Gaming computer help for a non tech savy

jess_the_cat

Hi all just after a bit of advice please
son is after a gaming computer had a bit of a serch and a visit to pc world now even more confused. I have a inderpendent recomended this.
SPEC:
Quad Core A8 5600K 3.9Ghz CPU
2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 RAM
1TB Hard Drive
DVD Drive x24
Gaming Case with Blue LED Fans
FM2 Motherboard
500W PSU

please comment if ok or any thing i should change. also would this be ok for school work ? if i was to buy office?
Thanks all :beer:

Fightsback

jess_the_cat wrote: »

Hi all just after a bit of advice please
son is after a gaming computer had a bit of a serch and a visit to pc world now even more confused. I have a inderpendent recomended this.
SPEC:
Quad Core A8 5600K 3.9Ghz CPU
2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 RAM
1TB Hard Drive
DVD Drive x24
Gaming Case with Blue LED Fans
FM2 Motherboard
500W PSU

please comment if ok or any thing i should change. also would this be ok for school work ? if i was to buy office?
Thanks all :beer:

Ideally for a gaming machine get at least an Intel i5 based system. I'm sure AMD fanboys will be along shortly with custard pies :cool:

The most important question is what's your budget and then we can help you better. The choice of graphics card is the biggest factor in a gaming machine.
Oh and a good monitor, hardcore gamers can end up spending a fortune on the latest and greatest kit.

Tropez

jess_the_cat wrote: »

Hi all just after a bit of advice please
son is after a gaming computer had a bit of a serch and a visit to pc world now even more confused. I have a inderpendent recomended this.
SPEC:
Quad Core A8 5600K 3.9Ghz CPU
2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 RAM
1TB Hard Drive
DVD Drive x24
Gaming Case with Blue LED Fans
FM2 Motherboard
500W PSU

please comment if ok or any thing i should change. also would this be ok for school work ? if i was to buy office?
Thanks all :beer:

I'm guessing this is very much a budget-build based on the hardware listed?

Which graphics card is that? It's a bit vague.

For what it's worth, don't go to PC World looking for gaming computers. Anything they'll sell will be overpriced and have cut corners.

jess_the_cat

AMD Radeon 7560D Graphics
what ever that means

Tropez

jess_the_cat wrote: »

AMD Radeon 7560D Graphics
what ever that means

Yeah, I thought it might have meant that.

Honestly, I've no issue with AMD, but that CPU (which integrates those graphics) will be okay for older games but modern games you're looking at low-settings for many of them and if you're already looking at low-settings now, then unfortunately, a year or two down the line it is likely a lot of games will be unplayable. You're also more at the mercy of game developers providing adequate support for the AMD APU. Some games do run surprisingly well on it - others are terrible because they lack support.

What's your budget? Maybe someone can find something a bit better for you Also, always worth asking, do you know anyone who could build a system from scratch if you got the parts together? Because there's usually a lot of savings that can be made that way.

Also, do you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse that can be used or do they need to be factored in to any build?

Fightsback

jess_the_cat wrote: »

please comment if ok or any thing i should change. also would this be ok for school work ? if i was to buy office?
Thanks all :beer:

Some schools offer free Office 365 for home use on up to 5 machines depending on what the school has. Worth checking with the school, this normally only applies to secondary school though.

Lokolo

If you are sticking with AMD, go with the FX series rather then A series.

No need for A series if you have a decent gfx card.

My 6 month old PC is

- AMD FX-8350 4GHz Socket AM3+ 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
- Asus R9 280 DirectCU II 3GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card

And its fine for games. The gfx card heats up my case quite a bit though so I had to get a couple of extra fans.

There is also a basic CPU benchmark site here: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

You can compare CPU outputs.

Fightsback

Lokolo wrote: »

If you are sticking with AMD, go with the FX series rather then A series.

No need for A series if you have a decent gfx card.

My 6 month old PC is

- AMD FX-8350 4GHz Socket AM3+ 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
- Asus R9 280 DirectCU II 3GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card

And its fine for games. The gfx card heats up my case quite a bit though so I had to get a couple of extra fans.

There is also a basic CPU benchmark site here: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

You can compare CPU outputs.

You can make a very capable gaming rig out of a pentium G3220 CPU and an Nvidia 750Ti discrete GPU without having to watch the leccy meter spin round like a whirling dervish

See bottom of page 7 here:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/68797-intel-pentium-g3220-22nm-haswell/?page=7

GunJack

couple of points:-

1. the HD7560D is the ONBOARD gfx chip, NOT a separate 2GB GDDR card.
2. The A8-5600k cpu combined with a 750Ti is a very capable gaming system on a budget.

How do I know? I got Mini-Gun#1 A8 + 7560D system xmas 2013 and it played most games ok, upgraded him with psu and 750Ti this xmas and it plays everything ok, and things like Shadow of Mordor on hi-res, for example..

in fact it was a shame his original cpu was only 300W (to go with the low power requirements of the A series) or I wouldn't have had to upgrade that with the gfx card

Tropez

GunJack wrote: »

couple of points:-

1. the HD7560D is the ONBOARD gfx chip, NOT a separate 2GB GDDR card.
2. The A8-5600k cpu combined with a 750Ti is a very capable gaming system on a budget.

How do I know? I got Mini-Gun#1 A8 + 7560D system xmas 2013 and it played most games ok, upgraded him with psu and 750Ti this xmas and it plays everything ok, and things like Shadow of Mordor on hi-res, for example..

in fact it was a shame his original cpu was only 300W (to go with the low power requirements of the A series) or I wouldn't have had to upgrade that with the gfx card

Yeah, the 750Ti is virtually equivalent to the Maxwell-version GTX860M that is in one of my laptops (slight differences in memory speeds and bandwidth favouring the 750Ti aside) and it has proven mostly quite capable (Company of Heroes 2 notwithstanding).

Since a 2GB GTX750Ti can be had for about £80-£90 it makes it a fantastic card for budget builds - much like the old nVidia 8800GT was back in the day.

enfield_freddy

Fightsback wrote: »

You can make a very capable gaming rig out of a pentium G3220 CPU and an Nvidia 750Ti discrete GPU without having to watch the leccy meter spin round like a whirling dervish

See bottom of page 7 here:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/68797-intel-pentium-g3220-22nm-haswell/?page=7

indeed the later g3258 is very close to the AMD cpu , and runs a lot cooler


http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php




for there power per £ I rate the g range , the g3258 is rated as better value for money than the AMD cpu