hi guys and girls, i am in the process of trying to order my first proper gaming pc, i have been a console gamer for many years and think its now time to step up to pc gaming, its been years since i have done anything with a pc other than at work so any help would be most welcome. i mostly will be using it for open world games such as arma 2, flight sims like microsofts ones. i have a spec but its a bit hit and miss. trying to think of what i may need in the future so going for intel quad core, 2gb nvidia graphics card, 8 or 16 gb ddr3 ram, and a 1tb hard drive, apart from that i have most of the gear like keyboard mouse etc which i can get as and when i need too. just need someone to say yeh good spec or no you dweeb your better off with this or that. my budget is just over £1100. feedback very welcome
need help with getting spec right
- Thread starter chrmil897
- Start date
Fear
Prolific Poster
This spec below will do very nice for gaming, just to point out i have only speced 4GB ram and you were saying about getting 8GB or 16GB this is not required unless editing pictures and video 4GB will be enough and if the time comes when you need more you can just buy some more ram to put in.
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1
Price: £1,098.00 including VAT and delivery.
Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1
Price: £1,098.00 including VAT and delivery.
Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/
Teaz
Godlike
ooh, nice spec from Fear.
Heres a z68 chipset alternative with the ssd caching to get ssd like performances which you could consider
:
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Total: 1079
Configure it here
Heres a z68 chipset alternative with the ssd caching to get ssd like performances which you could consider
:Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Total: 1079
Configure it here
i would recommend 8GB personally, a game alone requires around 4GB, and you will have windows 7 in the background which is already 5GB, then any other programs that may be left open, such as browser anti virus etc and games will constantly start to use more and more so i recommend 8GB to start with
Hi guys thanks very much for your advise, have a few further questions is ok, i see you all spec the i5 core not the i7, is that cos i5 is better for games or is it cos i wont really benefit from it? And does the case matter not fussed what it looks like just worried it will over heat?
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Um, I find that hard to believe ....
The game that I play uses a hideous amount of memory because it uses RAM instead of VRAM (modern games use VRAM) and doesn't know the meaning of the words 'memory management' and it doesnt get above 3GB RAM usage, so I doubt that the newer better written games use anywhere near this amount.
For gaming in general 4GB should be fine, you should only really need more if you know you have a memory hungry game or are planning on doing picture/video editting.
BF3 Recommended System Requirements
Processor: Quadcore Processor
Memory: 4 GB
Hard Drive: 15 GB for Digital Version, 10 GB for Disc Version
Video Memory: 512 MB
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 11
Keyboard and Mouse
DVD Rom Drive
Fallout NV Requirements
tel Processor - Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz
AMD Processor - Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5800+
Nvidia Graphics Card - GeForce GT 140
ATI Graphics Card - Radeon HD 3870
RAM (Memory) - 3 GB
Crysis 2 Optimum System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core i5 3.1Ghz, AMD Phenom II X6 1055T or better
GPU: NVidia GTX 560 Ti, ATI 6850 or Dual graphics cards
RAM: 4GB
DX: 11
Shader: 4.0
OS: Windows 7
Frame Rate Target: 30fps@1920x1200
just a few for you to think about
Hard Disk Space - 10 GB
Direct X - 9
Processor: Quadcore Processor
Memory: 4 GB
Hard Drive: 15 GB for Digital Version, 10 GB for Disc Version
Video Memory: 512 MB
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 11
Keyboard and Mouse
DVD Rom Drive
Fallout NV Requirements
tel Processor - Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz
AMD Processor - Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5800+
Nvidia Graphics Card - GeForce GT 140
ATI Graphics Card - Radeon HD 3870
RAM (Memory) - 3 GB
Crysis 2 Optimum System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core i5 3.1Ghz, AMD Phenom II X6 1055T or better
GPU: NVidia GTX 560 Ti, ATI 6850 or Dual graphics cards
RAM: 4GB
DX: 11
Shader: 4.0
OS: Windows 7
Frame Rate Target: 30fps@1920x1200
just a few for you to think about
Hard Disk Space - 10 GB
Direct X - 9
Those numbers however are not the amount of memory that the game will be using, they are the recommended amount of memory in your machine so that you can happily run the game, the OS and space for various other bits and pieces
Fear
Prolific Poster
You will not really notice any difference between the i5 and i7 CPU on games as they are more based on how good your GPU is so the better the GPU the better the games run and with your budget the specs above only have the i5 so we can get you a better performance on other components for your gaming.
P.S just to get to this ram issue i finally got round to installing FSX yesterday booted it up was playing at 1920X1200X32 with AA, DX10 and everything else set on high and i was only using 2.33GB of ram and that included OS, Bullguard, Ventrilo, Nvidia system monitor, Task manager and FSX so i would love to know what Wozza365 is doing to be using so much ram ?
well just sitting here with no extra programs other than browser (chrome) and antivirus (avast free) im using 1.5GB, and i currently only have this tab open in chrome, as soon as i open minecraft i go to 2GB+ and i have that on the lowest settings (havent got the PC in my sig yet, integrated gfx on laptop :/ )
I have also disabled majority of services and Aero to optimize it as much as possible
I have also disabled majority of services and Aero to optimize it as much as possible
iTzMEKKAOUI
Gold Level Poster
These are the Specs i selected, but tbh if i was you Get AMD, I find it much better!
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 932 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR!
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS N 300Mbps WiFi CARD & 54Mbps ADSL ROUTER (Special Offer) (£29)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 932 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR!
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
WIRELESS N 300Mbps WiFi CARD & 54Mbps ADSL ROUTER (Special Offer) (£29)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
iTzMEKKAOUI
Gold Level Poster
here is my take on this
Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE - Good cooling and great price, and still looks good
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics - There is only minuscule difference between the i5 and i7 in gaming and thats why i prefer the i5
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX - Allows for SSD caching (below) and has many other cool features
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) - My opinion, 16GB is too much and 4GB is not very future proof
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready - Very powerful graphics card
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) - Large and pretty fast drive
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD - Makes your HDD up to 4x as fast
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72) - Didnt make it bigger werent sure whether you wanted to upgrade
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19) - good quality cooler, much better than default and good value
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) - Standard is enough for the majority of people
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs - wasn't sure if you wanted wireless, but you will need to add it if you want wireless
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE - I recommend Avast FREE along with Malwarebytes Antimalware
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5) - Must have for just £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE - Good cooling and great price, and still looks good
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics - There is only minuscule difference between the i5 and i7 in gaming and thats why i prefer the i5
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX - Allows for SSD caching (below) and has many other cool features
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) - My opinion, 16GB is too much and 4GB is not very future proof
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready - Very powerful graphics card
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) - Large and pretty fast drive
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD - Makes your HDD up to 4x as fast
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72) - Didnt make it bigger werent sure whether you wanted to upgrade
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19) - good quality cooler, much better than default and good value
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) - Standard is enough for the majority of people
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs - wasn't sure if you wanted wireless, but you will need to add it if you want wireless
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE - I recommend Avast FREE along with Malwarebytes Antimalware
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5) - Must have for just £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
my lord, thanks for all the responces, is has certainly cleared up a few issues with my general lack of knowledge on the subject, will be phoning the lovely people at pcspecialist am tommorrow, its kinda hard to know what you want or need with so many options available have tried the 5 step blithering idiot guide and it help a lot also. its easy to go balls out and get top spec gear and not really use it to the full, thankyou very much for the advice and i hope i can close the thread with ordering my first shiny gaming machine.
iTzMEKKAOUI
Gold Level Poster
Nice but don't get 8gb Samsung, Atleast get Kingston!;D
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