Who's in to custom computers?

[Karlb1]

Might be slightly in the wrong section, but not many people ever answer many threads in the gaming/IT section.

Recently saw an advert on TV for PCSpecialist.

Custom made computers to your spec etc and end up better value for money.

Thought i'd give it a go since my current laptop is good for fuckall and won't load any of the games i want to play, as i've onyl really used it for web browsing and tried to step back from playing games etc..but i can't resist any more.


Looking for a bit of advice really, I've done a set up with an AMD processor over an Intel to save costs slightly, anybody got any reasons why i should specifically go for an Intel one?
I'm going to be playing some fairly intensive games but I wouldn't really call it hardcore gaming if I'm honest.

Would this spec be fairly decent for what I want?

[saxova]

Same case as mine lol.

Look into the black edition AMD cpus.. I bought a dual core cpu, and unlocked the other 2 cores (quad core for dual core price )

So that would work out better. Plus you don't need 16bg of RAM. Get a similar price 8gb but with a higher speed (check your motherboard is compatible with the speeds before)

Also try to get a SSD instead of a HDD. Or a HDD for storage and SSD for OS. Much much faster and completely makes the pc..

The cooling fan looks abit of an overkill. And expensive if thats the right price (59?) I never bother with standard heatsink/fan - but wouldn't spend 59 on a fan. 20-30 is more like it.

I have the GTX 650 TI - and it plays every game on the market @ max settings, so that will be plenty good enough.

Do you have a blue ray player? - if no why you need a blu-ray writer? - just trying to save money.

[0x90]

Originally Posted by saxova

Same case as mine lol.
The cooling fan looks abit of an overkill. And expensive if thats the right price (59?) I never bother with standard heatsink/fan - but wouldn't spend 59 on a fan. 20-30 is more like it.

It's not just a fan. It's a self-contained liquid CPU cooler. The image doesn't reflect the product; it's just a random picture.
It's actually a really good product for people who want the low temperatures of liquid cooling but don't want to mess around with setting up liquid cooling.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...FRMgtAodxQgA_w

[saxova]

Ahh not a bad price then.

Doubt OP is going to be overclocking to the point where he needs water cooled though.

As said - £20 cooler / 'unlocked' dual core to quad core and can play hours of games with no issues so why bother

[Karlb1]

I only have the options that are available to me on the PCS site, so unfortunately no black edition CPUs.
I can go for 8gb Kingston HyperX BEAST dual DDR3 RAM running 2400MHz if that makes more sense? saves £50 as well lol.

With regards to the SSD or HDD, I'm a bit stuck there as it takes the budget over the £1k mark, which i'd like to stay under if possible (bare in mind i've also got a few extra cables, a monitor, keyboard and mouse etc all wit hthat as well, not just for the comptuer itself)

I can get a 120gb Kingston V300 SSD harddrive to stay in my budget. I'll probably be using an external hard drive i have lying around to store music, pictures etc and the main HD for storing games etc on the actual system.

Ah right, the cooling did sound OTT to me but i'm a complete noob to all of this so had no idea to go OTT and play safe or go slightly lower spec a bit.

There isn't a blu-ray writer on this, it's just the way they phrase the title i think lol, it's just a 24x dual layer DVD writer, no blu-ray involved

[Karlb1]

Also with the cooling, I can go to a slightly lower spec hydro CPU cooler and thats about it unless the standard CPU cooler will be anough? as it tells me the copper heatpipe AMD cooler i can choose won't fit because of the RAM i've chosen

[saxova]

tbh I'd just forget that website and choose the separate components that YOU want, not what THEY want you to buy.

1k is wayyy to expensive! especially with a low end dual core CPU. They must be adding a nice chunk ontop. EDIT Just seen the you have to get the screen etc - but still steep

[Bedford126]

http://www.cclonline.com/

Bro uses these mate. If you give them a call and ask what u asked on here they will help you out. They have teams of people just for conversation over building pc's and they are not on sales bonus so don't care if you go for one product over another.

[Karlb1]

Saxova i know 1k is a LOT, but as i said, there's a lot of extras on there. The actual computer with the extra cooling etc is around £700. I know that's still a lot that's why i came and asked to see what people recommended.

Cheers Bedford, I'll take a look

[saxova]

Yeah but like fuck would I be using a dual core for gaming lol

Ill put a list of decent components together and you can compare the spec / price - gimme 10 mins!

[Karlb1]

Ideally would i be looking at quad core then?

http://www.cclonline.com/page/customise/CCL-EL-RAP/

Found this on Bedford's link, quite like the sound of it and can stil lcustomise slightly?

[saxova]

Yeah that site is pretty decent tbf

The CPU you selected is one of the newest, so think for a average gamer it wouldn't be needed - but suppose it's 'future proofing' it.



£544.. Better spec too

[Karlb1]

Fair play!
is that assembled or would i be putting it together myself?
I'd rather get it pre-assembled since i've never done anything like this..unless it's a piece of piss to do?

[Bedford126]

Originally Posted by saxova

Yeah that site is pretty decent tbf

The CPU you selected is one of the newest, so think for a average gamer it wouldn't be needed - but suppose it's 'future proofing' it.



£544.. Better spec too

My bro said thats pretty simmilar to his and he would give ccl a call and get them to give you a price as his was just over £480 and they pre build for free and include some software if you have or can give them a student number.

[saxova]

All in bits - but it's a piece of piss. Most things are colour co-ordinated / blatantly obvious where they go, If you get stuck there will be 1000's of guides

Your choice like, But if spending so much on a computer you want it to be right the first time

[Karlb1]

I'll confess, one thing that draws me to PCS is they do finance, as I can't actually afford to pay that much outright...

[saxova]

Originally Posted by Bedford126

My bro said thats pretty simmilar to his and he would give ccl a call and get them to give you a price as his was just over £480 and they pre build for free and include some software if you have or can give them a student number.

Worth a shot if OP cba with the hassle of 'building' it

[Karlb1]

With SSDs, is that just for my OS? then i run an HDD for my storage etc?

[saxova]

Yeah have it as the main drive with the OS and save everything to another drive.

That way it doesn't get cluttered / slow + cheaper as high memory in SSD is costly.

[stevo1600]

I've built 3 gaming rigs of off this site one intel and 2 amd systems.

aria.co.uk

Good value for money and the service is awesome.

Ive always preferred AMD as the value for money and bang for buck is second to none.

I run a 6core amd cpu OC to 5ghz, msi mobo, 8gb ram and 750w psu with 2 x radeon hd7770 in xfire. my cpu is water cooled also and will play any game max settings easily. i think my system came to £500 6 months ago.

AMD cpus run hotter - fact. so expect a hotter overall system in comparison with an intel system. spending money on cooling will be a key point here.

INTEL have the best cpus even tho i have an amd. An OC i5 will destroy every amd cpu on the market, let alone going into i7 cpus. accept the new amd 8core cpu which if im honest looks like a beast for the price.

BUT, cpu power isnt as important as your gpu power. so you want to have a very good graphics card like saxnova's or higher and a good ssd with cooling to match. 8gb ram @ 1600mhz will be plenty enough aswell.

Goodluck!