€1000 Budget Gaming Machine

Kehoejck

1. What is your budget? €1000

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Mostly gaming - Battlefield, skyrim etc. Bit of internet use also.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes

5a. If yes, what size do you need. 19, just something decent.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Yes all needed.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? ?

8. How can you pay? Laser or Credit card

9. When are you purchasing? Over next 1-2 months.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? New Ross, Co. Wexford.

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Ok, basically I have decided that it is time I invested in a decent Gaming PC or upgrade my exisisting home pc. I have a budget of €1000. I am hoping to have something that would last me a number of years.

I was hoping to go down the self-build route but I have also seen some decent looking comps online (Ebay) such as:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/VIBOX-iV-V14-INTEL-i5-2500-QUAD-CORE-WINDOWS-7-8GB-1TB-NVIDIA-550Ti-GAMING-PC-/220898722714?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item336e97039a

Intel Core i5 2500 3.3GHz Quad Core Processor
Nvidia Geforce GTX 550Ti 1GB Graphics Card
8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM
1TB Hard Drive Storage Space
High Performance Gigabyte Motherboard
Wifi Internet Access PCI Card
Stylish Midi Desktop Tower & 450W PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition

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So generally I'd like opinions on whether I should:

1. Upgrade my existing PC *See Below or existing comp stats.
2. Build a new one - Ebay or self build?

All help is greatly appreciated!

* Existing PC: Dell Dimension 9150

Windows XP
1GB Ram
ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series 512.0 MB
SB X-Fi Audio (Sound)
240GB

Serephucus

Item|Price
Total build cost: €890.65 + €30 shipping
8GB-Kit Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9|€34.15
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.53
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€97.64
Club 3D Radeon 6950 2048MB, AMD Radeon HD 6950, PCI-Express|€227.54
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€80.72
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.78
BenQ G2225HD|€100.97
Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155|€169.49
ASRock Z68 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|€93.83


You'd carry over your hard drive, your DVD drive, and (if you want) your sound card from your current PC.

The eBay build you linked to actually isn't half bad in terms of value, but this build also includes a 22" monitor.

I've left room for you to throw in your own keyboard, mouse, etc. Just remember to get a keyboard from somewhere that isn't the site I'm using (unless you like the German keyboard layout, that is. )

Kehoejck

Thanks for your help. I think actually I might have to leave the exisiting PC as it is so a whole new computer.

So what would you suggest for an entire new build, so for €1000 in total?

Would it be wise to purchase that computer on Ebay and maybe just buy monitor or would I get better value in the self build? Just find it hard to see the savings as the peices seem reasonable.

Also, I have no experience building a PC? Dos that site build for you? Thats why I suppose I was more tempted towards the ebay listings!

Serephucus

The build above is actually fine. I'd be advising you if at all possible to use a hard drive you already own in the meantime anyway (because of floods in Thailand, hard drive prices have more than doubled), and a new DVD drive is only €15, so you should be good.