Still on XP, look at me give a fuck.

[Chazlene]

So I'm intending to get a new PC before i43, something that'll run Battlefield 3 pretty damn well, with a budget probably of around £600 (are those two things possible?), dunno budget might change a bit, depending on how much work I can get, birthday money, etc.

Hutch suggested this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=2040&subcat

Is that a good choice or are you going to berate him for it? (I'm guessing the latter will be the case). By the way I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BUILD IT. Just want to simply buy a desktop, I've had several bad experiences in the past when I've tried to do stuff myself.

I'm not buying a monitor, keyboard, mouse or whatever so don't include those with your suggestions. Also any chance of 'acquiring' Windows 7 to save some money?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[ez64]

could not live without instant search in my taskbar since vista.

[Colonel Mitch]

If you dont want to build it i *think* scan 3XS systems are slightly cheaper, and they have MUCH better customer support than OCUK.

And if you want an "acquired" copy of winds, i can send you one if u cant download it

EDIT: Just checked and a scan one is £812 inc vat VS £770 inc VAT for a similar build.

BUT. Scan offer a 2 year warranty vs 1 year and in the first year they will deal with it directly at your house at no charge and in the second your it is a standard return it to them and theyll fix it and send it back.

Also scan get someone to set it up and ensure its working when it arrives at your house (at no charge other than delivery)

[Hutch]

Thats great Mitch but his budget is 600 not 800 quid..... and who really cares about installation/home support? if its broke replace the part under warranty. I'm sure Chazlene can plug it in.

Edit: we've bought zoostorms before, they're cheap but v reliable. http://www.ebuyer.com/272145-zoostor...p-pc-7873-0276 this seems like a deal.

[Calneon]

Thats great Mitch but his budget is 600 not 800 quid..... and who really cares about installation/home support? if its broke replace the part under warranty. I'm sure Chazlene can plug it in.

Edit: we've bought zoostorms before, they're cheap but v reliable. http://www.ebuyer.com/272145-zoostor...p-pc-7873-0276 this seems like a deal.

A GTS450 will not handle BF3 'pretty damn well', it's worse than my 3 year old GTX280. If you went with the link in the OP (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=2040&subcat), you'd have to go with a GTX460 for it to be worth it, and it would give you good performance in BF3 (AFAIK, GTX460 is slightly better than a GTX280, plus it's DX11), but that would put you £43 over budget.

Obviously I'd recommend building one yourself or getting somebody else to help you but if you don't want to that's your choice. I'd also recommend spending £40 on a legit copy of Windows 7, but again I'm not going to try to stop you doing otherwise.

[Hutch]

A GTS450 will not handle BF3 'pretty damn well', it's worse than my 3 year old GTX280. If you went with the link in the OP (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=2040&subcat), you'd have to go with a GTX460 for it to be worth it, and it would give you good performance in BF3 (AFAIK, GTX460 is slightly better than a GTX280, plus it's DX11), but that would put you £43 over budget.

Obviously I'd recommend building one yourself or getting somebody else to help you but if you don't want to that's your choice. I'd also recommend spending £40 on a legit copy of Windows 7, but again I'm not going to try to stop you doing otherwise.

My Gt430 seems to be handling BF3 pretty damn well atm on the alpha. But yeah GTX460.

[Isphera]

A GTS450 will not handle BF3 'pretty damn well', it's worse than my 3 year old GTX280. If you went with the link in the OP (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=2040&subcat), you'd have to go with a GTX460 for it to be worth it, and it would give you good performance in BF3 (AFAIK, GTX460 is slightly better than a GTX280, plus it's DX11), but that would put you £43 over budget.

Obviously I'd recommend building one yourself or getting somebody else to help you but if you don't want to that's your choice. I'd also recommend spending £40 on a legit copy of Windows 7, but again I'm not going to try to stop you doing otherwise.

Basically this. Even with the HD issue I had builiding mine last time (quickly resolved with a quick RMA to WD ), I would strongly recommending getting it custom built, whether by yourself or with the guidence or expertise of another (I'm sure another ATK'er will happily help), because the benefit in terms of power/£ is much better. Legit copy is pretty much essential.

[Colonel Mitch]

Thats great Mitch but his budget is 600 not 800 quid..... and who really cares about installation/home support? if its broke replace the part under warranty. I'm sure Chazlene can plug it in.

Edit: we've bought zoostorms before, they're cheap but v reliable. http://www.ebuyer.com/272145-zoostor...p-pc-7873-0276 this seems like a deal.

You want him to play BF3 on a 430 graphics card at decent settings?

[Hutch]

You want him to play BF3 on a 430 graphics card at decent settings?

t
Well I'd hope he'd get the best he can, but don't trash the 430. You haven't seen it in actionon BF3. I'm just against spending LOL amounts of money on unnecessary shit.

[Calneon]

t
Well I'd hope he'd get the best he can, but don't trash the 430. You haven't seen it in actionon BF3. I'm just against spending LOL amounts of money on unnecessary shit.

It will vary depending on what resolution you have. It might handle high/max at something like 1280x800, but maybe medium at 1920x1200, if you want playable (AKA 60) FPS.

EDIT: Erm, I just looked at a few benchmarks of a GT430 (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...&limitstart=10), it performs pathetically. You must be running on a very low resolution or very low settings to get playable framerates :S.

[VoX]

You won't need Sandybridge stuff for playing games, something i3 or i5 will be plenty, then spend the savings on a better GPU.

Did this quickly on the OCUK configuration thingie, don't take it as gospel though, haven't properly looked at hardware stuff for about a year.




Doesn't include Win7, but that's easily arranged

[Calneon]

You won't need Sandybridge stuff for playing games, something i3 or i5 will be plenty, then spend the savings on a better GPU.

Did this quickly on the OCUK configuration thingie, don't take it as gospel though, haven't properly looked at hardware stuff for about a year.




Doesn't include Win7, but that's easily arranged

I didn't realize OcUK had that service, looks like the perfect option. Build looks solid too.

[Chazlene]

You won't need Sandybridge stuff for playing games, something i3 or i5 will be plenty, then spend the savings on a better GPU.

Did this quickly on the OCUK configuration thingie, don't take it as gospel though, haven't properly looked at hardware stuff for about a year.




Doesn't include Win7, but that's easily arranged

How does that build compare with the one in my original post? Also is that list just for the separate components or for a custom built PC? And yeah if I did go for the build in my first post I would go for a slightly better GFX card with it.

[Calneon]

How does that build compare with the one in my original post? Also is that list just for the separate components or for a custom built PC? And yeah if I did go for the build in my first post I would go for a slightly better GFX card with it.

VoX's one is better and cheaper. They build it for you.

[Brendan]

This place is near where I stay but they deliver. Its where I buy my computers from

http://www.pless.co.uk/product.php?productid=8143;

£219.00
Quad core
4GB ram
1TB hard drive
DVD RW

All you need to do is add a video card.

EDIT: just keep in mind its an ASROCK motherboard and that don't sit right with some people but if you ask they will change it for whatever board you want and they only charge for parts.