I'm a layman.

[Bigjamiesmith]

Hello all i'll start by explaining my situation...

...I used to be interested in pc's years ago, now after a long lazy decade on consoles i am feeling i want to get back into the pc gaming scene.

Now the problem is over the last 10 years pc's have got confusing(to me).

I really need a book, thread or link on this lovely website that could maybe fill in the last 10 years, their seems to be so many other options these days alot different than when i was playing chamionship manager, C&C Red alert and Quake.

Recently tried playing Company of heroes on my laptop and am struggling.

Right down to the brass taxes, i want to build a gaming PC not certain about what i'm needing yet maybe a mid-range mid-perfomance unit not too sure of the term. but that can be upgraded in the future. Lets say £600+.

Money is limited and would be a slow build over a few months as over the past 10 years i have also picked up a family and they will have priority.

Any advice will be welcome.

Thanks for listening,

Bigjay.

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

Hey Jay, and again, welcome to the forums

Although I'm not sure how to help fill you in on everything that's happened over the last ten years, these two links will help you with the hear and now though.

http://www.tomshardw...view-32155.html

http://www.tomshardw...view-32134.html

Tom also but together a good video recently on how to build a gaming rig with £600 that also might be of help if you haven't seen it:

Video: http://www.youtube.c...player_embedded

Review: http://www.overclock...600_gaming_pc/1

Building a rig that you can add to later can sometimes be a bit of an art form as you never really know what's round the corner but you can always try your best. This video might help explain what I mean:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=FK4ip08auGg

Hope all these help. Just tell us what you think and we'll try to help more.

Edit: This article may be of use to you too, as well as some of the links on the page:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/budget-gaming-pc-phenom-ii-radeon-hd-6850,review-32150.html

 

[jack-uk]

Hi jay, well I'm 14 and you were probably gaming around the time I was born lol, I've been interested in PC hardware/software for two years and the way I learnt was from forums like this and looking on PC retailer websites for hours looking at all the hardware, and watching/ reading reviews. I learnt alot from people like Tom on you-tube, this might not of helped but it helped me, sorry for the life story

 

[ruthless_villain]

may help when you are buying parts but take a look at TTL/ARIA £600 budget rig

 

[mrapoc]

+1 for toms £600 rig

 

[Bigjamiesmith]

I'm trying to stay away from AMD, was thinking Intel.

was thinking this would be a good startMy link, not bothered about what it looks like no LED for me so a cheap case.

 

[jack-uk]

I'm trying to stay away from AMD, was thinking Intel.

was thinking this would be a good startMy link, not bothered about what it looks like no LED for me so a cheap case.

That bundle looks great, its a newer bundle that Tom used in his £600 rig.

 

[SieB]

What about this? you wont need to upgrade from this for a long time.

Includes everything except a case, you could always use the one you have now for a couple of weeks till you have enough to buy a new one.

 

[Bigjamiesmith]

that all looks pretty good.

 

[SieB]

That motherboard how did it come up as £116 on yours i can only find for £140, lol.

Those prices are without tax but the tax is added on to the total.

 

[Karlos_the_n00b]

What about this? you wont need to upgrade from this for a long time.

Includes everything except a case, you could always use the one you have now for a couple of weeks till you have enough to buy a new one.

The Sabertooth P67 and 2500K get my vote if there not outside you budget.

 

[Bigjamiesmith]

Will the prices vary in the next couple of weeks?, could probably do £200 this month and the rest next month.

And i've been looking into this case what do you think?

My link

Edit: and also see alot of talk about needing extra fans, will i need em for the above setup?

 

[SieB]

Will the prices vary in the next couple of weeks?, could probably do £200 this month and the rest next month.

And i've been looking into this case what do you think?

My link

Edit: and also see alot of talk about needing extra fans, will i need em for the above setup?

I had that exact same case up until about a month ago when I got a CM 690 II ADV. It's an ok case for the money but it has no cable management or anything like that. It comes with a rear 120mm fan (it says it comes with 2 but it only comes with one) with the option to fit one on the side and one in the front I would suggest getting one for the front.

As for prices coming down in the next few months I wouldn't hold your breath, there isn't anything new coming out to make prices drop so the best thing to do would be to keep checking different sites for sales and deals also Ebay sometimes is cheaper.

 

[Grizzly]

I've just seen Tom's review on the enforcer and tbh it seems perfect for this situation.

It's fairly cheap, I think he said £60, and comes with everything you need so you avoid the hassle of wanting a new case later on.

Just don't expect any fancy bells and whistles.

Check the written review when it's posted to get an idea for it.

 

[jack-uk]

Its very cheep £400 including VAT and delivery, and sandy-bridge, just no over-clocking is that a problem?

 

[yuri04]

Basically 3 problems with that system,

First the GTS 450, that's not really a powerfull card, if money is tight then try a 460, better would be a 560Ti.

Second, you are buying a graphics card, if you can afford a overclocking CPU, at least go for a overclocking motherboard (P67 or Z68 Model), so you can swap your CPU at a certain point for an overclocking one with a decent cooler. At least, if you would want to OC ofcourse.

And last but not least, the PSU, I have no experience with them myself, but there have been some reports here on the forum of ones that we well, not up for the job

Trusted names here are NZXT, Corsair, Seasonic.

 

[jack-uk]

Basically 3 problems with that system,

First the GTS 450, that's not really a powerfull card, if money is tight then try a 460, better would be a 560Ti.

Second, you are buying a graphics card, if you can afford a overclocking CPU, at least go for a overclocking motherboard (P67 or Z68 Model), so you can swap your CPU at a certain point for an overclocking one with a decent cooler. At least, if you would want to OC ofcourse.

And last but not least, the PSU, I have no experience with them myself, but there have been some reports here on the forum of ones that we well, not up for the job

Trusted names here are NZXT, Corsair, Seasonic.

The GTS 450 performs well in games for its price, a GTX 460 would be better but I was trying to hit a price point of £400.

He wanted a gaming pc and a gaming pc wouldn't be one without a GPU, I asked him if over-clocking was a problem but he hasn't got back to me yet.

As said I was trying to hit a price point, yes its a cheep OEM power supply but it will do the job, good system all in all for £400 don't you think?

 

[Bigjamiesmith]

What about this? you wont need to upgrade from this for a long time.

Includes everything except a case, you could always use the one you have now for a couple of weeks till you have enough to buy a new one.

So with this setup what else will i need in terms of hardware?

How does internet work these days with pc's, used to be the modem in the back what is it now?

Will i need anymore fans?

Ive come into a bit of cash so will hopefully be ordering it all next week, £700 now so will get a case to, any idea's?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SieB]

That is everything you need except a DVD drive if you need one, if you get a good case you wont need any extra fans but if you want to overclock you will need a CPU cooler because the one that comes with the CPU isn't good for overclocking.

For the internet there is a eathernet port on the back of the motherboard which the lead from your modem/router (should be blue) plugs into.

For cases for around £60 you could get

Cooler master 690 II Advanced

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QweDb-p2qQ

Cooler Master Storm Enforcer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp2xTJ2ZKX0

Or if you are willing to spen a little more something like the NZXT Phantom.

Tom hasn't done a review of it on it's own but you get a good look at it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjhL_OHjyts

 

[Bigjamiesmith]

Right this is what im thinking of tell me what yo think? i'm fairly over budget but i'm fairly happy with what involved.

As for the NZXT is the only grey area as it so exspensive, on a plus side its got plenty of room for upgrading in the future, i am thinking of overclocking but not right away.

Intel Core i5-2500k 3.30GHz (sandybridge) socket LGA1155 Processor

ASUS Sabertooth Intel P67 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express

ASUS GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics

4GB Mushkin Silverline 2x2GB 1600MHz 9-9-9-24

600W Corsair Builder Seeries 600CX power supply

1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 SATA II 3.5 hard drive

samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BD-ROM / 16x DVD writer drive

NZXT Phantom Black enthusiast Full tower case