Few Questions about PC building

Fol20

Hi Guys,

I maybe in the market in the coming weeks to buy a new desktop..
I have purchased laptops(macs) over the past few years but i really want to get back into pc gaming.

Ill fill in the questionnaire closer to the date, however i just have a few questions about the build.

Does it work out better/cheaper by buying the parts yourself and building it compared to buying off dell?

Has anyone had any problems returning items that are faulty?

Is it possible to get a gaming rig that is quiet. I usually game in the night and having a loud fan would bug me.

The main type of game i want to play will be RTS games(COH,COH2,SC2,Total War etc) Id usually use my xbox for everything else.What type of budget would you need to play these games on high settings.

I also want to get a 27" monitor(set aside 230e) for this. Would you recommend any type. At the moment i have a 22" LG however i dont like it as the monitor screen cant be adjusted vertically. Is it possible to get monitors with speakers automatically attached as i wouldnt mind playing my xbox on it as well?

I have a few mice already. Id prefer a wireless logitech kb as i already have the permance mx mouse. Is there any kb's you would recommend?

BloodBath

Does it work out better/cheaper by buying the parts yourself and building it compared to buying off dell?

Yes it's usually quite a lot cheaper and the pc will consist of higher quality parts with better upgrade options and the ability to overclock.

Has anyone had any problems returning items that are faulty?

I've been lucky but it's not much hassle. All the parts have their own warranties. HWVS may not be as easy as dell to deal with for returns but they will sort any problems if you get on to them.

Is it possible to get a gaming rig that is quiet. I usually game in the night and having a loud fan would bug me.

Yes there's an abundance of parts made for quietness. A very low hum is about as loud as it gets.

The main type of game i want to play will be RTS games(COH,COH2,SC2,Total War etc) Id usually use my xbox for everything else.What type of budget would you need to play these games on high settings.

For just the pc excluding windows and a monitor + accessories I'd say in the region of 600-650 for a non overclocked system and 700-800 for an overclocked one. You can spend less or more depending on how high you want to go with resolution and graphics settings.

I also want to get a 27" monitor(set aside 230e) for this. Would you recommend any type. At the moment i have a 22" LG however i dont like it as the monitor screen cant be adjusted vertically. Is it possible to get monitors with speakers automatically attached as i wouldnt mind playing my xbox on it as well?

I don't think you will get a decent 27" monitor that can be adjusted vertically for that kind of money. Correct me if I'm wrong. However for a bit more you could get something like this imported from korea which would have a far supeior panel to the majority of monitors out there as well as offering double the resolution of 1080p. This would be a lot more taxing on the pc for gaming though.

Serephucus

Also, just to add: While you can get monitors will in-built speakers, they're usually horrible. They're not quite as bad as a speaker on a smartphone, but they're not far off either. You'd be much better of getting a good quality monitor, and separate speakers.

Bloodbath's money estimates are spot on, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money to throw at it either. You can pay a bit more for things like a quieter case, better component cooling, as well as better fans. All of which will help keep the noise down.