3. Computer Advice

Computer Advice


  • As a complete computer illiterate, I have a question for all the narfell tech-head!

    My laptop is now that far behind in the times i can run very few games on it and its about time i bought myself a proper computer that will support more modern video games, IE Dragon Age Inquisition, as people are getting upset at me for having not played it.

    I found what seems like a basic gaming computer for a fair price.

    http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Spartacus-Gaming-PC.html

    Basic Specification:

    AvP Viper Micro ATX Gaming Case
    Intel Pentium G3258 Anniversary Dual Core Processor overclocked to up to 4.3GHz
    Akasa Nero 3 CPU Cooler
    Asus B85M-G Motherboard with USB 3.0
    8GB PC3-12800 DDR3 Memory (runs at 1333MHz)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Graphics Card
    1000GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Disk
    24 x DVD-RW Drive
    500watt 80+ Aerocool PSU
    Onboard High Definition Audio
    Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM

    Peripherals

    23" Asus VS239HV IPS Widescreen LED Monitor

    Zalman ZM-K200M Gaming Keyboard

    Zalman ZM-M200 Gaming Mouse

    Ports on rear of system: *

    4 x USB 2.0 ports
    2 x USB 3.0 ports
    1 x PS/2 for keyboard
    Audio outputs
    1 x 10/100/1000Mbps
    Ethernet for network
    1 x DVI output
    1 x HDMI output
    1 x VGA output

    All the above comes at a price of £640 (I think thats between 900 and 1000 us dollars)

    My question is about the potential customization and would would be worth getting.

    I am planning on getting a Blu-Ray player added in so i can hook it up to my projector.

    Is it worth upgrading the CPU Cooler from a Akasa Nero 3 CPU Cooler to Corsair Hydro Series H55 Liquid Cooler?

    Getting Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste instead of standard paste?

    A better power supply?

    Or anything else that would make it better? Not overly worried about the price if it would be worth it. All and any advice is greatly apprecaited!

    :twisted:


  • Spartacus

    It IS good value given it would cost you or I 650 to buy the parts. The Spartacus (at 599) was number 1 on PC Advisor's August 2014 list of budget PCs.
    http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/desktop-pc/3539289/chillblast-fusion-spartacus-budget-gaming-pc-review/

    The cooler should be okay but monitor the temps. An H55 would cost the same as the chip, which would be nuts.

    It is NOT worth getting different thermal paste. The only time I use it out of a tube is when I've taken off the cooler.

    I would not trust that PSU, see "the power supply unit tier list" on tom's hardware. FSP premium isn't on the list but most FSPs are fine. The +25 corsair is a safe bet.
    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

    Be aware that the case is very cheap (I can't find a review to say whether it's okay). Given that I can't find it being slated anywhere the AvP may do fine. Any of the other case options are larger.

    Also be aware that OEM windows is tied to a single motherboard.

    On Chillblast, I don't know where they're getting their 'from' prices unless they're achieved by removing the operating system, mouse/keyboard etc, since as soon as you click "customise or buy" it reads 675.99. With a blueray/DVD combo, the 600W Corsair PSU and their cheapest speakers that's £757.58.

    Other Places

    Also check out systems on:
    Scan http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs
    Aria http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems
    Yoyotech http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/systems
    Overclockers http://www.overclockers.co.uk/LP/systems2.php
    CCL http://www.cclonline.com/

    Those likely wont include a monitor (IPS for gaming) keyboard or mouse but you can get comparable monitor for around 100 (pcpartpicker is good for finding the best price on brand name computer parts). The keyboard and mouse in the deal are 5 and 7 respectively.
    https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#W=2200,2400&sort=a10

    Do try to get a quad core (i5) if you can.

    As an i5 alternative, which will cost £100 more:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/cheap-intel-gaming-pc-next-day-delivery-uk-g30i

    Intel Core I5 4460
    1tb Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM
    8gb Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 9-9-9-24
    EVGA GTX 960 SSC 2gb
    Windows 7 or 8
    Corsair 550W PSU
    Asus H81M-PLUS
    Corsair Carbide 200R
    Pioneer BDC-207DBK - 8x Blu-ray Reader, 16x DVD Reader & Writer

    £725.68 inclusive of blueray upgrade, monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers not included. As Robyn said the i5 4460 is the smart choice for performance to price. The case and RAM are both excellent, and that's the best selling version of the GTX960. Total ~£850.

    The only drawback there is that there's no choice of motherboard and it only has 2 RAM slots. Since changing the motherboard is a huge PITA I'd go for the full 16 gig now. You are however looking at ~910 by the time you've added monitor etc.

    Freshtech
    Never used them (only came across them today!) and their customisation options are extremely limited, but their prices are great.

    If you're happy to add the blueray yourself (or get one of these friends to do it for you) check them out. Allow £40 for blueray read only, or £55 for a writer. Advantage - 2 disk drives for if one fails! Disadvantage - akin to Scan the only offer one motherboard with just two RAM DIMMs. Disadvantage - the RAM isn't named.

    http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/optical-drive/#t=2&sort=a9

    £590 ~ Sparticus

    Intel Core I5 4460
    1tb Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM
    8gb 1600Mhz
    GTX 960 2gb
    Windows 7 or 8
    Corsair CX600
    Gigabyte H81M-S2H
    Choice of cases £619-£644. (clicky)

    £685 ~ Scan Machine

    Intel Core I5 4460
    240gb Kingston V300 SSD
    8gb 1600Mhz
    GTX 960 2gb
    Corsair CX600
    Windows 7 or 8
    Gigabyte H81M-S2H
    Choice of cases £656-£680. (clicky)

    OR

    Intel Core I5 4460
    1tb Seagate Barracuda
    16gb 1600Mhz
    GTX 960 2gb
    Corsair CX600
    Windows 7 or 8
    Gigabyte H81M-S2H
    Choice of cases £694-£718. (clicky))

    £745 ~ Scan Machine with 16GB

    Intel Core I5 4460
    1tb Seagate Barracuda
    8gb 1600Mhz
    GTX 970 2gb
    Corsair CX600
    Windows 7 or 8
    Gigabyte H81M-S2H
    Choice of cases £720-£744. (clicky)

    OR

    Intel Core I5 4460
    1tb Seagate Barracuda AND 120gb Kingston V300 SSD
    16gb 1600Mhz
    GTX 960 2gb
    Corsair CX600
    Windows 7 or 8
    Gigabyte H81M-S2H
    Choice of cases £738-762. (clicky)

    Of the cases I'd look for something that comes with both intake fan and exhaust as well as a front USB 3.0.

    CCL
    They're cheaper on ebay than on their own site by a long way.

    Intel Core I5 4460
    2tb Seagate Barracuda AND 120gb Kingston V300 SSD
    8gb Kingston 1600Mhz
    Asus Strix GTX 960 2gb
    Cooler Master B500 (needs research as too new to be on the tier chart)
    Windows 7 or 8
    Asus Z97-P (4 DIMMS)
    Wireless card

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCL-Pro-Gaming-PC-3-4GHz-Intel-Quad-Core-i5-4460-8GB-2TB-WiFi-2GB-GTX-960-/381070347823?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58b9900e2f

    615

    • Win 8 = 693
    • Win 8 + 16GB = 749
    • Blueray + Monitor + mouse/keyboard

    Extra RAM can be added at a later date since there are three free slots. Just be aware that it comes with 18gb which isn't quite as good as 24. Dual channel RAM is better added in pairs. 2* something gives more than double the performance of one of them.

    Other useful links

    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html
    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901.html
    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
    http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html


  • one of my 2 computers:

    http://paco-knife-tarot.blogspot.com/2015/02/tl-wn722n.html

    Paint is Nerialka's 'Nitescence'.

    http://nerialka.deviantart.com/art/Nitescence-171659024

    –-

    second computer, gaming rig & it's intestines:

    http://fav.me/d8bf01t


  • I respectively disagree. He won't need anything better than an i5 if his primary goal is gaming.

    There comes a point where buying better CPU is a process of diminishing returns. After a mid-range i5, the CPU makes surprisingly little difference for gaming. He's better off saving the money for a good graphics card and/or an SSD.

    Unless you're doing video post processing, MATLAB, or anything else which benefits from those extra cores, you're throwing money away. In some cases, an i7 will be slower than an i5 for gaming because the game will pick the hyperthreaded cores instead of the real ones.


  • Well, I'm not a very technician since I ended studying tha books yar yar, but I've been looking to buy a nice pc gaming such as you!

    However, the first thing that looks suspicious to me in that set up is the processor. You know, sometimes one would read "overclocked up to 5.4Ghz!" and think about buying the key of a heaven's door, but, to me, that's just markening (and that's just a Pentium too…)

    The best advice I can give you, such as Robyn already did, is to look for something better than an intel i5. I myself managed to get few years ago an intel i7 2600 and I can say I can't be more that happier cause, even when the preocessor is four years old, the hyperthreading is fantastic for it's 4 physical cores to become eight virtually.

    So my advice is: look for an intel i7 even if it's not a 5th generation processor. Otherwise, a wiser and cheaper choice -that would lower half the price of an i7- is to look for an amd fx 8350 (or better), however, if you get one of these eight physical core processors expect to replace that 500w psu for an 700w one cause they consume twice the energy compared to intel.

    Cheers, man :!:


  • A friend of mine once gave me some sound advice

    "Buy the nicest thing you can afford, and you will never be disappointed"

    Decide what your budget is. Then buy your computer up to that.

    My advice

    • Liquid cooling is overrated. A good quiet air cooler does 95% of job for less money. The Coolermaster 212 Evo is a good example

    • If you can, shoot for a core i5. The processor you spec'd out will show up as 4 cores, but 2 of them are hyperthreaded. Try to get a true 4 core processor. Many later games will use all 4 cores. The core i5 4460 is a good bet. However, older games like NWN only use one core, so if you're playing older games then what you listed is fine.

    • The Nvidia GTX960 is a good card. Spring for the GTX970 if you can afford it. That card is in the sweet spot for price/performance.

    • If you can, go for an SSD for the primary hard drive. It will make an incredible difference in the apparent speed of your system. Windows will start in under 15 seconds. Games load quickly. However, it won't affect your graphics. Try for 250GB, with a 1TB drive for data. If it's too much, just go for the 1TB drive.

    • Right now, 8GB of RAM is good enough.

  • Legion

    @f38b45c2e7=Attentus:

    when i buy computers, i consider:
    …
    3. quietness of a computer.

    More important that you may think. My computer sounds like a light airplane taking off. When I come home at 6am after working a night shift I try to sneak in a bit of Narf, but the computer wakes people up.


  • when i buy computers, i consider:

    1. not too low amount & speed of RAM memory,
    2. not too fast computer processor compared to RAM,
    3. quietness of a computer.