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Oddball

Sun Aug 31 08, 02:28PM

KA-fail.

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Ok, since Left 4 Dead comes out sometime soon (late november) I want to get a good pc so i can run it close to or max graphics whilst still giving a nice smooth frame rate.

The System requirements have said to be "very similar to The Orange Box." To remind you, these are...

--

Minimum: 1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectXÂ® 8 level Graphics Card, WindowsÂ® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

Recommended: Pentium 4 processor (3.0GHz, or better), 1GB RAM, DirectXÂ® 9 level Graphics Card, WindowsÂ® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

--

My Pc at the moment is breaching recommended, since the computer is quite old, it has a AGP slot, so i cant get many new gfx cards, the card in it is a Nvidia GeForce 6200 256 Mb, so not so good. The Processor is 3Ghz single core and the RAM is 1GB.

Obviously (hopefully) i am looking for either parts i can put together, or a website that does it for you. Also it would need to be not overly expnsive.

Cheers, Senior Oddball

Teleporno

Sun Aug 31 08, 02:44PM

bizzare6543

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How much you willing to spend?

Watch my videos

Oddball

Sun Aug 31 08, 02:56PM

KA-fail.

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i dont have a fixed number yet, but im guessing around the region of Â£800

ta! Dougal

Sun Aug 31 08, 03:29PM

Smit's and Coci's Pimp

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hmmmmmmmmmmm

do you know how to build it yourself?

for a case i would suggest the Antec Sonata

it is what im using atm and its very neat and quiet

ati are currently making cheap graphics cards that are very good

Teamjobby || Andy

Sun Aug 31 08, 03:41PM

TeamJobby FTW

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the sonata is good dougal but the p180 make so much difference, the way it is laid out is so tidy and max's airflow thru the case. i suggest you go here for parts

Teleporno

Sun Aug 31 08, 04:11PM

bizzare6543

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Â£800 quid could get you a beast of a PC

Watch my videos

Oddball

Sun Aug 31 08, 04:19PM

KA-fail.

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so i see tele

Coci mentioned something about a Dutch version of e buyer, it only delivers to NL but is apparently extremely cheap. Would mean i would have to brave the North Sea to get it tho

Teleporno

Sun Aug 31 08, 04:35PM

bizzare6543

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Watch my videos

Teamjobby || Andy

Sun Aug 31 08, 04:37PM

TeamJobby FTW

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^^ dont get vista basic and dont get an ati graphics card

my only recomendations

ta! Dougal

Sun Aug 31 08, 04:54PM

Smit's and Coci's Pimp

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get xp, it's cheaper and better for games

zalman pure copper fans are a must as well
cools the cpu very efficiently

DUNK

Sun Aug 31 08, 05:21PM

william

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Oddball
I have just built a new PC and although i was lucky enough to get some 2nd hand components real cheap I had priced it up for a decent spec (E8400,4gb ram, xfi, 250gb hdd and a 9800gtx) and it was c Â£450. chuck in the money for the operating system, monitor, and new keyboard and mouse if needed and your Â£800 will go far.

you will easily be able to get a new nvidia 260. and the best case at the moment for a new build is either one of the Antec ranger 300,900 or 1200. Coolermaster Cosmos would be my choice on your budget tho.

Teleporno

Sun Aug 31 08, 05:54PM

bizzare6543

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Teamjobby | | Andy wrote ...

^^ dont get vista basic and dont get an ati graphics card

my only recomendations

Current ATI blows Nvidia outta the water, but I agree about vista basic, get ultimate downloaded.

Watch my videos

Oddball

Sun Aug 31 08, 07:41PM

KA-fail.

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thanks for the info dunk, and i think im just gonna get xp, means more juice towards games, and i have a few xp discs somewhere

Teamjobby || Andy

Sun Aug 31 08, 08:59PM

TeamJobby FTW

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Teleporno wrote ...

Teamjobby | | Andy wrote ...

^^ dont get vista basic and dont get an ati graphics card

my only recomendations

Current ATI blows Nvidia outta the water, but I agree about vista basic, get ultimate downloaded.

I kno that mate, but I've had a lot of ATI cards and just had bother with them. Only had a few Nvidia cards and never had any problems

Gus

Sun Aug 31 08, 09:08PM

Gus

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yea if you can avoid buying operating systems then is all good, i would recommend the ATI 4870 for great performance and value, definitely wont need anything more any time soon with all games being made on the UT3 and crytek engine for a while.
Like tele said Â£800 will get you an absolute beast so i would recommend spending more on reusable components than on throwaway bits and pieces. For example spend alot on psu/case/fans/mobo and less on cpu and ram which will only get cheaper. I think you probably spend a lot less than Â£800 and get some really nice high quality components.

My suggestions are a 750 watt corsair psu - very quiet and indestructable
the ati 4870 for great value and performance
64bit operating system with as much ram as you can be bothered to buy
i would suggest not spending more than Â£100 on cpu unless its for other stuff than gaming and general home use because no doubt the gpu will still be the bottle neck anyway.
think you can get away with spending about Â£500 unless you want screen/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc?

Gus

Sun Aug 31 08, 09:14PM

Gus

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lol just looked at teles shopping list, the guy knows his stuff

Teleporno

Sun Aug 31 08, 09:44PM

bizzare6543

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Btw you could shave some monies off with the MOBO i didnt think when i clicked on it

Watch my videos

.Tito's Funeral.

Sun Aug 31 08, 10:56PM

titosfuneral

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Guys, be aware that nvidea will be supporting PhysX from the 8400 up.

[yt=120,100]zZigGOPezYE[/yt][yt=120,100]Wq8QcrJCqko[/yt]
.Tito\\\'s Law. - You can\\\'t fall off the floor

DUNK

Mon Sep 01 08, 08:07AM

william

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Teleporno wrote ...

Teamjobby | | Andy wrote ...

^^ dont get vista basic and dont get an ati graphics card

my only recomendations

Current ATI blows Nvidia outta the water, but I agree about vista basic, get ultimate downloaded.

mmmm

Blows nvidia out of the water.............

mmmm

Benchamarks and reviews i have read dont show a resounding 4-2 away from home victory against their arch rivals.
Synthetic benchmarks are all fine and well but a few extra fps here or points in 3d mark are not enought imho. Put quite simply, ATI drivers and updates to them tend to be shocking and as rare as hens teeth. they have only just announced directX 10 support I think! You wouldnt buy a car if the manufacturer

agree with Gus on CPU. got meself a E7200 and for Â£90ish quid its more than I need, 4gb ram for the mo with future vista 64bit upgrade and 8gb to match.

|UKMD| safari jim

Mon Sep 01 08, 10:47AM

Â¯\(Âº_o)/Â¯

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agree with dunk. on agreeing with gus.

UKMD :.MajoR.:

Mon Sep 01 08, 11:35AM

I will eat your soul

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Agree with J!M, on agreeing with Dunk, who agreeded with Gus or sum like that

Ati vs Nvidia the choice like Intel vs AMD..

Well I think if u need serious card (not just for playing) get ATI coz its much better and u can do multiple stuff in same time but if u r more gamer then grab sum nice new Nvidia and u will be satisfy.

DUNK

Mon Sep 01 08, 12:41PM

william

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agree with the Maj's additional comments.

as tito says as well the physx drivers are available and I have these up and running.
i only have 1 game that supports it, Jericho and tbh the early scenes on this are fanbloodytastic.

Gus

Mon Sep 01 08, 04:33PM

Gus

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ok so as Dunk says the benchmarks are indeed one thing and thats why i suggest the ati cards at the moment. I dont own the card and ive also only ever bought nvidia lol so i cant say jack about the drivers and support from ati.
Still i would buy the 4870 though, it is the best card for the money and will be for some time to come with nothing of any note in the pipeline from nvidea and only the 4870 x2 which will cost a bomb from ati. If you dont fancy ati then i think go for 9800 GTX as that is cheap as chips and fairly good performance to boot or maybe even the GTX 260 which is also a good buy.

clicky clicky for further reading
and just to reiterate the most important thing for gaming is the gpu then all other components buy based on what else you do other than play games, you do not need to spend alot o money onf ram or cpu to play games these days at all so theres where you can really save some money.

[ Edited Mon Sep 01 08, 04:35PM ]

|UKMD| killers

Mon Sep 01 08, 04:57PM

Horror Rock/Punk till I die!

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Tele, does that MOBO in your piv support DDR2 aswell as DDR3. If not then the RAM is incompatible with the MOBO. Just to butt my nose in, other than that, an awesome rig there.

Lamb++

Mon Sep 01 08, 08:18PM

ppl put ur guns up

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just go buy custom pc and micro mart magazines and have a read

i still need a gfx card, but I'm limited to around Â£30 lol, was gonna get a 8800 off ebay but i keep being just outbid.

Â£800 is a fortune.

buying TIM+remover cost almost as much as the single core 3ghz pentium fireplace that i bought.

2x1gb DDR2 RAM Â£27.99
Pentium 4 3ghz processor Â£16.00
graphics card
motherboard Â£32.96
HDD 80gb Â£10.50
PSU 500w & Case Â£31.03
sound card 5.1 Â£5.63
monitor
Cd/dvd Drive Â£15.98
TIM stuff Â£10.57

[ Edited Mon Sep 01 08, 08:26PM ]

Oddball

Mon Sep 01 08, 08:46PM

KA-fail.

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Wow, i didnt know how much Â£800 would go O.o best i get saving. thanks everyone for the info given!

Teleporno

Mon Sep 01 08, 09:04PM

bizzare6543

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|UKMD| killers wrote ...

Tele, does that MOBO in your piv support DDR2 aswell as DDR3. If not then the RAM is incompatible with the MOBO. Just to butt my nose in, other than that, an awesome rig there.

It doesnt, was just a 5 min jobby looking for a cheapish mobo

Watch my videos

Gus

Mon Sep 01 08, 09:13PM

Gus

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wish i could afford to be spending money pn new kit, just dusted off (literally) an old pc with 1.2ghz pentim II, 128mb ram, pooey onboard gpu/soundcard to use as a server pc. Gunna spend Â£100 making it into a beast to run a dedicated server and some website from just for kicks.

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