Gaming desktop...

johng_uk

What's the best gaming desktop rig out there for under £1000 atm.

I know most replies will say 'build it yourself' etc, but as a full-time employee, with a wife and kids, doing OU, I simply wouldn't have the time. I certainly wouldn't have the know-how anyway!!

I've sourced various sites and I am not totally computer illiterate and some of the figures make sense to me. However, I am aware that some of the numbers actually mean very little - i.e. just because the graphics card has 512mb, doesn't necessarily make it quicker than a newer model with less memory.

Like everyone else, I would say that I want the cheapest but best available, but understand that you mostly get what you pay for. I would also like a rig that comes with a 2 (preferably 3) year extended warranty.

I currently play on a gaming laptop and therefore have no standalone monitor.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

exup

does it have to be a laptop ? as you may have cooling problems with that -
A budget of £1000 would buy you a decent tower gaming PC

johng_uk

exup wrote: »

does it have to be a laptop ? as you may have cooling problems with that -
A budget of £1000 would buy you a decent tower gaming PC

Please ignore my biffness! I have edited my post to hide my mistake

I meant desktop and not laptop!

superscaper

What kind of games? It will affect what proportion you should spend on graphics card etc. What size monitor do you want?

You don't need a 2/3 year warranty. It adds nothing to what you're entitled to anyway for any faults that occur.

exup

my normal point of call for anything is CCL they can do prebuilds aswell - while you are at the site you can have a look at the various itmes that make up a decent system.

Quad core processor AMD are usually cheaper than pentium, and compatible ATC motherboard
ATX gaming Tower

OEM operating system either XP pro or Vista Home Premium

Sata hard drive 200GB plus - perhaps 2 hard drives - one for file backup to allow games to be installed on the main drive - and other "junk" such as patches etc to be stored on the second - keeps the main drive working faster

2 GB RAM
PCI-E graphics card. a radeon x1950 or better is a decent card at decent price.
DVD rewriter that covers multiformat (plus, minus and plus/minus)
Sound card that supports at least 5.1 - not sure about make here - I have a philips DSC but they are rare and a bit underrated.

[Deleted User]

If you're wanting a budget system, then 2GB RAM and an X1950 is where you should be looking

sco0ter

johng_uk wrote: »

However, I am aware that some of the numbers actually mean very little - i.e. just because the graphics card has 512mb, doesn't necessarily make it quicker than a newer model with less memory.

You will also find that newer is not always better when it comes to graphics cards as well.

I bought a Medion quad core from Tesco with a 256 MB 8600GT and it runs absolutely everything I have tried with all options on (crysis, Fallout 3, Spiderman web of shadows, Far Cry 2) at my monitors native resolution of 1400X900. Not the highest resolution but they all look great and as some of them are demos/Betas then the full version should hopefully run better.

There is a new version available from the Medion website but now it has a blu ray player and a 9300GS card (not sure how this one stacks up against me 8600GT).

It costs £499 (mine was £350 cos they were getting rid of them) but needs a monitor.

johng_uk

What kind of games? It will affect what proportion you should spend on graphics card etc. What size monitor do you want?

You don't need a 2/3 year warranty. It adds nothing to what you're entitled to anyway for any faults that occur.

I play COD2, COD4, Football Manager, COD 5 (soon), WOW, etc etc.

I must say my Rock gaming laptop(s) have had a few minor problems over the years. The 3 year collect and return warranty has been worth it's weight in gold.

johng_uk

exup wrote: »

my normal point of call for anything is CCL they can do prebuilds aswell - while you are at the site you can have a look at the various itmes that make up a decent system.

Quad core processor AMD are usually cheaper than pentium, and compatible ATC motherboard
ATX gaming Tower

OEM operating system either XP pro or Vista Home Premium

Sata hard drive 200GB plus - perhaps 2 hard drives - one for file backup to allow games to be installed on the main drive - and other "junk" such as patches etc to be stored on the second - keeps the main drive working faster

2 GB RAM
PCI-E graphics card. a radeon x1950 or better is a decent card at decent price.
DVD rewriter that covers multiformat (plus, minus and plus/minus)
Sound card that supports at least 5.1 - not sure about make here - I have a philips DSC but they are rare and a bit underrated.

Umm your link goes to Daytona Motorsports? lol

Cheers for the post though!

johng_uk

If you're wanting a budget system, then 2GB RAM and an X1950 is where you should be looking

I don't necessarily want a budget system. My maximum budget would be £1000 or so and obviously I want best value for money.

johng_uk

sco0ter wrote: »

You will also find that newer is not always better when it comes to graphics cards as well.

I bought a Medion quad core from Tesco with a 256 MB 8600GT and it runs absolutely everything I have tried with all options on (crysis, Fallout 3, Spiderman web of shadows, Far Cry 2) at my monitors native resolution of 1400X900. Not the highest resolution but they all look great and as some of them are demos/Betas then the full version should hopefully run better.

There is a new version available from the Medion website but now it has a blu ray player and a 9300GS card (not sure how this one stacks up against me 8600GT).

It costs £499 (mine was £350 cos they were getting rid of them) but needs a monitor.

Good, informitive post mate.

My personal take though, would be that I would be reluctant to take a relative risk and buy such a system. With the luck I have, I would buy a system that wouldn't be able to run freecell!!

I would prefer a gaming geard pc as I am purchasing it purely for games and the odd Open Uni assignment!