best gaming pc value 2012 image
Jon
I want to buy a Gaming PC but i don't know where to get it and i wont to know trusted places because some of them don't look professional. The reason i don't wont to build one is because i don't wont to mess it up and be out the money and still not have a PC. ( Not Alien ware because they are a little over priced)
Answer
A gaming computer is something you build, you don't just buy one from a store, really.
It is not at all hard to build a gaming PC, even a 13 year old kid can do it, and I've seen lots of them here that did just that.
Very detailed instructions are available if you Google on the subject, even Newegg.com has video tutorials on building a PC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw&feature=player_embedded
Buy all your parts from Newegg.com or Amazon.com, they are the cheapest
All branded computers sold in stores (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Acer, Asus and such) are not 100% fitted for gaming, as the manufacturers will always try to use the cheapest hardware they can find and sell for the highest profit possible.
Even if one such computer has a good processor and graphics card, it will most likely have a cheap motherboard, with an older model chipset. Also all branded computers are setup by the manufacturers not to allow for any overclocking, as it will mean a loss for them to fix or replace damaged hardware while in warranty.
Here is a complete list of components to buy for a very good to best gaming PC build:
All prices are in $USD, from newegg.com, and current as of April 2012.
PROCESSOR: Best budget processor: Intel Core i3-2130 ($150) - best budget 4 threads, dual core processor.
Best value and performance processor: Intel Core i5-2500K quad core ($220)
Best in class, price accessible processor: Intel Core i7-2600K quad core ($320)
CPU COOLER: Get a good after market processor heat sink and 120mm fan. The stock Intel CPU cooler is crap.
Either a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO or Sunbeam Twister 120 - Cost $35 to $50
Or you can get a water cooler, like Corsair H60 or H80 ($70 or $105)
MOTHERBOARD: For any processor above, get a motherboard with socket LGA1155 and chipset Z68, at least this $120 GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495
MEMORY (RAM): Both the processor and the motherboard feature fast dual channel memory, so only buy RAM in identical pairs, to enable dual channel memory operation.
Get an 8GB dual kit (two x 4GB) DDR3 1600 G.Skill Ripjaws X Series or Corsair Vengeance ($50)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 (8GB two x 4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345 (8GB two x 4GB)
GRAPHICS CARD: at least a GeForce GTX460 Fermi or AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6790 (or better), choose any with a 2200 score or higher from this benchmark list:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
The best graphics card would be GeForce GTX680 or GTX580
HARD DRIVE (HDD): 1TB Seagate Barracuda or Samsung Spinpoint SATA III (6.0Gb/s) 7200rpm, 64MB Cache hard drive ($115)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840
PSU: A good power supply, 600 watts or bigger (depends on the graphics card you choose), 80 plus certified form Thermaltake, Enermax, Cooler Master, Antech, Corsair or OCZ.
PC CASE: Any PC Case (full or mid tower), with bottom mount for the power supply, either ATX or μATX (micro ATX) size.
I recommend either any of the Sentey Series (Sentey Extreme Division Arvina is what I got) or Cooler Master HAF ($60 to $150)
http://www.newegg.com/Store/Brand.aspx?Brand=13670&name=The-Sentey-at-Newegg&Tpk=Sentey
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=haf&x=0&y=0
OPTICAL DRIVE: any cheap $15 to $25 DVD multi writer drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM for your operating system ($100):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Cost: From $800 on up to over $1500, depending on processor, graphics card, power supply and case you choose.
A good, full HD 1080p (1920x1080), LED backlit 27inch monitor will cost you around $260 to over $300.
Any cheap USB mouse and keyboard for about $30 to $50, or spend more for expensive gaming style ones.
Good luck.
The only other viable solution would be to custom order a gaming PC from places like AVADirect, iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC and such. They will build a gaming PC with almost all specs of your choice but you will pay considerably more as if you build that yourself.
DO NOT buy Alienware, they are Dell crap and also way overpriced.
what do i need in a gaming computer?
RoHrShAcK
Im looking for a desktop. Im having trouble trying to find a computer that's right for my tastes. I want something that will last. I want it to run almost crystal clear, the graphics dont have to be amazing but i want it to run as smooth as possible.
Maybe an even better question is, what is the key component in having a fast computer?
Im most likely just going to use that computer for playing DayZ and Diablo 3. Probably other future games as well.
Answer
Be a builder not a box buyer and take control of your PC. Buy the best Intel CPU you can afford and build around it, as for GPU you can't do any better that Kepler GTX690, 680 or 670 and in a few week the biggest bang for your GPU buck the GTX660 ti will be out. Don't skimp on mobo and PSU, get at least 8GB of memory.
Performance Analysis
With the addition of numbers for the Intel Core i3-2100 and Core i5-2400 in some of our benchmarks, it's plain to see that even with a price cut, the FX-8120 struggles in most of our tests. In very multi-threaded tests such as Cinebench and WPrime, it just about manages to hold its own against the similarly-priced Intel Core i5-2400 - slightly ahead in WPrime, a little behind in Cinebench and noticeably faster than the cheaper Core i3-2100. The Core i5-3570K is much faster in both tests, but then it costs around £30 more.
Our image editing test was a real let down with the FX-8120. It came bottom of the graph, being trounced by a staggering 500 points by the Core i3-2100 - a CPU that costs just £90. Even the ageing AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition was considerably faster while the similarly priced Intel Core i5-2400 was nearly twice as fast. Clearly, if you do any amount of photo editing, the AMD FX-8120 represents particularly poor value.
With eight cores at its disposal, you'd think the FX-8120 might stand a good chance in our video encoding test. Sadly this wasn't to be and its score of 2,150 was over 400 points short of the Core i5-2400. Thankfully for the FX-8120, the Core i3-2100 was noticeably slower, with its two physical and two virtual cores not able to keep up.
Everything started to fall away from the FX-8120 again in our multi-tasking test, where it was yet again at the bottom of the pile, coming 100 points short of the much cheaper Core i3-2100, while the Core i5-2400 was nearly 50% faster - pretty damning result. Overall, it was no surprise to see the FX-8120 rock bottom, bettered by the Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition and Core i3-2100 and trounced by the Core i5-2400.
Our game test lacks data for the two Sandy Bridge CPUs as we tested these some time ago, however, with the Intel Core i5-3570K retailing for just £30-40 more, it's clear from our results that the FX-8120 isn't a great buy for games either. The Intel CPU was 60 per cent faster in Arma II while costing around 30 per cent more - not a bad rate of return if you can afford the extra layout.
Conclusion,
Sadly, its more of the same bad news for AMD or anyone with a Socket AM3+ motherboard looking for a decent CPU for around the £150 mark. The FX-8120 just isn't a good choice when it comes to the kind of applications we run on our PCs. It's regularly outpaced by far cheaper Intel dual-core CPUs, while the similarly-priced Intel Core i5-2400 is significantly faster in many of our tests. It's not all bad news for AMD - before we get accused of being biased towards Intel, we have no qualms recommending the A8-3870K for those looking to build a budget gaming PC, while we also recommend many of its graphics cards.
As it stands, the FX-8120 will have to be a lot cheaper for it to be worth considering over an equivalently-priced Intel setup, while owners of the Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition can rest assured that there aren't any worthwhile upgrades yet.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2012/07/27/amd-fx-8120-review/8
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