Buying new PC URGENT

[Montana]

Well , my PC decided to turn itself off today and not "Post" again , I was having BSOD's which were RAM related , so I got a new single stick but no good   .

I haven't had to buy a new PC for some 5 years , so really good going seeing as it's on 24/7.

The problem I have is looking for a new PC , the laptop that I'm typing on SHOULD be good ( Windows 8 laptop , got it with a phone contract in November 2014 ) but in reality it's sh**e , it's just about THE slowest PC I've used in over 20 years.Anyway , back on track , I've been trying to source a good gaming PC , not top of the line but something close-ish to it.I'm looking at a basic build ,so case , motherboard , cpu , ram , psu , os , ssd and gpu.I want it to be a quick pc and as future proof as possible.
So suggestions on parts is what I'm looking for , not just the best but also a good alternative that doesn't break the bank.

Any and all questions and comments welcome.



Andy

[*-SARIN-*]

A price range would be a good start Montana

[Montana]

Mar 8, 2015 12:26:54 GMT *-SARIN-* said:

A price range would be a good start Montana

I didn't mention price on purpose , because I wanted suggestions then look at a total,then play around with the suggestions until it balances between price and being able to be upgraded.I hope that makes sense.Also , that's why I mentioned not only the best for speed but alternatives that should also be considered.

DAM , this laptop is rubbish , so freaking slow.



Andy

[*-SARIN-*]

If you want something future proof (4-5 years) then you had better set aside around £1000. Gaming on PC's isn't a cheap hobby as you probably already know. Do you have the ability to build it yourself?

[Q]

Whatever you decide to do, a decent hybrid drive is a must, totally transformed my PC.

This is the one I bought

[djs]

I always go for barebone systems myself, (without OS) then buy the stuff I really need...

I've been out the PC game for a while, but will build (semi build) a new one next summer on the dot.

My current one has served me well. SSD (boot) and HDD dual. Mid range Graphics. It's fast and runs all games except the latest.

The way I see it, you either build from scratch or buy a basic system ready made, but one with no special components. The only item I took out and wasted was the £10 PSU. Everything else stayed in.

[Montana]

Mar 8, 2015 12:40:48 GMT *-SARIN-* said:

If you want something future proof (4-5 years) then you had better set aside around £1000. Gaming on PC's isn't a cheap hobby as you probably already know. Do you have the ability to build it yourself?

Yes I know it's going to be around that mark , especially for the latest type of form factors even if they're not top of the range.

I can 85-90% build  myself.The only thing I have never really been able to do is a mobo into a case.I think it's because the wiring on the case isn't labelled the same as the connectors on the mobo and I don't want to fry the heart of the PC and have to take everything out to start again and with a price of circa £130 it becomes a very expensive mistake , lol.
The rest is a piece of cake , nowadays it's like an old Meccano kit , I've installed and built from the bare case and mobo quite a few times before , but I've alays found the bios a little tricky too , just getting the settings right for speed but balancing that with reliability and longevity , if that's even possible.



Andy

[Montana]

Mar 8, 2015 12:50:24 GMT Q said:

Whatever you decide to do, a decent hybrid drive is a must, totally transformed my PC.

This is the one I bought

Q , I already have a 120 ssd in my old pc plus 2 HDD that hold 1 and 3tb respectively.So I was looking at getting a quick 256gb ssd for the OS , using the 120gb for Steam and other games and the other two HDD's for storage.

Having said that , I've not seen these Hybrid drives before , I like the idea of them.Only a  couple of things that concern me is speed compared with an SSD and the longevity with it having moving parts as it has a standard type of HDD.



Andy

[Q]

Agreed, I went down the hybrid route for 2 reasons, cost and size, I've had it running (probably 18 hours a day) for 7 months now and it has behaved itself

[*-SARIN-*]

A SSD will kill a SSHD in terms of speed but they are a lot better than normal drives and would be a good storage option as they have never been so cheap. One thing that i have learnt over the years is not to skimp on the PSU, loads of issues are contributed to a crappy PSU and with higher end components they will need that extra power. Aim for 800W+ and buy good quality RAM as most have lifetime guarantees.

[Montana]

*-SARIN-* , I currently have a Corsair TX750 that hasn't missed a beat in 3 years and I'm thinking that I shouldn't really put it in my new machine because it must be coming towards it's lifespan because of my old PC being on 24/7.I seem to remember that you have to have really good power rails ( ?? ) to give a good and reliable power source.

The supplier that I've used in the past have been Aria and have been good , but after saying they're good , when I looked at the RAM that I had in the mobo , I found that the RAM WASN'T on the list of suppliers that MSI suggest , so now I'm a little dubious.

Obviously I'm still looking at Aria for parts and have seen THIS for a case and THIS for my OS , but that's all so far.
So any other suggestions of suppliers and perhaps builders would also be good to have , with the obvious good customer service backup.



Andy

[*-SARIN-*]

Yep decent case, does it come with the fans, if not factor in that cost as well. Just be careful with cases and the length of GPU's, some of them are getting seriously long atm. OS is what i would choose. With regards to suppliers i've always built my own so not a lot of help there i'm afraid. Overclockers.co.uk is worth a look to see what is available but can be a bit on the £££ side. You are correct in the statement that good 12V rails are the key to a reliable power source. As above, don't skimp on the PSU

12V Rails

[Montana]

*-SARIN-* , here are the specs , they look good to me.


Performance and Specifications

Three 5.25” drive bays

Four 3.5” hard drive bays with 2.5” compatibility

Seven expansion slots

Two-year warranty

Front I/O panel contains:

Two USB 3.0 connectors

3.5mm headphone and microphone connectors

Power and reset switches

Dimensions: 19.1” x 8.3” x 17.7”

Supports graphics cards up to 450mm in length

Two 120mm/140mm top fan mount locations

Two side panel 120/140mm fan mount locations

Two front panel 120/140mm fan mount locations

Includes one front-mounted 140mm fan and one rear 120mm fan



Andy

[tim]

Have you looked at www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ Montana ?

I have bought a gaming lappy and a pc from them. Just design what you want to your budget, they put i together. Loads of options. Excellent customer service too.

[letsavit]

Site I always use when building CAD machines... Different Specs and budgets recomended here.

Edit; just noticed the specs are old on that link but a good forum to put you proposed up and let the experienced comment...