Buying a poweful new PC, what do you think of this spec/price?

Landprofits

I am in the market for a new PC. I am a pretty heavy user so I have decided that I don't want to compromise on spec - I really want a machine that is powerful enough to handle everything I throw it's way.

Not that I am a heavy gamer, but I do want the capacity to use it for games if I want. One game in particular that will be going on there will be microsoft flight simulator.

From the company who supplied my last PC, I pulled off the following PC spec which is termed a "performance computer";

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (£80)**SPECIAL**

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI

Memory (RAM)
6GB DOMINATOR GT TRI-DDR3 2000MHz (8-8-8-24) - LIFETIME WARRANTY

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB Intel® X25-M 2.5" SSD (34nm / upto 250MB/sR | 70MB/sW)***SPECIAL***

2nd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

RAID (HDD 1 & 2)
NONE

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

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Power Supply & Case Cooling
800W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£89)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£59)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND


Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, Lifetime Tech Support)

This is just the tower (I will buy other stuff such as monitor separately or already have those items etc). It is a standard build but at least that goves me a starting point.

The price for the above is £2050. I have posted this up above, so hopefully somebody with more knowledge of the marketplace than me can critique - tell me if this represents a fair price for the machine, could it be bettered, could I get an even more powerful spec for the same price....or could the price be improved..... ?????

All comments welcome!

Lokolo

Little expensive imo.

Case
AMD Phenom II X4 945 3GHz
320GB HDD SATA II
1GB Radeon HD4890
Sony DVD Writer (cheap)
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 790FX
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU
Crappy Keyboard
A couple of extra cables

For £590

I then bought a Dell 21.5" Monitor for £150. (with DVI input)

Works like a beast.

[edit]

4GB RAM from Crucial +£110.

jweb2k

i7-930 over the 960 imo. Especially if you're not a heavy gamer (i.e. Crysis on full). Anything over an i7-920/930 is overkill.

The P6X58D is a lovely board, but shop around for a Gigabyte x58 with the same features, at around £40 less. See: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1167642 for a starting point...

The RAM.. well... the timings are matched by the XMS3 half it's price...

An 80GB SSD is nice but is it really necessary for what you need/do?

I'd imagine by trimming the excess/un-needed you'll end up around £1,100 with a very fast and excellent PC. I built in Sep 09 with the following for reference, and it's still awesomely fast!

i7-920 (now superseded by similar priced i7-930)
6GB XMS3 Classic
2 x GTX 260 (Sold one now, still plays COD4MW2 excellently)
1TB Spinpoint F3
850w Antec PSU
HAF 932 (although it is massive, so 922 is a better option!)

Hope that helps, and my biggest advice, spend good money on your monitor, I got a Dell Ultrasharp 2209WA with tilt but there's better about now.

Pick up a copy of Custom PC and have a read through an issue or two first, i'd highly recommend it and it'll save you lots without losing performance!
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penrhyn

What about a nice Dell Alienware Area 51?

Lil306

penrhyn wrote: »

What about a nice Dell Alienware Area 51?

Overhyped trash, all you're paying for is the name. The only thing you can't get that I know of will be the cases, as they're unique to Alienware (I think). However you can probably find someone who could custom build it, or buy an equally unique case for the same price.

You can build a PC of the same spec probably for 25% cheaper. Soon as Alienware put their name on it, that adds more money because people seem to think there's something special about them...there's not.

I'd rather go buy some parts off the shelf and custom build a PC myself, than pay another £500-£1000 on top for the same hardware with the Alienware brand.

custardy

£2K :beer: nice
oh for the days when i could spend that on PC's


have you priced up things like the bluray drive separately?
for stuff you can just plug in yourself then you can often source them cheaper


EDIT: thats assuming the warrenty allows you to open the case

Im so out of touch on PC specs i cant really give advice

globalds

penrhyn wrote: »

What about a nice Dell Alienware Area 51?

Not Alienware ..But Dell XPS

And cheap.. well for this weekend

This is a 6 core processor


http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/677790/dell-xps-7100-amd-x6-processor-ati-

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T (2.80GHz, 512kx6) Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Microsoft® Works 9 - English
McAfee® Security Centre 15 Month Protection
6144MB (2x2GB) (2x1GB)1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
1.5TB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
1GB ATI® Radeon HD 5870 graphics card with Vision Black label
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with Roxio Easy CD and DVD Burn software

custardy

thats a beast,me want

oldtoolie

£2000? To play MS Flight Simulator? :eek:

Flight Simulator isn't the most demanding of games so most any up-to-date PC will play it quite well.

Me? T would buy a PC with a monitor for less than £1000. Then I would use the other £1000 to sign up at flight school, take a few lessons and start learning what flying is really like.

custardy

£1K is a drop in the ocean for flight school

bengalknights

Lokolo wrote: »

Little expensive imo.

Case
AMD Phenom II X4 945 3GHz
320GB HDD SATA II
1GB Radeon HD4890
Sony DVD Writer (cheap)
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 790FX
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU
Crappy Keyboard
A couple of extra cables

For £590

I then bought a Dell 21.5" Monitor for £150. (with DVI input)

Works like a beast.

[edit]

4GB RAM from Crucial +£110.

Replace x4 with x6 and 4890 with 5870 and bobs your uncle lol