New PC, few questions

M

mikee737800

New Member
Hello,

I have decided to purchase a new computer. I live in the UK.
Well, I would like to ask, what is a good, cheap make to build top spec gaming pc's?

I have found one that I customised and I would like to know what kind of performance I would get in games such as Doom 3, F.E.A.R, Battlefield 2, etc...

Wired2Fire 64bit Range
AMD Athlon FX-57 Processor
2048mb DDR PC3200 RAM (4x 512mb)
GeForce 7800GTX PCI-Express 256mb
200gb Harddrive
DVD-ROM Drive with second DVD-RW drive
19" TFT with 8ms response
Soundblaster Audigy 4 External
Creative THX 550 5.1 Speakers
Logitech LX700 Wireless KBD&MSE
Wanadoo 2mbps Wireless Connection

£2900.00 (around $4200.00)
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What is good and bad about it?
Should I change anything?
What is another good make of PC I can customise?
Is it hard to build your own PC?
How do you build your own PC?
Where is a good place to buy PC Parts to build own?

---------------------------------------

Any replies appreciated

Thanks,
Michael Stokes
 
I have found another system for £2950, its a lot better, same questions as above on this machine please:

CPU
AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT FX57® (San Diago) 1MB L2 Cache (939 pin)

Memory
2048 MB DDR400 PC3200 WITH LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Motherboard
ASUS® A8N-SLI DELUXE: DUAL DDR, S-ATA, 2 x x16 VGA, 3 PCI

USB Options
SIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)

Hard Drive
SATA 300 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 16mb cache

Second Hard Drive
SATA 160 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache (Special Offer)

RAID
NONE

DVD ROM/Combi Drive
16X DVD ROM WITH 48X CD ROM

CD/DVD Writer
4x +R DUAL LYR DVD WRITER (16x +/-R) (& RW) + 40x CD-RW (£25)

Graphics Card
256MB GEFORCE 7800 GTX PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

(SLI) Graphics Card 2
256MB GEFORCE 7800 GTX PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Sound Card
SoundBlaster Audigy 4 7.1 Pro + External Kit: £151

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities
WIRELESS 802.11G NTWRK CARD + ADSL ROUTER & MODEM (£72)

Floppy Drive/Card Reader
INTERNAL 7 IN 1 CARD READER WITH 1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Case
Stylish Silver X-Plode Case + 2 Front USB

Power Supply & Cooling
550W DUAL RAIL PSU, 120mm fan & 19.2 dBA CPU Cooler - for SLI (£45)

Operating System required
MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP PRO (inc. original CD & licence) (£95)

Firewire & Video Editing
1 x FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD

Monitor
HIGH END TFT: 19 INCH SILVER/BLACK: 8MS + DVI! (£259)

Keyboard
Logitech® Cordless Rechargeable Optical Keybrd + Mouse Silver/Black £36

Mouse
NONE

Speakers
CREATIVE ITRIGUE 5.1 5600 SILVER/BLK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£123)

Printer
HP PSC 1610 PRINTER/SCANNER/COPIER (£99)

Anti-Virus
NONE

Office Software
NONE

TV Card
DIGITAL TV CARD (TV/Radio/Remote/Pause Live TV) (Special: £32)

Warranty
1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return
 
BUILDING COMPUTERS 101
Cheaper (in this case an assload cheaper), easier, and generally more customizable. You are overpaying for that machine by atleast 1000 pounds.

FX ain't worth the money for what you are doing, you can get great preformance from a A64 3000-3400+ chip for a lot less. 2Gb of ram might be overkill but with the games coming out now who knows. 7800GTX is a bit overkill but again, goes along with the ram issue. I don't know many sites from britain but some good ones for the US are listed in the 101.
 
whattaya mean the fx isnt worth the money, if your going all out it doesnt matter thats is the best processor on the market. i managed to play fear on low to medium settings with my laptop so that is the most intensive game so you should be able to run it on full settings with out a problem. the graphics card is not overkill i dont know what anthrax is talking about if you want the ultimate system, uve got it
 
whattaya mean the fx isnt worth the money, if your going all out it doesnt matter thats is the best processor on the market. i managed to play fear on low to medium settings with my laptop so that is the most intensive game so you should be able to run it on full settings with out a problem. the graphics card is not overkill i dont know what anthrax is talking about if you want the ultimate system, uve got it
Click to expand...

If you've got unlimited money or your mommy and daddy buying your stuff sure, buy the FX. If you're on a budget like most people in the world you're gonna wanna save oh say 600-700$ you can buy a new X2 3800+ or an older model (3400-3800 A64 non-dual) for 200-300$ AND then save money on a graphics card by buying a 6800GT or a 6800U (hell SLI even). You could buy a VERY nice gaming machine for somewhere in the 1000-1500$ range and still have it play all the new games on top settings without throwing away that extra 2500$
 
agreed anthraX, the FX series is well overpriced for the perfromance. The only reason they charge so much for it is because of the unlocked mulitplier, a feature which about 90% of fx owners dont even use. Save yourself a ton of cash and get a 3800 (not X2 in this case).

the graphics card is not overkill i dont know what anthrax is talking about if you want the ultimate system, uve got it
Click to expand...
A 7800gtx is a great card, but if you have any sence you'll realise that a 7800gt of 6800U will be able to handle the top games at the top settings. Sure you can squeeze out a few more fps, but it's not like you'll notice. And to put 7800gtx in sli (as he is doing in his post) is like throwing money away, you simply will not be able utilise it, and by the time you can the 7800gtx will be a distant memory. But hey if you want bleeding edge performance

i dont know what anthrax is talking about
Click to expand...
Get that a lot do you? :)


i managed to play fear on low to medium settings with my laptop so that is the most intensive game so you should be able to run it on full settings with out a problem.
Click to expand...
No doubt, but he could play it on full settings without a problem on a rig that cost £1000 less.
Also ditch the sound card, onboard will prob be enough for all but the die hard music men.
 
so whats the performance difference between the fx57 and the x2 3800 if it is not much then i deserve all the critiscism
 
there is a difference but what they are saying is that for the price and proformance it is extremly expensive for what you get you can get a x2 3800 for a lot less and is still a verry decent cpu so u have money for other stuff :)
 
6800GT can play FEAR highest settings? Not even the 7800 GTX can do that 1600x1200 no lag. But then again, that game is very demanding. And yes, first tip, READ READ READ. Before I built my first PC i browsed these forums, bought magazines(PC building bible by PC gamer is perfect). It realy wasn't that hard after I spent some time researching, which is key for a PC.
 
building a pc is actually quite simple even if you dont no anything reasearch a if you dont no what goes where ect just google build a pc you will find loads of totorials
 
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