advice please

DARK-KNIGHT

hi can you lads look at the spec of this laptop and tell me whether its good value or not or would I be better off putting all my available cash into building myself?


http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/custom-pc-pack/5831093


I need to do general college work and wish this machine to play dayz counter strike etc.. any advice greatly appreciated

Monotype

Well...... The CPU is many generations old. RAM 3GB isn't that great by this day and age.
The graphics card is just mentioned as "Nvidia 2GB" which could be just about anything. If you want to play games, then this is going to be important. Counterstrike can run on very little. DayZ could be a little more demanding, so not sure how that would go without the full specs.

Actually, taking a look at the screenshots, it's a 210 for the graphics card. Few generations old, low end. Still, it should be able to handle what you ask of it - the original DayZ, Counterstrike GO and basic college work.

Given that you'd be getting a monitor, it might not be too bad just for the sake of trouble.
Now to answer the other question, whether you'd be better off building yourself... Hmm... well even if you were to go with an AMD APU, it would be hard to keep within that price. I feel that it's not great value considering it's so old and some of the specs are vague, but at the same time, I don't think I could provide a realistic alternative with a new build inside that budget.

DARK-KNIGHT

Monotype wrote: »

Well...... The CPU is many generations old. RAM 3GB isn't that great by this day and age.
The graphics card is just mentioned as "Nvidia 2GB" which could be just about anything. If you want to play games, then this is going to be important. Counterstrike can run on very little. DayZ could be a little more demanding, so not sure how that would go without the full specs.

Actually, taking a look at the screenshots, it's a 210 for the graphics card. Few generations old, low end. Still, it should be able to handle what you ask of it - the original DayZ, Counterstrike GO and basic college work.

Given that you'd be getting a monitor, it might not be too bad just for the sake of trouble.
Now to answer the other question, whether you'd be better off building yourself... Hmm... well even if you were to go with an AMD APU, it would be hard to keep within that price. I feel that it's not great value considering it's so old and some of the specs are vague, but at the same time, I don't think I could provide a realistic alternative with a new build inside that budget.

I have an overall budget of 400. I have a 20 inch hdtv that I use with xbox one I plan on using it so no need for a monitor.


was looking at a hp laptop new for 420 spec is amd a10 processor, 8gb ram, 1tb hardrive. would the laptop be a more viable option?

Monotype

The laptop would actually be better than the computer.
However, if you have a budget of €400 and don't need the monitor, you'd be better off building.

DARK-KNIGHT

Monotype wrote: »

The laptop would actually be better than the computer.
However, if you have a budget of €400 and don't need the monitor, you'd be better off building.

Thanks. What could i get for around 400? Wouldnt mind building although i am fairly clueless with tech lol

Is it really worth it pc gaming i mean?

Also would i be able to use used parts etc to save money???

Monotype

Well here's the bones of one possible build, a bit over budget, but you could get discounts to bring you down to €400.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €423.34 + €11.99 shipping
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€86.41
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB (2,5", 7mm)|€89.64
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€57.74
Aerocool Vs-3 Advance schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€34.44
XFX PRO450W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€34.11
ASUS R7260-1GD5, Radeon R7 260, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, VGA, HDMI|€84.28
4GB G.Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€36.72


I'll take a look to see if I can find a viable machine from intel now.

Edit: An overclockable Intel dual core and if you update the BIOS on the board, you can overclock it on a cheaper motherboard from Asus (not previously possible, you needed a "Z" chipset motherboard).

Item|Price
Total build cost: €399.69 + €11.99 shipping
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB (2,5", 7mm)|€89.64
Aerocool Vs-3 Advance schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€34.44
XFX PRO450W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€34.11
ASUS R7260-1GD5, Radeon R7 260, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, VGA, HDMI|€84.28
4GB G.Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€36.72
Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition Box, 1150|€60.60
ASUS B85M-G (C2)|€59.90

Edit 2:
You can get a fiver off by searching the net and using a coupon only valid for new customers. You can get further discounts by feeding each item into geizhals.de. Finally, you should be aware that hardwareversand only take bank transfers (or paypal for 3% extra) because they don't like credit cards in Germany.

DARK-KNIGHT

Monotype wrote: »

Well here's the bones of one possible build, a bit over budget, but you could get discounts to bring you down to €400.

Item|Price
Total build cost: €423.34 + €11.99 shipping
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€86.41
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB (2,5", 7mm)|€89.64
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€57.74
Aerocool Vs-3 Advance schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€34.44
XFX PRO450W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€34.11
ASUS R7260-1GD5, Radeon R7 260, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, VGA, HDMI|€84.28
4GB G.Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€36.72

I'll take a look to see if I can find a viable machine from intel now.

Edit: An overclockable Intel dual core and if you update the BIOS on the board, you can overclock it on a cheaper motherboard from Asus (not previously possible, you needed a "Z" chipset motherboard).

Item|Price
Total build cost: €399.69 + €11.99 shipping
Crucial MX100 SSD 256GB (2,5", 7mm)|€89.64
Aerocool Vs-3 Advance schwarz, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€34.44
XFX PRO450W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply|€34.11
ASUS R7260-1GD5, Radeon R7 260, 1GB GDDR5, DVI, VGA, HDMI|€84.28
4GB G.Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€36.72
Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition Box, 1150|€60.60
ASUS B85M-G (C2)|€59.90
Edit 2:
You can get a fiver off by searching the net and using a coupon only valid for new customers. You can get further discounts by feeding each item into geizhals.de. Finally, you should be aware that hardwareversand only take bank transfers (or paypal for 3% extra) because they don't like credit cards in Germany.

That looks fairly good. Thanks btw Can i ask about used parts is it possible

DARK-KNIGHT

Been looking on adverts people offering builds but i have no idea what spec is sufficient tbh

Monotype

Yeah, sure you can use used parts.

I'd avoid used PSUs, unless you're certain they're up to scratch. Just about everything else is fine - though be cautious about some of the modern graphics cards which may be used for mining bit-currencies and hence can be worn out.

I just picked that case somewhat at random because it looked like a screwless design and has USB3 ports which can be handy. You can get some decent cases second hand, but I'd probably avoid ones that don't have screwless mechanisms because it means more work.

In terms of CPU and motherboards, make sure they match up. Intel's newest socket is socket 1150 and previous socket is 1155. They also have high end socket 2011. I wouldn't go further back than that unless it's a bargain. CPUs with "K" in the name are overclockable and typically more expensive and you also need a motherboard with a "Z" chipset (i.e., Z87, Z97 etc., as opposed to lower end H61, H87 etc.). Lower end ones boards are fine if you want to save some money, but you sacrifice features the lower you go.
AMD have a few sockets going at the moment. AM3+, FM2 and AM1. AM1 is for low end, low power for the likes of HTPCs. FM2 is mostly APUs - CPUs with graphics built in; good for light gaming on the cheap. Might be worth considering if you want to see if you can lower that budget further. AM3+ is their main socket. AMD cpus wouldn't be quite as fast as Intel, but you'll typically get more cores for your money which can be useful in some areas.

Graphics cards can be a good place to save money second hand. If you're lucky, you might find something only a generation or two old like an AMD 6870/6950/6870 or nVidia 500 (e.g., 560/560ti) or 600 series which would still hold up well.

You might get 4GB RAM from someone if you catch them upgrading to 8GB and save a bit there. You want DDR3. Don't accidentally buy laptop RAM. 1600MHz (AKA PC12800) is a good speed to go for but 1333MHz is fine as well if it's a bit cheaper. Faster is better, of course.