Okay, you want this for gaming so I recommend the following:

 

A Z77 motherboard

CPU: 3570K

RAM: 8GB

Graphics: Nvidia GTX 670

Hard Drives: one 120GB SSD and one 1TB HDD.

 

 

Now, what's your PC right now? What's your monitor? Don't you have parts of it you might want to keep?

Alienware and those Cyberpower guys are seriously overpriced.

Now, what's your PC right now? What's your monitor? Don't you have parts of it you might want to keep?

Alienware and those Cyberpower guys are seriously overpriced.

 

I have a Chillblast gaming rig, Rampage Formula motherboard, with:

 

2 Quad CPU Q9450 @ 2.66 GHz

Windows Vista (Home Premium)

32 bit Os and 4.00 GB RAM

GeForce GTX 260

 

It's overclocked.

 

Been a great computer, like I say I've had it for four years and now I'll probably use it as a spare machine in my home office.

 

Oh, and Chillblast have been on the up since I last used them... they are now pretty expensive too. To be honest, a nice computer is one of those luxuries I can afford, I'd rather run a crappy car (which I do) than have a crappy rig.

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by Monte Carlo

What's your monitor? Do you have the gaming PC connected to a sound system? Or to your TV?

 

Will you be overclocking your new PC?

 

Would you be interested in 3D gaming?

 

Do you want a new mouse and keyboard? Or really just the PC?

I have a nice but nothing special Samsung monitor. I'll keep it, but want a new 23" one. I have little or no interest in 3D and no, the rig won't be linked to a TV. I want the machine to be overclocked, the Alienware option appears to be medicore in that respect.

 

Edit: Oh, and I want the machine to look nice. Seriously, this lives on the ground floor of the Schloss Monte, in full view. It's like a piece of furniture and I like design. It's one of the reasons I love Alienware.

Edited May 28, 201213 yr by Monte Carlo

Why not a bigger monitor?

I cannot, at

Why not a bigger monitor?

 

I'm kind of easy, I could go bigger.

I sent ya a PM.

ty

Srsly, the more I read reviews online the more confused I get.

Check your e-mail.

 

And note that I picked one of the more expensive monitors, so if that's not ok with you, just change back.

 

Also, I still think you building it yourself would be the optimal course of action. You can get more for the same money and you can get components that Cyberpower or Alienware might not have available.

I appreciate the sentiment but I cannot adequately express the sense of terror buidling my own system creates in my techno-retard brain.

It takes about as much skill as building Legos. The Duplo kind. The hardest thing is picking the components.

I've read that an i5 processor is better for gaming that i7, and that the threading feature on new i7 chips is extraneous for gaming. Thoughts?

The difference between an i5 and i7 is really minor in gaming, one way or the other. There are reports that Hyperthreading might hinder the i7 in games but the difference is still tiny.

 

As usual, the GPU is almost always the bottleneck in games, unless your resolution is very low. Maybe Civ V or Shogun 2 will give your CPU some work, but even then, the difference between CPUs should be negligible.

The difference is fairly miniscule. If all you're going to use the computer for is gaming, then the i5 is a better buy. Not because it performs better, but because it is cheaper and performs about the same.

 

At least this was the case with previous generation (sandy bridge), not sure if it still holds up. Haven't been paying attention to processor tests lately.

Ivy Bridge CPUs perform more or less the same as Sandy Bridge CPUs.

As ever, thanks. I looked at the build you recommended and from that worked backwards... I'm angling for the i7 Black Pearl in a less stupid case.

 

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Liquid_i7_Black_Pearl/

 

Looking at this:

 

[*]CPU: Intel

I would like a HDD usable for storage, but if you're fine with 128 GB you can do without.

As ever, thanks. I looked at the build you recommended and from that worked backwards... I'm angling for the i7 Black Pearl in a less stupid case.

 

http://www.cyberpowe...i7_Black_Pearl/

 

Looking at this:

[*]CPU: Intel

Thanks guys, there is some food for thought there. So what you are saying is that I can scale the CPU back to an i5 but beef up the memory to SSD and 1 TB HDD? The options are there on the site when ordering. I agree that 128GB seems small, I have a lot of photos and music.

That's exactly what I'd do. And potentially scale back to a 670 as well, but I can fault anyone going for the more powerful card (although the 670 is more value, sometimes performance is worth it)

Thanks guys, there is some food for thought there. So what you are saying is that I can scale the CPU back to an i5 but beef up the memory to SSD and 1 TB HDD? The options are there on the site when ordering. I agree that 128GB seems small, I have a lot of photos and music.

 

Yes, that would work. What's your budget, by the way?

Has a long chat with the guy at Cyberpower, who was very hlepful. He was in broad agreement with your views on chip versus memory and suggested this build...

 

(based on their Liquid i7 Kraken but tweaked with an i5 chip) http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Liquid_i7_Kraken/

 

This case is much, much nicer though IMO... and it's very quiet http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/spec/getspec.aspx?n=CAS&v=CoolerMaster%20Cosmos%20Silent%20Gaming%20Tower%20Case%20w%2F%20420%20Watts%20Power%20Supply%20%28Full%20Tower%29%20%28Original%20Color%29

 

 

CAS:CoolerMaster Cosmos Silent Gaming Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply (Full Tower) [+4] (Original Color)

 

CASUPGRADE:NONE

 

CD:24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD

Edited May 30, 201213 yr by Monte Carlo

By the way, tech dude agreed on overclocked 670 GeForce which is the route I'm gonna go.