Gaming Computer Help

[02goswej]

Hey i am getting a new computer this weekend (Hopfully ^_^) and i want it the best i can possibly get for gaming my budget is like £500 (maybe £600) but im going computer fair (where im going this sunday to get my computer if i cant find a better one) and they said for £500 they can do:

AMD x2 6000+ 3.0GHz
2GB RAM (dno speed)
320GB Hard drive
2x 8500GT 512MB SLI Mode
dno the rest and it comes with XP Pro

Can ya make me anything better ^_^

 

[chimera]

Nearest I could come up with:

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pi/223-1008762/Desktop-Computers/PC-Next-Day-ZooStorm-Versatile-Pro-PC-Intel-Core-2-Duo-3GHz-4096MB-500GB-DVDRW-WinXP-Pro-Product-Info

Not sure about the graphics though

 

[Kekekeke]

How about keeping 1 graphics card for now and getting a better processor? why not go for intel core 2 duo or quad core?

 

[Far]

that amd is dual core isnt it? looks prity nice but u really need vista if you want to play any of the new games on the market.

 

[Kekekeke]

You don't really need vista... lol...

and yeah but Intel dual core is better, or better yet quad core.

 

[Far]

id say u need vista.

halo 3, gears of war, crysis, timeshift, all need vista.

i think prity much all the top games being released now are requiring vista.

 

[chimera]

Gears of war - Windows XP / Vista
Crysis - Windows XP / Vista
Timeshift - Windows 2000 / XP
I don't know about Halo 3 but I expect it's a similar picture.

Data from Play and Amazon.

 

[02goswej]

I dont want Intel as i have read about 10 reviews all saying AMD is way better for gaming...
Chimera that PC is good but the graphics card ewww integrated xD well its a computer fair so i can get the price down ^_^ haggle ftw i might see if i can get an 8800GTX instead of two 8500GTs, i will be upgrading the RAM and adding another hard drive depending on price. but i may very well upgrade the processor to 6400+ ^^ i will see but thanks for your help people...And about Vista. NO LOL Im not getting it untill Service pack 2 comes out.

But if anyone can find anything better than my original spec at the top for cheaper (or same price with a screen) then please post ^_^

 

[Senture]

In the days of P4 vs Athlon 64, yeah AMD were on top thanks to the integrated memory controler on the chip. The Core 2 Duo pushed AMD right out of plac along with the core 2's supreme overclocking ability. AMD have just launched their new quad core CPU: Phenom. The highest clocked one is 2.3Ghz stock going for arround the £200 mark, Intel's Q6600 clocks at 2.4Ghz and goes at arround £170.

Have a look for benchmarks against the 2 both in gaming and CPU intencive applications such as video encoding, the Core 2 series wins hands down (dual and quad).

 

[02goswej]

The 2nd reason is well...AMD x2 series is cheaper than the dual core 2 series

 

[mapadale]

that amd is dual core isnt it? looks prity nice but u really need vista if you want to play any of the new games on the market.

No you don't as all games will be xp as well as vista no real difference really in the gaming engine apart from they now work on vista.

id say u need vista.

halo 3, gears of war, crysis, timeshift, all need vista.

i think prity much all the top games being released now are requiring vista.

Nope all those work on xp and work far damn better than they do on vista.

now back on topic.

If you can wait a couple of month you can get the following for about £500

AMD quad core chip - currently retailing at £160
2gb memory
500gb hdd +
256mb agp/pci-e g/card of any make from around £75+
AM2 boared capable of running the quad core about £80 - dual channel DDR/DDR2

You can do all this for just under £500 if you know what you want and what your doing - never let someone at a fair tell you what they can do for you as they will always put there % on top. Build yourself far cheaper and you get what you want.

 

[mapadale]

In the days of P4 vs Athlon 64, yeah AMD were on top thanks to the integrated memory controler on the chip. The Core 2 Duo pushed AMD right out of plac along with the core 2's supreme overclocking ability. AMD have just launched their new quad core CPU: Phenom. The highest clocked one is 2.3Ghz stock going for arround the £200 mark, Intel's Q6600 clocks at 2.4Ghz and goes at arround £170.

Have a look for benchmarks against the 2 both in gaming and CPU intencive applications such as video encoding, the Core 2 series wins hands down (dual and quad).

Remeber that also the intel chip isn't really dual core as its 2 chips built up, where as the amd is true dual. This is also the same for the quad on intel, but amd have built the quad core from scratch and has a higher cache than the intel.

 

[Senture]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-192-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=803
X2 6000+ £101

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-158-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793
C2D 2.33Ghz £108

The AMD chip is slightly faster in most benchmarks (adding 2-4fps on), but looking at motherboards:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-235-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913
Decent Core 2 motherboard that overclocks well £76

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-108-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=808
Not sure about AMD boards put peeps say this a good clocking board for AMD chips. £105

With a decent aftermarket cooler like the Turnq Tower, you could put the AMD up to maby 3.4 tops, 3.2 may be more realistic. The core 2 however can easly see 3.4 and possibly make it up to 3.8 depending on PSU and RAM.

 

[02goswej]

im not risking overclocking without water cooling (im one of those people that dont want any risk lol) but yea if i got water cooling i would look into over clocking/super clocking but atm im looking for a basic system not o clocked attal

 

[forspinki]

im not risking overclocking without water cooling (im one of those people that dont want any risk lol) but yea if i got water cooling i would look into over clocking/super clocking but atm im looking for a basic system not o clocked attal

u dont need water cooling , you can overclock in reason with a few basic fans lol , if not just stick ur tower in the freezer and clock it to 5.0 lmao

 

[Senture]

Fair enough. Overclocking is stupidly easy, your only real enemy is heat. This little guide to me into overclocking, have a quick read and see if you understand it a bit
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922

 

[AgentSmith]

dont know if its just me but tbh quad core isnt needed for gaming as the games are not made to make use of the cores, at most they are made for dual. i think any how, i stand corrected if im wrong

 

[Far]

sorry my mistake, but halo 2 is a requirement to have vista. (i presumed since gears of war was released after that too wld also require vista).

 

[Senture]

That's just microsoft being gay lol

 

[mapadale]

Fair enough. Overclocking is stupidly easy, your only real enemy is heat. This little guide to me into overclocking, have a quick read and see if you understand it a bit
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922

I think he got a bit confused with the site addy being over clockers.

sorry my mistake, but halo 2 is a requirement to have vista. (i presumed since gears of war was released after that too wld also require vista).

You sure as we have been playing both halo 2 and 3 on xp based machines and not had a problem with it.