Nope, not necessary. But once you get one, you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner.
OK, well I'll consider it later as funds prevent it for now. Thanks for the info.
Uncorking the bottle. . . .
- Thread starter Jim Maddog
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OK, well I'll consider it later as funds prevent it for now. Thanks for the info.
^^ yup - what he said, a hybrid is a fairly good 1st step though, it has both SSD and a platter drive in one and while faster than a regular drive it still doesn't come close to the read/write speeds of an SSD.
you only really need it for the OS/installed programs though so it doesnt need to cost you an arm and a leg for a large drive - just an arm for a smaller one.
i recommend a minimum of 256gb or there abouts though as modern games and operating systems take up quite a bit of space, 7gb for one game isnt unheard of.
this is why (apart from data loss issues if your OS crashes and burns) you will see we have recommended a second drive for mass storage.
you only really need it for the OS/installed programs though so it doesnt need to cost you an arm and a leg for a large drive - just an arm for a smaller one.
i recommend a minimum of 256gb or there abouts though as modern games and operating systems take up quite a bit of space, 7gb for one game isnt unheard of.
this is why (apart from data loss issues if your OS crashes and burns) you will see we have recommended a second drive for mass storage.
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Very great memories. An very great AMD
Agreed but for gaming it is not the be all end all. It improves boot/read/write times and as such is really a "very nice to have" if you are short on funds and happy to be patient in the loading screens. So if on a tight budget, focus elsewhere first.
As a guide for those in the UK... www.overclockers.co.uk, www.dabs.co.uk and www.novatech.co.uk are all good starting points for pc's prebuilt or in component form.
Excluding gfx card, case, HDD, monitor.... I would say the rough magic minimum for your good basics (motherboard, ram, cooler, processor) should be around £350. The more you have the better, but it can get very murky as to what is necessary and what is good value.
Many here are happy to offer advice, I know I have helped a couple of guys already, so never be afraid to ask on these friendly forums, or in a PM.
I would respectfully disagree and put SSD right after CPU and graphics.
It's not so much the faster boot and reduced loading times that make it so good for gaming, it's the random access of it. Especially in games like Elite or Lotro where there is absolutely no knowing what will turn up at any given time.
The miniscule time taken to load random meshes, textures, sounds etc compared to a HDD makes all the difference in my gaming experience - makes it so much more fluid and less stuttering.
Just my opinion of course, and if release Elite stays small enough (say under 4Gb) you could just plonk it on a Ramdrive and run a standard HDD.
It's not so much the faster boot and reduced loading times that make it so good for gaming, it's the random access of it. Especially in games like Elite or Lotro where there is absolutely no knowing what will turn up at any given time.
The miniscule time taken to load random meshes, textures, sounds etc compared to a HDD makes all the difference in my gaming experience - makes it so much more fluid and less stuttering.
Just my opinion of course, and if release Elite stays small enough (say under 4Gb) you could just plonk it on a Ramdrive and run a standard HDD.
Personally i'd stay well away from dabs.com as i've had trouble with them in the past.
in its place i'd substitute ebuyer.com whom i regularly buy from.
for a simple self build a good place to start would be the bare bones bundles from novatech, an i5 with 8gb ram, 300w psu and a small tower will set you back about £300, just add hard drive/s, OS and the box is ready to go.
the 300w psu may not handle adding a graphics card to supliment the on-board chipset but that's about the only drawback i see with that bundle.
if you have a bit more cash to throw at it for £574.99 you get an i7 with 16gb ram, a 750w gaming power supply and a better case/motherboard, you still need to add the hdd etc. but the 750w psu should give you a little wiggle room when it comes to adding additional hard drives and a big fat graphics card.
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300W PSU too low in my opinion for an i5, especially if it's a junk PSU.
500W minimum I would recommend, and absolutely not a junk one. Everything else in your PC utterly depends on it, and if just one tenth of a penny capacitor fails, it can bring down everything else catastrophically.
500W minimum I would recommend, and absolutely not a junk one. Everything else in your PC utterly depends on it, and if just one tenth of a penny capacitor fails, it can bring down everything else catastrophically.
yup, just edited in the 750w option, a much more suitable choice and a shame they dont offer it on an i5 bundle
Have to self build and budget is "how low can I go" I need a motherboard/CPU/drive out of the box. Have spare licenses for Windows knocking about (yes legal) and an old Dell case that has CD rom and a small PSU. I even have a 500 gb sata drive kicking about somewhere.
I can add a super fast drive and graphics later - I'll punt the video out over my TV which is big enough. If that means upgrading the PSU I'll do that then.
In which case I'd get this - http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Desktop-PC?sort=price+ascending&a00039=Intel+Core+i5&page=1
It gives you everything you need to base a decent PC, cheap as chips, but with the basic components you need to allow for a semi decent upgrade later (such as the gfx card and SSD) and comes with a very decent sized 2TB HDD.
Customer service is second to none from EBuyer and highly recommended - £346.04 and free next day delivery currently.
If that is a bit much you could go for an i3 instead from them for £269.99 - http://www.ebuyer.com/570079-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1203
I wouldn't go anything less than that really, bearing in mind upcoming game requirements, but they also have some AMD systems (again I'd get an Intel if possible).
For example :-
£169.98 will get you this http://www.ebuyer.com/579780-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1210 which will probably do you ok for now, but will cost you more in the long run and isn't really up to the task.
As others have said there are other sites that do similar, but I generally buy everything from EBuyer as the prices are very good but more importantly the customer service is there if anything goes wrong (and it does happen, no matter how rare).
Once you've decided what to go for,the first thing to get for me will be a decent PSU, then the graphics card. Followed by more memory if 4GB RAM only (you will need 8GB) then the SSD. Everything else you need you either already have or comes with the box.
Dell cases have a proprietary layout and a standard atx motherboard will not fit. The PSU is proprietary and a standard ATX will not fit.
New case and PSU, or find a replacement Dell board with upgraded specs, which will cost more than a whole new machine probably.
New case and PSU, or find a replacement Dell board with upgraded specs, which will cost more than a whole new machine probably.
Is that still the case? (Pun not intended!) I thought Dell changed to a more standard set of components a while back.
If cost is a major factor, a case like THIS Antec VSK-4000E is £27.28 and a power supply like THIS Corsair 500W semi-modular is £46. Both are decent quality.
8GB of fast 2133 RAM for £55.
Asrock Z87m Pro4 motherboard for £75. (Cheaper boards available but that one's the current latest chipset).
Intel i5 4440 (3.1GHz) for £129.
That's £332, using your existing Win licence, DVD drive and HDD. Actually a pretty decent spec, and pretty upgradable.
The integrated graphics will do a fair amount and get you going, but you'll want a proper graphics card when the game's out: leave it as late as possible before you get one, and get the best you're willing to spend on.
HERE is a list of 'best graphics card for your money', and they change it every month.
Integrated graphics are going to offer a really poor experience. A Radeon HD 7770/R7 260x or a Nvidia GTX 750ti would be a minimum for a decent gaming experience imo. Or check here, some even cheaper options
Or pick up a 2nd hand GPU from ebay.
btw if you get a 750ti it only asks for a 300w psu which is a way to cut down on costs.
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Thanks for the feedback - erm - some are a bit pricey for me. But I think I've got a good feel for what I need. Thanks all. I'll give it a go and see what I can come up with. Hey the worst that happens is I get shot out of the sky every time I try and play right?