Help - Dad needs help for Sons PC specification

S

Steviemac

Member
Help, im a 40 something Dad whos son is running rings around me computer/gaming wise.

he is currently using an old home PC running Vista that apparently isn't good enough to play GTA and edit his Youtube videos.

we have a joint budget of around £750 and I am bamboozled by the options available.
we have monitors/key boards etc, just need advice on the actual PC specification.

Can anyone advise please, many thanks in advance.

Stephen
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Case
InWIN G7 BRUSHED EFFECT DARK GREY CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4460 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, mDP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE RAINBOW SIX OR ASSASSINS CREED with select GTX 9 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £760.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-home-office-pc/T2FGABHzrM/
 
S

Steviemac

Member
Thanks ! This looks really impressive.
One small additional request, is there a way of incorporating some LEDs ?
Cant really go above the cost currently specified.

also is windows 10 OK? ive heard mixed reports. Thanks for your advice.

this is a great forum, ill recommend you to all my friends in similar position to myself.

Stephen
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Steviemac said:
Thanks ! This looks really impressive.
One small additional request, is there a way of incorporating some LEDs ?
Cant really go above the cost currently specified.

also is windows 10 OK? ive heard mixed reports. Thanks for your advice.

this is a great forum, ill recommend you to all my friends in similar position to myself.

Stephen
Click to expand...

If you can't afford more I wouldnt advice downgrading any component to add lights which will not add anything in terms of performance.
 
SmokeDarKnight

SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
Windows 10 is also fine, i've been running it on my main build since release and not had any issues with it at all. I would highly recommend it over 8.1.

It might feel a bit different but it will add to the feel of a new computer. :D
 
S

Steviemac

Member
Gaming/Video Editing PC

Hi Guys

I had posted a request in new members forum and got this amazing suggestion from Keynes. I have a budget of £750 and looking for a desktop for my son to game (GTA iV) and to edit his YouTube videos. I have keyboard/screen etc.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes...pc/T2FGABHzrM/


As I am a complete beginner , I have been reading lots of other posts and have a few questions :

1) why do some builds have 2 hard drives , typically one SSD and one "traditional"
2) It seems 8gb ram is more than enough for gaming
3) the graphics card specified in the build above is stated as 3D ready.i have no intention of going 3D (in fact didn't know you could) so ould I down spec this ?
4) why are builds typically supplied without Operating system ?
5) I have seen some suggestions that you could save on the build costs and buy your own OS at Kinguin. but this looks too good to be true - any experiences ?
6) is now a good time to buy, or are there Christmas offers likely to appear ?

I have been doing a lot of research for this PC, but this is by far the most friendly and useful forum I've found.
I really appreciate your help.

Stephen
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator

1) Many have an SSD for the OS and main programs, and one larger mechanical drive - the reasons for this are that the SSD makes the machine boot much much faster and whilst it'd be awesome to have everything on an SSD, they are more expensive that mechanical drives, so many people put data and other stuff on the mechanical drive that wouldn't benefit as much from the speed boost - basically its a money-saving ploy.
2) yep, unless you have some particularly RAM hungry games, video editing can benefit from more RAM but it depends how much editing he's doing.
3) lower end cards don't claim to be 3D but would make your son's gaming not look so nice, so I'd stay with the suggested card.
4) some people already have their own OS's (retails copies they already owned, students can often get free copies)
5) wouldn't know, but it sounds slightly iffy to me (that doesn't mean it is, but ....)
6) now is as good a time as ever, PCS do not do Xmas sales (or any other time sales) - they try to keep their prices as low as they can all year round.

That link doesn't work btw because its a link to a quote on your account and only you have access to it :) But I've merged the threads together anyway - it's best to stick to one thread where possible - means people don't end up asking questions that have already been answered :)
 
Last edited:
L

LFFPicard

Godlike
As above, but to add to the "3D Ready" cards, they are 3D ready, does not mean they can do 3D. The cards are capable of doing so but to do 3D you will need the NVIDIA 3D kit, and a 3D monitor.
 
S

Steviemac

Member
More questions.....

Hi - back again.

Really basic question - the build comes with a standard sound card. what are the benefis of upgrading here ? is it dependant on your speakers/headphones ?

does the graphics card GTX 970 support dual screens ?

if i was to add a SSD drive and down grade to the gtx 960 will that be a big reduction in performance ?

Cheers
Stephen
 
SmokeDarKnight

SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
Hello,

The motherboard will have a sound card built into it.

Yes the GPU can support 2 monitors, it can actually support up to 3 monitors and an additional one for non gaming use.

I wouldn't sacrifice your GPU for an SSD. An SSD can be added at a later date, where as a gpu you would have to sell and then buy a new one

Hope this helps
 
S

Steviemac

Member
thanks, again silly question, does the screen connect to the GPU by HDMI and does that mean the GPU has 3 HDMI sockets and 1 old fashioned multi pin socket ?
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, mDP - 3D Vision Ready
Click to expand...

Steviemac said:
thanks, again silly question, does the screen connect to the GPU by HDMI and does that mean the GPU has 3 HDMI sockets and 1 old fashioned multi pin socket ?
Click to expand...

The GTX970 has one DVI, one HDMI and one mDP (miniDisplayPort) port :)
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Re Q4. This is a minority thing as there are few Linux users but being able to buy a PC without an OS is great for us, the money saved on not having to pay for an OS is worth about 16GB of RAM or a 240GB SSD.
 
L

LFFPicard

Godlike
Rakk said:
The GTX970 has one DVI, one HDMI and one mDP (miniDisplayPort) port :)
Click to expand...

Ah does it though, this will depend on if they are using Palit or Zotac as I have noticed recently Zotac have been used. Although being reference cards they may be the same.
I have the 970 Asus Strix card and it has 2x DVI and a single HDMI. I have used 2x DVI-HDMI converters for my monitors and used the HDMI for my TV so I can play from my sofa :D
 
S

Steviemac

Member
Hi Guys, I'm back and ready to spend all Santas cash !

My son would rather have the Inwin 703 case, is there any reason this wouldn't be compatible with the build Keynes suggested earlier in the thread ?
also, as we have £800 is it possible to add an SSD or what should we spend the extra £50 on ?

As always, thanks for all your insights and advice.

Stephen
 
S

Steviemac

Member
PC Required £800 Budget

Hi Guys

Posted this earlier in response to one of my old threads, not sure if it was getting picked up , so have repeated as a new Thread.
Admin - can you make sure its in the right place ?

Cheers




Hi Guys, I'm back and ready to spend all Santas cash !

My son would rather have the Inwin 703 case, is there any reason this wouldn't be compatible with the build Keynes suggested earlier in the thread ?
also, as we have £800 is it possible to add an SSD or what should we spend the extra £50 on ?

As always, thanks for all your insights and advice.

Stephen



Here is the original specification from Keynes.

Case
InWIN G7 BRUSHED EFFECT DARK GREY CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4460 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - DVI, HDMI, mDP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE RAINBOW SIX OR ASSASSINS CREED with select GTX 9 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £760.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Case shouldn't be an issue otherwise the configurator will flag up any incompatibility. Ssd is a good choice if budget allows
 
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