Desktop PC advice

[TJWhonley]

Hi guys
I am after a gaming desktop ideally suited for gaming but also very good sound quality and has to be able to do my schoolwork.
I do not need a monitor, but need a keyboard, but no mouse.
I need;
at least 8gb of ram
250gb hdd
good cpu
3-D graphics capability with a very good framerate for playing modern games such as BF3 and Skyrim
I have a budget of £600-£800 GB
any suggestions would be very welcome.

 

[TJWhonley]

any question I am free out of working hours so just post any queries about requirements ect.

 

[Teaz]

With that budget, I'd recommend an AMD system.

A little over the budget but a spec to consider for what you get in it:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD BULLDOZER QUAD CORE FX-4100 (3.60GHz/6MB CACHE/AM3)

Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97: AM3+ PLATFORM, DUAL DDR3, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE AMD CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£59)

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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Keyboard & Mouse
Razer® Arctosa Essential Gaming Keyboard (£45)

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Total: 857

Configure it here.

 

[TJWhonley]

just a note- I already have windows and microsoft office, so that takes around £100 off.
do you really think that 1gb gpu will be enough for eg bf3 on highest graphic setting
also what is the difference between an amd and intel system, i can find what look to be better intel systems for around the same price with around 2gb of gpu i7 processor ect
your comments mutch appreciated.

 

[Teaz]

Yes, 1GB is fine if you're playing on 1 screen. Unless you want game on mulitple screens then a high vram would be better suited. Also, depends which gpu you are mentioning about?

Nothing, they are both capable of handling tasks along with gaming and media. Intel is just a little more expensive due to their CPUs being a little more powerful. AMD just has a fair performance price ratio.

I fail to see what look to be better apart from the cpu for around the price?

This is what I'd get with the i7 as you stated along with a 2GB 560Ti for gaming:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB 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 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)

Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£59)

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 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Keyboard & Mouse
Razer® Arctosa Essential Gaming Keyboard (£45)

Total: 1050

This is coupled with a good quality sound card along with keyboard as stated for your requirements?

 

[Music Guy123]

You can drop the sound card, onboard is very good, there is so little difference. You can drop to 1gb gpu no problem. If you dropped the os and those two parts, it would bring you to about 900 which isn't bad at all.

 

[TJWhonley]

roughly how mutch would a soundcard be to upgrade after purchase?

 

[Music Guy123]

A soundcard is fairly easy to install. PCS will guide you through, you will need just to buy the card, depends on the card you buy as to the price.

 

[TJWhonley]

how easy would gpu's and cpu's be to replace?

 

[Ash]

With a GPU, you just pop out the old one and slot the new one in. Install the drivers and away you go.
You'll have to make sure your PSU can handle the upgrade though.

I'm not too sure about CPUs.

 

[Music Guy123]

To replace a gpu, you will need to unplug it from the psu, more powerful gpus have a psu connector as the pci power isn't powerful enough. Generally there is a screw where the back panel attaches to the case which needs unscrewing then you can remove it. To add one, push it into the slot, attach it to the case then find the 6 pin pci-e power cord from your psu and plug it in to the gpu. Then you need to install drivers and you are ready to go!

 

[Music Guy123]

Please do not negative rep me for my previous post. I was trying to help you, you asked how easy it would be to replace the gpu and I just told you how to do it. That way you could work out whether it was easy or not. Please do not negative rep me for because it is too complicated, feel free however, to ask me to make it more understandable for you.

 

[TJWhonley]

sorry it was hasty and not thought through, and i am sorry for any inconvenience caused.

 

[Music Guy123]

Don't worry, all forgiven! Don't forget to post your final post before you buy it, just to make sure it is just right for you !

 

[TJWhonley]

i have posted a new thread entitled AMD pc advice because I have decided it would probably be better
please post on that if you want any responses!