[alnic123]

I am looking to upgrade my PC but am on a bit of a budget. The main things i want from it are Diablo 3 on reasonably good settings and dota2 on high, probably with a music player running in the background.

I have found these 4 and was wondering which was the better considering price

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =FS-237-OK

Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750W Power Supply
- CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Clarkdale
- Motherboard: Intel H61(Socket 1155) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Akasa AK-CC4009EP01 Venom Pico Compact
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 500GB HDD
- Graphics Card: Intel HD 2000 Onboard (default choice, options available)
- Sound: Onboard 7.1 Audio
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =FS-210-OK

Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750w PSU
- CPU: AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 3.60GHz Processor
- Motherboard: AMD 760G Chipset (AM3+) Motherboard
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drives: 1TB HDD
- Graphics Card: AMD 760G Onboard (default choice, options available)
- Sound: 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
- CPU Cooler: Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/adve [...] 7-pdt.html

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2600
Cache memory 8 MB
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
RAM 8 GB
Graphics card Integrated
Hard drive 2 TB

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/adve [...] 4-pdt.html

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-2320 (3.00 GHz, 6MB cache memory)
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
RAM 8GB (4GB + 4GB)
- DDR3
- 1333MHz
Graphics card AMD HD6670
Hard drive 2TB
- 7200RPM
- SATA

I was mainly interested in the 2 from pc world, but one has i-7 and only integrated gfx while the other has i-5 and dedicated gfx. So is the HD6670 any good? And would the i-7 make up for the integrated gfx on the first 3rd link, or how much would i need to spend to get a decent gfx card?

I am wanting something that will be able to run new games for at least a couple of years and it is essential that it is upgradable (i want to be able to put new components in when they become outdated instead of having to replace the whole system). The computer i have now is struggling with newer games and i have been told that because its a Dell i cant upgrade the cpu or motherboard, so i am having to start fresh....

[BlooChoo]

the links dont work, but from the specs u posted the choice for a gamer is clearly out of the bottom 2

[black-wolf]

I would go with the i5-2320 with the 6670. I have an old dual core athlon with a 6670 and according to can you run it http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/ it will run Diablo 3. It's not going to run it on high settings, but it should run it better than the other selections you have made.

[Tanis]

As said, unfortunately the links don't work but thats not a major issue as you have listed the specs.

As you have said you want the machine for gaming there is only one possible choice out of the ones you listed and that is the bottom one. If you want a gaming rig of any kind always buy one with a dedicated graphics card, integrated cards just won't cut it.

No, an i-7 will not make up for an integrated card. The i-7 is generally a faster CPU but the i-5's are better overall fior gaming as they have additional 'on CPU' graphic processing which the i-7's don't, this supports the GPU better in my opinion, certainly if you if don't have a top end GPU.

As someone from the UK myself, I couldn't recommend enough NOT to buy a system from PC world, especially if you are on a budget and are after a gaming system. Their stock tends to be a little more generic and I can pretty much guarantee that you will get more for your money from an online retailer.

What is your budget? Maybe have a look at www.ebuyer.co.uk or www.aria.co.uk, this is where I get almost all my PCs and parts from.


For comparison, I have found this one on the PCWorld website which seems to fit your last one:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/advent...75804-pdt.html - £599.99

These examples from Aria:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming...roductId=50482 - £549.95 (+delivery)

- Superior GPU on paper, see here
- Named brand RAM
- OCZ 64Gb SSD (will be much faster for your operating system)
- Smaller HDD at only 500Gb. Personally, that would be fine for me.
- AMD CPU which are decent and generally offer a far better 'bang for buck' ratio if you are on a budget.


http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming...roductId=50324 - £669.95 (+delivery)

- Far superior GPU on paper, see here
- Better CPU (next model up i5)
- Named brand RAM
- OCZ 64Gb SSD (will be much faster for your operating system)
- Smaller HDD at only 500Gb.
- Good quality, named brand power supply

Typically, Aria systems don't come with any Operating System so make sure you check on that as that will add cost if you don't have one already.

[black-wolf]

Good advice from Tanis

[alnic123]

Wow thanks, those links look great. My budget is around £700 and looks like the Cyclone vortez is a bit out of my range...

The only real difference i can see between those 2 is the processor.. Is the i-5 really that much better than FX-4170?

Which would you suggest out of these 2?

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming...roductId=50482

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...d=2040&subcat=

The titan i would have to add a gfx card and was thinking MSI HD 6850?? Starts getting a bit pricey after that :/

And on the Raptor, i have googled the AMD FX-4170and the reviews dont seem that good..

[alnic123]

O M G never mind, i think i have found "the one"

http://www.ebuyer.com/388865-cyberpo...ng-pc-ecc01118

Any suggestions/ problems with this one?

[Tanis]

Only thing I would say is I think the GPU is a bit weak, personally.

Have a look here and compare the GTX560 to a GT640 (GT630 isn't listed but I would expect it to be slightly worse than a 640): http://www.hwcompare.com/12827/gefor...force-gtx-560/

I am running a GTX460 and that is struggling with higher settings on new games: http://www.hwcompare.com/12846/gefor...e-gtx-460-2gb/

To be honest, if possible, I wouldn't drop below a GTX560 or better still a GTX560Ti if you can (or equivelant).

I am not really up to speed on AMD CPU's unfortunately. I believe that generally speaking they are a little slower but when you are on a budget you get far more for your money from AMD. You may loose a little allround performance with Windows tasks but if you can offset that with a decent GPU then you should still have a decent gaming rig.

How about this (£569.99 inc VAT), free standard delivery which is usually next working day on systems). Comes with Windows 7 Home Premium installed as long as you have mouse, keyboard and monitor:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=50458

I know I keep going back to Aria but personally, I have found them to be better than Ebuyer at the moment. GPU is slightly better, on paper, than a GTX560

http://www.hwcompare.com/11005/gefor...adeon-hd-6870/

Don't know how the CPU goes as its an AMD FX-6100 Hex Core. Just bare in mind that with all the information on the internet you will almost always find bad reviews for anything and when on a budget you have to compromise somewhere. If you want it for gaming then my personal suggestion would be to compromise a little on the CPU and get the best GPU you can. Your ideal would be an i5 with a decent GPU if you can find an affordable rig.

[alnic123]

I looked at that aria one before and the refurb bit really put me off, it seems so vague and i wouldnt know what to expect with a refurb..

I decided to go with this

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming...ontext=systems

I rang up and they added a 6850 (i think it was) for £30 more, have i been done? lol

£650 total including Windows 7

[black-wolf]

The AMD CPU's get a lot of bad press from the gamining community, that is what it is is bad press. Yes Intel has faster CPU's, but all the gamers that have the FX CPU's seem to be happy with their performance. I run a Radeon 6870 which is a little faster than a 6850 and am pleased with it's gaming performance. I think you will be satisfied with the FX 4170 and the 6850.

[BlooChoo]

sounds like a good deal, i would say you have not been done