Gaming PC - What do I need to know?

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DMGotty

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Hi there,

I am looking into buying myself a new Gaming PC,

I want a good PC, something that will run current games perticularly well and still last me a while with good performance.

I know that there is sort of a graph, that looks something like this...

graph.gif


This basically indicates how the market works and where it is best to buy, as you are getting the most value for money.

Could anyone tell me how I find out what parts on the market fit this critera, if I should buy on this line, or above it? What recommendations they could make for this type of computer.

Any help would be really appreciated and please excuse my terrible attempt at drawing the graph :D

(A bit of perspective, I'd like to be able to play a game like Rift on maximum settings with fairly good Frames Per Second.)
 
Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

It's not so much of a budget issue as it is a value for money issue as described in my graph...

I simply want the actual 'box' not screen, keyboard etc.

If I had to say a budget, I'd say R10 000 or less would be ideal, but id pay more if it was what was required.

The thing is though, I want to buy on that 'most value for money line' displayed in my graph.
 
DMGotty said:
Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

It's not so much of a budget issue as it is a value for money issue as described in my graph...

I simply want the actual 'box' not screen, keyboard etc.

If I had to say a budget, I'd say R10 000 or less would be ideal, but id pay more if it was what was required.

The thing is though, I want to buy on that 'most value for money line' displayed in my graph.
Click to expand...

10grand for the box is more than enough.

A nice 6 core or quad core.

A 6950 or 6970.

Cooler Master GX 650watt.

4 or 8 gigs of ram

a Cooler master case.
 
My sig rig cost me about what your budget is - it can be done! :)

EDIT: that is also for only the chassis and the innards, no OS or screen/kb/mouse
 
DMGotty said:
Hi there,

I am looking into buying myself a new Gaming PC,

I want a good PC, something that will run current games perticularly well and still last me a while with good performance.

I know that there is sort of a graph, that looks something like this...

graph.gif


This basically indicates how the market works and where it is best to buy, as you are getting the most value for money.

Could anyone tell me how I find out what parts on the market fit this critera, if I should buy on this line, or above it? What recommendations they could make for this type of computer.

Any help would be really appreciated and please excuse my terrible attempt at drawing the graph :D

(A bit of perspective, I'd like to be able to play a game like Rift on maximum settings with fairly good Frames Per Second.)
Click to expand...

This will help you: http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af150/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png
 
just get the biggest GPU you can afford, and 8GB is overrated get 4GB to cut costs, put that money into your CPU/GPU

if you not into OC'ing dont bother with an expensive MB.... not worth it, put that extra couple hundred bucks into your CPU/GPU

get my drift? :)
 
Hey Everyone thanks for all the great feedback, really do appreciate it.

Based on the image that was linked to me and a pricelist, I put together the following thing (Since im completely new to this though, I was hoping I could get some idea's from you guys of A: Will this thing even run, B: Is it a good machine, C: Some contructive criticism)

Also I have left out the hard drives as I realised I already have ample hard drive space that I can hopefully just place in the new machine.

Thanks a lot!

  • Mother Board: MSI Intel P67A-GD65, 8CH Audio,SPDIF+Coax, Gb LAN, 1394a, No VGA - CF/SLI
  • GPU: MSI R6970-2PM2D2G 2GB ATI 16X PCI-E (DVIx 2, mDPx 2 , HDMI) - DX11
  • CPU: Intel ® i5-2500 QC Sandy Bridge 3.30 GHz 6Mb Cache 32nm + IGP (850Mhz)
  • Power Supply: Cougar 750W PSU, 80 Plus, V2.3, SLI & CF Ready, Active PFC- Retail
  • Case: Sigma Unicorn, 0.8mm SECC, Black - Windowed Sidepanel, No PSU
  • Memory: Apacer 4096MB DDR3 240-Pin DIMM, 1.5V [DDR10600] (Two of these)
 
Never heard of a Cougar PSU before, is it any good I wonder? Also go for the K-model i5 2500, it has an unlocked multiplier so IOW a free performance boost if you want :). And it's only R100 more than the non-k one.

The rest looks good, but why don't you go for Corsair RAM? They have lifetime warranties FWIW.
 
Excellent choice of case in your sig Wabbit16, i love mine ;)
 
luxe said:
Excellent choice of case in your sig Wabbit16, i love mine ;)
Click to expand...

I also adore mine...so much space yet so compact, so much orsmness yet so cheap.:love:

It was between that and a GMC H-80, but it appeared too gimmicky for my liking. I liked the solid build of the Scout, the carry handle and the very good airflow. That mesh is also oh-so-sexy:p

@DMGotty, I hope you are listening...the CoolerMaster Scout Storm can be had for aroudn R700 if you shop wisely:D

The dark side is calling:twisted:
 
 
Ancalagon said:
I would go for:

VTX3D Radeon HD6970 2GB PCI-E Graphics Card - Retail - R2999
Corsair XMS3 2x2GB DDR3-1333 Desktop Memory - Retail - R563
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA1155 32nm Quad-Core - Retail - R2043
ASUS P8H67 LGA1155 Intel H67 B3 Revision ATX Discrete Desktop Motherboard - Retail R1315
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" SATA6G Internal Hard Drive - OEM- R892
CoolerMaster RC-502-KWN1, Centurion 5 II, Black, Windowed Side Panel, No PSU - ATX - R671
SONY AD7260S 24x SATA DVD-Writer Black - OEM - R159
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus, RR-CCH-LB12-GP, Aluminium Base + Fin - R296
Corsair HX650W, EPS12V + Modular Cable Management, ATX 12V V2.2 - 650w ( 12v : 624w ) - R1286

Thats R10224, just add Windows.
Click to expand...

awesome build for the price, I would also go with this
 
Ancalagon said:
I would go for:

VTX3D Radeon HD6970 2GB PCI-E Graphics Card - Retail - R2999
Corsair XMS3 2x2GB DDR3-1333 Desktop Memory - Retail - R563
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz LGA1155 32nm Quad-Core - Retail - R2043
ASUS P8H67 LGA1155 Intel H67 B3 Revision ATX Discrete Desktop Motherboard - Retail R1315
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" SATA6G Internal Hard Drive - OEM- R892
CoolerMaster RC-502-KWN1, Centurion 5 II, Black, Windowed Side Panel, No PSU - ATX - R671
SONY AD7260S 24x SATA DVD-Writer Black - OEM - R159
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus, RR-CCH-LB12-GP, Aluminium Base + Fin - R296
Corsair HX650W, EPS12V + Modular Cable Management, ATX 12V V2.2 - 650w ( 12v : 624w ) - R1286

Thats R10224, just add Windows.
Click to expand...

If he goes for the H67 chipset, would that not disable the overclocking on the i2500k?
 
wabbit16 said:
If he goes for the H67 chipset, would that not disable the overclocking on the i2500k?
Click to expand...

Whoops!

Change it to this instead:
ASUS P8P67 LE LGA1155 Intel P67 B3 Revision ATX Discrete Intel Desktop Motherboard - Retail R1619

So add about R300. There is a similar MSI board for about R80 more, I prefer Asus.

EDIT: OP, you can save a bit of bucks by going for a 6850, 6870, 6950, GTS 550 Ti or GTX 560 Ti. All are pretty good cards, more than fast enough for modern games. Modern games are made with consoles in mind, so they dont really strain modern PCs.
 
Last edited:
Changes to Ancalagon's suggestion:
1) Get different RAM, because that Corsair XMS3 memory is 1.6V and NOT 1.5V!
2) Get a P67 chipset motherboard, so that you can overclock the i5 2500k CPU
3) Get a bigger case, because I don't think the Centurion 5 II supports the long HD6970 cards, seeing that the Asus HD6970 DirectCU II had very little room left in my 690 II Advanced case

I'm just not sure if it's really worth it to spend that much on a 1TB HDD, when you can get a 2TB Green drive for R100 less (incl shipping) from Take2, and the performance isn't much slower either.
If you're concerned about HDD speed, then you should rather get a SSD.
 
Pada said:
Changes to Ancalagon's suggestion:
1) Get different RAM, because that Corsair XMS3 memory is 1.6V and NOT 1.5V!
2) Get a P67 chipset motherboard, so that you can overclock the i5 2500k CPU
3) Get a bigger case, because I don't think the Centurion 5 II supports the long HD6970 cards, seeing that the Asus HD6970 DirectCU II had very little room left in my 690 II Advanced case

I'm just not sure if it's really worth it to spend that much on a 1TB HDD, when you can get a 2TB Green drive for R100 less (incl shipping) from Take2, and the performance isn't much slower either.
If you're concerned about HDD speed, then you should rather get a SSD.
Click to expand...

All valid points.

I think, for a R10k budget, I would seriously start thinking about dropping the GPU to something cheaper and smaller. The reason is, a more powerful GPU requires a bigger case, better cooling, etc, and leaves less money for other necessary components such as a good motherboard and PSU.
 
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