a swift code and iban number. It's really straight forward. Like you've said you're good at putting things together, just think of this as expensive lego, except it's more rewarding . For 20 euro extra hardwareversand will build it for you. Also I'm sure someone from near where you are on this forum would be happy to help put it together for you, if you don't mind supplying some tea that is!

Thanks for that. I am sure this is a dumb question but I am also afraid of ordering all the main parts (HD, main board, box, RAM) but forgetting something small and crucial .... how do I know if I have ? :rolleyes:

Skylinehead

Piliger wrote: »

Thanks for that. I am sure this is a dumb question but I am also afraid of ordering all the main parts (HD, main board, box, RAM) but forgetting something small and crucial .... how do I know if I have ? :rolleyes:

CPU
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Case
Hard drive
SSD
RAM
Optical drive
Power supply
Monitor
Windows
CPU Cooler

Go through that

Tea_Bag

and thermal paste for that cooler!

-( i )- Wicker

I recently purchased this lot from Hardwareversand and was very impressed by the result:
(basket script wont work for me atm)

CPU: Intel i5-3570K
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Pro3
RAM: 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9
Case: BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0
PSU: Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W
Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Macho
DVD-RW: LiteOn iHAS124-19
SSD: Samsung SSD 830 128GB
OS: Windows 7 home 64 bit english
GPU: MSI N560GTX-Ti-M2D1GD5/OC
Total cost was €909 including delivery.

Like I said, very impressed with the performance. Came with everything needed apart from an irish power lead (PSU came with an EU lead) but they're very easy to find. Thermal paste came with the cooler.

If you're not overclocking, you could probably drop the cooler and use the stock one that comes with the CPU. On top of what I listed, you might need a hard drive for additional storage, as well as a monitor. Also if you need wireless, you can buy a dongle for about €20.
Don't buy a keyboard from Hardwareversand as they have german layout.

Piliger

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

If you're not overclocking, you could probably drop the cooler and use the stock one that comes with the CPU. On top of what I listed, you might need a hard drive for additional storage, as well as a monitor. Also if you need wireless, you can buy a dongle for about €20.
Don't buy a keyboard from Hardwareversand as they have german layout.

Thanks Wicker.

I just remembered that I have no ethernet ... only wireless from UPC. Would it be better to have it built in ?

-( i )- Wicker

Personally, I used to use a wireless pci card but the signal from behind my desk wasn't great. I've been using a wireless dongle with a USB extender lead since and I find it much better as I can move it around to find a good signal, but I'm sure some people will disagree with me.

frozenfrozen

Buy some really long cat6 cable if you need to. You will get much better performance on wired rather than wireless. always go wired if you can

norrie rugger

Are you buying this for your 20 year old son??

If so, can you adopt me??

Skylinehead

norrie rugger wrote: »

Are you buying this for your 20 year old son??

If so, can you adopt me??

I'm 20 and I'm buying me own damned PC :mad:

DaleHyland

Skylinehead wrote: »

norrie rugger wrote: »

Are you buying this for your 20 year old son??

If so, can you adopt me??

I'm 20 and I'm buying me own damned PC :mad:

16 year old just having bought my own PC , I think we have a competition on here.

frozenfrozen

17 and went and had to go through a load of hoops just for the bank to let me send money...yesterday.... had to walk home twice.....

TomCo

I'm 12 years old and what is this?

(sorry, I couldn't resist dusting that meme off)

Might be a good idea to price the op's original spec on hardwareversand to show how much you're saving comparatively buying online.

thewheel2.0

Tea_Bag wrote: »

and thermal paste for that cooler!

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

Thermal paste came with the cooler.

Is the Thermal Paste that comes with the cooler quality paste or just some pack-in crap?

frozenfrozen

Build from OP:
Item|Price
Intel Core i5-2500 Box, LGA1155|€188.78
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 13 Pro(Sockel 775/1155/1156/1366/754/939/AM2/AM2 +/AM3/AM3+/FM1)|€24.87
Intel DQ67SW, Q67 (B3), mATX|€113.34
Antec High Current Gamer HCG-750|€102.99
HIS HD 7750 iCooler GDDR5 1024MB DP/DVI/HDMI|€99.19
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-8500U CL7|€42.03
WD RE4 500GB, SATA II (WD5003ABYX)|€86.77
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€80.19
Logitech Marathon Mouse M705 -refresh-|€31.49
Logitech Media Keyboard K200|€11.54
Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7261S LS, SATA, schwarz, bulk|€20.18
ASUS ML249H 61.0cm (24")|€186.08
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1006.44


If i couldn't find a part I just threw in anything that seemed kind of similar. OP: how much was the price of the pc you were going to buy?

Marcjan

my suggestion - go for a better graphic card
your pick HD7750 is the lowest /budget solution for low intensity video games

actually the second digit in the radeon's name is very important
and according to wiki :
4 to 6 at entry level, for media and home theatre,
7 for low intensity video games (typically using older graphics engines, or widespread games, such as Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft) or high-intensity games with lowered settings, and
8 for high-intensity games, such as Crysis or Far Cry 2.
9 was a special denotation, first used on the Radeon 5970, relating to a dual chip or internal ATI CrossFire card.

this means a 7750 is less powerful than a 7850 or even even 6990

TheAmateur

thewheel2.0 wrote: »

Is the Thermal Paste that comes with the cooler quality paste or just some pack-in crap?

I think it's actually supposed to be alright, it's Thermalright's "Chill Factor" stuff. They give you 5g with the True Spirit 120, but don't do what I did and squeeze the whole 5g onto the CPU! 5g is waay too much, about 2g should be enough. In fact, I found installing the True Spirit to be quite confusing. The instructions aren't great. OP if you run into problems, just ask here.

Skylinehead

Marcjan wrote: »

my suggestion - go for a better graphic card
your pick HD7750 is the lowest /budget solution for low intensity video games

actually the second digit in the radeon's name is very important
and according to wiki :
4 to 6 at entry level, for media and home theatre,
7 for low intensity video games (typically using older graphics engines, or widespread games, such as Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft) or high-intensity games with lowered settings, and
8 for high-intensity games, such as Crysis or Far Cry 2.
9 was a special denotation, first used on the Radeon 5970, relating to a dual chip or internal ATI CrossFire card.

this means a 7750 is less powerful than a 7850 or even even 6990

That's a little bit wrong, the 9 that denotes a dual-chip card is the third digit. And the second digit is more along the lines of 6 = HTPC, 7 = light, non-GPU intensive games, 8 = mid-range gamer cards, 9 = top-end cards. First digit is generation of cards, and the last digit is...well 0.

Fluffy88

This here is why we all love AMD and well all the major computer companies naming schemes.
The 9 as a third digit doesn't actually donate a dual chip card, the original dual GPU cards from AMD were all X970 and some were X970 x2.
I think they like to see people being confused. There is no way to really tell where a GPU sits performance wise based solely on it's name as the naming conventions seem to change with every new generation that comes along.

The only real thing the naming conventions do indicate that doesn't change all the time is, a bigger number > a lower number card of the same generation. Other than that you have to look at benchmark results to see the real performance and to get a proper comparison to other brands/generations.

Piliger

frozenfrozen wrote: »

If i couldn't find a part I just threw in anything that seemed kind of similar. OP: how much was the price of the pc you were going to buy?

Hey thanks a HEAP for all that effort ! That'll make ordering so much easier for me.

Tks !

Piliger

Guys thanks so much for all for all of the help.

Before I move on this ... would anyone have any suggestions on Eboggles's alternative suggested system back on page 1 ?

Should I go with his package en bloc ? or swap in any of it ?

Also - if I were to stay with mine, and put another 100-150 quid into it, would I be better to put it into a better graphics card ?(which?) or processor ?

tks guys.

-( i )- Wicker

Eboggles build looks good, though maybe spend €4 more and get the z77 instead of z68 motherboard.

Don't forget on top of that you'll need a third SATA cable (2 come with the mobo), a wireless adaptor if you want it, and possibly a monitor cable and irish power adaptor for the PSU (i'm not sure what comes supplied).
Oh, and a USB mouse, I had the problem of only having a ps/2 mouse at hand when i finished my build

Also I recommend building it yourself, its a good experience if you're enthusiastic about it.

Piliger

If there is no further comment on it, I plan to go with Eboggles' build over the weekend ....


Could someone point me to a thread dealing with the paying of this German company ? I gather they don't take Credit card or laser ?

frozenfrozen

Piliger wrote: »

If there is no further comment on it, I plan to go with Eboggles' build over the weekend ....


Could someone point me to a thread dealing with the paying of this German company ? I gather they don't take Credit card or laser ?

They send you an email with the information to a bank account, including IBAN and SWIFT number, you go into the bank, ask to transfer money via this way, and then fill out a simple form and send the money from your account. You can also do it online if you use online banking.

Piliger

Ah ok. I have online banking ... and I see they say they take VISA on the site ... but I read somewhere they don't take it from Ireland :rolleyes:

Piliger

Hi Guys ...

Just to let you know I ordered the spec recommend by eBoggles ........ looking forward to delivery

Thanks for all your help !

Piliger

Hi guys ... update ... after five hours trouble shooting with the help of eBoggles ... eventually up and running on the net via wifi dongle (netgear)

Q: It is at it's highest res (1280*1024) I thought it would go higher ..... ?

Q: I can see that th screen proportion is wrong. My son cannot spot it but I can. It is not on widescreen mode ... how can I set that ? I have gone through resolution and graphics settings etc but no luck

Thanks in advance.

Tea_Bag

did you definitely get this screen?

www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=58698&agid=603

right click on your desktop and select 'screen resolution' then slide the bar all the way up to 1920*1080. that will also fix your 4:3 woes.

Eboggles

Install latest graphics drivers from Nvidia website. You're looking for the 64-bit windows 7 one.

Piliger

Eboggles wrote: »

Install latest graphics drivers from Nvidia website. You're looking for the 64-bit windows 7 one.

Hi and thanks. What I ignored were the drivers on the actual graphics card disk ... I ignored it because my memory of my time with windows was always that the ones on the disk were the oldest ... seems in this case I was wrong
Installed the ones on the disk and all now is fixed ... and res is up to 1920 I think.

Solved again ... thanks !!

Piliger

One more thing guys ..........

I got the Shinobi Midi-tower as in the list on page one of this thread..

It has two blue and two white USB ports on top.

a) Can anyone tell me the significance of the blue and white ?

b) I transferred about 60 photos from a DSLR to the HD yesterday. I then t/f the files to a 4Gb mem stick (USB2). I think the t/f rate was about 3.2Mb/s but can't be sure. I then took the mem stick to my 4yo iMac and t/f the files to it. I would estimate that the t/f to my iMac was about 4 times faster ........ Why is that ?


Thanks in advance !

PS the system I got with your help is doing fantastically well. It is screaming along and booting up in like 20s or less brilliant and my son is loving it

Eboggles

Piliger wrote: »

One more thing guys ..........

I got the Shinobi Midi-tower as in the list on page one of this thread..

It has two blue and two white USB ports on top.

a) Can anyone tell me the significance of the blue and white ?

b) I transferred about 60 photos from a DSLR to the HD yesterday. I then t/f the files to a 4Gb mem stick (USB2). I think the t/f rate was about 3.2Mb/s but can't be sure. I then took the mem stick to my 4yo iMac and t/f the files to it. I would estimate that the t/f to my iMac was about 4 times faster ........ Why is that ?


Thanks in advance !

PS the system I got with your help is doing fantastically well. It is screaming along and booting up in like 20s or less brilliant and my son is loving it

The blue is USB 3.0, which should give much faster speeds than USB 2.0, which is what the white one is.

Procrastastudy

One (blue IIRC) is USB 3.0 the others are USB 2.0

Piliger

Eboggles wrote: »

The blue is USB 3.0, which should give much faster speeds than USB 2.0, which is what the white one is.

There are two blue and two white ....

So both blue are 3 ... ok