Where to buy a gaming pc

MADFI5H

I have recently decided to buy a new gaming PC and the last couple of days i have been searching the internet for advice on where to buy 1 but with little luck because everywhere i go the consensus is i shudnt i shud build my own,
i would love to be able to do this but unfortunatly i dont have the knowledge or the time to put into learning how so im hoping maybe someone here has some advice on where to buy a prebuilt gaming pc and some ideas on what pc to buy

I have a budget of around 1000 euros and im just looking for the tower as i have a decent keyboard and mouse and wud prefer to use my hdtv than a monitor, i also have an astro a40 headset and would like the pc to be capable of getting the most out of those

im situated in meath but wud be ok with buying online or traveling to buy 1

any advice anyone can give me would be really apprecited as the laptop i bought 3 years ago for 1000 euro has been a big regret and i dont want to waste my money again

blades.ofglory

MADFI5H wrote: »

I have recently decided to buy a new gaming PC and the last couple of days i have been searching the internet for advice on where to buy 1 but with little luck because everywhere i go the consensus is i shudnt i shud build my own,
i would love to be able to do this but unfortunatly i dont have the knowledge or the time to put into learning how so im hoping maybe someone here has some advice on where to buy a prebuilt gaming pc and some ideas on what pc to buy

I have a budget of around 1000 euros and im just looking for the tower as i have a decent keyboard and mouse and wud prefer to use my hdtv than a monitor, i also have an astro a40 headset and would like the pc to be capable of getting the most out of those

im situated in meath but wud be ok with buying online or traveling to buy 1

any advice anyone can give me would be really apprecited as the laptop i bought 3 years ago for 1000 euro has been a big regret and i dont want to waste my money again

The guys on her can spec a great build if you are going down that route, If you require any help I live close by!

Genghiz Cohen

I'd recommend 2 things.

1) Build yourself if you have the time, it's fun and quite rewarding.
2) Get a proper PC monitor, with that budget you won't have too many issues fitting one in.

If you are adamant that you don't want to build yourself you can still buy the parts (as opposed to prebuilt) and tell the company to build it for you. Hardwareversand are currently building for €5. (IIRC)

MADFI5H

thx for the quick replys guys

seems hardwareversand is the most recommended site on here, may i ask wat are the pro and cons( if any) to using this site and if i was to have them build a PC would it be ready to run straight out of the box?

im an electrican by trade so the assembly wudnt daunt me and i imagine is quite enjoyable its more my complete lack of knowledge on computer components and setting up the software

about the monitor i have a sony bravia and currently use it as my monitor and really like it, wat wud be the advantages to getting a proper pc monitor?

also would any1 have a suggested build for my budget i will do some research on it but wud like to have somewhere to start

BloodBath

Fill this in. There's a few builds here for around 1000 if you check some of the recent threads.


1. What is your budget? [€xxx]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]

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

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]

MADFI5H

1. What is your budget? [€1000 could go over if needed, value for money is more important than price to me]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming, arma 2 and 3 dayz(suposedly cpu heavy games) fps shooters, fallout and elder schrolls series)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [yes win7]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [no]
5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [sony bravia tv 1360 x 768, might upgrade sometime]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [no]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [no, no knowledge here]

8. How can you pay? [any]

9. When are you purchasing? [soon as im sure of what i want]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [meath]

BloodBath

How's this. You will just have to install windows yourself.

The case comes in silver + black or silver + white as well.


Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4570 Box, LGA1150|€174.90
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.78
MSI B85-G43, ATX, Sockel 1150|€76.39
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660Ti OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€179.00
8GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24|€57.08
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€56.69
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€88.62
Cooltek Antiphon Black, ohne Netzteil|€63.00
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 500W - bulk -|€53.88
Samsung SH-224DB schwarz|€17.37
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.05
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
LogiLink SATA Anschlusskabel mit Sicherungslasche, 0.75m|€1.98
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€911.73

MADFI5H

thank you for the build bloodbath, gave me a good place to start, i also really like the look of that case too, simple and stylish the garish look of pcs like alienware on the dell site put off them even before i started reading the bad reviews:D
i have been lookin into things a bit and i have a couple of questions though

id like my pc to have lots of upgrade potential for the future, and i have been reading about sli, would going with an sli board and 1 really good gfx card now with the option of adding a second later on be a good idea?
also from wat i read it sounds like a cpu like an i7-4770K might be worth the investment?

i have also decided that noise factor will be important to me, so how noisey will this machine be? shud i go for liquid cooling to reduce noise and how much of an effect on power consumption wud that have? ive read that alot of people leave out the disk drive to reduce noise and power consumption, this doesnt seem like a bad idea to me as download games and software and never really use my disk drive

as far as price goin over my budget isnt as issue id probably go as much as 1500 i just want to be really sure that my PC is goin to be a beast

thx again

blades.ofglory

MADFI5H wrote: »

thank you for the build bloodbath, gave me a good place to start, i also really like the look of that case too, simple and stylish the garish look of pcs like alienware on the dell site put off them even before i started reading the bad reviews:D
i have been lookin into things a bit and i have a couple of questions though

id like my pc to have lots of upgrade potential for the future, and i have been reading about sli, would going with an sli board and 1 really good gfx card now with the option of adding a second later on be a good idea?
also from wat i read it sounds like a cpu like an i7-4770K might be worth the investment?

i have also decided that noise factor will be important to me, so how noisey will this machine be? shud i go for liquid cooling to reduce noise and how much of an effect on power consumption wud that have? ive read that alot of people leave out the disk drive to reduce noise and power consumption, this doesnt seem like a bad idea to me as download games and software and never really use my disk drive

as far as price goin over my budget isnt as issue id probably go as much as 1500 i just want to be really sure that my PC is goin to be a beast

thx again

Noise level wont be high at all, I use a chiller at the moment and in-fairness its very quiet, either that or I'm going deaf!

BloodBath

No bother. Dual cards aren't a bad idea but they do push the price up as you will need a better board and power supply. Imo they aren't needed for 1080p gaming. A g-card in the 200-250 region at the moment can run 99% of games on max settings with a solid 60 frames per second. The maximum most monitors can display.

Your tv is 720p. That's half the resolution of 1080p so even the 660ti card I listed is overkill but it will allow you to use higher levels of Anti-Aliasing which is something you will want to do with lower resolutions as Aliasing problems are worse at lower resolutions.

The 660ti is still a perfectly capable card at 1080 if you upgrade in the future. If/when you start running into any frame rate issues you can simple replace the card with a newer high price/performance card.

The 4770k isn't worth it. There's hardly any games taking advantage of hyper threading at the moment. The 4660k would be a more sensible option but only if you are overclocking. If you aren't going to overclock the one I listed is fine.

As for noise levels it will be pretty quiet. You could improve the cooler and the case a little to get noise levels down further. The cooltek is a silenced case and I added the after market cpu cooler to get noise/heat levels down too but there are better options for a little more. The Nanoxia cases would be a good upgrade over the cooltek case. They come in a few colors as well.

I don't think there is a need for water cooling. They still need fans on their radiators and power supply and your graphics card is still going to make noise unless it too is water cooled. A custom loop is expensive and the pc is still not going to be 100% silent. However using a decent quiet cpu air cooler and a g-card like the one listed in the Nanoxia case it will be virtually silent. Expect a very low hum that's quieter than most ambient noise even at night.

The dvd drive is only for installing windows really. You won't use it at all after that.

MADFI5H

i apologize i should have noted in my last post that i was taking information from this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057030982

lookin there and reading elsewhere has me decided that i really do need to upgrade my tv and sooner rather than later and go for a tv simlar to the 1 talked about in that thread, so that was one of the reasons i was thinkin 4770k would be good as you said in that thread that it would be good for that tv

so im thinking now i should just copy the full build from that thread i7 4770k included, but i still have a few questions on it

should i go with 2 with of those 660 ti now or just 1 better card to increase future upgrade potential

im unsure if in yur last post u were sugesting if i do or dont include a disk drive by il never use it do you mean it wont impact noise so i might as well have it there?

im also wondering about my astro a40 headset, ive read that to get the most out of them u need support for 7.1 and dolby digital live. would the mobo u listed in maguineds thread support this or would i need a seperate sound card?

btw sorry for all the noobishness im a lifelong console gamer that has only recently seen the value of PC gaming, but intend to stay and want this PC to be able to handle wateva the future might throw at it

BloodBath

For your current TV a single 660ti is more than enough for now. There's no real need for the 4770k. A 4670k would be more than enough. You should overclock it to take advantage of it fully though.

You can include the disk drive. It won't make noise when it's not being used which will be all of the time after installing windows. Practically all software is downloaded and run from ssds / hdds these days.

The audio on that board supports 7.1 but I don't know if it supports dolby digital live. Probably not.

MADFI5H

i think we shud forget my old TV, in hindset it seems silly to me to base any of this build on it

i am wondering now weather to go for a 3D 120hz 1080p tv or if a 1440p moniter would be better?

is the tv better for versatility as i still want to be able to use my consoles?

which is better for gaming?

im assuming 120hz means when a game runs at 120 fps u can actually see it correct? do 1440p monitors also run at 120 hz?

would it make any difference to which card i should get depending on which i chose?

also do u know of any sound card that does suport dolby digital live?

and thx again for all yur help bloodbath i really dont know how u manage all u do in this forum, looks like a full time job

The Splat

MADFI5H wrote: »

i think we shud forget my old TV, in hindset it seems silly to me to base any of this build on it

i am wondering now weather to go for a 3D 120hz 1080p tv or if a 1440p moniter would be better?

is the tv better for versatility as i still want to be able to use my consoles?

which is better for gaming?

im assuming 120hz means when a game runs at 120 fps u can actually see it correct? do 1440p monitors also run at 120 hz?

would it make any difference to which card i should get depending on which i chose?

also do u know of any sound card that does suport dolby digital live?

and thx again for all yur help bloodbath i really dont know how u manage all u do in this forum, looks like a full time job

Heres the deal with 120hz. You WILL notice a difference however theres a catch. For you to see 60fps on a 60hz tv your game or program MUST RUN AT 60FPS! The same is for 120hz tv. To see ANY difference you will need enough power for nore than 60fps. It is not invisible like the public percieves i mean you can tell the difference between 30 and 60 so you should with 60 and even 75 or 85 fps? But the big thing is ots not useful unless you have a powerhouse gfx OR youre playing minecraft 8D

BloodBath

and thx again for all yur help bloodbath i really dont know how u manage all u do in this forum, looks like a full time job

No bother. I got quick at doing it but won't have time now that I'm back in college to keep up.

There are 120hz 1440p monitors but they cost a fortune. The Qnix one without the scalar is supposed to overclock to 120hz. However you're never going to get near that frame rate at that res with the majority of games even with a pair of good cards.

I wouldn't worry about 120hz for 1440p anyway. You can get those Qnix monitors with other connections (dvi-d, hdmi- dp) and a scalar so you can still use it with other devices like consoles. It cost's a bit more but it's an option.

I honestly don't think you will notice much difference with the sound whether it has dolby digital live or not. The onboard sound on that MSI board is pretty good.

A couple of sound card options if you are set on it though.

http://www.hardwareversand.de/5.1/84307/Creative+Soundblaster+Z+SB1500%2C+Soundkarte.article

http://www.hardwareversand.de/7.1/29792/ASUS+Xonar+DX+7.1%2C+PCIe+x1.article

MADFI5H

just noticed the gigabyte 660 ti just went up in 20 quid in price, doesnt bother me but just taught id ask if you still consider them best value for money?

also about ram, looks to me like 90% of people are using corsair vengence, just curious why u think gskill is better?