Gaming PC recomendations

[TheComedian]

Everything apart from the 5770. That card is out of date now, and even when it was new it was slower than it's rivals. Try something like a GTX560, or even a GTS something.

Well "slower" can have many interpretations.

Lets say the best game has resource consumption of 6/10.

Your graphics card has 7/10 power
Your friends card has 9/10 power

Does this mean your game will run slower? Of course not. It just means that your card will get old sooner than his. And it is usually 6-12 months difference.

To triple the lifespan just use 2 mid-highish in SLI or Crossfire.

I've seen a rig with 2x Geforce 7900GT that can run most new games on max settings.

[declan54321]

Well "slower" can have many interpretations.

Lets say the best game has resource consumption of 6/10.

Your graphics card has 7/10 power
Your friends card has 9/10 power

Does this mean your game will run slower? Of course not. It just means that your card will get old sooner than his. And it is usually 6-12 months difference.

To triple the lifespan just use 2 mid-highish in SLI or Crossfire.

I've seen a rig with 2x Geforce 7900GT that can run most new games on max settings.

Well, what I was saying is the 5770 was slow when it was new. Computer technology advances unbelievably quickly, which means it is out of date now. Get a new card and future-proof your pc. There is nothing worse than buying a card, only to find out a week later a new game has come out that it can't run. Just save up the extra money, get a GTX560, and be happy

[TheComedian]

Well, what I was saying is the 5770 was slow when it was new. Computer technology advances unbelievably quickly, which means it is out of date now. Get a new card and future-proof your pc. There is nothing worse than buying a card, only to find out a week later a new game has come out that it can't run. Just save up the extra money, get a GTX560, and be happy

Why the F*** would you get a GTX560 for $300 when you can get 2x HD5770 for $200 and perform better?

How is 1GB GDDR5, DX11 slow? I guess you have very little knowledge of the market and just posting silly assumptions

[declan54321]

Why the F*** would you get a GTX560 for $300 when you can get 2x HD5770 for $200 and perform better?

How is 1GB GDDR5, DX11 slow? I guess you have very little knowledge of the market and just posting silly assumptions

Because, as I have said before; the 5770 is OLD. It doesn't have the latest in graphics technology, and even though it has 1GB of VRAM, the rate at which information flows through it is half that of other rivals.

Crossfire is also a pile of s***, and two 5770s in crossfire will use up a LOT of power. Also, getting one GTX560 will have the possibility of adding another one in SLI in the future if need be.

And BTW you can get an overclocked GTX560 which is faster that 5770 Crossfire.

I had a GTS250 before, which was the main rival to the 5770. It blew up after a couple of weeks, therefore I took it back. I now have a GTX 280, which is miles faster. I bought the GTS250 because the 5770 is just so slow.

Are you by any chance an AMD fan? I like the 6870, which is a very good card, but sometimes Nvidia is just better. That is the case with the 5770.

Also, think of the compatibility issues of crossfire. A fair few games don't support multiple graphics cards; therefore you will be stuck with an old, slow card. A GTX560 (or whatever) will be able to run anything without these problems.

Also don't forget about other components in the system. The processor is very important. An i5-2500k can be overclocked to 4.5GHz. That is enough to last you a good few years, and it is unbelievable value for money. It is the same price that the i7 920 was when it came out.

[TheComedian]

Well I'm not an AMD or Nvidia fan I have a $70 9600GSO which can run Black Ops at maximum settings (1280x1024), and my GTX280 friend can do the same with $170. Your point that graphics cards are constantly getting faster and have more goodies packed in them is true.

BUT the video gaming industry does not go parallel to the hardware industry. You can see new games that run faster and have better visuals than older ones (e.g. Crysis 2). Video games are becoming more for less.

So If you buy a PC that is still going strong 2 years later then you have made the right choice my friend.

[BloodBane611]

Why would you want to buy a single card that is 25% of your build, if you can buy one that will do the same for less?

That's why I own an HD5770. I'm sure there is a similar, affordable but powerful card on the market now. The 5770 remains cheap and more than powerful enough to run the games people on this forum will be enjoying.

[TheComedian]

Crossfire is also a pile of s***, and two 5770s in crossfire will use up a LOT of power. Also, getting one GTX560 will have the possibility of adding another one in SLI in the future if need be.

This is completely invalid. The system scales the speed of the cards according to the demand. They don't use a LOT of power because you will only ever use 50% of both.

[declan54321]

This is completely invalid. The system scales the speed of the cards according to the demand. They don't use a LOT of power because you will only ever use 50% of both.

So if it only uses 50% of each, just get one card???

[TheComedian]

So if it only uses 50% of each, just get one card???

The cards share the load, each processing different aspects of the visualisation. Think of it as a two man project:

One man will gather up the information and process it while the other one compiles and delivers it, completing the project much faster that if it was just a 1 man job.

Thats a simple explanation of how they work but in reality its a lot more complicated in terms of how they achieve that. I have no clue about the inner workings of the system.

[declan54321]

What about a 6770 then? It is (in some areas) faster than a 5870, which you may remember was the fastest card in the world a few months ago.

That is the best of both worlds, and would stop us from arguing

[Pedz]

Breaking news (unless you have knowledge in this area, GPUS). A new series is set to come out in and around September period.. This uses a new die size which usually gives the biggest jumps in performance, so unless you cant wait to upgrade, id suggest waiting till then, because at the very least it will decrease the price of the current gen of GPUS.

However I have 2x 570's and yes they are a bit OTT but they will last a long time. I find it best to buy good GPUS that will last a long time, over buying a cheaper alternative that can cope with todays games.

[declan54321]

Basically what I'm trying to say is what would you rather do?

Buy a cheap graphics card that needs to be upgraded, say, every year, or buy an expensive card that will last you three or four years?

[Insanitypays]

expensive of course!

[Mad-Mike]

@Echo331

I was the same as you when thinking of building my own computer, I never wanted to do it, I was to scared. Didnt have a clue what some of the componments meant or where they go or what they did.
Anyway I thought I would buy the parts then get a pc shop to put it together for me, but when I got my parts and read the manuals and watched videos on youtube several times my confidence was high so I started building it myself and to tell you the truth it was like building lego when I was a kid.
When I was unsure on somthing like the CPU and CPU FAN which was alot of money for me, I got real scared, anyway after watching videos from youtube it was easy. so I did it.
Now I get people knocking on my door asking me to fix there pc and I earn some money from it
So its a bonus, I would recommend doing it yourself, if your unsure on anything send me a pm if you like.

Here's my build..
Click to see

[Insanitypays]

Thanks for the confidence boost, I might actually build it then despite my intimidation... How much did your parts cost BTW?

[killonsight95]

mine cost about ?500 check my profile for details about it, msot of it is there, except i got it with 4GB of RAM and not 8

My best advice is to build, you learn a lot about a computer that you didn't before, howeve ri recomend doing your research first etc. Also build but an excel sheet containing all the parts with links and prices etc.
If i was going to build you a new PC i'd do the following:
Case:
Either go for a full tower or mid tower case, this will allow for the best motherboards and leave you with enough room for extra CD slots and HDD/SSD examples of good cases are:

- Link
- Link

Motherboads:
Going for ATX or extended ATX will get you the most power and speed and ease of use, also there are two types of motherboards AMD or intel these differences relate only to what type of CPU you want i list only AMD motherboards because that's what i use, but don't hesitate to look at intel ones either, good examples of AMD are:

- Link I have this one personnally and it is GREAT, works well for the price and has everything you will need for the next 5 years, however the obe below is a extended ATX and will probs last you longer techno side.
- Link

Processors/CPU:
These are the brains of the computer, the higher the ghz and more cores it has combined the better it is basically but you can ask one of these guys on here what will be best once you narrow down your selection, again you can get AMD or intel CPU's which will ONLY fit in their respective motherboards.
- Link I use this, it is very good and will serve you well
- Link 2 extra cores than the previous one, which makes it a bit more powerful.

GPU/Graphics Card:
Helps you see shit better, the two main grpahics cards you can get are either ATI or Nvidia 1-1.5 GB cards will do you well. good examples are:
-Link ATI card
-Link Nvidea card

PSU/power supply:
To run a power draining system like with some of the items about i recomend a 500-600W PSU, although again you mgiht want to double check with people on here because PSU's arn't my area. Good examples are:
- Link
-Link

Basically that will give you yor basics for a Desktop, except for RAM/Memory but that is all relient on your motherboard etc just get 6GB or mroe and you'll be fine. Sound cards arn't really needed unless you're a sound NERD, i use my built in one and it works with my surround sound fine with good quality!
I am sure you could get better deals than the ones i listed however min are just an outline with some examples. Please psor here for more questions etc.

As you building or buying.... I would defo build again but if i had a lot of money i would buy it. It is cheaper to either build a new computer or find and old used one on Ebay/amazon or whatever and upgrade it and maybe replace the motherboard and CPU. However i will say this, it is cheaper to build your own if it's a higher end machine, however if your trying to build a cheap office computer buy it. afaik that's how it works.

[TheComedian]

If you want a noise free environment you should consider buying a liquid cooling system. Assembling it is fairly straightforward and you can find many tutorials on YouTube.

Pros:
+ Virtually no noise
+ Components have a lower average temp (they will last longer)
+ Easy to overclock components
+ Uses less power than fans
Cons:
Not really, you should definitly spend $50 more you will be very pleased you did.

[Mad-Mike]

Thanks for the confidence boost, I might actually build it then despite my intimidation... How much did your parts cost BTW?

My build cost around 1,500+ GBP. Not added it up yet but Iam going to soon.

But my build was a complete new set up, including..
- desk
- monitor
- keyboard
- hard drives
- optical drive etc....

The only thing I kept from my old set up was the mouse.