Contact Forum Editor

Send an email to our Forum Editor:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the Forum Editor know who sent the message. Both your name and email address will not be used for any other purpose.

Games

It's free to register, to post a question or to start / join a discussion

View Forum Rules | Contact Forum Editor

 

Which rig is worth the money?

itskinner

Likes # 0

Posted October 20, 2011 at 5:55PM

Hiya guys,

I know a decent amount about computers but I can't judge how good one computer is versus another when looking at a list of specs so could somebody perhaps let me know which rig is more worth the money?

Thanks!

This one is from DinoPC.com and it comes WITH an OS:

Price: 533.08 pounds

CPU:AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

CPU Cooler:Coolermaster Hyper TX3

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Memory:8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x 4GB)

Hard Drives:1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s

Optical Drive:22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA

Graphics card:NEW! ATI Radeon HD 6790 1GB

Sound card:Onboard 7.1 Audio

Keyboard and mouse:Logitech Wireless keyboard and mouse

Case:Xigmatek Asgard

PSU:400W Xigmatek

Warranty:3 Year Platinum Warranty

Motherboard:NEW! Gigabyte 880GM-USB3

.

This second one is from Overclockers and comes WITHOUT an OS and you have to pay extra for a decent graphics card or it comes standard with an ATI Radeon 5450 Silent 512mb card:

Price: 522.98 pounds

System Specification

  • Case: Coolermaster Elite 334 Case - Black

  • Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650w PSU

  • CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Sandybridge overclocked to 4.40GHz

  • Motherboard: Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard * B3 REVISION *

  • Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight

  • RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

  • Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6GB/s

  • Graphics Card: Choice of the latest DX11 Graphics cards

  • Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)

  • Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Service Package

  • Full 12 Month collect and return warranty

  • Each specification is assembled from handpicked components for compatibility and stability

  • Telephone, web note and forum technical support

Thanks guys!

Iain

Like this post
gengiscant

Likes # 0

Posted October 21, 2011 at 8:43AM

It is always useful when seeking advice on which PC to buy to mention it's main purpose. For example are you a game? Do you do a lot of video editing? Do you just want a decent PC for surfing,office applications and the like?

On the face of it the one from Dino PC is the better of the two, not quite the spec I would choose, but I am a gamer and would prefer a better GPU. I would also not have a single large hard-drive as if it fails there is a possibility of losing everything, I instead would have either 2 x1TB or 2 x 500GB drives. I would also,in the Dino PC,up the PSU to a minimum of 500W which will hopefully cover you for any future upgrades.Also unless you will be over clocking your CPU then an aftermarket heat sink is not necessary the ones supplied with a retail CPU will be sufficient.

Like this post
itskinner

Likes # 0

Posted October 21, 2011 at 10:09AM

Hello, sorry I intended to mention that at the end. I play quite a few games yes, limited by my laptop though so I have to stick to older games or ones that I can turn the specs all the way down on.

I'm also at university and will use the rig for 3d modelling and programming required by my course so getting 2 harddrives is an idea I like because I have come close to losing hours/days/weeks of.work before.

My budget is 500-600 but I might be able to go slightly over. I also need to buy a monitor however.

Thank you for your input.

Iain

Like this post
gengiscant

Likes # 0

Posted October 21, 2011 at 12:41PM

Is this the PC you started with? DinoPC I have just tweaked it a little and the overall price is £520. You will need to find a bit more for your monitor but it will be worth it if you want a decent one.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Motherboard: NEW! Gigabyte 880GM-USB3

Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x 4GB)

Hard Drives: NEW! 500GB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s

2nd hard drive: NEW! 500GB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s

Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA

Graphics card: NEW! ATI Radeon HD 6790 1GB

Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio

Case: Xigmatek Asgard

PSU: 500W Xigmatek

Like this post
itskinner

Likes # 0

Posted October 21, 2011 at 2:07PM

Thank you, that system looks nice and I like the price. Would it be worth upgrading the processor to the 965 (+£18) or even the 1055T (+£35)? Under their media computer section they have an Intel 2500K oc'd to 4.5GHz which I configured to the same specs as your one but at a price of £590. Is the extra processor power really needed? Call me cynical but I always feel as if they are skimping somewhere on the cheaper machines. I guess they would have to but is there anything there that is properly bottom of the line?

Thank you for your help so far, I appreciate it very much.

Like this post
gengiscant

Likes # 0

Posted October 21, 2011 at 2:43PM

I tried to keep the budget within £500 to £600 and as you mentioned also needing to buy a monitor I was thinking that as £600 was your max then the system spec I posted gave you around £80 to put towards a monitor. If you can go for the 2500K then go for it,superb chip, I have it myself though I over-clocked mine myself.

Here is a comparison between the 965 and the 2500K 965/2500K and another between the 1055T and the 2500K, but remember the 2500K will be overc-locked so not a true comparison 1055T/2500K

Like this post

Reply to this topic

This thread has been locked.



Check out PC Advisor's other tech forums

Send to a friend

Email this article to a friend or colleague:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.