Dol33

Hey all,

Was wondering if you could all please give me some advice. I know that building your own is the best (and cheapest) way of getting a new Gaming PC, but to be honest I'm too lazy and just want to get one out of the box as it were. :P

I'm looking to spend up to a maximum of £1,200 to £1,300.
I really like the look of the Wired2fire hellspawn pc which has been reviewed on this very site. Only differences I would make is better Memory, Domino cooler, PSU, sound card and upgrade to the Antec 1200 case. I would get rid of all the periphials as I don't need them, and that brings me in under the £1,300 max.
Does this seem like a good buy or is there better out there as to be honest the whole thing is confusing me and drving me nuts before I hand out my hard earned cash.
Thanks for any help it will be really appreciated!

J

Takaharu

£1200 budget and that's it? Go nuts, splash out on the highest-end stuff and you won't get as high as you might think.

NB: This is just an example, tweak as much as you like.

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Dol33

Problem is that's going to involve a self build which I don't really want to do, let alone overclocking myself in which I have no idea

Been looking specifically at pre built systems.

OldBuzzard

I'm betting that you will find something here:

YoYotech Home

I kind of like the specs on the Water Dragon A925A.
But then I AM an AMD/ATI fanboi

Upgrade the CPU to the Phenom II 955, and you are at £1,242.46 inc.

I don't see them offering a memory upgrade, so if you want more than 4GB you wouild have to install that yourself.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Dol33

Thanks for the help guys it's appreciated.

I also found the following system on Scan which runs a AMD rather than I7 but can run two 4890 in Xfire for about £50 more.

Would it be a better bet?

Asus M4A79T Deluxe CrossFire Motherboard
AMD 3.2 Ghz Phenom II X4 955 CPU
Scythe Mugen 2 Quiet CPU Cooler
850W BeQuiet 87% Efficient PSU
4GB Corsair 1600Mhz DDR3 Memory
1TB Samsung 32Mb Cache HDD
1GB ATi Radeon HD4890 GFX Card (CrossFire options available)
Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Titanium PCI-E Soundcard
LiteOn x4 DVD Writer/BluRay Reader
Scan Internal 81in1 Card Reader
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64Bit
Acronis True Image Home 2009
Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty

OldBuzzard

If it's for GAMING, the high end AMD are just as fast as the high end i7s, so that system woud do you quite well.

The one at YOYOTech that I was talking about is this one in particular:
YoYoTech:PC Systems

It's an AMD system as well and starts at £1198.67 inc. vat
Note that it already has 2X 4890s in Crossfire, and uses the COOL-IT DOMINO WATER COOLER for cooling.

It doesn't have the Creative sound card, so if you add that it's £1284.05 inc. vat

If you would rather have an X4 955 as opposed to the OCed X4 925 it becomes £1327.84 inc. vat

Now that goes right to, or exceeds, your original £1300.00 limit, but it would be a danged fine performing system.

On paper, I would choose the Water Dragon, given the fact that it's water cooled, and is already Crossfired.

The one thing that DOES stand out for me with the SCAN system is that they specifically name the PSU. As I understand it, the BeQuiets have a good reputation, so that is something to consider as well, since the PSU is the heart of the system. If possible, you might try contacting Yoyotech, if you decide to consider them, and see just what brand PSU that they use, since it isn't specified.

However, specifications aren't the only thing to consider. I have no idea as to the reputation of the two businesses. That has to be considered. ESPECIALLY their reputation in the CUSTOMER SUPPORT area. You would do well to do a bit of research in that area as well.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

A Desire to Game

Crossfire is intriguing...but who knows how legit they are. Make sure you are getting a motherboard that supports at least x8 Xfire. The 785 isn't gonna cut the mustard. You at least need a 790GX (prefer 790FX).

The Hellspawn ALC as reviewed is a great combination of parts. 6Gb is plenty for gaming and multitasking currently. The case is decent and a 4890 1gb is more than capable at 1920x1080 or 1920x1200.

Stick with the Hellspawn for the price, it will perform very well. It was worth DH's time to review it, so you know its gotta be pretty good, lol.

You can always add another 4890 later.

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Three is my new favorite number. (SATA III, USB 3.0, GTX 300's)

Kizo

I would suggest for you to consider a Lynnfield P55/i7 860 (LGA1156) combination. Its not as expensive as X58/i7 920 (LGA1366) but is just as fast.
i7 860 is IMO the best CPU for the price from Intel at the moment.

Dol33

Thanks for all the advice guys it's really appreciated.

I'll probably go for the Wired2Fire system, but as I have a month I'll see if any good P55/i7 860 systems come out in the meantime.

Has anybody here actually ever ordered from WiredFire though?

Very strange when you do a search for reviews of the actual company, I'm not finding any either good or bad.

A Desire to Game

An i7 860 is lethal for the price when paired with a budget mobo and RAM. Definitely good advice Kizo. AMD will nearly always be cheaper and perform top notch in GAMES. Emphasis on games.

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Three is my new favorite number. (SATA III, USB 3.0, GTX 300's)