Your Rig...

[Matt!]

E8200 @ 2.66ghz

2GB Corsair XMS2 800MHz (2x1GB)

Seagate 250GB

Seagate 160GB

Nvidia 8800GT 512Mb

22" Monitor

ASUS Xonar Sound Card

ASUS P5n-e SLI

Logitech G11

Razer Deathadder

Pure Pwnage Mouse Mat

Creative Fatality Headset

Windows XP

Aspire X Cruiser

Upgrade due for Skyrim

 

[Alexb111]

Built my pc with my bro from scratch around 4 years ago now.

Its more than due for an upgrade to be honest but I'm in the annoying situation that if I upgrade anything the motherboard needs doing. That means everything else needs doing, which means on top of graphics card(s), processor, ram and motherboard I will also need a new PSU. Anyway, that will be a project when I have around £1500 spare next year (hopefully) to do a rip out and start again with an awesome one.

Still running Skyrim on high so hopefully I can live a year with this one

1.86 GHz Intel dual core

3GB Corsair DDR2 ram

ATI Radeon HD 5700 series graphics card

500GB + 250GB Hard drives + 2TB external drive

ASUS P58 SE motherboard

Antec 900 Case

Blue modular power supply of some description

Samsung 24" monitor

Creative HS-1200 wireless headset

Logitech 5.1

Logitech G110 gaming keyboard

Logitech MX518 gaming mouse

Xbox 360 controller

Saitek cyborg joystick

Saitek R660 GT wheel

Then some other stuff like dvd writer, mousemat, usb hub etc.

To say its 4 years old, all I can say is: No half measures

I also have a Samsung R780 laptop which is a good spec for a laptop, I'll leave you to google that if you care enough

Anyway my current annoyance is: No quad core, no DDR3, no usb3, graphics is slowing on new games and the fans spike up massively on any cpu intensive stuff..

 

[Tariq]

In need of an update but student budget doesn't allow so

Coolermaster Storm Scout Case

ASUS P67 Sabertooth

Intel i7 2600k @3.8GHz

Corsair H50

Corsair 8GB 1600Mhz DDR3

Zotac GTX580 AMP!

Corsair 850W HX Modular

OCZ 60GB Vertex 2E SSD

Samsung 1TB F3

Samsung BluRay Drive

Asus VG236H 3D 23" LCD

LG E2350 Flatron 23" LED

Logitech x540 5.1 speakers

Logitech G110

Razer Vesoula Mouse Mat

R.A.T.9 Mouse

PS3 Controllers

 

[Deva]

It's a lot more up to date than most!

Mine is around 4 years old now but will probably upgrade mobo/cpu/ram/gpu and add an SSD at the end of the year.

 

[Tariq]

Still got big plans for it XD

Another GTX 580, New SATAIII SSD, Another 1TB+ HDD, a larger case, new watercooling for the CPU, and then 2 more 3D monitors XD

Should come to around about £1k Deffo need to find a job.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I don't even know what most of this stuff means haha

I have a MacbookPro and all I know about it is that it has 8GB RAM, a 2.7GHz i7 Quadcore processor aaannnnnddddd that's all I know lol

 

[Liam Porter]

Sounds crap Ed

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

It's great, helps me bitch about stuff at you and piss around on Facebook like a charm. Not to mention its ability to run Microsoft Office.

Flawless, expensive, perfection. I'm telling you.

I still want a gaming PC though D=

 

[iAcorn]

My gaming rig is pretty up to date. Doesnt have all the bells and whistles but it gets the job done:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 3.1GHz (Not overclocked it... yet)

GPU: GeForce GTX 670 2GB

RAM: Generic stuff 8GB

PSU: 650W CiT I think

MB: Asus [insert long stupid number sequence here]. Supports USB 3.0, Firewire800 and eSata

HDD (1): Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM SYSTEM DRIVE ONLY

HDD (2): Seagate 3TB 7200RPM DATA DRIVE ONLY

Monitor: BenQ 24" ... thing

External HDD: 250GB 5400RPM, 500GB 7200RPM

Headset: Logitech G930 Wireless

I do a lot of video editing and recording for youtube so I have a lot of hard drive space :3 You can find me on youtube as InsaneAcorn.

I also have a Macbook Pro 15" 2011 model with an i7 processor which I use for music production and audio editing... This was all very expensive so I am real happy I have a job... even if its not my planned career!

 

[Cyrax]

Would anyone be up for helping me work out how to improve my PC via PM?

Needs quite an overhaul I think, dont want to hijack the thread but figured this would be the best place to find some help!

 

[Tariq]

Just start a new thread mate

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

If I were to build a PC that would be capable of playing BF2 + PR mod, BF3, ArmAII (and III when it comes out) the PR mods, and DayZ what kind of specs would I need?

I literally know nothing about computers, so either link me to one that will run them all on the highest settings, or list all the parts I'd need to get one to the right spec.

Some general cost parameters would be good too. I've no idea what the costs are like when it comes to gaming PCs and their parts, so just hit me with it and then I can start working on a money saving scheme (Y)

I need to have BF2PR in my life.

Some basic tips on preventing them from getting slower and slower and more and more riddled with viruses over the course of a year or less would be great too.

My last laptop was an Acer somethingorother and I got it for my 18th birthday. Before I turned 19 it was so uselessly slow and broken that I couldn't even be arsed to switch it on. Lost all my music on it =[ still haven't got it back either, I've just not updated my iPod for 3 years lol.

I think I was using AVG or something as a virus scanner. Didn't really understand it though... It never seemed to do anything and the scans never found anything, even though it was obviously screwed.

The reason I went for a Macbook is just because they work without you needing to know anything, a technophobe could operate a Mac lol. Plus the battery lasts for about 10 hours when all you use is Open Office, so it's awesome for Uni work.

 

[Tariq]

If I were to build a PC that would be capable of playing BF2 + PR mod, BF3, ArmAII (and III when it comes out) the PR mods, and DayZ what kind of specs would I need?

You got a budget or anything goes?

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I don't know, it's a case of saving once I know what I need.

If you could outline the bare minimum requirements and the über over the top as well, then I'll know what the two extremes are and aim somewhere in the middle, probably.

I'd say that realistically I'd aim to spend around £700 on a desktop, but forget I said that. I don't want it to be a guideline for your recommendations or anything.

 

[iAcorn]

I don't know, it's a case of saving once I know what I need.
If you could outline the bare minimum requirements and the über over the top as well, then I'll know what the two extremes are and aim somewhere in the middle, probably.

I'd say that realistically I'd aim to spend around £700 on a desktop, but forget I said that. I don't want it to be a guideline for your recommendations or anything.

When I get home from work I will look into this for you. I enjoy building PCs

But generally I would suggest getting a quad core processor (at least). You have two choices here. Intel or AMD. AMD is generally cheaper and has a good price to power ratio. Intel is way more expensive but performs better.

RAM is cheap these days so you can easily afford 8GB

If you're just running games then one 7200RPM HDD is enough. 500GB to 1TB should do you for quite some time.

You'll need a GPU (Graphics Card). I have always found the NVidia cards to be excellent. I recently upgraded to a GTX670 so my GTX 460 is currently gathering dust (it was enough to run BF3 on mid settings whilst recording, mid to high whilst not).

Anyways when I get home I will look into it

 

[Tariq]

Optimal PC System RequirementsQuad Core CPU or fast Dual Core CPU (Intel Core 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or faster)

2 GB RAM

Fast GPU (Nvidia Geforce 8800GT or ATI Radeon 4850 or faster) with Shader Model 3 and 512 or more MB VRAM

Windows XP or Windows Vista

Even with those specs i'd want to improve ALOT!

For peformance without buying stupid hardware you could get:

Intel i5 (ivybridge?) i7s are a bit overkill for gaming.

8GB RAM

Nvidia 560+ (580's are getting cheaper now but 6X0 is the new stuff)

Everything else can be taylored to your tastes

Not really a spec list but a base line. Guessing something like that would end up at around £700-800

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

Are there any PCs you can buy that would be capable of running stuff from the off? Or am I always going to have to build one to get the best I can from it?

'Cos all the things above with numbers next to them mean nothing to me, apart from the RAM lol.

If I'm building one, what parts am I going to need.

CPU,

Graphics card,

HDD,

RAM,

What else? That can't be it, right?

What would you recommend for each, what are they each capable of and what's the upper and lower price range going from the best to the worst on each item?

Also, once I've got it, is it just a case of opening it up, taking the bits out and binning them, buying something better and plugging them in? Or is it more complicated than that?

 

[Liam Porter]

Ed, in the £700, do you need a keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, as well? Or is that literally just for the tower?

 

[Tariq]

If I'm building one, what parts am I going to need.
CPU,

Graphics card,

HDD,

RAM,

What else? That can't be it, right?

You can buy one already built, although you'll usually spending an extra £100+ for having it already built. The fact you can build one yourself in a couple of hours doesn't make it worth it. I was a complete n00b when i build mine and it was easy enough.

CPU

Motherboard

Power Supply

RAM

HDD

Graphics Card

Case

DVD Drive

 

[iAcorn]

Are there any PCs you can buy that would be capable of running stuff from the off? Or am I always going to have to build one to get the best I can from it?
'Cos all the things above with numbers next to them mean nothing to me, apart from the RAM lol.

If I'm building one, what parts am I going to need.

CPU,

Graphics card,

HDD,

RAM,

What else? That can't be it, right?

What would you recommend for each, what are they each capable of and what's the upper and lower price range going from the best to the worst on each item?

Also, once I've got it, is it just a case of opening it up, taking the bits out and binning them, buying something better and plugging them in? Or is it more complicated than that?

You can buy a pre-built computer from a shop.... But if you do then make sure it is compatible with future upgrades. I used to have a Dell computer and they made it pretty tough to upgrade your internals because of the custom case and such. Another thing is to note down what chipset the motherboard is compatible with. usually this just means "Do you have Intel or AMD". So if you ever want to upgrade your processor, dont get an AMD when your PC is built for Intel and vice versa.

Most pre-built PCs are not built for gaming either. For example this isnt a bad PC. It has a good processor, average RAM and a good size HDD but the graphics card is a built in model so you would have to buy that separately.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-essenti...448428-pdt.html

Also you would need to fork out on keyboards, mouse, speakers and a monitor. PCs are not cheap I'm afraid

I think my initial build cost me about £500 for the case, HDD, GPU, Processor, Motherboard, PSU and RAM. I used my old monitor and such until I was able to upgrade.

If you want to build my exact PC (or close to it):

Accessories

Mouse: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003C4F...ils_o03_s00_i00

Keyboard: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0037KL...ils_o00_s00_i00

Headset: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003U55...ils_o00_s00_i00

Monitor: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002M1F...ils_o00_s00_i00

Desktop

Case (better than mine): http://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-Vantage-Gaming...1111&sr=1-1

Motherboard: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M5A99X-Mother...mp;sr=1-1-fkmr0

Processor (not exactly the same. I have a 955): http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-HDZ965FBGMBOX-...0557&sr=8-3

RAM (x2): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-1333MHz-D...0749&sr=1-1

Power Supply: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002Q8H...ils_o00_s00_i00

Graphics Card: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00822Z...ils_o01_s00_i00

Alt GPU (good card for a lower price): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GeForce-560TI...0854&sr=1-2

HDD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-ST31000524...1289&sr=1-2

Optical Drive: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-AD-7261S-0B-I...1013&sr=1-1

Windows: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-OEM-soft...0445&sr=8-1

So as you can see PCs get very expensive VERY fast if you want an up to date PC that will not be outdated within a year. This should last me a good 3 years... ish. The only thing I might need to upgrade is the CPU in a year or so. Keep in mind that if you want an Intel PC then the Processor will be a lot more.