Gaming Want to buy a Gaming Desktop :)

[DeathStrudel]

liquid cooling is cool, but unless you have an amd i see no use for it just get a nice fan

definitely the truth, i pretty much wasted my money on it, but at the time i was kinda a noob and thought it would be miles better

 

[unnkown95]

yeah its not that great other than looks, it is better but not worth it, if you get one of those clear cases and put in some cool leds that it looks really cool

 

[Law]

Overclockers.co.uk is pretty good

Scan.co.uk is good too.

edit: and I've heard good things about ebuyer, but haven't used it.

 

[DeathStrudel]

As for a motherboard I would suggest asus or EVGA. if you find a UK site just look for one that meets your requirements and make sure the case you want supports whatever size it is in case its extend or XL

 

[unnkown95]

just make sure you get the other parts after the motherboard

 

[DeathStrudel]

just make sure you get the other parts after the motherboard

for sure

 

[unnkown95]

you dont want to order the other stuff and then for some reason you cant get the motherboard you planned on lol

 

[DeathStrudel]

you dont want to order the other stuff and then for some reason you cant get the motherboard you planned on lol

lol, happened to a buddy of mine, sucked pretty bad for him

 

[unnkown95]

did he end up getting one that worked or what?

 

[DeathStrudel]

did he end up getting one that worked or what?

well he ordered most everything except a motherboard but then couldn't find one that worked with the parts he got, at first they weren't gonna let him return a lot of the stuff cause of store policy but luckily for him he convinced them to let him return it.
nows he's got a pretty badass setup actually

 

[Originality]

Recommended power rating for a GTX 580 is 600W. 700W will be plenty.

The Antec 1200 is the case I use. It can fit any size motherboard and any size graphics card in, including dual-GPU graphics cards like the HD5970. It can also fit up to 12 drives. For cooling, it has 3 intake fans at the front, 2 exhaust fans at the back, a fan on the side (can work either direction) and a huge exhaust fan at the top. Basically air will constantly flow through it, so the system will always stay cool. Plus the case has a built in control for fan speed (and the blue LED lights) so it can either be quiet or loud and powerful, depending on what you're doing.

If you're getting the system now (instead of waiting for the next generation of Intel CPUs), then you just need to look for a LGA 1156 motherboard, depending on if you want a quad core Core i5 Lynnfield or a 2+2 core Core i5 Clarkdale with integrated graphics (there are faster ones, but I only linked the cheapest one for comparison). Assuming quad core, a P55 motherboard would be best, like the Asus Maximus series. Here's the selection from Scan.

 

[Omega_2]

As for the OS, Windows 7, NOT Vista. The power drain put by vista just existing is enough to warrant avoiding it. Buy it, pirate it, I don't care what you do, just as long as it's to get away from vista.
What Fishaman P suggests, a SSD as your primary is suggested, as it improves load times. a 500GB secondary is also fine, since you will be upgrading at your leisure, rather than all at once. Certain brands of GFX cards are more reliable than others; Palit, as strange as it is in the States, works just fine for me. But like anything, read reviews then make your decision.

The Antec 1200 is the case I use. It can fit any size motherboard and any size graphics card in, including dual-GPU graphics cards like the HD5970. It can also fit up to 12 drives. For cooling, it has 3 intake fans at the front, 2 exhaust fans at the back, a fan on the side (can work either direction) and a huge exhaust fan at the top. Basically air will constantly flow through it, so the system will always stay cool. Plus the case has a built in control for fan speed (and the blue LED lights) so it can either be quiet or loud and powerful, depending on what you're doing.

I see someone else likes 40lb rigs

 

[DeathStrudel]

As for the OS, Windows 7

if by windows 7 you mean linux w/ windows 7 dual boot

 

[Agjsdfd]

Recommended power rating for a GTX 580 is 600W. 700W will be plenty.

The Antec 1200 is the case I use. It can fit any size motherboard and any size graphics card in, including dual-GPU graphics cards like the HD5970. It can also fit up to 12 drives. For cooling, it has 3 intake fans at the front, 2 exhaust fans at the back, a fan on the side (can work either direction) and a huge exhaust fan at the top. Basically air will constantly flow through it, so the system will always stay cool. Plus the case has a built in control for fan speed (and the blue LED lights) so it can either be quiet or loud and powerful, depending on what you're doing.

If you're getting the system now (instead of waiting for the next generation of Intel CPUs), then you just need to look for a LGA 1156 motherboard, depending on if you want a quad core Core i5 Lynnfield or a 2+2 core Core i5 Clarkdale with integrated graphics (there are faster ones, but I only linked the cheapest one for comparison). Assuming quad core, a P55 motherboard would be best, like the Asus Maximus series. Here's the selection from Scan.

Is it worth waiting for the new gen CPU or i5, i7 is fine?

Looking around the websites, I dont think I can buy everything maxed out now.
What I am thinking of right now is getting top notch CPU, mid-range GPU(for now) and other parts. That would lower the money spent, at least for now.
GTX 580 is priced too high lol. Getting something that will run games at medium setting would be fine for now.

 

[Omega_2]

As for the OS, Windows 7

if by windows 7 you mean linux w/ windows 7 dual boot

How could I forget about dual-boot

I'm not crazy about linux, but as a server(minecraft, lol), I've seen few issues from them.

 

[Originality]

The SandyBridge CPUs will be released next month as "Core i3" and "Core i5". Don't ask why Intel decided that. Supposedly they're even more efficient at handling tasks (meaning more work done in shorter time without needing to increase speeds) and will have an integrated graphics media accellerator that'll be twice as powerful as the ones currently built into Clarkdale Core i3/5s. Those ones can play games like Borderlands on medium, so it should handle most games on low/medium. The new ones should, in theory, be able to play any non-intensive game on medium/high and intensive games (like Modern Warfare 2) on low, which puts it higher than current low-end graphics (the ones costing £40-80).

If you're going for a Core i5, I think it's definitely worth waiting a couple weeks for the new range to be released. If you're going for a Core i7, the SandyBridge E CPUs won't be out for a bit longer (using LGA 2011 to match the year of its release), so it might not be worth the wait. On the other hand, VAT goes up to 20% in January, so you will be paying a higher price than if you buy it now. Personally, I'd still wait since better hardware is better (or at least I hope it will be), but that decision really depends on you.

EDIT: Also I've not said anything about SSDs so far because of the bit in the OP about keeping prices low. SSDs may provide considerable speed boosts (which means faster loading times all around) but they're still expensive. IIRC, at best they're around £2.60 per GB. A 1TB HDD can be grabbed for around £45, with 2TB for around £80, and it's not like you're going to bottleneck the system with a HDD.

 

[juggernaut911]

Seeing as nobody has posted this yet, I present the Logical Increments PC Buying Guide!

/Thread

 

[Originality]

Interesting guide. Bookmarked

 

[Agjsdfd]

Yes, that guide is excellent.
However the prices are way off in the UK. I could have bought everything maxed out IF ONLY the prices were as low as in that guide lol.

 

[Originality]

UK uses european suppliers, so the prices (and economy) are very different to newegg. It's a good guideline, but doesn't entirely translate to the european market.

EDIT: In response to the post below (because I don't think it warrants an extra post), UK prices aren't that bad. You just need to learn how/where to look for the best deals. Knowing someone at the local computer fair also helps.