Almost 40 and feeling my youth slipping away....

mikom

Hello there folks.
I am struggling at present with a...

Dell vostro Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 processor (2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB cache) ATI Radeon 2600 XT

This barely runs battlefield bad company for me at present.

I feel like I am becoming an old man and I can't keep up with the young folks and their new games.
So time to halt the aging process....

Here is the filled out questionnaire as required.

1. What is your budget? [around the €900 mark]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Internet, Gaming Battlefield 3, arma, GTA 5 when it arrives]

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Could I get away with using my Dell vostro keyboard?

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1680 x 1050 monitor] [don't really plan on upgrading]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No other peripherals needed.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [would be willing to give it a go, but to be fair I would be just happy with regulation speed at present ]

8. How can you pay? [cash/cheque/credit card]

9. When are you purchasing? [In 7 or so days time]

I have looked at prebuilts on overclockers.co.uk and hardwareversand.de
The ones that catch my eye are this one.... http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Intel/49455/HWV+%5BG%5Damer+Intel+i5-2500K-A6950-16GB%2C+inkl.+Windows+7+Home+Premium+%2864-+Bit%29.article

and this one........

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-190-OE

Now I have never built a pc before so the prebuilt option sounds the safest for me.
However would it be possible for any of you reading this to submit some possibilities of more economical components for selection and assembly using hardwareversand.de assembly service....http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Service/746/Rechner+-+Zusammenbau.article

Looking forward hearing any opinions.

luyolo

Item|Price
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€55.04
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€41.15
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3|€90.48
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€212.12
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€83.45
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.69
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€80.35
Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DL-DVI-I+SL-DVI-D / HDMI / DP|€145.02
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€111.29
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€893.58

This will play bf3 @ 1680x1050 great. They will build it for you for €20.

mikom

Looks good luyolo.

I see a Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") in addition to the Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s .

Now I have read this is supposed to be well worth the money in regards to load time for windows and apps etc.
But how exactly does it work (I know it is flash not mechanical) but do you manually load the games on to the solid state drive only for quick access or is it all this controlled by the processer/operating system etc.

luyolo

mikom wrote: »

Looks good luyolo.

I see a Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") in addition to the Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s .

Now I have read this is supposed to be well worth the money in regards to load time for windows and apps etc.
But how exactly does it work (I know it is flash not mechanical) but do you manually load the games on to the solid state drive only for quick access or is it all this controlled by the processer/operating system etc.

You install you OS onto the SSD, to do this you must only have the SSD plugged into a sata cable. Then when you're installing games choose your ssd as the drive and place your main programs on the ssd too. All your music, movies and tv shows should be on the HDD.

mikom

luyolo wrote: »

You install you OS onto the SSD, to do this you must only have the SSD plugged into a sata cable. Then when you're installing games choose your ssd as the drive and place your main programs on the ssd too. All your music, movies and tv shows should be on the HDD.

Great stuff.
I went digging about on youtube and I found this fella who showed me exactly what you posted about.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox6DHlPQI-w&t=3m00s

You've both been very helpful.
Thanks a lot.

dwighet

Your not gettn old mate...im 44 and still whipping the young lads at BF3..:cool:

uncle_sam_ie

If your SSD gets full, use this to move them over to another drive. http://www.traynier.com/software/steammover

uncle_sam_ie

dwighet wrote: »

Your not gettn old mate...im 44 and still whipping the young lads at BF3..:cool:

Lol, I'm 44 as well.:)

luyolo

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

Lol, I'm 44 as well.:)

I'm 19 and I feel old.

Skerries

luyolo wrote: »

I'm 19 and I feel old.

pffft! noob!

Tea_Bag

I didn't realise PC building had a bingo team.

signed,

whipper snapper

dwighet

Thats me playing BF3

SpannerMonkey

dwighet wrote: »

Thats me playing BF3

sweet rig

RoverZT

luyolo wrote: »

Item|Price
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€55.04
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€41.15
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3|€90.48
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€212.12
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€83.45
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.69
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€80.35
Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DL-DVI-I+SL-DVI-D / HDMI / DP|€145.02
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€111.29
Rechner - Zusammenbau|€20.00
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€893.58
This will play bf3 @ 1680x1050 great. They will build it for you for €20.

His old rig with a new graphics card for 100 euro would play BF3 @ 1680 x 1050 great as well.

I don't see the point of paying 900 for a new rig myself, when your Q6600 is still a decent cpu for gaming and multimedia.

Is your pc a Vostro 400 OP?

6770 90 euro

2gb ram 25 euro

64gb SSD for windows 70 euro.

Under 200 euro and a huge improvement over your HD2600xt, 2gb ram, non ssd pc.

Paying 900 euro for a fairly middle of the road pc is crazy, when your one still has life, wait a while before spending big.

mikom

RoverZT wrote: »

Is your pc a Vostro 400 OP?

Yep, it's a Dell vostro 400

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 processor (2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB cache)

4 gig of ram onboard but due to running XP only really using 3.25 gig

Graphics card ATI Radeon 2600 XT

RoverZT wrote: »

6770 90 euro

2gb ram 25 euro

64gb SSD for windows 70 euro.

Probably won't need the ram if I went down this route as I have 4 gigs already installed.
Would need windows 7 though to utilise it correctly, right.
Also, have a game gifted to me called "Just Cause 2" which won't run on xp either..... only 7 or vista.
So if I left out the 2gb ram @ 25 euro and added windows 7 @ €83.45 instead.

Another point to note is that the current harddrive of 500 gb is almost full so that is why I was looking for a 1 tb one in the new build.

If I did nothing to address the storage issue and went with the parts you suggested, less the ram, but plus the OS, then we are looking at......

6770 card @ €90

windows 7 @ €83.45

64gb SSD @ €70 euro

Equals €243.45

I would have to put these parts in myself, so I hope I am up to it.
Plus I would be looking at an external hardrive or internal.......

Is it worth it, and when GTA V comes out will I be scuppered anyway?

Lu Tze

mikom wrote: »

Yep, it's a Dell vostro 400

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 processor (2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB cache)

4 gig of ram onboard but due to running XP only really using 3.25 gig

Graphics card ATI Radeon 2600 XT



Probably won't need the ram if I went down this route as I have 4 gigs already installed.
Would need windows 7 though to utilise it correctly, right.
Also, have a game gifted to me called "Just Cause 2" which won't run on xp either..... only 7 or vista.
So if I left out the 2gb ram @ 25 euro and added windows 7 @ €83.45 instead.

Another point to note is that the current harddrive of 500 gb is almost full so that is why I was looking for a 1 tb one in the new build.

If I did nothing to address the storage issue and went with the parts you suggested, less the ram, but plus the OS, then we are looking at......

6770 card @ €90

windows 7 @ €83.45

64gb SSD @ €70 euro

Equals €243.45

I would have to put these parts in myself, so I hope I am up to it.
Plus I would be looking at an external hardrive or internal.......

Is it worth it, and when GTA V comes out will I be scuppered anyway?

The Q6600 is a decent chip even by todays standards. The only thing i will say is that the 6770 may be a little under powered for very new games at your resolution. I have one, but my pc is plugged into the telly and the display is only 1280 by 720, which is a lot less demanding.

If you are looking for a significant improvement in graphics over console version i would splash out a bit more.

The ssd is nice to have, and makes everything alot more snappy, but if gaming is the main aim i would drop it to bump the GPU to a 6870.

Komplett.ie (jesus i never thought i would recommend them again after all the **** i went through with RMA process just after they were bought) has them for ~ €260 delivered

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/20080832/sapphire_radeon_hd_6870_1gb_pci_e/details.aspx

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/operating_systems/20078630/microsoft_windows_7_home_premium_sp1_64_bit_oem_uk/details.aspx

If you did go the new pc route you could probably sell yours for €250-300

mikom

Folks just getting back to this now.
Thanks so much for your help so far and your specs so far.

Here is a spec I put together after some more research....


Super-Flower SF550P14XE Golden Green Pro 80plus gold|€73.57

Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155 |€220.41

ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX |€93.44

Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s |€102.89

8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 |€37.24

MSI R7850 TwinFrozr 2GD5/OC, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express |€230.45

LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz |€18.21

Cooler Master Elite 335U black, ohne Netzteil |€35.00

Rechner - Zusammenbau Build |€35.00

Total: € 831.21



Am I missing anything here.

Like has the case got enough fans to cool the pc?

Would it be worth my while spending a bit more on the case to make things quieter?

I believe it is worth my while spending a bit more on the "gold" branded power supply as I think it will save me electricity charges over the long run....... Am I mad?

Budget around the €900 mark

Main purpose will be Internet, Gaming, Battlefield 3, arma, GTA 5 when it arrives

Will be buying a copy of windows 7 off software4students probably

The graphics card will be running a 1680 x 1050 monitor I have already.

Procrastastudy

Buy a 2500K Tray and a decent cooler like the Macho rather than a boxed 3570K. Thats unless the 2500K goes back up to the same price as the Box... at which point ask again

Gold v Bronze PSUs - I've heard it's not worth it.

mikom

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Buy a 2500K Tray and a decent cooler like the Macho rather than a boxed 3570K. Thats unless the 2500K goes back up to the same price as the Box... at which point ask again

Gold v Bronze PSUs - I've heard it's not worth it.

Sounds good.
Will the build i laid out plus your Macho cooler be enough to cool the pc, as in do I need to include any extra fans on the case?

Nice to know about the power supply by the way.

ShadowHearth

dwighet wrote: »

Your not gettn old mate...im 44 and still whipping the young lads at BF3..:cool:

That just sounded so wrong on so many levels

Procrastastudy

It depends how far you are going to push it with overclocking. I think it'll be okay for a bump to say 4.3Ghz - obviously it depends from chip to chip how much power you need to stick though it to get it stable. 4.3Ghz should be doable on stock voltages.

I have no idea about the case I'm afraid - looks okay more fans is normally better - to a a point. Try and find some youtube reviews.

There are a couple of problems about getting a better cooler;

a) Price - the Noctua is €67
b) Case - If you're going to spend that much on a cooler you should probably invest in a case to match - like the 400R
c) HWVS building it - they will be a bit sloppy with cable management and I wouldn't want to see an after market heatsink fitted in a machine that is going to be shipped already assembled - they're too heavy.

Jonny7

mikom wrote: »

Yep, it's a Dell vostro 400

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 processor (2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB cache)

4 gig of ram onboard but due to running XP only really using 3.25 gig

Graphics card ATI Radeon 2600 XT



Probably won't need the ram if I went down this route as I have 4 gigs already installed.
Would need windows 7 though to utilise it correctly, right.
Also, have a game gifted to me called "Just Cause 2" which won't run on xp either..... only 7 or vista.
So if I left out the 2gb ram @ 25 euro and added windows 7 @ €83.45 instead.

Another point to note is that the current harddrive of 500 gb is almost full so that is why I was looking for a 1 tb one in the new build.

If I did nothing to address the storage issue and went with the parts you suggested, less the ram, but plus the OS, then we are looking at......

6770 card @ €90

windows 7 @ €83.45

64gb SSD @ €70 euro

Equals €243.45

I would have to put these parts in myself, so I hope I am up to it.
Plus I would be looking at an external hardrive or internal.......

Is it worth it, and when GTA V comes out will I be scuppered anyway?

Having graveyarded so many Dells I say invest in the new PC.

The 6600 + Ati 6770 will also struggle with BF3. Yes it will be playable on low or medium but every new game will be the same thing, running them on low just to get playable graphics when a new rig will literally be able to push twice or three times the frames easily. Of course the Vostro is still a keeper, esp with that 6600 chip, but its definitely upgrade time if you have modern gaming in mind.

mikom

Jonny7 wrote: »

Having graveyarded so many Dells I say invest in the new PC.

The 6600 + Ati 6770 will also struggle with BF3. Yes it will be playable on low or medium but every new game will be the same thing, running them on low just to get playable graphics when a new rig will literally be able to push twice or three times the frames easily. Of course the Vostro is still a keeper, esp with that 6600 chip, but its definitely upgrade time if you have modern gaming in mind.

Those were my thoughts as well.
Nice to get some conformation on that.

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

c) HWVS building it - they will be a bit sloppy with cable management and I wouldn't want to see an after market heatsink fitted in a machine that is going to be shipped already assembled - they're too heavy.

Are you including the Macho in that as well GCDLawstudent?

Procrastastudy

Probably - any reason your not building it yourself out of interest?

The GPU will probably get shaken loose as well just to mention.

mikom

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Probably - any reason your not building it yourself out of interest?

The GPU will probably get shaken loose as well just to mention.

The only reason would be that I'd be afraid I'd make a fuck of it and for the sake of 20 Euro I said "grand, let them build it".

I might chance building it though.

Procrastastudy

More chance it'll get broken in the post. It is very very easy. If you get stuck someone will help / come over. €20 more to invest so!

When are you buying?

mikom

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

More chance it'll get broken in the post. It is very very easy. If you get stuck someone will help / come over. €20 more to invest so!

When are you buying?

Soon.

Watching this at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

Seems very do-able............. and I see what you mean about how the card or heatsink could get damaged in transit if pre-built.

dwighet

ShadowHearth wrote: »

That just sounded so wrong on so many levels