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Question

Help - Buying a New Gaming PC

Mar 12, 2015 12:12AM PDT

Hi all

Just thought I'd pop on here and ask for a quick bit of advice from those far more knowledgeable than I.

I would like to buy a new gaming PC, with all the bells and whistles (or as many as I can afford).

My current machine is a Dell XPS, and that has lasted me for 7-8 years (with a few replacement parts and RAM upgrades along the way). I would like something that is going to be similarly as future proof.

At the time I went with Dell simply because I had a bad experience buying off a specialist PC manufacturer and have had nothing but good experiences with Dell's in-warranty and after-warranty care.

I generally tend to play single-player RPGs and FPSs though that is not by any means all that I play. Recent graphically intensive games of preference - in case it makes a difference - have been Bioshock Infinite, a (heavily modded) Skyrim, and the Mass Effect series. Desperately want to play DA: Inquisition, but waiting for the new rig to do so!

Budget is around £1,200, but for that I would like to get a new monitor, keyboard and mouse as well.

Preferably, I would like the machine to be slim-form or at least a sensible size and not a monster - the XPS is bigger than my 2 year old son! The ability to tinker around inside would also be good, but my knowledge only really extends to upgrading the hard drive, and swapping out RAM etc, so I wouldn't be looking to do anything too tricky.

I am tempted by the Chillblast Fusion Probe (http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Probe.html). It seems to tick all of the above boxes, but I have only been able to find one review (on PC Advisor - a year old, which suggests to me it may not be top range now) and I'm not really an expert. I would be really grateful for any views on this machine, or any other recommendations.

Huge thanks in advance for any advice. And apologies if this is the wrong place to post this question - it was my best guess!

Cheers

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Ever consider some major updates to that XPS?
Mar 12, 2015 3:22AM PDT

Frankly between a SSD and a current gen video card you may best your new PC by miles. Why? You've read this I hope:
"Our tests demonstrate fairly little difference between a $225 LGA 1155 Core i5-2500K and a $1000 LGA 2011 Core i7-3960X, even when three-way graphics card configurations are involved. It turns out that memory bandwidth and PCIe throughput don't hold back the performance of existing Sandy Bridge-based machines. "
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html

So the major issue with many older machines is boot and load time as well as frame rates.

Boot times can be cured with a SSD. I like this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-recommendation-benchmark,3269.html

Game frame rates are the GPU (still!) and this link helps be get the most bang:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Bob

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Re: Ever consider some major updates to that XPS?
Mar 12, 2015 4:09AM PDT

Many thanks for your message, Bob.

To be honest, my thoughts as regards simply upgrading the existing rig were two-fold:

(1) The XPS is now quite elderly - not that old is bad, of course :o) - and well used over the years, and so I had assumed, perhaps erroneously, that so many of the components were old hat that it was more effective to buy a new system; and

(2) I am not sure I am either technically competent or confident enough to be swapping out CPU's etc. I'm happy to swap out the RAM, hard drives etc (basically anything that needs little more than just plugging in), but other than than, I'm not so sure. For example, whilst I can understand some of the first link you kindly provided, a lot of it is like another language!

Hence, I thought it may just be easier and, if not more cost-effective then at least not too much more expensive, to buy a new machine.

Plus, and whilst I am of course in no way swayed by this - the wife hates the size of the XPS! :o) It's been a good machine though.

Ham

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I would not swap out a CPU.
Mar 12, 2015 4:31AM PDT

That's why I gave up that nugget about the i5 versus the i7 for gaming.

As to the size of the XPS, it's probably why it lasted so long. Small cases are bad for high end gaming. And while some point to a PS4 or XBOX One, well those are not on par performance wise with a 2015 gamer rig. (heresy!)
Bob

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Will leave you alone soon!
Mar 12, 2015 10:21PM PDT

Hmm, interesting. I knew that heat and airflow were important issues for a gaming PC but I hadn't appreciated that the size of the case could have such a potentially detrimental effect on the lifetime of the rig? Logical, I suppose.

Thanks for the advice. On that basis, I will focus on a mid/normal size tower, and a rig with an i5 chip (given the apparent negligible improvement offered b the i7) and whatever the bees knees GPU is (probably the GTX970 from the looks of it). And probably go for a proper cooling system to make it last.

As an aside, do you have any views on whether a seperate soundcard (likely on the lower end of the price spectum) offers significantly enhanced sound when compared to on-board audio (on a Z97-A mobo)? I have a pair of AudioEngline A2+ speakers, but that is a two speaker set up and I have no plans for either a 2.1 or 5.1 or more. Having a look at various forums suggets that either the difference is negligible given the number of speakers, or at least I should stick with on-board and see how it goes, but I wonder if you have any views?

Many thanks for your advice Bob, it is very much appreciated.

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Why yes, I have a view on soundcards.
Mar 13, 2015 1:07AM PDT
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Answer
Opinion
Mar 12, 2015 3:02AM PDT

If I'm going to build a gaming rig.

Mid tower case....think heat or rather how to get rid of it.
Atx mobo.
I'm not going to over clock....think heat..there will be plenty of it with gaming.

Perhaps that's why that xps/monster lasted so long.