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Original post by JirayasKonoha
Where do I get the rest of the info like that? Yeah I want to spend around 650 on a build. What's overclock? Yeah its sata is all I know. Even then I can't get a decent gaming machine? To play wow on full settings? How much would I have to pay? Couldn't I add stuff on extra later? Thanks in advance

Sorry, I thought you said you wanted to spend £600. Overclocking essentially meant to push components(usually CPU, sometimes graphics card and RAM) beyond the settings the manufacturer intended them to be used at. If done correctly it's perfectly safe - an i5-2500K can overclocked from 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz normally. It's really common.

Are you just playing WoW? You could go with a graphics card such as the 550Ti although most people would probably advise the 560Ti or 6950/6970 for futureproofing.

Add what extra on? It depends on what you want to add and what you spend on the motherboard.

Look on the side of the RAM sticks, it should say either DDR2 or DDR3(your current motherboard supports both). So your DVD drive and hard drive are both SATA? You might be able to reuse those. If you could provide models for the DVD drive, RAM and hard drive it'd help.

It's a tight budget if you're overclocking(the build I have worked out includes a motherboard, CPU, CPU cooler, power supply, budget case, DVD+/- drive, hard drive, RAM, graphics card iirc).

What I was saying was this would pretty much be getting the cheapest possible components which fit your spec.
Reply 6661
Original post by alexs2602
Fairly sure it was suggested amd is a waste of money. Although tbf doing a tally of the build I'd get now it'd cost £680~ which is obviously over. And unless you were to get a dvd drive instead of a blu ray or a cheaper HD I can't see a way of getting it below £650.

£650 is a tight budget for a gaming comp.


I know £650 isn't a lot but as I don't have a computer at the moment, I would rather get one sooner rather than later. I've only got £400 right now, although I could probably raise the budget up to £700. Also, blu-ray isn't really necessary, it was just an extra.
Original post by Catilina
I´m quite satisfied with my new PC, had no problems running Crysis 2 or Kingdoms of Amalur on the highest settings. Although I ended up spending more than I had originally intended.

Components (I know I already posted parts of this, but this is a complete list of all the parts I eventually bought) :
CM storm trooper case
ASUS P8Z68-V Pro
i5-2500k 4x3.30 Ghz
8GB Corsair XMS Ram 2000 Mhz
Geforce GTX 560 2GB
Cougar S700 Power Supply
Blu-Ray drive
64 bit Windows professional
500GB Hard drive

Total cost: ~1000€


Wait, how much did that PSU cost you? Send it back and get a new one. You don't want to skimp on a PSU. If that blows up it can take the rest of your system with it. Try a BeQuiet Pure Power L8 730W
Original post by alexs2602
Wait, how much did that PSU cost you? Send it back and get a new one. You don't want to skimp on a PSU. If that blows up it can take the rest of your system with it. Try a BeQuiet Pure Power L8 730W


It was about 130€ and all the reviews seemed pretty decent.( Review )

Is it really that unfit for a gaming PC?

I should note that the Windows version and the Hard drive were cheaper than usual, because my brother bought them at his University and his faculty (electrical engineering) sells their students stuff they might need at very low prices (e.g the official Windows version was about 10€).
Original post by Catilina
It was about 130€ and all the reviews seemed pretty decent.( Review )

Is it really that unfit for a gaming PC?

I should note that the Windows version and the Hard drive were cheaper than usual, because my brother bought them at his University and his faculty (electrical engineering) sells their students stuff they might need at very low prices (e.g the official Windows version was about 10€).


Oh ok, from what I gather it's more of an German brand. I didn't recognise the brand and the general rule is if you don't recognise it then it's worthless(that's to say you'll tend to recognise the good brands available in your own country if you've done enough research) but this seems fine. Apologies.
Reply 6665
Original post by jit987
Dell XPS 15z vs 14z? What are the differences other than screen size and weight?


Anyone?
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-l702x/pd

Can anybody tell me whether this laptop would be suitable for playing the latest total war games, please?
Original post by jit987
Anyone?

Doesn't really make much of a difference. The cheapest one would be fine for your uses, I expect. They're nothing special but if you want a laptop they'd be fine. You didn't mention which one which didn't help. The CPU and RAM are fine and the graphics card is overkill unless you're gaming. Up to you what you want to do about storage. The SSD(in one of the 14z models) will make the most noticeable difference but it would be better if it had a smaller SSD because they're expensive and only useful for the OS and programs and a HD for file storage. They don't state which SSD they use and I can't be bothered to try and find out.
Oh btw, thanks for the guide in your sig :wink: I should be using it tonight or monday.
Can anyone help me out here;
I wish to buy a laptop.

I will use it for
-school work (all office programs)
-browsing the net (forums, social networking)
-using photoshop now and again
-occasionally making films with movie maker [NB I usually record in 1080p HD so this needs to be supported]
-the odd online flash game

I want it to be nice and fast, I don't have a great knowledge of computers so could someone else please tell me the sort of specs required for the above tasks. Also if anyone knows of a specific laptop that would meet my reqs please send me a link!

I am thinking of a Windows 7 OS, as a mac would probably be out of my price range.

I am feeling a max of ~£500, but if there is one that does my required tasks for less than that, please let me know!

(This is a repost of my earlier post, I received one reply and was looking for more answers)
Thanks. Would buying a decent 'Alienware' laptop make any significant improvements to gameplay?
Original post by TShadow383
Sup folks, not posted on here in ages.
I've got an interesting project :biggrin:

Mate of mine wants a PC he can fit under his coffee table that'll play any games he throws at it and handle high-end simulation work (needs serious CPU power).
Budget is about £1500.

This is what I have in mind:
http://i40.tinypic.com/11uhrvn.png
From what I've seen there might be clearance issues with the corsair rad, so I'm throwing in one of these just in case:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scythe-Slip-Stream-Slim-SY1212SL12L/dp/B002A97IIG

There's still room in the budget for a wireless mouse/keyboard but I'm not going to bother speccing that because it's all down to preference really...

Thoughts?


The h40 is not a great cpu cooler, air cooling is probably going to be more effective at that price point. Budget cpu water coolers aren't very good.
Original post by Romanorum-Hellas
Thanks. Would buying a decent 'Alienware' laptop make any significant improvements to gameplay?


To be honest, I think alot of the Alienware products are very overpriced, I looked at their desktops and for £1200, it only came with a GTX 555, for that price I'd be wanting a GTX 570 or HD 6970, it didn't come with an SSD either. It also wouldn't have a good aftermarket cooler or a high end PSU, both of which I would expect for the price. So if their laptops are anything like their desktops, then I would avoid it, because you are probably paying for the name more than anything else. I would instead recommend building yourself a high end desktop for gaming, and buying a decent laptop with the spare change.
Original post by Edsterr
I was thinking about getting these parts to build my own computer:

-750GB Western Digital WD7500AARS Caviar Green, 3.5" HDD, SATA II - 3Gb/s, 5400rpm, 64MB Cache, 8ms, Free-Fall

-8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black, PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.50V

-AMD FX 6100 Black Edition, Orochi Core, S AM3+, 3.3GHz, 12MB Total Cache, HT 5200MT/s, 95W

-Coolermaster Elite 430, All Black, Mid Tower Case with Side Window 120mm Front LED Blue Fan w/o PSU

-1GB Asus GTX 550 Ti, 4104MHz GDDR5, GPU 900MHz, Shader 1800MHz, 192 Cores, Dual Link DVI-I/ D-Sub/ HDMI

-Alpenfohn Brocken CPAF-005 Quad Heatpipe Performance Cooler 775/1155/1156/1366/754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3

-Asus M5A97 PRO, AMD 970, S AM3+, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe 2.0 (x16), ATX

-520W Antec Neo Eco Modular PSU 82%Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX

-LG CH10LS20.AUAU 10x Blu-ray Reader, 16x DVD±R, 8x +RW, 6x -RW, 12x RAM - OEM *

-Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM

I will be using it mostly for gaming, but perhaps for films as well. Just wanted to know if this would work okay and/or if there are any improvements to be made.

NB: I'm on a budget of £650 and this is currently ~£660


I'd replace that AMD Bulldozer with an Intel Sandybridge, and try and stretch your budget for a GTX 560 since there is quite a big difference in performance. If you can't, try and look for a GTX 470 or 460, which will both perform better, and probably for the same price.
I'll be going to University in September, and I currently have a desktop PC. Although this isn't going to be practical, and I'm quite keen on the below.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-VPC-EJ3C5E-notebook-i5-2450M-processor/dp/B007AD608G/ref=sr_1_8?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1330076042&sr=1-8

Does anyone have any thoughts regrading the above?
Original post by DanielBeal
I'll be going to University in September, and I currently have a desktop PC. Although this isn't going to be practical, and I'm quite keen on the below.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-VPC-EJ3C5E-notebook-i5-2450M-processor/dp/B007AD608G/ref=sr_1_8?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1330076042&sr=1-8

Does anyone have any thoughts regrading the above?


The spec is decent but it's expensive. It's a laptop though, most laptops aren't cheap. If you were building a desktop you could get a better spec(inc tower, monitor, keyboard, mouse) for £540 depending on your uses(that wouldn't include a graphics card unlike the laptop but you could add a high end one and come in at £740 give or take). And if you wanted to spend the full £840 after a bit of maneourving you could get an SSD which will increase the speed of turning on immensely(search youtube for SSD boot up - crucial m4 ideally).

But a new gen of processors are coming out in a month and a bit(apparently) and they'll be better than the current gen. A whole generation of components will be coming out actually.
(edited 12 years ago)
Ok, Thanks. I'm not too keen on purchasing a desktop PC. I understand that I could purchase better components for the budget. Although I just feel that it's not going to be useful for University.

Regarding the new computer components, would you recommend waiting a little while, and see if Sony release a similar model with these new components?
Reply 6677
Know its not specific to this thread, but its just a quick question. Looking to upgrade memory in a Fujitsu Scenic E300.

http://uk.ts.fujitsu.com/rl/servicesupport/techsupport/professionalpc/Scenic/ScenicE/ScenicE300.htm

Have been given a quote for 1 GIG DDR3 1333MHZ CL9 TEAM ELITE.

https://www.targetcomponents.co.uk/default.asp?cat=&offer=&offerCat=&vendor=&MenuId=&Prod=SDTEA-1GB1333C9

Will these memory cards work in that machine? We would like to get two cards in each machine, but if we can't we would settle for 1 card in each.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 6678
Does any one know/own Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-2JT Laptop. How do they run? (in terms of reliability and heat).

I am looking for a laptop 15 inch. Core i5/i7 with plenty of ram. Budget uder £600.

The main issue is reliability too bad IBM doesn`t exist and I don`t think lenovo has same build quality.
Original post by DanielBeal
Ok, Thanks. I'm not too keen on purchasing a desktop PC. I understand that I could purchase better components for the budget. Although I just feel that it's not going to be useful for University.

Regarding the new computer components, would you recommend waiting a little while, and see if Sony release a similar model with these new components?

Definitely. Ivy bridge laptops are due out at some point. There has already been some leaked info. One benefit will be increased battery life because the CPUs use up less power. There already some new graphics cards out and more on the way, so even if you don't get one of these then hopefully the current gen will go down in price if you get one in your laptop. With the new processors there are also new motherboards coming out. So a lot of stuff worth getting as far as I'm concerned. No point getting a new laptop now if you don't need it immediately when you can get a better one at a later date.

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