PC capable of gaming for a reasonable price??

Nody

Only another vote for Hardwareversand.de; I've bought pre done PCs for them (sent to parents, plug in cable and go) and I've bought parts. Both are recommended depending on need and experience; I even went through an RMA with them recently (graphic card died after a week of use) and it was smooth, directed to a carrier to do the pick up and a new card arrived with out problem.

Grumpypants

Someone more up to date with the PC side of things im sure could give better advice but looking at the machine you linked for 900 euro I dont think it would run games at a much higher level than a Xbox to warrant the extra 700 euro in price difference.

You don't need to spend big to get a decent machine but you do need to spend wisely and factor a few things like Windows 7 64 bit, Keyboard & mouse and Xbox for windows controller. Then hook it up to your TV to avoid buying a monitor. Then you have to look at where to put it do you need a new desk and office chair?

Go to that German site linked a number of times they will build and deliver for 40euro extra, get the guys in the PC building forum to spec it for you, they did it for me and it came in around the 900 mark and is a pretty solid mid range machine. It won't run games like BF3 on ultra settings but it will run quite happily on a high setting. I had to spend that much to get a noticeable improvement over the consoles graphics wise and a lot of that i feel is down to going from a 42 inch TV to a 24inch monitor.

I've 8GB Ram
Intel i5 2500K
AMD Radeon HD 7850 2Gb Graphics card

I would get a credit Union loan rather than go into a flexirent deal you really would be much better off.

But remember you will need to spend a good chunk of money just for a handful of games to look a little bit better so don't put yourself under any serious financial strain.

ShadowHearth

Well i cant remember why, but OP is in my ignore list ( the only one person ). there was a reason i guess...

so i just jumped in and built a PC, which would play pretty much any game out there with med/high settings. This includes windows.

Item|Price
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€53.03
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€43.99
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€87.14
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€28.15
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€107.11
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€68.24
HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP|€157.48
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.04
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€649.17

so whats the next step? Getting a mouse+keyboard. If you are really stuck for money then use your TV as a monitor, if not you can get new 22" for around 100eu. Set of speakers too if you using monitor.

Shiminay

For €800 you'll get a LOT of PC that'll play a LOT of games at reasonably high levels. You're going to need some manner of computer anyway, so why buy a cheapo €400 - €500 machine for your daily surfing/work/etc when for the money you'd spend on another console, you can have a really solid PC that'll give you a good 3 years of service without needing much by way of upgrades.

The lads on the PC Building forum give great advice on parts and on any troubleshooting.

Wetbench4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007PBGWH2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A3SS7S5K9P54JA

What about something like this op. It doesnt come with windows though.

ShadowHearth

Heres another take on PC. this is now with a bit more budget, but this pc will mean only one thing: For the next 5 years the only thing you might change is a GPU. If you really want to be the meanest kid in a block, then throw in SSD and then we are talking about the End of the line, high end PC

Item|Price
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€53.03
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€28.15
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€68.24
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€85.04
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850, 2GB GDDR5, lite retail|€183.74
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€208.05
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W|€54.98
ASRock Z77 Pro4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€98.69
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€798.91

ShadowHearth

Wetbench4 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007PBGWH2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A3SS7S5K9P54JA

What about something like this op. It doesnt come with windows though.

god no!

Sycopat

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

I was hoping to buy in harveynormans for flexirent!! Just as cash is at a low etc!!! Have any of you seen good value in any way shape or form in harveynormans?

No, I honestly have never seen a really good PC in harvey normans for anything like a fair price.

Occasionally PC world can have decent laptops at alright prices, but generally only when the stars align. i.e. during sales, from less reputable manufacturers and in very limited stock. I'd only recommend going that route if you know your stuff.

If you really want a PC and you really want to not pay for it all up front, I'd suggest trying to get a credit union loan.

Mal-Adjusted

how specific a machine are you looking for OP?

I walked into PC world last summer and picked up a laptop for a very reasonable price and it does me grand. has a bit or trouble with some stuff from 2004 or before, but plays modern games great.

Genghiz Cohen

hardwareversand offer finance as well. Or Mr. Bank could give you a loan if money is tight right now.

Dermighty

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

What would u guys recommend?

Is it difficult to piece PC together? Also what about an iMac? Powerful enough or overpriced?

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play). They're awesome, and they're only getting better with the new graphics int he imacs they have out in December.

An iMac is not labelled a gaming computer but it'll definitely beat a 600 euro self built pc without a doubt!

ShadowHearth

Dermighty wrote: »

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play). They're awesome, and they're only getting better with the new graphics int he imacs they have out in December.

An iMac is not labelled a gaming computer but it'll definitely beat a 600 euro self built pc without a doubt!

what is the price of the lovely 27" iMac? and with that spec it wont beat 600eu self build PC.

Skerries

Dermighty wrote: »

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play). They're awesome, and they're only getting better with the new graphics int he imacs they have out in December.

An iMac is not labelled a gaming computer but it'll definitely beat a 600 euro self built pc without a doubt!

get thee hence from mine site thy inscrutable demon!

hal9000

+1 hardwareversand great prices and quick delivery!

tuxy

Dermighty wrote: »

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play). They're awesome, and they're only getting better with the new graphics int he imacs they have out in December.

An iMac is not labelled a gaming computer but it'll definitely beat a 600 euro self built pc without a doubt!

No it will not beat a 600 euro system self built system and it costs 2,000 euro, never give terrible advice like this again.

ScumLord

KilOit wrote: »

People always say its easy but to be honest I found it pretty nerve wracking,

It is nerve racking but that's not the same as being difficult. I still find upgrading slightly nerve racking as you don't know what's really going to happen until you turn it on but I have yet to damage a PC during building and I don't take full precautions like anti static wrist bands.

All the cables are designed to only fit where they're supposed to so it's pretty hard to mess it up bar putting the cpu in the wrong way around or not plugging in something like the CPU power which is easily fixed.


It's worth having a go, I think once most people see how straight forward it actually is they're forever converted to building and upgrading themselves.

Sarky

Another +1 for Hardwareversand. After advice from a dashing young man by the name of Shiminay, I went to the PC Building chaps a few weeks ago, and they were awfully quick with some decent suggestions. The parts arrived surprisingly quickly, building the PC isn't that hard as long as you're careful not to touch the chips, and it's been running like greased poop ever since. €600 well spent. I actually paid another €90 for a SSD, but I won't be using that until I sort out a reliable way to move the OS over without Windows throwing a strop. OK, the graphics card isn't NVidia so the PhysX stuff might cause a strain, but it's not terribly important tbh. Arkham City is running fine for me with medium PhysX running in software. The extra performance just isn't worth the cost.

By comparison, I needed a laptop in a hurry last year, emergency thesis sort of hurry, and spent about €600 on a store model. The f*cker has trouble playing the original X-COM games from 20 years ago, it's so slow.

Get the parts, you'll get so much more value for money it's not even a little bit funny.

tuxy

It seems like pc gaming is getting a bit of a revival.

ShadowHearth

tuxy wrote: »

It seems like pc gaming is getting a bit of a revival.

Surely it was completely dead for so many years. No one even knew you could use computers for more then just pron.

hal9000

PC Gaming is DEAD!
Long live PC Gaming!

we've been hearing that for the past 15-20 Years!

norrie rugger

tuxy wrote: »

It seems like pc gaming is getting a bit of a revival.

Tech has, for now, surpassed the games (IMHO).

Where as a few years ago you needed top end hardware to even imagine playing games at med/high spec; now days you only need to fork out slightly more than the PS3 cost on launch, for a piece of kit that hammers it and will be cheaply upgradable in future.
More people can afford the entry costs now, which was always the barrier to PC gaming

Skerries

norrie rugger wrote: »

Tech has, for now, surpassed the games (IMHO).

Where as a few years ago you needed top end hardware to even imagine playing games at med/high spec; now days you only need to fork out slightly more than the PS3 cost on launch, for a piece of kit that hammers it and will be cheaply upgradable in future.
More people can afford the entry costs now, which was always the barrier to PC gaming

TerrorFirmer

Dermighty wrote: »

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play). They're awesome, and they're only getting better with the new graphics int he imacs they have out in December.

An iMac is not labelled a gaming computer but it'll definitely beat a 600 euro self built pc without a doubt!

Mega-lol.

A 600 euro self build PC would absolutely tear that machine to shreds with regards to running games.

iMac is not labelled as a gaming machine because quite frankly it isn't. iMacs are lovely machines but they aren't designed for gaming and even though yes,they can obviously play games, if that was your primary interest then you'd have far more cash than sense to invest in one for that purpose.

A 6700 - I'm guessing an OEM varient of the 6670/6770 - is completely low end tech in the PC market, even amongst budget builds. I've a 6670 in my secondary machine for playing games from 4 years ago.

jaykhunter

SeantheMan wrote: »

Glorious PC gaming Master Race

I'm one of you now! (Thanks to the help from the guys at the boards.ie PC B&U) I didn't know people brag about gaming on an iMac...

Anywhoo hit up the PC B&U forum and sort something from HWVS. It seems real dodgy doing a bank transfer but it all works out well, and so much cheaper. Create a monster!

NTMK

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

A 6700 - I'm guessing an OEM varient of the 6670/6770 - is completely low end tech in the PC market, even amongst budget builds. I've a 6670 in my secondary machine for playing games from 4 years ago.

iMacs use laptop graphics and if its a 2gb dedicated its the 6970M which is weaker than a 6850. a 6870 can be got for around €130

Canis Lupus

jaykhunter wrote: »

I didn't know people brag about gaming on an iMac...

Hipsters.

ScumLord

Dermighty wrote: »

I've a 27" imac. i5 quad 3.1Ghz, 8gb ram, Radeon 6700 (2gb) graphics and it runs any game I play on high settings (not ultra for smooth play).

I have an i7 2600k, 16gb of ram, a geforce 460 gtx and an SSD, it more than likely cost half the price of your mac and It chews up everything you throw at it.

norrie rugger

ScumLord wrote: »

I have an i7 2600k, 16gb of ram, a geforce 460 gtx and an SSD, it more than likely cost half the price of your mac and It chews up everything you throw at it.

I have an i5, 8gig, 6870 and SSD and I can run most games on high to ultra and it cost less than half his.

Potential-Monke

After reading this thread, i seriously have to save €800 to become a member of the Glorious PC Master race again.

Mal-Adjusted

jaykhunter wrote: »

people brag about gaming on an iMac...

there are games for the mac? :eek: