Overclocking Buying a New Gaming PC in the UK

I'm looking for a Gaming PC to last me the next few years. I have a £3500ish budget, thought about building it myself but I would prefer pre-built with a warranty for 2-3 years. Any suggestions? I've looked @ www.Alienware.co.uk and www.uber-ware.co.uk so far. Quite like the Godlike. Thoughts?

 

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

They have plenty of range and even come pre-overclocked.

 

Because you said "pre-build" desktop computer on your post, at this computer enthusiasts forum, you'll be blasted with why custom build is better. Which is in reality true... So let me just lay down everything, custom build offers you:
- 3 to life time warranty on your hardware, by default.
- You get far superior product quality
- You can customize the computer to your needs, including getting one very quiet (high quality heatsink and fans) to extremely quiet (water cooling).
- You pay less for what you get.
- More room for overclock-ability which is interesting in extended the computer for another year or two. - Look at my computer (see signature).. it's mid-2005 technology.. it's over 5 years old, and I can still play the latest and greatest games at max max settings under 1920x1200, tanks to the overclock I performed end of last year. Today, it shows signs of stress (CPU too slow), but hey I can hold out until December. I run Win7 64-bit perfectly smoothly of course. The only upgrade I did, was my GPU, that is all. And the reason for that is my initial GPU was a Geforce 6600GT, which was already a weak GPU to start with ( I was waiting for the 8800 series, but with overclocking my GPU, was able to hold out until the 260, especially that I had a 17inch monitor back then). Oh, and my CPU is very quiet at idle, despite the big overclock.
- If a problem arise you can send only the part for repair and not your hole computer. SO if your dedicated sound card doesn't work anymore, you can send your sound card for repair, use the onBoard sound card for the moment, and keep the computer, while with an OEM, you have to ship your hole computer tower to them, wait 1 to 2 weeks an then get it back.. that is 1-2 weeks of not having a computer.
- Assembling a computer is easy, with it's "if it fits it works" layout, and color matching to make things even more easy.
- Personal knowledge you gain, in better understanding on how a computer works.
- No propitiatory components or plugs used, meaning if you want to upgrade, you can with ease. (Note that on some OEM, if you upgrade any components, it void the whole computer warranty... please read the warranty term carefully. Usually Business lines system are fine).
- No junk installed on your system.

Now that all is been mentioned, I can safely say that you are not ready for our advise.
- How long do you plan to keep your system?
- What do you do with it?
- What resolution your screen is? Do you plan to add another one, or change it?
- What models do you have in mind?
- Do you want a small factor computer?
- Do you have any favorite brands?
- What are your future plan with the computer?
- What drive capacity you are you looking at?
- What do you have NOW?

Sorry, but you can't expect for us to come and mention 1-2 model to consider, our needs is different form each other and yours.

 

For Gods sake build you own!

 

If you buy an Alienware, be prepared to be shunned at every LAN you go to. At least if you go for the no brain option of getting it pre-built, at least get it done by Scan so you'll actually get a decent PC rather than a farcical Alienware.

 

If you're insisting on spending £3500 you could do a lot worse than asking your local PC repair shop to buy all the parts in this system and paying them £500 to build it nicely. Then get a 30" screen, a good set of 5.1 speakers and count the change.

 

With Alienware, you pay sooo much extra for a case that is "all show and no go", lots of LED's and a fancy design, but not very good at cooling. Plus a brand name that has now lost the little reputation it had when they were bought, as they are now part of Dell *spit*

 

Leave the poor fella alone, I mean rich

 

Where do you live? I'll spec it and build it for you if you want You could have a lot of fun with £3500 - some serious watercooling for one.

 

Geeze guys. Not such a warm welcome ... Admitedly a post that's like a red rag to a bull in these parts, but still.

DoomWeaver - being the 'custom pc' & bit-tech forum, we are very pro build it yourself.

We come up against alienware rigs regularly - where people are trying to do simple overclocks etc. But the alienware hardware is holding them back.

The right question to ask here would be something like "what computer should I build if I have a really fat budget. I love to game and want to run a 30 inch panel. Would love some suggestions" ... Or some such.

If you really have no idea about how to build, then scan and overclockers.co.uk often have systems that use decent components. Please don't buy alienware

 

If you want to get a prebuilt PC, i'd stick with SCAN because they know what they're doing. however the money you save by building yourself, can be used to either buy uprated parts, or more parts (dedicated sound card, SSD device, peripherals, etc)

Consider what you plan to use the PC for and how long you're hoping to keep it. that way you may not need to spend all of your £3500 budget on the PC, and have something left over for other indulgances (new games, Awesome toys, blackjack, hookers, etc...)

 

DoomWeaver go to scan, call them on 0871-472-4747 tell them what you want and they will build you a PC of your dreams and then some.

Wasting money on a unnecessary customized powderrcoated case is a waste as it buying too big of a ssd drive.

£2k is all you need to spend really.

 

:'(

a £3500 gaming rig!!!

me wants

 

GRAPHICS: XFX HD 5870 Graphics Card - £313.69 x4 CrossFire = £1254,76

PROCESSOR: Intel i7 930 CPU - £216.40

CPU COOLER: Titan Fenrir V2 TTC-NK85TZ - £28.78

PSU: Silverstone 1000 W Olympia - £140.98

BOARD: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 - £434.26

RAM: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) - £137.45

CASE: CC800DW - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D - £207.49

OPTIC DRIVE: SH-B083L/RSBP - Samsung Blu-Ray Combo Player - £49.98

HDD: 1TB Seagate ST31000528AS Barracuda: £52.84

2TB Western Digital WD20EVDS - £105.73

DISPLAY: Dell 27" LCD Monitor - £879.71

TOTAL: £3506


EDIT: My sister had to hit the submit Post button because I had a seizure configuring the possible specs of this monster... ME WANTSSS :'(

 

Quad CrossFire, UD9, then 1333 DDR3 and no SSD fail. p

Just stick with one 5870 and then add another if it's not enough. Use that cash to get a Crucial C300 SSD and a cheaper case than the OHSOEXPENSIVE Corsair.

Get an X58A-UD5 or Asus P6X-something, 12GB of DDR3 (4GBx3), 128/256GB C300 with 2TB data drive, ~850W PSU, a Corsair C50/Fenrir and that Dell or a new Apple Cinema display.

Or just call Scan and buy a Dream PC

 

If I had a budget of £3500 then I'd be looking at an i7 980 paired with a ATI 5970.

Although building it yourself is usually better, I've seen a few pre-built machines where I couldn't build the same spec myself for less money, although that tends to me more budget-based machines.

 

Hey mate!

Yeah, sorry, everyone here loves building PCs as its half the fun, so we always suggest you build your own. However, not everyone has the time/desire/knowledge to build their own, so as others have suggested Scan is a very good option. If you do want something a bit flashier (because I can see why you might), you could try Cyberpower. You can configure the PC pretty much how you like, they have a good selection of parts, and will add things like lighting etc if you want it. I have to say, I haven't used them myself, but they are an established brand.

 

Another problem with the spec quoted by paisa666 is that the UD9 won't fit in an Obsidian case.

The UD9 needs a case with 9 expansion slots; I'm pretty sure that the Obsidian range doesn't have that many.

 

Everything fits with enough force.

Supported case list (from Gigabyte)
http://download.gigabyte.asia/FileList/Chassis/Chassis-Support-List.pdf

Chris is correct, this board will not fit, it's an XL-ATX.

 

The ATCS 840 is on Scan's Today Only page today @ £139.

That beast will fit anything...