Hi guys
After an experiment with a gaming laptop from HP, I'm ready to return to the real world and get a proper desktop. (In fairness, the HDX9200 treated us well for four years, taking plenty of punishment from me and the kids - but the graphics card has finally given up the ghost.) I wanted to spend about a grand, including a monitor; but as always I got greedy on the spec and have convinced myself to spend £1,000 on the PC and just use an old monitor we have lying around...
Its main use will be for my games, such as Skyrim, Deus Ex HR and the like. I'm used to playing these on low-to-mid settings, and the spec below should be a real step up from that. Since I don't upgrade the PC all that often, I want something that will last a while before becoming outdated, hence I'm willing to hit £1,000.
As it's been a while since I've configured a desktop, there's quite a few things I'm unsure about. Any advice would be very much appreciated! In particular:
1) I'm completely lost with motherboards these days. I've gone for the cheapest option, but is that a false economy?
2) With my last two computers, I had Nvidia GPUs but on numerous occasions driver updates caused problems. So I felt like trying ATI for the first time. But I'm not familiar with the ATI cards, so don't really appreciate the difference between them. Any thoughts on what's the best value? Or should I return to the Nvidia fold?
3) I'm really tempted to try a solid state drive for the OS, with the HDD used to store my Steam files. But is it worth the extra cost?
4) 450W feels adequate as a power supply for what I'm after here, and I doubt I'll ever add a second graphics card. That seems ok, right?
5) I've got homeplugs already for the router and our TV, but they're a different brand (TP-Link, I think) from the ones at PCS. I presume given encryption etc they won't be compatible, so I need to find another TP-Link elsewhere?
Sorry, that's a bit of an essay.
I'll stop now and post the spec...!
- - - -
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-M: MICRO-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD7750 - DVI,HDMI,DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE DIRT SHOWDOWN GAME with any AMD 7000 Series GPU!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NORTON 360 SUITE - 1 Year Licence for upto 3 PCs (£39)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£39)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z320 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£39)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector + Auto Power Off Function (£19)
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: £1,023.00 including VAT and delivery.
After an experiment with a gaming laptop from HP, I'm ready to return to the real world and get a proper desktop. (In fairness, the HDX9200 treated us well for four years, taking plenty of punishment from me and the kids - but the graphics card has finally given up the ghost.) I wanted to spend about a grand, including a monitor; but as always I got greedy on the spec and have convinced myself to spend £1,000 on the PC and just use an old monitor we have lying around...
Its main use will be for my games, such as Skyrim, Deus Ex HR and the like. I'm used to playing these on low-to-mid settings, and the spec below should be a real step up from that. Since I don't upgrade the PC all that often, I want something that will last a while before becoming outdated, hence I'm willing to hit £1,000.
As it's been a while since I've configured a desktop, there's quite a few things I'm unsure about. Any advice would be very much appreciated! In particular:
1) I'm completely lost with motherboards these days. I've gone for the cheapest option, but is that a false economy?
2) With my last two computers, I had Nvidia GPUs but on numerous occasions driver updates caused problems. So I felt like trying ATI for the first time. But I'm not familiar with the ATI cards, so don't really appreciate the difference between them. Any thoughts on what's the best value? Or should I return to the Nvidia fold?
3) I'm really tempted to try a solid state drive for the OS, with the HDD used to store my Steam files. But is it worth the extra cost?
4) 450W feels adequate as a power supply for what I'm after here, and I doubt I'll ever add a second graphics card. That seems ok, right?
5) I've got homeplugs already for the router and our TV, but they're a different brand (TP-Link, I think) from the ones at PCS. I presume given encryption etc they won't be compatible, so I need to find another TP-Link elsewhere?
Sorry, that's a bit of an essay.
I'll stop now and post the spec...!- - - -
Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-M: MICRO-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD7750 - DVI,HDMI,DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Free Item
FREE DIRT SHOWDOWN GAME with any AMD 7000 Series GPU!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NORTON 360 SUITE - 1 Year Licence for upto 3 PCs (£39)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£39)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z320 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£39)
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector + Auto Power Off Function (£19)
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: £1,023.00 including VAT and delivery.
