half decent gaming pc advice needed... ta

[mook]

hello again helpful people.

is this:

http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/intel-core-i7-4790-2tb-ssd-16gb-1600mhz-gtx-970-4gb-z3-plus-gaming-pc.html?gclid=COj1tNGpjcQCFWfJtAodACUAbQ

a fairly good set up for the price?

do i need an ssd? i'm sure i read someone here saying that they are important.

i'm plum tuckered out reading specs and numbers - i don't understand anything anymore!

help me plz... tell me what i need to get before i start crying out of pure bafflement at my numptiness.

help... don't run

[Uncle TechTip]

I totted up as close a system as I could to that here http://uk.pcpartpicker.com

Came in at 880GBP. So yes looks reasonable for the price. Though it's not the bargain it tries to make out (no monitor?)

Everyone raves about SSD as it's so much faster, just make sure your OS goes on there and data on the 2TB, your system will boot in seconds. If you put your favourite game on the SSD too but install boring things like Word and Excel on the 2TB disk you'll get the best performance.

Obviously take notice that there is no OS with the machine, you will have to install your own, this could add to the cost if you care about such things.

250 quid of video card and 16GB of memory, I should say this machine is shit hot.

[Too Many Cochranes]

You might want to save a bit by going for a top 'o the range i5 processor, rather than paying for an i7. Most games rely on the GFX card, not the processor (I believe: I'm not a gamer), and a top i5 is still shit hot enough to play games with.

Someone may come along and correct me.

P.S. The money you'd save on getting an i5 instead of i7 you could spend on a Samsung 850 Pro SSD. They're supposed to be the fastest and most reliable at the moment.

[mook]

thank you Uncle and TMC.

i'm still bloody confused on whether to go for an i5 or the i7 - it's utterly baffling to me all this. i think i'm just going to order the one in that link up ^ there.

just a quick question about the OS - is it ok to ask them to install win7, or is win8 (or whatever it is now) better?


x

[The Region Legion]

Windows 8.1 is the bees, get it.

I'd also recommend going for an i5 and putting the saving into the graphics card or SSD but the link you gave is pretty decent value.

[Wilbur]

Definitely don't pay the premium for the i7 as advised by everyone else. I'd really not go for Windows 8.1 I'd skip it and go for 7, you'll get the chance to upgrade that free to Windows 10 (assuming MS keep their word) if you must go for 8.1 go for the Pro version which has downgrade rights. Yes an SSD for the O/S is well worth it.

W

[Wilbur]

I'd REALLY check out that companies reviews on line before ordering from them as well.......

[HappyTree]

Get a bigger SSD, though. So you can install stuff on it n' that. I got a 128 Gig one and have installed all programs on it, with all data on the normal hard drive. It's only just over half full now, bagsa space. So you could easily get a 64 Gig one I should think.

It boots up and shuts down quicker than you can do up yer flies.

[The Region Legion]

I'd really not go for Windows 8.1 I'd skip it and go for 7, you'll get the chance to upgrade that free to Windows 10 (assuming MS keep their word) if you must go for 8.1 go for the Pro version which has downgrade rights.

There's no reason to not get Windows 8.1, it's rock solid and has improvements even over Windows 7. The lack of a classic start menu isn't really a problem in the modern age - I just use my taskbar for program shortcuts, and there's a couple of useful key combos to access most of what you'd use a Start menu for (for example - Windows Key+X gives me all Control Panel options as well as shut down/log off, Windows+R gives you the Run function).

If we were talking about Windows 8 this would be a different discussion.

[Wilbur]

There's no reason to not get Windows 8.1, it's rock solid and has improvements even over Windows 7. The lack of a classic start menu isn't really a problem in the modern age - I just use my taskbar for program shortcuts, and there's a couple of useful key combos to access most of what you'd use a Start menu for (for example - Windows Key+X gives me all Control Panel options as well as shut down/log off, Windows+R gives you the Run function).

If we were talking about Windows 8 this would be a different discussion.

I beg to differ. From a maintenance/repair point of view Windows 8.0/8.1 is a PITA. Whilst some of these issues are down to added security and UEFI integration ,the dumbing down and disabling of some of the most basic repair options causes the most simple recovery/repair when, for example , a windows update, fucks things up will almost inevitably lead most people to end up paying for someone like me to repair it.

[Thursday]

I bought a Gaming PC for the first time in November, and now I'm looking at that thinking "hmm I probably could have done a bit better" Although it was probably alright considering I also had to add Monitor, Windows and an Xbox Controller.

Someone else will probably say otherwise, but I've heard 16GB of Ram is probably more than necessary and 8 will be more than enough for a while (and even though I was too scared to build my own, having had a look inside, it'll be very easy to just get a couple more sticks of ram and plug them in at a later date.)

[syntaxerror]

I beg to differ. From a maintenance/repair point of view Windows 8.0/8.1 is a PITA. Whilst some of these issues are down to added security and UEFI integration ,the dumbing down and disabling of some of the most basic repair options causes the most simple recovery/repair when, for example , a windows update, fucks things up will almost inevitably lead most people to end up paying for someone like me to repair it.

If you're still pushing windows 7 over 8.1 I wouldn't pay you to fix a computer :)

[Too Many Cochranes]

Another thing about going for an i5: if you don't wish to overclock the processor there's no reason to pay the extra ~£15 for a "K" series processor.

Intel add a K to the top of their range processors and all it means is that the clock multipler has been unlocked, allowing enthusiasts to fit fancy third-party coolers to the CPU for when they run the CPU at higher clock speeds. I presume you won't be fiddling about with shit like fitting an aftermarket cooler.

Take a look at the Intel datasheets for the i5 4690 and the i5 4690K. There's no difference in performance between the two but the K is unlocked to allow overclocking and will set you back a few quid extra. Both are just as capable at running the latest games.

To bleat on again about an SSD: you'll be fucking amazed how much quicker it is than a mechanical hard disk. I've got one of the older Samsung Evo 120GB oneses and that's fast, but the new 850 Pro uses a brand new technology called vertical NAND and is getting all the kissy kissy reviews. Windows will take up about 50GB space once you've got a load of everyday software on it, so you might get away with a 128GB SSD but if you've got a lot of games to install then a 256GB one should be more than enough.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

One caveat when it comes to SSDs, though. They can fail instantaneously and without warning. It happened to my computer while I was in the middle of working on some stuff. Not only that but, until it was disconnected, it made the entire PC unusable.

[Thursday]

I nearly cried when I saw how quickly the SSD booted up for the first time. Wish I'd not been an idiot that installed Office on it now though.

This was after coping with a dying laptop for months, where my morning routine was to switch it on. Go down and start making coffee, come back and enter my password at the login screen. Go to toilet, come back and click on my browser, then went to get my coffee so that when I came back everything would be pretty much ready.

Even a standard hard drive on a decent desktop would have been a blessed relief after that though.

[mook]

thanks for the advice so far. after a bit of googling i'm steering clear of the company i linked to in the OP.

something i'm unsure about. with the SSD should i specify that as the main drive? i'm guessing it will then be the one win 8.1 gets installed on, and then the regular hard drive is the one all the other crap goes on. also my steam folder is about 300gb at the moment, way too big to fit on a 120gb ssd, so is it possible to put the games i play the most on the SSD and leave all the others on the old fashioned drive, or do the games all have to be lumped on one drive to keep steam happy.


sorry if that was even more gibberishy that my normal gibberish -

[Wilbur]

thanks for the advice so far. after a bit of googling i'm steering clear of the company i linked to in the OP.

something i'm unsure about. with the SSD should i specify that as the main drive? i'm guessing it will then be the one win 8.1 gets installed on, and then the regular hard drive is the one all the other crap goes on. also my steam folder is about 300gb at the moment, way too big to fit on a 120gb ssd, so is it possible to put the games i play the most on the SSD and leave all the others on the old fashioned drive, or do the games all have to be lumped on one drive to keep steam happy.


sorry if that was even more gibberishy that my normal gibberish -

Correct you want the OS to be on the SSD. If you can run to it go for a 248GB ssd. You can put the steam files on the secondary drive linky here https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

[Thursday]

thanks for the advice so far. after a bit of googling i'm steering clear of the company i linked to in the OP.

something i'm unsure about. with the SSD should i specify that as the main drive? i'm guessing it will then be the one win 8.1 gets installed on, and then the regular hard drive is the one all the other crap goes on. also my steam folder is about 300gb at the moment, way too big to fit on a 120gb ssd, so is it possible to put the games i play the most on the SSD and leave all the others on the old fashioned drive, or do the games all have to be lumped on one drive to keep steam happy.

No you can have multiple folders for your steam games, just pick the folder when you install it. (It won't work to just to paste the game data from one folder to another)

[mook]

lovely, thanks both... i post the specs that i've come up with in a bit if you wouldn't mind checking them.


ta for this.

[mook]

Intel Core i5 4690 -

win 8.1

Gigabyte Z97P-D3 - motherboard

8GB Corsair 2133mhz Vengeance (2x4GB)

Kingston 240GB SSD

1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s

22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB

Onboard 7.1 Audio

Wireless 802.11N 300Mbps MIMO PCI-E car

Corsair Carbide Spec-01 case


it comes with a 500w psu would getting a 550w corsair psu be worth putting in as it gets built?




and that comes out at £757.58.

it's a tinkered about:

https://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=1999

unsure whether a cooler this:

Zalman CNPS5X Performa

like is worth getting if it helps keep the noise down.

[Wilbur]

Intel Core i5 4690 -

win 8.1

Gigabyte Z97P-D3 - motherboard

8GB Corsair 2133mhz Vengeance (2x4GB)

Kingston 240GB SSD

1TB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s

22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB

Onboard 7.1 Audio

Wireless 802.11N 300Mbps MIMO PCI-E card


and that comes out at £757.58.


it's a tinkered about:

https://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=1999

unsure whether a cooler this:

Zalman CNPS5X Performa

like is worth getting if it helps keep the noise down.

That will be a nice gaming machine. Only thing I'd consider changing is more RAM but you can always upgrade that later. Yes that cooler is worth the money as the intel stock fans can be quite noisy.

[mook]

thanks again...

shall order the bugger tonight then.

[Wilbur]

Oh sorry I just noticed I missed your question about the power supply. No don't bother. For 50w extra not worth it.

[mook]

Oh sorry I just noticed I missed your question about the power supply. No don't bother. For 50w extra not worth it.

i only choose that over the 500w one in case i decided to get a 4gb card in the future (i'm not even sure tat the extra 50w would be enough)... i've changed a graphics card in a desktop before, but not a psu - i was just future-proofing my techy-crapness. also the 500w one doesn't name the make, all the other's do. not sure if that's important for not though.

[Wilbur]

i only choose that over the 500w one in case i decided to get a 4gb card in the future... i've changed a graphics card in a desktop before, but not a psu - i was just future-proofing my techy-crapness. also the 500w one doesn't name the make, all the other's do. not sure if that's important for not though.

Changing a PSU if/when it fails is pretty easy. Corsairs are well regarded but I've had several fail on me over the years. I'd be inclined to leave it on the basis that a new Corsair is not that likely to last any longer than the one they supply. No guarantees mind you ;)

[mook]

that'll do me then mate...


really appreciate the advice... thanks again.

[Consignia]

On a similar note, does anyone of a decent Laptop that can do Java Enterprise development on? I need to get a new one for work, it needs to be reasonably portable as well have a decent bit of grunt. Maybe do a bit of light gaming on as well?

I was looking at the Lenovo range, and looked OK, but I'm really not knowledgeable about PC hardware these days.

[Wilbur]

On a similar note, does anyone of a decent Laptop that can do Java Enterprise development on? I need to get a new one for work, it needs to be reasonably portable as well have a decent bit of grunt. Maybe do a bit of light gaming on as well?

I was looking at the Lenovo range, and looked OK, but I'm really not knowledgeable about PC hardware these days.

I pretty much always recommend ex corporate business Lenovos. Just got myself a little X220 from Tier one. Just outside its 3 year warranty. In the past I've had machines from them with a fair whack of warranty remaining.

[Consignia]

Cheers. That Tier 1 site looks pretty good. I like the idea of Lenveos, but I had an IBM thinkPad at a previous job and it fell to pieces, literally, after a while and ran like a dog (it had a reasonable spec, IIRC). I'm sure the newer ones are spiffier, but since they look exactly same I'm in a psychological position where I'm worried it's going to be just as bad.

[Wilbur]

Cheers. That Tier 1 site looks pretty good. I like the idea of Lenveos, but I had an IBM thinkPad at a previous job and it fell to pieces, literally, after a while and ran like a dog (it had a reasonable spec, IIRC). I'm sure the newer ones are spiffier, but since they look exactly same I'm in a psychological position where I'm worried it's going to be just as bad.

That's interesting I've used them for years and they have always been as solid as anything. Do you remember which model it was ?