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Sprout

Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 19

Posted: Sat Aug 12, 06 5:24 pm Post subject: Gaming PC
I'm about to start building myself a new computer which will be used primarily for games and digital photography. I am unsure which CPU to go for. AMD has always been better in the past for gamers, but now there is the new Intel Core2. Which is best as I don't have a bottomless wallet?

Mat S

Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 282
Location: Leicester

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 06 9:13 pm Post subject:
I'd have a read of Toms Hardware (google it), they're usually a) right b) thorough and c) comprehensible. Oh, and trustrworthy.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28145
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 06 9:29 pm Post subject:
Quite a few reviews seem to be saying that after a few years of AMD having the running, Intel have jumped ahead.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45725
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 06 10:18 pm Post subject:

for the image side of things plenty of ram is a must and so is defragging and cleaning and freespace wiping (filters can be messy )
any processor over 3 gig (but you may need more to future proof your gaming ) will romp through filters faster than you can decide if you like the effect and cope well with dv or a 32 track studio program .
most digital cameras have a video mode (and future proofing is a good idea ) so a bigger hard drive than you imagined .
as you will have lots of data with a d cam a dvd burner(with all lesser functions ) is a good idea for backup (cds are too small )
get the best box , fan and power supply you can .
for gaming ; there are plenty of good graphics cards (with a dedicated processor) and good sound cards to be had
with the other bits n bobs £500 should do it if you shop about and you dont go for the latest thing in motherboard/processor ,i go for the last best thing and save shed loads when i upgrade the machine ,this time ive got ahead of the software and all is well .best i can say is get the best bits you can at the best prices you can .
whatever anyone else thinks of microsoft xp pro is ok , with some add ons it is as stable as anything ive used .
bet someone will have a better way .
beware of geeks bearing gifts

MarkS

Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2626

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 06 1:19 pm Post subject:

what sort of budget?

you need to decide platform / socket for the mobo and cpu, then gfx card.

Ime just in the process of doing the same thing.

Ive been given a socket 939 mobo - thats the previous generation high end amd, now replaced by socket AM2. Amd just dropped the prices on their chips so I picked up a 3700 amd 64 bit cpu for £55+vat (retail so includes heatsink/fan and 3 year warranty). I can upgrade that in time to a dual core 64bit when prices drop further. If I had bought the mobo I would probably have bought the newer format - it makes little difference to the cost.
1gb memory is a good start and say 250gb disk(£41+vat for sata)

gfx cards are a straight choice between ati and nvidia on recent kit you want pci-x not agp (a very few mobo have both). For performance on a budget either ati x1600 or nv 7600. More money gets you a x1900 or 7800/7900 (but you are now heading for £300 territory) I got the x1600pro for £52+vat. Current opinion seems to be that the nvidia stuff is better but the price was lower for the ati part.
watch the subdivisions of the gfx cards there is a significant price difference between a 7600gs and 7600gt.

Tomshardware.com is very good for reviews - try to find one that actually compares the things you are thinking of.

If you want to play specific games check the forums to see if there are problems with particular kit (7300 cards seem to have trouble with oblivion for example)

finally dont skimp on the power supply - many top end gfx cards need lots of power.

My prices from microdirect - they beat scan/aria/overclockers mainly because the cpu and gfx card were well priced.

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