Hi guys,

Need some advice.
My dad's computer has had its day now, and my dads looking for a new one.
He's looking for the most powerful Pre-Built PC (preferably, the tower only. He already has a monitor and what not) for around £750-850, and he may stretch a little more. He wants the computer mainly for gaming (He said he wants it to be able to play GTA4 and games like that with decent graphics) and maybe watching the odd DVD everynow and then (BluRay not needed. Normal DVD drive will be good enough) and plenty of memory, as he takes alot of pictures and videos.

He is aware that he could get a better computer for the money if he built it himself, but he does'nt have the time to do so, and needs a computer asap.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Frenchy

"Discuss technical problems and questions related to LFS"

Try here.

Honestly, all pre-builts IMO are not balanced. I saw stupid things like i7 + 9600GT not a lot of time ago

Quote from zeugnimod :

"Discuss technical problems and questions related to LFS"

Try here.

Oops! Sorry about that!

On topic, i've just made on up on OverClockers UK. Are the specs of this any good?

Coolermaster HAF 922 Gaming Case
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz
Coolermaster V8 Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-M61PME-S2P nForce 430 DDR2 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel
Zotac GeForce 9800 GT Eco 512MB GDDR3
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 500GB SATA II
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 500GB SATA II < Second HD
RAID 0 Setup
LG GGC-H20L Blu Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM
Asus Xonar D1 7.1 PCI Sound Card
Corsair TX 650w Silent Power Supply
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 64-Bit Edition
Compro VideoMate Vista U100 DVB-T USB Stick with Windows Media Centre Remote

£799.46 inc VAT

Maybe something like this?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=FS-042-OE

I would advise taking the graphics update to the Nvidia GTX 260 aswell

Nathan_French_14, those specs are good, but I have almost same configuration, and it's total price was like $600.

Maybe down to you being in a different country and your VAT and whatnot being different.

It was bought on Newegg, while my father was in USA.

This one seems a little "over-hyped", but im still curious about opinions.

clicky

EDIT: Or this one... clicky

Maybe something like this.

EDIT: did not read your first post, on OverclockersUK site there is a option where you can select what you want in a pre build system but it's limit to certain items but most of the items are good from what i have seen when looking.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... groupid=43&catid=1053

It's AMD.

Are you ****ing retarded to even consider something so craptastic?

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

It's AMD.

Are you ****ing retarded to even consider something so craptastic?

AMD CPU's aren't fail, GPU's are tho, yeah.

Did you check out my link?

That in my opinion, is still your best option by far, 3.2Ghz quad core Intel, 4Gb ram with the option of Nvidia GTX260 all for <£800.

Quote from Shadowww :

AMD CPU's aren't fail, GPU's are tho, yeah.

No. A hamster doing the calculations is faster than anything AMD makes.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

No. A hamster doing the calculations is faster than anything AMD makes.

That wasn't true during the P4 days, since the dawn of Intel Core Duo, Intel is king of the playground and AMD are lacking balls. Although IBMs latest Super Computer uses AMD chips to run basic functions so their own chips can do maths. So clearly they have their advantages, or IBM wouldn't use them.

I think you guys are being a little hard on AMD. I agree that Intels do of course out perform but that still doesn't rule out the AMD's as a worthy alternative especially if cost is taken into consideration also.

Just recently I bought one of the newer AMD Phenom II's and have no complaints what so ever, runs almost anything I've ever thrown at it without a problem.

Don't mind him. He only thinks that because Mac doesn't use AMD.

Intel will come out on top but the new AMD's are just as good. You'll never notice any performance difference, get which ever one fits your budget.

Don't listen to the AMD/Intel fanyboys and anti-fanboys (cause they are just as bad), they are too blinkered to know anything at all or give good advice.

Like people have said, pre-built systems normally have a great spec but then a shitty graphics card so just watch out for that and you'll be fine.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

That wasn't true during the P4 days, since the dawn of Intel Core Duo, Intel is king of the playground and AMD are lacking balls. Although IBMs latest Super Computer uses AMD chips to run basic functions so their own chips can do maths. So clearly they have their advantages, or IBM wouldn't use them.

I kinda meant currently. AMD used to be good but now they just kinda suck a lot.

and I think that AMD's suck for no Apple related manner, I think AMD's suck because they aren't very quick (at the upper high-end), as Intel. Nothing else than that. Sure they're cheaper, but that's because they are worse.

Quote from Jack Tebbutt :

Did you check out my link?

That in my opinion, is still your best option by far, 3.2Ghz quad core Intel, 4Gb ram with the option of Nvidia GTX260 all for <£800.

Yes, this is definetely one of the top contenders atm. I have also got a PM from a guy who is also building a computer, and has came up with a good build.

Specs as follows:
- 00 - CPU - Intel Core i7-920 (4x 2.66GHz) 4.80GT, 8mb
- 00 - CPU Cooler - Standard Intel CPU Cooler
- 01 - Case - Cooler Master RC335 Elite Black
- 01 - Case Fans - 2x Cooler Master 12cm Blue
- 01 - Power Supply - 750w PowerCool 80+
- 02 - Motherboard Asus P6T SE - X58 Chipset
- 03 - Memory - 6gb Corsair DDR3 1333mhz
- 04 - Hard Drive 1 - 500gb SATA2 Hard Drive
- 05 - Optical Drive 1 - 20x Dual Layer DVDRW Drive
- 07 - Graphics - 896mb Nvidia GeForce GTX 275

All for £852. Seems like a good build to me.

I'll be driving into Birmingham with my dad next weekend, and shall have a look at some of the PC shops round there (non of the PC world crap. I mean the smaller stand-alone ones. ) that specialise in gaming and see if they have any decent ones going. As of now though, it looks like he is most likely going to get one from the links you guys have posted, as it seems like the best bang for his buck.

Thanks for all your help and advice so far guys. I appreciate it.

BUMP.

Well we went to PC world. As expected, there were some pretty poor PC's in there for the money, so he shall be staying away from them now.

He has managed to save up some more penny's, and his budget is now £1000. As above, he only needs a tower. Pre-Built would be preferred, but he wouldn't mind buying it in parts to build himself. He needs something which can play all the latest games on the highest detail (may possibly need 2 GFX cards for that i guess?) and something which will last him a while. He will also need something with a fair chunk of memory for media and work related stuff.

On a side note, if you could manage to chuck in a decent set of speakers (nothing too OTT. Just something that could be turned up load from time to time, and still have some quality) then that would be great.

Thanks guys.

I would look at:

http://www.ginger6.com/ - great value PC's and from reviews, the best on the market currently for getting what you need for the buck

http://www.meshcomputers.com/ - I have bought about 40 PC's from here and have had great service from them. I do think I would buy from ginger6 instead though, at the moment.

You'll certainly get a good deal for £750 from either.

If it has to be pre-built, a site I found a while ago that did some nicely priced and above all, *balanced* systems (so nothing stupid like i7 chips coupled an 8500 in the hope that no-one will know how the difference) was http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

Quote from Crashgate3 :

If it has to be pre-built, a site I found a while ago that did some nicely priced and above all, *balanced* systems (so nothing stupid like i7 chips coupled an 8500 in the hope that no-one will know how the difference) was http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

That's a pretty good site! How about this spec? Comes to £1300 INC. VAT.

Case: CoolerMaster Storm Scout Gaming Mid-Tower 420W Case w/ Transparent Side Panel

Lights & Illumination: 12" COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT (BLUE COLOR)

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: 3 x 120mm Silent Case Cooling Fans in key area for selected case for ultra silent operation (1, 200 RPM AKASA Silent Fans with Sleeve Ball Bearing 17 dBA and LED light to match the Fans already in the case)

Internal Expansion: Internal USB Expansion System + BlueTooth module -- provide more USB headers / connections, also including BlueTooth module

Power Supply Upgrade: 1100 Watts Power Supplies (1100 Watts Power Supplies (TAGAN PSU 1100W TG1100-U33 SuperRock Power Supply))

CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ i7 920 @ 2.66GHz 8 MB cache LGA1366 ***Overclockable XXX***

Overclocking Service: No Overclocking

Cooling Fan: XtremeGear HDT 120 Xtreme CPU Cooler (5 Heatpipes Direct Core Contact, with rubber rings detachable 120m Neon Fan) ***Overclockable XXX***

Motherboard: (3-Way SLI Support) MSI X58 Pro Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire DDR3 Mainboard

Memory: 3GB (3x1GB) PC10666 DDR3/1333mhz Triple Channel Memory (OCZ Gold w/ HeatSpreader ***Overclockable XXX***)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express

Video Card 2: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express

Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16M Cache Hard Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 250GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8M Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive

Hard Drive Cooler: TITAN TTC-HD90 Hard Disk Drive Cooling System (1 x System)

Optical Drive: SONY DUAL FORMAT 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (RED COLOR)

Sound: Creative Labs SB Audigy SE

Speakers: Creative Inspire T6100 5.1 Configuration Speakers System

Network: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 52in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (RED COLOR)

Cable Wiring: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU

USB Port: Add External USB 2.0 Hub (4x USB 2.0 Ports) (BLACK COLOR)

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)

Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon: Upgrade to Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

Media Center Remote & TV Tuner: Media Center Remote Control + Hybrid PCI Digital TV Tuner

WARRANTY SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

It's very expensive i know, but it should last him a long time i think. Couple that with the free Windows 7 upgrade, and it seem's like a bargain!

LGA1366 is a bad buy right now. Go with LGA1156.

I'm sure you could build a superior system for less than that. Performance-oriented pre-built systems are invariably overpriced. I wouldn't bother with SLI either.