New PC for 'Dead Space 2' & work use - what's best?

andreww1967

Hi, I need to replace my current CPU which is about 6 years old (monitor & printer etc. ok - it's just a new CPU I need). I use it mainly for gaming but my wife is starting a business from home and will also need to run MS Office, a database (Access would do) and a DTP programme (Publisher would be ok initially but she will probably want Quark eventually). The main game I want to play is 'Dead Space 2', but obviously I'd like the PC to run games well for at least the next couple of years. The likes of PC World & Currys are quoting a minimum of £600 and by the time you add in Basic Office and Publisher, closer to £900 which is just crazy money. Anyone any ideas?

Many thanks,

Andrew Whiteside

(BTW, 'Dead Space 2's system requirements are below)

Intel Processor - Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz
AMD Processor - Athlon II X2 220
Nvidia Graphics Card - GeForce 8800 GTS
GFX CardATI Graphics Card - Radeon HD 3800 series
RAM (Memory) - 2GB
Hard Disk Space - 10GB Direct X-9

JasX

Meh, I'm still waiting for them to fix all the bugs in the PC version of Dead Space 1.....

Devin_Shockwell

The graphical grunt really does depend what desktop resolution your monitor outputs! For instance my screen resolution is 2048 x 1152 so needs a little extra to push those pixels around.

To be honest, outside of gaming the office applications are not that demanding. Have you ever heard of 'Open Office'? Decent free alternative to Microsoft's offering. Also I would not buy from the high street, any PC would usually have dated components by today's standard!

bluenoseam

How technically minded are you - would you consider a self build system? I know they're not as "economic" as they used to be but they'll still work out cheaper than going to some place like PC World - honestly how those guys are still in business is a miracle!

Even if you aren't willing to self build, check out some PC gaming forums/magazines where you can probably get ideas for where to get decent rigs built to your spec. While i've been lucky with my choices so far (i've heard real bad things about Mesh, i never had any problems until it stopped having the punch to play games!), i know the one i'm currently using was "expensive" at the time but 2 years later & it's still holding its own!

As for the office software, you haven't mentioned your intentions for your old gear - if she really just needs a set up to run Office software then why not recycle yours? You'll find it has more than enough pop to run Open Office (free & awesome!) and the best of all, it'll only cost you the stuff you need to replace the gear you'd migrate.

swifthorn

You can easily build your own computer. I got my board, CPU, Hard Drive and Win7 from a local small computer business, I went to PC World for my Graphics card, went to Maplins for a power supply. And another store to get some RAM.

Current setup and cost.
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8Ghz E5500 - £50
Gigabyte board - £50 ish
4GB RAM DDR2 - £70
ATI Radeon 5670HD - £110
680W Power Supply - £30
Windows 7 Ultimate - £40
500GB HDD - £70

Total - £410

Simples Should fit in your current tower.

The Specs above play Call of Duty:Black Ops on full setting with a 30 FPS rate.

Lil306

swifthorn wrote: »

You can easily build your own computer. I got my board, CPU, Hard Drive and Win7 from a local small computer business, I went to PC World for my Graphics card, went to Maplins for a power supply. And another store to get some RAM.

Current setup and cost.
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8Ghz E5500 - £50
Gigabyte board - £50 ish
4GB RAM DDR2 - £70
ATI Radeon 5670HD - £110
680W Power Supply - £30
Windows 7 Ultimate - £40
500GB HDD - £70

Total - £410

Simples Should fit in your current tower.

The Specs above play Call of Duty:Black Ops on full setting with a 30 FPS rate.

£70 for a 500gb hdd, eh where the hell you looking. You can get a 2TB for that price

Additionally, windows 7 utlimate £40??? - ermmm. if so link me

Not even the OEM is that cheap!

I have my doubts, retail Ultimate is around £150 but it's always worth trying to save money

swifthorn

I got it from my local computer shop. he has a business key and sells they key. Got it on a copied disk, but it's legit and genuine

victor2

Keep the old computer for the business and put something like Open Office on it, then just concentrate on a new computer for your games - would be better to keep the business totally separate anyway. Also, you might have trouble finding a Windows 7 driver for an old printer, if it is as old as the computer.
Quark could be a bit demanding for the old computer, but if that might come later and depends on the success of the business, you can look at a more advanced business computer then - or load it on your gaming machine.:)

[Deleted User]

swifthorn wrote: »

I got it from my local computer shop. he has a business key and sells they key. Got it on a copied disk, but it's legit and genuine

Sounds like he's selling Technet keys. Did you get a COA with it?

I wouldn't be wasting money on DDR2 memory when DDR3 is much cheaper, nor would I be buying a dated Intel processor. You'll get much more for your money by going with an AMD set up.

jaydeeuk1

Have to agree with anewhope, your local IT bloke has done you over. £110 for a 5670!? Was never anywhere near that even when released.

swifthorn

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

Have to agree with anewhope, your local IT bloke has done you over. £110 for a 5670!? Was never anywhere near that even when released.

That's PC World for you.