Help buying new computer

**Mikesmith08** · March 15, 2011, 10:50 AM

Hi, im looking to upgrade my computer to hopefully play the likes of shogun 2 and Empire having been a fan of the total war series for a while, but im pretty useless in knowing whats what in the world of computers, so any help would be much appreciated. Im not loking for anything brilliant just good enough to play some half decent games, I've been looking at a few refurbished pc's on pc world and if anyone could look them over and give any advice it would be a great help. Thanks.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/advent...04415-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-a...00141-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pav...92357-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-a...00130-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-a...77406-pdt.html

**Leo4444** · March 15, 2011, 12:00 PM

The first one on the list is probably the best from the bunch but still overpriced, have you checked amazon? Amazon sometimes has cheap gaming computers. The problem with the computers you mentioned is that they sometimes have hardware limiters and the graphics cards are terrible.

**Mikesmith08** · March 15, 2011, 02:09 PM

I have checked Amazon yes but as far as I can see there aren't any great deals on there and in my opinion they dont really provide enough information about the computers. Are the graphics cards that bad?, I thought about 1gb dedicated memory was more a mid-end graphics card, not terrible?

**Erax** · March 15, 2011, 02:09 PM

I haven't posted here in a long time.

I come back from the dead to tell you this - DONT BUY MANUFACTURER PCS.
Those computers you linked WONT run Shogun.

EDIT: Oh, and video card memory has NOTHING to do with performance on lower level cards.

**Mikesmith08** · March 15, 2011, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Erax

I haven't posted here in a long time.

I come back from the dead to tell you this - DONT BUY MANUFACTURER PCS.
Those computers you linked WONT run Shogun.

EDIT: Oh, and video card memory has NOTHING to do with performance on lower level cards.

Im sorry, what exactly do you mean by manufacturer pcs?, and could you give me some tips for the kind of specs I should be looking for, thanks.

**Devilmaypoop** · March 15, 2011, 02:25 PM

Actually the first one will run Shogun 2, but not just very good.

**Erax** · March 15, 2011, 02:40 PM

A 5570? For Shogun? Good grace.

**Nota'** · March 15, 2011, 05:55 PM

I think he means build your own. You could probably get a better one for less, as long as your up for the hassle (assuming youve never built one before).

**Freddie** · March 15, 2011, 06:04 PM

If you really want to gaming that's good value for money D.I.Y is the way forward but I would advise a minimum budget of £500 at the least as your going to need about £100 just for the OS licence then that leaves £400 for parts. Of course if you already have a licence you can use that's even better but I'll assume you don't.

That will run riot over anything you linked from Crappyworld.

**Mikesmith08** · March 16, 2011, 04:34 AM

Thanks for the replys, trouble is I dont think I could ever build my own pc, is there not companys who will do it for you for a small cost?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=FS-259-OK
I did find this and it looks like a decent mid end computer with rave reviews, do you think it's any good?

**Leo4444** · March 16, 2011, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by Mikesmith08

Thanks for the replys, trouble is I dont think I could ever build my own pc, is there not companys who will do it for you for a small cost?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=FS-259-OK
I did find this and it looks like a decent mid end computer with rave reviews, do you think it's any good?

Not really its a little better than the ones on the list but not for price wayyy overpriced.

**Ybbon** · March 16, 2011, 05:53 PM

However, assuming that you don't have the time, inclination or are just finding the idea of building your own a little scary, try Cyberpowersystem.co.uk - I got mine from them, prices are higher than build your own but not bad and their configurators will allow you to play with all sorts of components.

Personally I could build my own, I just didn't have the time or desire to do it when I needed to. You could also use their configurator to get the components you want, then check to see how much you'd save if you can source them separately as a build your own. A pretty much equivalent one to the one Freddie gave (different RAM and case) is £445 - (£534 with VAT) so you're paying about £40 for the build if you will.

spec of cyberpower one for reference:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

edit:
but, as Freddie said, build your own is cheaper and probably more satisfying, but look for better options than store bought.

**Erax** · March 17, 2011, 11:52 AM

Alot of shops in Finland atleast offer to build your pc, with the lowest price I think being 25€.

You just choose the parts you want and the assembly, and they will send you your computer assembled. Even though you pay for the assembly, its still a very minimal fee compared to how overpriced Dell, HP etc computers are.

**Mikesmith08** · March 17, 2011, 01:14 PM

OK, well I've been looking on the pc specialist website and have configured this system, what do you think, will it run the likes of empire at mid end?

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Pentium® DualCore E5800 (3.2GHz) 800MHz FSB/2MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P5G41T-M LX: MICRO ATX VALUE BOARD & DDR3, SATA-II, 2 x PCI
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450 - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready2nd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA775 STANDARD CPU COOLERSound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

**Freddie** · March 17, 2011, 03:19 PM

Hmm that's a lot better, remember when building a gaming PC the crucial parts are the the video card then the CPU. You should read some reviews of the hardware you buying (namely the video card and CPU) to get an idea the performance they give.

Anandtech's benchmarks graphs are very handy. Video card, CPU.