Bruck Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong place. I wasn't sure which sub-section to post it in, so please feel free to move the post if it's in the wrong place! With that aside, I'd like some advice on the following PC builds. I'm not building my own (I know people have said its easy to do, but I'd rather have a PC I can just turn on and it works, rather than any headaches with parts missing, working incorrectly, or me breaking something). I've whittled down the list to the following three: First PC: £470.27 System Case: Coolermaster Elite 430 Black with 500W PSU Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D2V Intel H61 Chipset - USB3 Support CPU: Intel Core i3 3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz Dual Core with HT 3MB Cache Memory - DDR3: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance - 1600MHz Gaming Graphics Cards: 1GB EVGA GTX 650 Ti 1071MHz GPU 768 Cores 5400MHz GDDR5 Sound Card: Asus Xonar DG 5.1 Gaming Sound Card & Headphone Amp! Solid State Drives - High Performance System Drive: *Solid State Drive Not Required use HDD Below* System Drive: 500GB Seagate Barracuda SATA6 7200rpm 16MB Cache Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB - 24X DVDRW Second PC: £484.74 System Case: Cooler Master Elite 334U - Mid Tower Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D2V Intel H61 Chipset - USB3 Support CPU: Intel Core i5 3450 Ivy Bridge Quad Core 3.1GHz 6MB Cache Memory - DDR3: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 - 1600MHz Graphics Cards: 1GB EVGA GTX 650 SC - Mid Gaming Card! Solid State Drives - High Performance System Drive: *Solid State Drive Not Required use HDD Below* System Drive: 500GB Western Digital Blue SATA6 7200rpm 16MB Cache Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB - 24X DVDRW Flash Card Reader: Internal All in 1 Card Reader inc USB 2.0 Port! Third PC: £439.85 Black Micro Tower Case 2x Front USB 2.0 & Front Audio 500 Watt Power Supply Unit ASUS P8H61-MX USB3 2x Rear USB3.0: 4x Rear USB2.0: Intel® Core™ i3 2120 Dual Core 2x 3.3Ghz 3MB Cache (4 Threads) Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3 22x DVD RW Black SATA nVidia GeForce GTX 650 1GB Built-in audio 802.11N WiFi PCIe adapter Internal Card Reader 26 in 1 & 1x Extra Front USB 2.0 Price isn't a massive thing, so long as it's within the £400-£480 region, I'm not too fussed - obviously, it'd be nicer to be closer to £400, but I'm not overly fussed so long as I'm getting my monies worth if I spend more. Basically, I'm after a PC that'll play SW:TOR on Maximum settings without a noticeable drop in frame rates. I'm tired of playing this game on my low-end system and I'm due an upgrade, so I figured I'd get a PC that'll play TOR on max with no issues so I'll be forever happy Which out of the above three (if any) are going to get me Max Settings in-game, with 60+FPS and in other games. Are they all capable of that? Are there any components you'd change to higher/lower settings? I appreciate the feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happysister Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) i'm not a computer expert, but i'd go with the second one because it's got the better processor. i noticed you didn't list any PSUs. make sure you don't get a cheap one as a faulty PSU will spell doom for your system. i would know. my PSU died and took the motherboard with it. i need to get my PC fixed up as well (and i'll have to fork out about $410 for the parts i want). make sure you get one that's powerful enough to power all your components. someone else may want to give you a better review, as again, i'm not an expert, lol. but just remember, when it comes to computer hardware...you get what you pay for. EDIT: i just noticed the PSUs, lol. didn't see them before. i'd get a higher wattage than 500. i'd go for at least 600w just to be safe, and so you'll have the extra power in case you ever wanted to upgrade again or add additional components. Edited October 22, 2012 by happysister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostInReverie Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 The first system has the best video card, but the second system has the best processor. I'd go with either the first or second options. I'm not a computer expert, but I do have some experience upgrading my computer. Forking over a little extra cash for a higher wattage power supply is also a good idea so your system doesn't burn out. I've had that happen before, and it really sucked....took out motherboard, cpu and everything. Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nattodaisuki Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) Since you don't want to build your own PC and instead buy a "Built-To-Order" (BTO) one, I would suggest you go for the second one. The CPU in your first selection, the Intel Core i3 3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz Dual Core with HT 3MB Cache is a good CPU, however is not really a CPU meant for "Gaming" if you wanted to play games at their "Max" settings, but rather a CPU for Office work (you'll see a lot of computers in offices use the i3 series, because of it's low power and efficiency ) and very light gaming. The Intel Core i5 Series CPU's (and beyond) on the other hand is the CPU for "Gaming" Although the Graphics Card in your First selection is almost twice as powerful as the one listed in your Second selection, it is much easier to replace a Graphic Card than it is to replace a CPU later on if you decide to do so. GTX 650 has 384 Cuda cores vs GTX 650 Ti which has double that at 768 Cuda cores. Reference: nVidia Official site GeForce GTX 650 - Specifications GeForce GTX 650 Ti - Specifications If you decide to replace the Graphic Card later on, try to go for the GTX 660 or GTX 660 Ti instead (not the GTX650Ti). GTX660Ti has 1344 Cuda cores --> can play at Max settings without doubt Reference: nVidia Official site GeForce GTX 660 Ti - Specifications As the poster above me wrote; make sure you don't get a cheap one as a faulty PSU will spell doom for your system. i would know. my PSU died and took the motherboard with it. The PSU or "Power Supply Unit" in your computer is one of "the most important" parts in your computer. Most computer companies such as Dell, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba...etc And BTO computers (unless they list the brand name), try to use the cheapest parts to use in their computers so they can maximize profits. Unfortunately, the PSU in your computer is one of the costly parts in it, and therefore is targeted first for cost reduction. Sure, they'll run fine for a year or so.. or until your warranty runs out A cheap PSU will also take other parts, such as your Motherboard, Hard Drive, Memory, etc with it when it dies. A cheap PSU will also have bad performance and eat up more electricity as well as be unstable. So, it would be better if you are able to select the type of PSU or the brand name is displayed... such as the BTO in the link below.. 3XS Systems - UK - 3XS H61 Performance GTS - Custom Series "600W Corsair Gamer Series PSU" : it's probably the cheapest of their line, but still better than some cheap one. Probably it's this one ---> GS Series GS600 - 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Look for Brand such as Corsair, Seasonic, Antec and Enermax (my favorite, but expensive) PSU's Edited October 23, 2012 by nattodaisuki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joesixxpack Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Of those 3, the second one. P.S. - Build your own I just finished a new Battlestation for around $1,000 USD. Can build them for less of course but I got exactly what I want, how I want it, and from a seller would have cost more than double that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndroidNine Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Don't underestimate a good SSD. I find a lot of the time spent on my system is just waiting for all the textures to load up. My system has a really nice video card with quad core (pre-i series Intel Quad Core2Duo) and 8gigs ram, but after about 4-5 map changes the system just chuggs. An SSD just elliminates the time it takes to swap out textures, etc. Even a 128gig SSD is coming down in price all the time. Use the 500-1000Gig HDD as your secondary drive. Install all your apps except SWTOR to drive D:. Takes a little getting used too, but if you're comfortable working with files and windows applications it shouldn't be too difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happysister Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 P.S. - Build your own I just finished a new Battlestation for around $1,000 USD. Can build them for less of course but I got exactly what I want, how I want it, and from a seller would have cost more than double that. really, this. you can build a good PC for much cheaper. not to mention, you'll be able to put good quality parts in it that should last awhile longer than the cheap parts they put in prebuilt/BOT machines. my brother bought a PC from Walmart, and even though his computer had newer parts and similar specs as my custom built one that's over 6 years old, my computer still ran laps around his. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ognajd Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 As well you can recycle components from your old pc into your new one... if price is an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loryk Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Do note that currently there aren't too many CPU intensive games and you should try to spend more money on a GPU than a CPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happysister Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Do note that currently there aren't too many CPU intensive games and you should try to spend more money on a GPU than a CPU. still though, it's less complicated to replace a GPU than it is to replace a CPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacksonMo Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 There is another option. Keep shopping! You're on the right track with any of those systems, HOWEVER the dual core cpu's are going to kill you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ognajd Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 still though, it's less complicated to replace a GPU than it is to replace a CPU. Well they're both easy to replace and if you've opened the case, you're already in the minority as most treat computers like a kitchen appliance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthemambient Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Better to get the one with a good CPU than the one with the best GPU in my opinion; CPU is harder to upgrade than the GPU. Even my GTX 295 which was released in 2009 is still working great in SWTOR along with other blockbuster games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfius Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Get a better power supply... Otherwise - 2nd one (with good 600/650W PSU) would be enough for at least 3 years. 2 cores are enough for most software & games (if they had good raw speed) ... but here we have 4 of them + twice more cache than other 2 listed witch give a large boost in CPU speed. Nvidia 650 desktop is good enough for most games (with some tweaks and compromises in quality). 8 GB Ram is enough also. HDD... It would be better to be Western Digital Black, Blue is compromise here. If planning to add SSD later - blue is great for storage drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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