Time to get a new computer! In need for advise.

[evildead789]

All these arguments you are saying are correct but they don't apply to everything.

And as much we love this stuff the original poster doesn't. He just wants a ready to go pc and play the best games. These systems are on the market. I could be he would pay more than we do but that isn't necessarily true. I bought a packard bell system threw out the psu and changed the videocard just because i couldn't assemble the system with the same components for that price. If i did it myself i would have payed 150€ (that's 200$)more and my case wouldn't look so sweet. I have three year warranty (which i probably voided with changing the psu and vga card but i can put that back) but i probably won't use the warranty or the motherboard should be broke. A lot of things can change in three years, a lot can't.

That you cannot predict.

I know there isn't a lot i can change in the cmos but i didn't buy this system to experiment on, i can do that in my job and if i want to upgrade i can always change the cpu or vga card or sell the whole thing because selling a brand model is much easier that a clone.

Besides if he wants to spend so much money, the system can be made pretty much futureproof for a while.By the time his system is obsolete hardware will probably be changed so much he has to replace almost everything anyway.

[tinylampe]

Hello everyone,

 

I see that my innocent comment about buying a pre-built PC has generated a lot of debate, and it was quite an educational one I must say, so I'm happy to have learnt all these pros and cons regarding which kind of PC is wiser to purchase.

 

Done with the introduction, I pretty much have to agree with evildead789; From the perspective of somebody who has assembled computers in the past and has the experience, building one must appear as something easy and most likely, even enjoyable. And while I don't rule out the possibility of starting such an adventure at some point, this moment is simply not now. So I will go for a pre-built PC.

 

Having clarified that let me move on; I've been talking to the owner of a computer store I know and he agreed to prepare some options that fit my budget and the purpose of the machine (i.e. gaming). I will receive his ideas shortly, so if you guys are fine with that, I would post them here and you can enlighten me about their reasonability. I also have to say that this is not the first time that this person and I do business, so I expect him to be honest with me. Anyway, I'll keep you informed. And once again, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.

 

Tiny lampe.

 

PS: To evildead789; I'm from Spain ;)

[evildead789]

I'm from belgium little lampe, so that rules out looking for a store for you lol

[urbex]

I just don't understand why an educated person would knowingly waste money on a prebuilt computer. The money you would save could go towards a well better GPU/CPU.

I mean, why would you purchase a noticeably worse system just to save an hour of troubleshooting? In the long run it would never be worth it.

[tinylampe]

Hello everyone,

 

I finally received some input that I can share with you:

 

CENTURION

Price: 1266€

 

3-KINGSTON DDR3 2048MG/1333MHZ KVR1333D3N9/2G

HDD MAESTRO SEAGATE 1TB SATA II

INTEL CORE i7-930 2.80GHz 8MG LGA 1366 BOX

GPU: VGA ASUS HD5870 1GB HDMI DDR5 PCI-E

ATX NOX URANO 500W PFC PASIVO VENT12CM

OS: WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BITS 1PK DSP OEM DVD

Tower case: ASUS-VENTO TA-8H3 ATX

PB ASRock H55M LE (SOCKET 1156)

LG DVDRW INT SATA BLACK 22X GH22NS50

 

___________________________

 

 

How does this combo look? Any component that should be upgraded/changed?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Tiny lampe

Edited November 21, 2010 by tiny lampe

[evildead789]

OK here's the deal

 

Your ram kingston dd3 ram, is standard ram. Good enough to do the job costs around 125€

 

Your hdd is a seagate model not my preferabble choice , i rather have WD but i use disks that continuously used in industry (they last about 4 years in a industrial environment). Good enough for you (make backups, even with better disks). cost around 70€

 

You intel core i 7-930 is good enough cost around 260€. It's pretty much futureproof especially for gaming.

 

Your gpu is on an asus board, asus is known for a good quality on that area. The gpu on it is the hd 5870 . That's the fastest single gpu card available. A very good choice and that's futureproof, but costly 365 €. It's a good price/quality rating though.

 

The atx power supply worries me with a hd5870. I have a asus hd 5770 (which is half the power of the hd 5870 , computing power, not electricity) and on the box a power supply of 550 W is advised. Experts would say at least 650W and 750 W recommended. Corsair has the best brand name in this thing. I wouldn't be to cheap on your power supply because if that dies it could take the whole system with it (allthough it is a lot more likely that it dies alone lol). This power supply will cost around 40 €, the corsair 750W will be around 90€ or even 100€. The system will run with this power supply though but you will have to go faster to the repair shop. If you buy a good power supply you will probably don't have to go at all.

 

Another remark is that lower quality power supply's could be noisy especially under load. It's hard to know this because there aren't any reviews of this psu (not in english anyway, i saw some spanish text on that but i don't understand it at all) or you should let him test it in the shop.

 

Os windows 7 64 bit is ok. You get the dvd with you that's a good thing. Don't know the exact price but i think around a 100€. could be 130 €.

 

Tower case asus vento costs only around 25€. That's a little cheap but cases don't make your pc, they could make for better ventilation (but nobody sells a closed case anymore), looks and installation changes. You can change it but you don't have too.

 

Your motherboard the PB ASRock H55M LE (SOCKET 1156) cost around 100€ and has won several awards from review sites. You can't do sli. SLI is putting in the same videocard twice and have twice the power, you don't really need that. A good board

 

BUT what striked me so strangely is that you motherboard has a lga socket 1156 and you cpu is lga socket 1366.

SO your Cpu won't fit in you motherboard. I don't know how that guy that's selling this system to you is going to do that....

Maybe you should check the specs of that motherboard again with him (maybe he will notice this when he's busy assembling lol)

 

LG dvd writer is standard brand . Good enough. 35€

 

Adding everything up comes around 1135 € . If he's asking 1266 that's not a bad deal. He will get his hardware somewhat cheaper though. He has to give at least 2 year warranty.

But the motherboard has to be different .

Replacing the power supply is highly recommended, the case optional.

 

Greetz

Edited November 21, 2010 by evildead789

[tinylampe]

OK here's the deal

 

Adding everything up comes around 1135 € . If he's asking 1266 that's not a bad deal. He will get his hardware somewhat cheaper though. He has to give at least 2 year warranty.

But the motherboard has to be different .

Replacing the power supply is highly recommended, the case optional.

 

Greetz

 

And that's what I call a thorough analysis. Kudos for you for spending time helping this noob ;)

 

About the two issues you pointed out, the one concerning the mother board indeed seems strange. I mean, this is supposed to be a pre-built PC so this kind of incompatibilities between mother board and CPU should not happen. Perhaps the guys at the computer store committed a typing mistake, I don't know. In any case I'll let them know about this inconsistency.

 

And about the second issue, here I really have to thank you. Alone I would never have guessed that the power supply might not be enough to run the GPU properly. I wrote down this brand you suggested, corsair, and I'll see if they can replace the default ATX by a 750W-corsair.

 

If anything else pops up, I'll post it here.

 

Thanks again,

 

Tiny Lampe.

Edited November 21, 2010 by tiny lampe

[Xenno]

Fastest single gpu is not HD 5870 its Gtx 580, atleast untill AMD Cayman (HD 6970) comes out .

 

Buying a HD 5870 is a waste of money, you should go for HD 6870.

 

HD 6870 is a LOT cheaper card and its in some games lil weaker than HD 5870 but in some games is faster.

 

BTW if u buy Crossfire MBO you could buy later another Hd 6870 , cuz now its gonna be price wars between AMD an Nvidia.

 

And two HD 6870 in crossfire are insane.

[tinylampe]

Buying a HD 5870 is a waste of money, you should go for HD 6870.

 

HD 6870 is a LOT cheaper card and its in some games lil weaker than HD 5870 but in some games is faster.

 

Interesting information Xenno.

If we are talking about oblivion, fallout3/new vegas and the like, may I ask which card has the advantage in your opinion?

And also, another important detail: would an ATX NOX Urano 700W be enough to allow this card to run smoothly?

 

___________

 

Also, in general but particularly to evildead789,

 

After talking to the guys from the store and explaining to them the 2 issues you pointed out they proposed another motherboard and another power source:

 

The motherboard is now an ASUS P6T SE 1366 which, as you can see, now fits the CPU. Is this still a good choice compared to the previous ASRock H55 LE or am I worse off?

 

The power source is still an ATX NOX Urano, but with 700W instead of 500. According to what you said in your last post, this should be enough I understand.

 

Thanks as always for you help,

 

Tiny Lampe

[Xenno]

To be honest i dunno, never heard for that brand of PSU.

 

But that doesnt matter there are so many Company in Hardware.

 

If you buy new PSU my recomendation is defenetly Seasonic S 12 2 series.

 

620W model is more than fine for any single Gfx solution.

 

As for some benchmarks check this link , sorry no Oblivion or F3 benched but you can see some general performace against 5870.

Hey if it can do 60 FPS in Far Cry 2 max details with AA on full hd than u know how good it is :thumbsup: .