The PC Buying Advice Thread mk II

You got the build sorted yet?



No surprise and ddr3 is so expensive as it is

No surprise and ddr3 is so expensive as it is

Can't remember where I read it but I thought the speculation was that the reason DDR3 was so expensive was because DDR4 was coming. Apparently it was the same with DDR2 when DDR3 was coming.

Yeah, read the same thing...........they reduced production of ddr3 so they could start on ddr4. Though it will be a while before we get cpu's ready to support it, most likely end of next year or later.

Hi,

I'm looking for a gaming computer that's also great for running Microsoft Office. It needs to have a good graphics card, good hard drive and RAM. I'm buying it as a present for my brother who does alot of game creating, video editing and rendering so anything that's fast?

Also budget is £1000 and I don't want an Apple Mac or so..

Thanks

Are you thinking of building? If so;

Would he want one monitor or would he need more? Is that included in the budget? Is size of the case a problem? When I first built my computer I didn't think it would be a problem but being a student it certainly has made transportation a problem during the holidays. Perhaps he needs to store it in a small space. Will he need a blu ray drive or would a plain DVD drive do?

Lets pretend the components inside the case is dealt with; will the budget include monitor(s), a keyboard, mouse? Other peripherals? Software? Or have they been taken care of?

Hi,

I'm looking for a gaming computer that's also great for running Microsoft Office. It needs to have a good graphics card, good hard drive and RAM. I'm buying it as a present for my brother who does alot of game creating, video editing and rendering so anything that's fast?

Also budget is £1000 and I don't want an Apple Mac or so..

Thanks

I have researched a little because I just bought my own parts, and learned for video editing you definitely need a lot of RAM. People suggest 2x8GB so at a later stage you can buy another two 8GB. For gaming 2x4GB would be enough currently.

This is a thread about video editing build, and you can search the forum, too.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1733028/budget-video-editing-browsing-build.html

Thank you just been reading through that, he hasn't really built his own computer (he has just been googling and thinks he should wait til he gets to university lol) isn't there any computer you could recommend that I could just purchase for him? He was looking into the Alienware but now he says he doesn't want it because new models have been released and he has a problem with those

Well does he want to build it himself? It would come a lot lot cheaper. And especially Alienware I can imagine you pay a huge mark up just for the name.

He wants to but he's a bit hesitant because he's new to it so he wants a computer that's good for now and when he has more confidence he can start adding parts etc - shall I just google parts that are good for gaming computers and try to look for a computer close to them?

Sorry for all the questions

Thank you just been reading through that, he hasn't really built his own computer (he has just been googling and thinks he should wait til he gets to university lol) isn't there any computer you could recommend that I could just purchase for him? He was looking into the Alienware but now he says he doesn't want it because new models have been released and he has a problem with those

First, there are tons of guides and even videos on how to build it yourself, shouldn't be scared of that tbh and if so maybe do it with someone else, makes it easier.

And well I'd do the opposite, if you google fully built systems that have been reviewed well for gaming and video editing, I would suggest you just look the components and buy them individually. That way you you know the parts go well together but it will be cheaper.

Alternatively just google something like pc build for video editing and you already get a lot, e.g. the link from yesterday or I found one today that looks good - http://www.dslrfilmnoob.com/2013/07/08/video-editing-pc-build/ notice that he has a relatively "weak" GPU by today's standards, but it has 4GB rather than 2GB on the GPU. That might be the way to go, because GPUs are the most expensive parts of a computer. It's still going to be decent for gaming, but I assume using a 4GB memory GPU will be better for editing than 2GB even if the 2GB GPU is "better" (say a 2GB 770 gtx rather than the 4GB 670 gtx he has).

Would you be able to persuade to build a computer because they really aren't as difficult as you'd think. It's adult lego pretty much. As long as you find a guide, of which there are several good ones around, he'd be fine. I got mine running up fine without needing anything but the guides. The hardest bit really is just making sure the components you choose will do the job you want them to and there are tons of people out there willing to help regarding that. And that's kinda why I like building computers, it means it's a lot more flexible and I get exactly what I want.

How would he intend on getting home from uni during the hols? Because if he's getting the train or a coach then he might be able to take it with him. Hell, I, myself, am working on a more mobile and compact build by moving to a smaller form factor. I'm only going to change two parts - the case and motherboard.



On that note; does anyone know anything about networked storage? I was thinking of something like a NAS or a home server but I don't know the difference and what they can be used for.

So, I finally got the parts, built it today and it works super. WEI:

7.6 7.8 7.9 7.9 7.9

I plan on OC the CPU anyway so I think that will go up to 7.9, too, the RAM at 7.8 is fine. Can finally play on highest settings again and generally the experience is much better. My ping on speedtest went down from 20-30 to 11 even and I notice websites opening like instantly.

Have to say though, the PC is kind of loud, especially when gaming because you can turn the fans on 3 levels. Just watching stuff I have them on low and it's okay, but I don't know, maybe expected it to be more quiet. But I guess I get the performance instead. Also funnily enough the loudest thing so far that I can tell is the PSU (and it's fan).

I wouldn't say WEI is the best measure of performance but nevertheless still very good. What fans are you using? Perhaps invest in some silent/quiet ones. My computer is pretty quiet, though I have had an experience with a noisier fan.

Thank you for that link - really helpful! Hmm, I'll try persuade him - either way I'll be buying it haha



Thank you for your reply, he's really good at doing stuff like that (he did it with my phone lol) will try and persuade him!

So, I finally got the parts, built it today and it works super. WEI:

7.6 7.8 7.9 7.9 7.9

I plan on OC the CPU anyway so I think that will go up to 7.9, too, the RAM at 7.8 is fine. Can finally play on highest settings again and generally the experience is much better. My ping on speedtest went down from 20-30 to 11 even and I notice websites opening like instantly.

Have to say though, the PC is kind of loud, especially when gaming because you can turn the fans on 3 levels. Just watching stuff I have them on low and it's okay, but I don't know, maybe expected it to be more quiet. But I guess I get the performance instead. Also funnily enough the loudest thing so far that I can tell is the PSU (and it's fan).

Intel i3-3220 3.3GHz

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68AP-D3

Memory: 8GB 1,600MHz DDR3

Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7850 1GB

PSU: ThermalTake SP-530PCWEU

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Case: Fractal Design Core 3000

Optical drive: SATA DVD-RW

Storage: 1TB SATA 3Gbps

Not really a fan of the case so I'll find an alternative to that but what out of these do you guys consider good or not good? They also haven't bothered giving a monitor or speakers in the list so I'm going to look for some now. I haven't got as much money as I did when I left a comment before, I just started uni so really want to stop procrastinating and get a new one built

Build it, Build it, Build it



You shouldn't worry about that, but rather your day to day activities and how the performance matches up.

Don't you have a bios utility which allows direct fan control through the mobo fan connectors?