Discussion
Altrezia said:
Didn't realize you were a girl.
Lol, in my opinion it would be an absolute waste looking for a PC that would be capable of running that resource-hungry game. It uses something stupid like 8GB just to install the damn thing! My advice would be to spend a bit of money on a Dell XPS or similar and get yourself a real game like Warcraft, Eve or Fallout 3.Girl! How very dare you.
I'm only buying it for the missus to play anyway, the same missus who I bought the MX5 for, who doesn't actually have a licence yet.
I used to love playing it, inviting the neighbours over and then locking them up in my 'gimp room'.
I've played Fallout 3 to death on the 360, I'm scared of WOW because a) Its a bit geeky and b) I'd probably get horrifically drawn in and addicted to it, and ultimately end up not eating, washing or moving for months.
I'm only buying it for the missus to play anyway, the same missus who I bought the MX5 for, who doesn't actually have a licence yet.
I used to love playing it, inviting the neighbours over and then locking them up in my 'gimp room'.
I've played Fallout 3 to death on the 360, I'm scared of WOW because a) Its a bit geeky and b) I'd probably get horrifically drawn in and addicted to it, and ultimately end up not eating, washing or moving for months.
OllieWinchester said:
Girl! How very dare you.
I'm only buying it for the missus to play anyway, the same missus who I bought the MX5 for, who doesn't actually have a licence yet.
I used to love playing it, inviting the neighbours over and then locking them up in my 'gimp room'.
I've played Fallout 3 to death on the 360, I'm scared of WOW because a) Its a bit geeky and b) I'd probably get horrifically drawn in and addicted to it, and ultimately end up not eating, washing or moving for months.
Ah, see thats the beauty of games like Warcraft though, it just keeps going and going.. until you eventually die of complete fatigue! Surely thats more fun than sending the same virtual person to work every day, until its simulating your own life as you wish it would be... I'm only buying it for the missus to play anyway, the same missus who I bought the MX5 for, who doesn't actually have a licence yet.
I used to love playing it, inviting the neighbours over and then locking them up in my 'gimp room'.
I've played Fallout 3 to death on the 360, I'm scared of WOW because a) Its a bit geeky and b) I'd probably get horrifically drawn in and addicted to it, and ultimately end up not eating, washing or moving for months.
What do you actually do on WOW? I have managed to completely avoid anything to do with it, so have no real idea of what its all about other than hearing the Daily Mail saying about people dying of fatigue in front of their PC's after a massive session.
I'm still probably going to get the Sims 3 though...
The idea of the game is to choose a particular 'being' if you like, and then create your character in the way you want. You then have a very VERY vast landmass to explore, to meeting other clans or warlords and either gain allies or battle others to increase your characters abilities and progress through the game.
I wasn't totally set on the idea of playing it to begin with, it was someone at work who was raving about it that got me interested. I don't play it all the time like him or others though, which is annoying as you have to pay monthly subscription to play. But saying that, it is a very good game and can understand why it has such a global following.
I wasn't totally set on the idea of playing it to begin with, it was someone at work who was raving about it that got me interested. I don't play it all the time like him or others though, which is annoying as you have to pay monthly subscription to play. But saying that, it is a very good game and can understand why it has such a global following.
I know its a bit cheeky, but I'm not getting that much help on this other thread, need some advice on buying a PC that can play games for about £5-600 quid. Any advice much appreciated from you guys, thing is I want to pay monthly so I'd probably be looking at PC World or Currys or something, I'm not talking about £4 per month for twenty years but they do a deal where you pay £60 deposit and then 10 x £60 for a £600 machine and so on, and I can't really afford to outlay the whole lot in one go because I've just moved. If you could have a look and advise I'd really appreciate it guys.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
OllieWinchester said:
I know its a bit cheeky, but I'm not getting that much help on this other thread, need some advice on buying a PC that can play games for about £5-600 quid. Any advice much appreciated from you guys, thing is I want to pay monthly so I'd probably be looking at PC World or Currys or something, I'm not talking about £4 per month for twenty years but they do a deal where you pay £60 deposit and then 10 x £60 for a £600 machine and so on, and I can't really afford to outlay the whole lot in one go because I've just moved. If you could have a look and advise I'd really appreciate it guys.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Well, being a Dell bhttp://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
h, i would probably recommend getting an XPS. At the moment, you can pick up the bottom of the range XPS for £629 from the website, which isn't exactly lacking hardware... 3GB RAM, 512MB graphics, more than enough hard disk space and i'd imagine Dell would probably do a good deal on monthly instalments as well. Worth checking out.Edited because the £629 price for the XPS doesn't include a screen - is box only - Screen included is £679.
You don't need to spend a fortune on a PC that will run decent games though. I'd probably say around £400 is a good guideline for a more than reasonable desktop IMO.
Either that, or i bought a pretty good spec HP tower from Currys for my cousin a few months back, that was around £379, and that also had 512MB graphics, 500GB hard disk, 2GB RAM and lots of other bits and pieces..
Edited by CypherP on Thursday 23 April 10:55
CypherP said:
You don't need to spend a fortune on a PC that will run decent games though. I'd probably say around £400 is a good guideline for a more than reasonable desktop IMO.
Either that, or i bought a pretty good spec HP tower from Currys for my cousin a few months back, that was around £379, and that also had 512MB graphics, 500GB hard disk, 2GB RAM and lots of other bits and pieces..
I need your help then, everyone on the other thread is saying I'll get ripped off at Currys and I need to get a custom PC built. This is akin to asking my Grandma to spec a new Ultima. Either that, or i bought a pretty good spec HP tower from Currys for my cousin a few months back, that was around £379, and that also had 512MB graphics, 500GB hard disk, 2GB RAM and lots of other bits and pieces..
Edited by CypherP on Thursday 23 April 10:55
OllieWinchester said:
CypherP said:
You don't need to spend a fortune on a PC that will run decent games though. I'd probably say around £400 is a good guideline for a more than reasonable desktop IMO.
Either that, or i bought a pretty good spec HP tower from Currys for my cousin a few months back, that was around £379, and that also had 512MB graphics, 500GB hard disk, 2GB RAM and lots of other bits and pieces..
I need your help then, everyone on the other thread is saying I'll get ripped off at Currys and I need to get a custom PC built. This is akin to asking my Grandma to spec a new Ultima. Either that, or i bought a pretty good spec HP tower from Currys for my cousin a few months back, that was around £379, and that also had 512MB graphics, 500GB hard disk, 2GB RAM and lots of other bits and pieces..
Edited by CypherP on Thursday 23 April 10:55
I've never had a custom build done (albeit i have added to past and current boxes myself anyway), but if all youre going to need it for is basic internet and a few games, then either a medium spec HP/Compaq box or a Dell will be more than ample.
Like i said, you don't need to spend a fortune to run a few games. The guys in the other thread will only state this because they are more than likely avid PC gamers and will mention that you need loads of memory and a very good graphics card to run any games, but the truth of the matter is that most medium spec desktops these days will run the games with enough processing power and memory and with the likes of the Dell XPS, you get a fairly decent graphics card as well.
Weigh up what the main uses will be, and then if you still need help, im sure i can help find something affordable that will suit those needs.
(P.s, i don't work for Currys/Comet/PC World etc, just utilising my time at work to help others, instead of doing what i should be!)
Your help and assistance is greatly appreciated. We need a PC for basic home PC type stuff, writing documents, internet browsing, storing music, uploading photos, like I said just general PC stuff. I also want to be able to play games on it, and not have to worry too much about it not being able to play them, or it becoming out of date in five minutes. I'm not looking for cutting edge gaming technology (Although it would be nice!) as I'm not willing to pay the kind of money that requires. I see you can buy PC packages for basic home use for about £200 but I just thought I'd get something faster, more suitable and more future proof for £5-600. What about something like this? --> http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp...
Or would something like this do --> http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp...
Or would something like this do --> http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp...
The problem with home computers these days is that they do become out of date after around a year, sometimes sooner depending on what spec you have. Unless you have the know-how to buy newer and more powerful components as and when their available and know how to fit them, its not easy to keep up to date with new tech.
Out of the 2 below, i would go for the Dell rather than PB, mainly for reliability and features. Certainly the spec on either of those is more than enough to do what you need it to do. To be honest, a desktop worth half that would probably do what you want it to do, but if you have a little more in your budget to spend, then it would be worthwhile.
My advice if you were looking to buy from Currys or Comet etc is to go for graphics/RAM in favour of the size of the hard disk. So many manufacturers are putting ridiculously sized hard disks in these PC's, mainly because it makes people think theyre getting more for their money, but ive yet to find enough games/music/documents to fill the 500GB of hard disk space i have. So when looking, i would advise opting for one with a better graphics card and a smaller hard disk rather than vice versa.
Either that, or again, pushing the Dell route, have a browse of their website, as you can actually choose a base model and then custom-build it on the website to have exactly what you want. So you could then upgrade the graphics card, but keeping all other components the same, as many in-store manufacturers go up in tiers and EVERY component improves with each tier, which means if you want one thing better, it costs alot more to get better everything in the next tier.
Out of the 2 below, i would go for the Dell rather than PB, mainly for reliability and features. Certainly the spec on either of those is more than enough to do what you need it to do. To be honest, a desktop worth half that would probably do what you want it to do, but if you have a little more in your budget to spend, then it would be worthwhile.
My advice if you were looking to buy from Currys or Comet etc is to go for graphics/RAM in favour of the size of the hard disk. So many manufacturers are putting ridiculously sized hard disks in these PC's, mainly because it makes people think theyre getting more for their money, but ive yet to find enough games/music/documents to fill the 500GB of hard disk space i have. So when looking, i would advise opting for one with a better graphics card and a smaller hard disk rather than vice versa.
Either that, or again, pushing the Dell route, have a browse of their website, as you can actually choose a base model and then custom-build it on the website to have exactly what you want. So you could then upgrade the graphics card, but keeping all other components the same, as many in-store manufacturers go up in tiers and EVERY component improves with each tier, which means if you want one thing better, it costs alot more to get better everything in the next tier.
Right just wizzed through speccing a PC, I'll list the spec below, I wasn't really sure what I did and didn't need. All the below came to £508.99 inc of VAT and shipping. If you could suggest any changes I should make to the spec I'd really appreciate it, particularly unsure about what I needed in terms of modems and stuff. Obviously I need to get online with the machine, but I view all this router, wireless modem type stuff as some sort of black magic.
Dell said:
COLOUR CHOICE Piano Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E5200 processor (2.5GHz, 800MHz, 2MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Limited Warranty - Collect & Return edit
MICROSOFT APPLICATION SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English edit
MONITOR 17in S1709W WIDESCREEN UK Black (1440 x 900) edit
MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [2x1024] Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3450 graphics card edit
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) edit
KEYBOARD Dell Multimedia USB Keyboard Black - UK/Irish edit
MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black edit
Accessories
PROTECT YOUR NEW PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English edit
Dell Recommends
CAUTION ! You have not selected any security protection for your new Dell.
Add Preinstalled McAfee SecurityCenter now! Make huge savings of up to 50% when you buy McAfee Directly from Dell
Upgrade to McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English [add £32.00]
SOUND SOFTWARE Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio edit
SPEAKERS Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer UK/Irish edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES 19-in-1 Media Card reader edit
MODEMS No Modem edit
Services & Software
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
ONLINE DATA BACKUP DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year edit
Also included with your system
Dell System Media Kit Inspiron Desktop 545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Shipping Documents English Documentation
Gedis Bundle Reference D044502
Order Information Inspiron Desktop 545 MT Order - UK
Standard Warranty 1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return
Cable 2 Meter Power Cord - UK
I'll post your cheque!!PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E5200 processor (2.5GHz, 800MHz, 2MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Limited Warranty - Collect & Return edit
MICROSOFT APPLICATION SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English edit
MONITOR 17in S1709W WIDESCREEN UK Black (1440 x 900) edit
MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [2x1024] Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3450 graphics card edit
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) edit
KEYBOARD Dell Multimedia USB Keyboard Black - UK/Irish edit
MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black edit
Accessories
PROTECT YOUR NEW PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English edit
Dell Recommends
CAUTION ! You have not selected any security protection for your new Dell.
Add Preinstalled McAfee SecurityCenter now! Make huge savings of up to 50% when you buy McAfee Directly from Dell
Upgrade to McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English [add £32.00]
SOUND SOFTWARE Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio edit
SPEAKERS Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer UK/Irish edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES 19-in-1 Media Card reader edit
MODEMS No Modem edit
Services & Software
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
ONLINE DATA BACKUP DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year edit
Also included with your system
Dell System Media Kit Inspiron Desktop 545 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Shipping Documents English Documentation
Gedis Bundle Reference D044502
Order Information Inspiron Desktop 545 MT Order - UK
Standard Warranty 1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return
Cable 2 Meter Power Cord - UK
That spec seems to look good. Only thing i would mention again is that the graphics card on that one is 256MB. Depending on what type of games youre going to play and how resource hungry they are, it could be better having a 512MB graphics card instead, but thats totally down to use and personal choice.
I would say though, please don't purchase on the basis of what im saying as its purely my opinion of desktops and what i use/have used in the past and my own opinions of what you need versus what spec you may require. I wouldnt want to feel that you'd purchased something that may not suit you purely based on my help/information.
It might be a good idea to go to PC World or an independant specialist to talk about options, although be advised that they will more than likely try to sell you more than you actually need.
With regards to internet, it depends on how you want this to work. Wireless routers and modems can be bought at a reasonable price, most of which now come with a wireless USB stick for easy connectivity. You could also have a wired modem that plugs straight into the network card but it all depends on the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and what best suits you.
I would say though, please don't purchase on the basis of what im saying as its purely my opinion of desktops and what i use/have used in the past and my own opinions of what you need versus what spec you may require. I wouldnt want to feel that you'd purchased something that may not suit you purely based on my help/information.
It might be a good idea to go to PC World or an independant specialist to talk about options, although be advised that they will more than likely try to sell you more than you actually need.
With regards to internet, it depends on how you want this to work. Wireless routers and modems can be bought at a reasonable price, most of which now come with a wireless USB stick for easy connectivity. You could also have a wired modem that plugs straight into the network card but it all depends on the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and what best suits you.
FYI, don't know if it makes any difference, but i just built one on the Dell site with majority of the same options, but upgrading the graphics card to 512MB and also benefitting from an 18.5 inch widescreen lcd for £529.01 inc VAT and shipping.
As i mentioned before, it can be quite confusing with the amount of options, so its worth going through them and deciding exactly what you want.
As i mentioned before, it can be quite confusing with the amount of options, so its worth going through them and deciding exactly what you want.
I don't think there was an option for a 512mb graphics card when I tried to upgrade this PC, just the two I have listed above. I really appreciate all your help, your not the first person to recommend going to Dell direct, but you are the first to actually help me through the jargon! Do you think the processor thing and everything else is up to it?
If you ever need any advice then I suppose my specialist subjects would be used car sales, Ambulance dispatch protocols and Jack Russell training.
ETA - in response to your further reply, did you start with the basic system?
If you ever need any advice then I suppose my specialist subjects would be used car sales, Ambulance dispatch protocols and Jack Russell training.
ETA - in response to your further reply, did you start with the basic system?
Edited by OllieWinchester on Thursday 23 April 14:42
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