Gaming PC

[Gazz]

I'm sort of semi serious in the FM12 thread.

I'm looking at buying a new desktop PC, one capable of running lots of leagues on FM and the 3D engine easily, so I reckon I need at least a 3ghz processor, shit hot video card and tons of RAM.

Anyone got any recommendations on where is best to buy one, budget is no more than £500.

[Benji]

I always find my new PCs at Staples. Every few months they have one PC with ridiculously good specifications for a low price.

Alternatively, I've been surprised at how well my Macbook runs a heavy game of FM2011, but it's not exactly game friendly since most games don't get Mac support.

[Plubby]

I bought a new PC just under a year ago.

I paid a truckload for mine, but when I selected parts at my price point I tended to favour higher-end brands because I prefer to pay more for the most reliable gear.

I'm running:

Intel Core i7 930 (don't think you can buy this model anymore, 960 is the lowest)

6GB RAM (3x 2GB sticks)

Radeon 5800 series (either 5850 or 5870, again - outdated and can't buy anymore)

SSD, 2x 1.5TB HDD

850W Power Supply

Mid price point Motherboard

That's the essentials of it anyway. Cost me 3500 AUD 12 months ago.

This setup seems to handle FM11 just fine.

Just to test it, I started a new game running England, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands from the lowest leagues in all (22 leagues, 49000 players) and it took about 90 seconds from "start game" to choosing my manager details. Don't know if that's good or not, but just as a frame of comparison

[Mick]

I'm sort of semi serious in the FM12 thread.

I'm looking at buying a new desktop PC, one capable of running lots of leagues on FM and the 3D engine easily, so I reckon I need at least a 3ghz processor, shit hot video card and tons of RAM.

Anyone got any recommendations on where is best to buy one, budget is no more than £500.

From what I've seen from places in the UK, getting something comparable to Plubby's PC for 500 pounds is not really uh, achievable.

Just to give you an idea, here's something at Best Buy...

This.

That's advertised as their gaming computer, for close to 1200. You get 6 gigs of RAM (I'd suggest going to 8), and a processor that's 2.66 gigahertz.

It'd probably save you money to build a new computer, but I'm clueless as to the cost of the components in the UK, not to mention if it'd be less than 500...

In any case, whatever you go with, make sure at the very least it has Windows 7 Home Premium, since that can support up to 16 gigabytes of RAM. If you want to splurge and go with Windows 7 Ultimate, that version can support 192 GB (Though I shudder to think why in hell someone would need that on a home PC ).

Basically Gazz, it seems there's not much hope. Sorry .

[KevinStorm]

I'm sort of semi serious in the FM12 thread.

I'm looking at buying a new desktop PC, one capable of running lots of leagues on FM and the 3D engine easily, so I reckon I need at least a 3ghz processor, shit hot video card and tons of RAM.

Anyone got any recommendations on where is best to buy one, budget is no more than £500.

Build one. I put together a system with 3.1 Ghz Phenom II Dual core, 6 GB of RAM, 640 GB HD, 1GB nVidia GeForce 9800GT video card, for under $1000.

Edited August 15, 2011 by KevinStorm

[Sousa]

I'm sort of semi serious in the FM12 thread.

I'm looking at buying a new desktop PC, one capable of running lots of leagues on FM and the 3D engine easily, so I reckon I need at least a 3ghz processor, shit hot video card and tons of RAM.

Anyone got any recommendations on where is best to buy one, budget is no more than £500.

Build one. I put together a system with 3.1 Ghz Phenom II Dual core, 6 GB of RAM, 640 GB HD, 1GB nVidia GeForce 9800GT video card, for under $1000.

This is the best way to do it. I was intimidated about the process at one point, but it's not as intimidating as it seems. I'm definitely building the next computer we get (which probably won't be too much longer).

[Gazz]

I've been looking at this beast.

But with a RAM upgrade to 4GB. Once I include the monitor, speakers etc. comes in at about £650

[Mick]

I've been looking at this beast.

But with a RAM upgrade to 4GB. Once I include the monitor, speakers etc. comes in at about £650

For what you're paying, I think you're wasting your money on that...

[Gazz]

Do us a favour then and have a look on that site for the best one for my needs. I'll be ordering from them more than likely since they get great reviews everywhere.

[Mick]

Upping this thing to 3 Ghz and 4 Gigs of RAM, along with Windows 7 Home Premium, is 402. This leaves you with almost 100 to play around with for either the hard drive or video card (Or both), but doesn't factor in the cost of the monitor, since I really don't know how big you want that.

[Plubby]

Gazz: What can you carry over? Like, keyboard/speakers/mouse/monitor - do you already have these things?

EDIT: Mick, that Power Supply seems really light-on if he wants to add a Graphics Card of any value.

[Gazz]

I have all the peripherals but I want to buy new ones anyway. I was going with the 18.5 monitor, wirless mouse keyboard combo, the £30 speakers, Windows 7 and Norton security.

I'm thinking of putting a 1GB graphics card in now too, just for games like Civ etc.

I can stretch my budget to to about £700-750 thinking about, I have very little outgoings at the moment and I've got a few months to put some money aside.

[Plubby]

Would you consider sticking with what you have, saving for another month or two, then buying peripherals?

[Gazz]

Probably, why?

[Plubby]

Gives you more options - it stretches your budget a bit more for what really matters, but still lets you play FM12 when it comes out.

When I bought the above mentioned beast, I bought my peripherals (KB, mouse, monitor, speakers and case) well ahead of time for that reason. Well also because I sourced them locally and bought the insides online, but still it was my intent to buy it in stages.