What do you think of this?

[Wigglyamps]

Hi all,

My old Dell is on it's last legs and I want to replace it with something that can handle some of the new games like titanfall etc, I was wondering what people thought of the pc that Maplin are selling (see link below), would it be cheaper to build it myself or do you know of any better deals?

Thanks for any replies
Wigglyamps

PC Specialist Vulcan GTX Intel i3-4160 Dual Core Gaming PC | Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/pc-specialist-vulcan-gtx-intel-i3-4160-dual-core-gaming-pc-a20qy)

[mixture]

would it be cheaper to build it myself or do you know of any better deals?

As attractive as the prospect of building one yourself might sound, unless you really fancy the prospect of troubleshooting individual components, you are almost certainly likely to be better off buying an OEM machine "off the shelf" and leaving the support of the hardware as a whole to the OEM.

I've built stuff myself in the past and its generally been more hassle than its worth.... if you value your time a decent OEM machine is money well spent !

Personally, if I were you, I'd go for one of the larger OEM brands (e.g. Dell, HP, Acer etc.) rather than something random stocked by Maplin.

Finally, I'd avoid anything with an Intel i3 unless you seriously can't afford anything better .... i5 should be de-minimis, and i7 if you want a little future proofing.

[Don Coyote]

Graphics card is getting on a bit too. As mixture mentioned i5 minimum (preferably i7) but the graphics card is where the work is done for games so a GTX780 or later will be better.

Obviously all this will put the price up but I reckon you will need to spend around £1000 for a box if you don't want it to start wheezing on the latest games too quickly. Keyboard, monitor etc will be on top of that.

I had a good experience with Dino PC on my current computer.

[KelvinD]

I couldn't imagine spending that much on a PC!
When it comes to building it yourself, there are varying degrees of building one.
You can either start off with a motherboard and add all the bits. On the other hand, you can do what I do; buy a "bundle" and add the bits you want.
I have been doing this for a number of years and have only ever had to buy newer machines in order to upgrade. I have never spent more than an hour or so swapping, for example, a hard drive from an old machine to a new one.
Re processors; I haven't bought an Intel based machine for about 20 years, always using AMD and never had a problem with them. I am not saying Intel or AMD are better, it has just been my experience. The reason I went with AMD all those years ago was that, at that time, they were better at the number crunching such as that needed for games.
I tend to get mine from Novatech, partly because they are located not too far from me but they are reasonably priced (I know there are cheaper sources) and they have a pretty good repair/replacement service.

[mixture]

The reason I went with AMD all those years ago was that, at that time, they were better at the number crunching such as that needed for games.

Suspect that's changed a bit in the last 20 years !!

Intel's R&D expenditure has been increasing year on year since the mid 2000's, so AMD are somewhat dwarfed by Intel's might these days.

You also have to bear in mind that given Intel's dominance, the computer under the programmer's desk is likely to be Intel and therefore their code and compiler optimisations are likely to be weighted in favour of Intel.

The current generation of i5/i7 Intel chips are certainly nothing to be sniffed at.

[Wigglyamps]

Thankyou all for your replies, looks like I might have to raid the piggy bank and spend a bit more for a better chip/ graphics card, anyone lend me a tenner?:rolleyes:

[pulse1]

I don't know much about computers but, on the recommendation of my son, I have just replaced my 10 year old desktop with a Cube Ace for £230. I wouldn't know but he seems to think it is working OK. The graphics are certainly good when using a large flat screen TV as monitor for games or films.

cube ace at box.co.uk (http://www.box.co.uk/cube-ace)

[Saab Dastard]

I have always found Maplins to be pricy. I'm sure you will get the same spec for less elsewhere - or a better spec for the same money.

Building your own is very satisfying but unlikely to work out cheaper, unless you are utilising 2nd hand parts / spare parts / ebay finds etc.

I've built 3 of the 4 current home PCs (all with same generation AMD CPUs) from scratch, based on a combination of the above parts with new where necessary. All happily running Win 7 with rock-solid performance. Now considering SSDs to replace boot drives.

SD

[Mac the Knife]

Bloody hell! I've built every single one of my machines (apart from the Apples) right back to the Altair 8800, S-100 bus and ST-506 days!

These days it is so simple that if you can't build your own machine you probably shouldn't be using a computer!

And you just might learn something in the process, instead of being a typical user moron.

Mac

:ok:

[ShyTorque]

I've never bought a "big name" PC. I've been building my own since 1995 after I watched a Chinese youth put one together for me in a back street shop in Hong Kong. I bought two big manuals, one about PC architecture and the other about DOS and taught myself all I needed to know. The only ready built one I have owned is the present one; I bought it because it was a very good deal, so much so that I couldn't build it myself for much less and it came with an OE windows package included. It broke down after a day; I diagnosed the power supply had a poorly soldered joint. Rather than open the PS case and void the warranty I took it back and got them to replace it. It has provided very good service for four years now. It gets a good clean out a couple of times a year with a paint brush and vacuum cleaner and while I'm at it, the heat transfer paste on the CPU gets renewed.

Now everything is wifi compatible, I'm not sure I'll ever replace it with another, time will tell whether or not I eventually treat myself to a modern laptop and free up the desk space.

[Mac the Knife]

"Now considering SSDs to replace boot drives."

Check your SATA speeds on the mobos first. If SATA 1 (1.5Gb/s) it'll be no faster that a quick HDD (made that mistake). Even SATA II at 3.0gb/s isn't ideal. With SATA III at 6Gb/s they'll really fly!

Mac

:(