Considering this Purchase - Budget PC

[WelshManDan]

Okay, so im back on teh market for a PC.

Ive pasted teh details below of what I am currently edging toward buying.

Its uses are gonna be mainly playing games, however also a lot of 3D Model Design.

Also - the reason im not doing a Custom Build (as in buying parts) is because I need to build the Computer on Finance instead of straight up.

Okay so here goes -
Case COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X4 970 (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard ASUS? M4A79XTD EVO: DUAL DDR3, S-ATA II, 2 x PCIe x16, 2 x PCIe x1, 2 x PCI
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON? HD5850 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX? 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ?R/?RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (?59)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (?19)
Sound Card Sound Blaster? Audigy? SE (?19)
Network Facilities 2 x 200Mbps HomePlug AV (?49)
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (?79)
Monitor 19" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1440 x 900 5MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (?89)
Speakers LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (?9)
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (?5)

?845.00 ex VAT
?1014 inc VAT and Delivery

If anyone can point out any weak points then that would be awesome!

Just for general extra info - the games will be Total War series (mostly M2TW/Empire/Shogun 2) plus ArmA 2, Crysis, Unreal Engine and Company of Heroes

Im guessing 90% of the games I play it will run on ultra quality, the above will be the ones which are most intensive.

[FuzzySquirrel]

That a good choice for the Price. 4850 is a little dated but it still gets the job done. and those Athlon II usually allow you to unlock the 3rd and 4th core if you have a motherboard that supports it, and since it's a Gigabyte motherboard chances are it'll allow it.

Overall I'd say you can't do to much better for the price. and I would defiantly go with Win7, You wont regret it.

[WelshManDan]

Thanks Fuzzy, nice one

[WelshManDan]

Updated original post with a new system. Thoughts on this one?

[FuzzySquirrel]

I would go for a Phenom over a Athlon.

[WelshManDan]

Updated the original post with a new configuration. Would be great if you could help once again PR people, I can trust your judgement!

[ma21212]

I would get a 5870 instead, not a big price difference, and if you do, get a PSU with 750w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150476

[WelshManDan]

ill look it up, nice one!

How would a 6870 do against these? Its a bit cheaper than the 5870 and from reviews ive seen, there isnt much of a difference?

[SoB-Rindee]

ill look it up, nice one!

How would a 6870 do against these? Its a bit cheaper than the 5870 and from reviews ive seen, there isnt much of a difference?

Just for your info ATI hierarchy is this:

5970
6970
5870
6870
5850
6850
5830

Basically in order to beat AMD 58xx generation the 68xx needs to have higher X numbers. The 5870 beats the 6870. If you are going into the 6 series get the 6970. If you are not looking to spend that much the 5870 is the best option.

I own the 5850 great card, very reliable, runs every game currently out there at full with good FPS.

*NOTE: I did not correct this, but AMD-ATI and vice versa. THe 5xxx series was the last offical ATI series. From here on it it will be AMD. Still getting used to that change*

[burghUK]

with the VAT added on welsh im sure you would be better somewhere else.

This is where i got mine from recently , don't have the time to check through them all but maybe you could find something here? then just buy a graphics card or cpy of windows 7 or something.

free delivery and VAT is already added.

bmz-computers items - Get great deals on items on eBay.co.uk Shops!


im no expert , but this seems a good deal and will run all the games you mentioned on highest.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BX-DDR3-24-TFT-PC ... 4155fcff48

[WelshManDan]

Cheers for the input guys, very much appreciated!

Nice one burgh, ill check them out too.

The main upside buying off my original link was that they offer a Finance option, like pay monthly (dont have the money to put it off the bat )

Ill check it though, looks like some good builds on there!

[burghUK]

no matter how long it takes to save its always better than finance , don't wanna be stuck with that if something goes wrong in life somewhere down the line and you'll be making monthly payment for a long time.

[WelshManDan]

no matter how long it takes to save its always better than finance , don't wanna be stuck with that if something goes wrong in life somewhere down the line and you'll be making monthly payment for a long time.

I guess thats a good point actually...Ill see where im at in terms of cash and then check out those BMZ ones again, good call (Y)