[mjh93sa]

... and a handheld for gaming on the move?

[booforty]

Remember my budget is £1,000 everyone!!! I don't want a games console. I said a PC or a Mac but not sure which is best to give me a bit of everything I need...

[scotw]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Remember my budget is £1,000 everyone!!! I don't want a games console. I said a PC or a Mac but not sure which is best to give me a bit of everything I need...

Sadly we've said it, if you want an all-rounder, its a PC. You just have to choose the make and model now. Just remember to get at least 2GB of RAM and an 8800GT/GTS/GTX depending on budget.

[SoYank]

This is what you really, really need: http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/ and it fits inside your budget, too.

[mjh93sa]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Okay guys, I need your advice.

I'm not a computer expert...

I guess that's the basic thing to consider, eh Paul?

I'm guessing that you really don't want to poke around actually building a system as you don't have a clue as to what is involved .

[booforty]

Originally Posted by mjh93sa

I guess that's the basic thing to consider, eh Paul?

I'm guessing that you really don't want to poke around actually building a system as you don't have a clue as to what is involved .

Correct, I can't build a PC!! Looks like the best allrounder is going to be a PC...

[NFS]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Correct, I can't build a PC!! Looks like the best allrounder is going to be a PC...

If you want to play games - you need a PC.

A good quality system will run games as well as any console and for shooting games a mouse and keypad beats a gamepad hands down.

Plus ... if you want to play driving games you can buy a logitech G25 wheel and pedals.

And you can DEFINITELY build one yourself. It's very easy indeed.

[vivekk]

Paul, based purely on my own personal experience of using & building PCs for several years, & now of using the Macbook & the iMac, I think you won't go far wrong with a Mac.

However, based on the fact that you're being ' tight ' & your own particular needs, I think a good spec PC will work well for you.

It's true that you will be at an advantage having a good specced PC, over the Mac, but it really does depend what your needs are.

As Ben (Bumps) says, there are some advantages to having a console- I love using the Wii & am still waiting to try out the tennis with 4 handsets- perhaps we should set it up at UK5- Oli & Carlos v Steve & Calvin!

Both machines are quite capable of producing & sharing Office documents without any problem, whether it be using Office on the PC or on the Mac, using Mac Bootcamp (to boot straight into Windows XP/Vista) or using a virtual OS environment, such as Parallels or VMWare.

Personally, I've programmed, used & upgraded computers from the Sinclair ZX81 I had at school in 1981, followed by various machines, including the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 & Amiga, Dell PCs, Shuttles & Qbics & now the iMac.

In all that time, I've got to say that I've never been really happy, until I started using the Macbook & the iMac.
They put the 'personal' back into 'personal computer'- something no PC has ever really been able to do for me.

All the best.

Viv

[mjh93sa]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Plus ... if you want to play driving games you can buy a logitech G25 wheel and pedals.

There's one in front of me now.

Originally Posted by needforspeed

And you can DEFINITELY build one yourself. It's very easy indeed.

Once you get over the initial trepidation it is pretty easy. However, if you are looking to replace your software as well then you do have to balance the costs against a built system with bundled software.

[Evil Diesel]

I got the iMac in November and am still delighted - I had an old G4 PowerMac before which just kept on going with the occasional mod. Got an XPS 600 sitting around somewhere but rarely use it and a Dell Lattitude laptop.

Games are better on PC's but overall the iMac is the best for everything else so it depends on what you are going to do on it.

If you are intested in music and want to run Cubase / Reason etc the latency is, and always has been, far lower on the apple.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Evil Diesel

If you are intested in music and want to run Cubase / Reason etc the latency is, and always has been, far lower on the apple.

This is a good point, I played around a bit with MIDI using Cubase and Sonar recently and latency (delay) is a big issue.

My understanding is that this can be overcome on PC with a decent soundcard. The biggest issue is with the quality of onboard sound processors and associated drivers, rather than anything specific to PC or Mac.

http://www.practicalpc.co.uk/computi...d/latency1.htm

[booforty]

In terms of % use, I currently use my PC for the following:

Internet and email 50%
Gaming 35%
MS Office 15%

I don't currently do any music editing but I would like to do this on my replacement computer. % use for this will probably be about 20% in lieu of internet and email.

Viv wants to speak to me about iMacs before I make a decision but having looked back at NFS's suggested spec, I ran this through PC specialist and can get a cracking deal for £1,089. Here's the spec:

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 (4 X 2.40GHz)
2GB CORSAIR XMS2 RAM
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME: DUAL DDR2, MOTHERBOARD
500GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)
20x Dual Layer LightScribe DVD Writer ±R/±RW/RAM
16x DVD-ROM WITH 48x CD-ROM
512MB GEFORCE 8800GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio 7.1
700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 19 dBA INTEL CPU COOLER

PLUS, a 22 Inch Wide TFT Monitor!!

What do you guys think? NFS, is this as good as the spec you suggested?

Cheers

[NFS]

Originally Posted by beauforty

In terms of % use, I currently use my PC for the following:

Internet and email 50%
Gaming 35%
MS Office 15%

I don't currently do any music editing but I would like to do this on my replacement computer. % use for this will probably be about 20% in lieu of internet and email.

Viv wants to speak to me about iMacs before I make a decision but having looked back at NFS's suggested spec, I ran this through PC specialist and can get a cracking deal for £1,089. Here's the spec:

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 (4 X 2.40GHz)
2GB CORSAIR XMS2 RAM
ASUS STRIKER EXTREME: DUAL DDR2, MOTHERBOARD
500GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)
20x Dual Layer LightScribe DVD Writer ±R/±RW/RAM
16x DVD-ROM WITH 48x CD-ROM
512MB GEFORCE 8800GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio 7.1
700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 19 dBA INTEL CPU COOLER

PLUS, a 22 Inch Wide TFT Monitor!!

What do you guys think? NFS, is this as good as the spec you suggested?

Cheers

That's a pretty good system.

I have a dual core E6600 @ 2.4GHz and a 320MB BFG 8800GTS OC.

I can play Crysis on Medium / High settings, your suggested system should do a fair bit better.

The best scores on 3dmark06 (PC benchmarking site) for comparable systems are being set by people with the striker extreme motherboard.

Whats the detail of the monitor though? If it's not a good brand you might be better of ditching it and buying one separately. No point in spending a grand on a good system if the display sucks.

It might also be worth looking at a dual core extreme eg E6850 3.0GHz processor instead of the Quad core. They are quicker and apparently most software isn't using all 4 cores yet.

[booforty]

Thanks NFS, I appreciate your knowledge and views.

Whats a a 320MB BFG 8800GTS OC? Is that your graphics card? Interestingly there is a 768MB GEFORCE 8800GTX graphics card available too!

In terms of the Monitor, for an extra £30, I could upgrade to an LG branded 22" monitor. Perhaps I should buy a monitor separately as you say. Where would you suggest for monitors?

[- Paul -]

I picked up my 22" widescreen from Dell for around £160. When buying a screen , have a look at the response times. The lower the better. Any around 6ms or under will do for gaming.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Thanks NFS, I appreciate your knowledge and views.

Whats a a 320MB BFG 8800GTS OC? Is that your graphics card? Interestingly there is a 768MB GEFORCE 8800GTX graphics card available too!

In terms of the Monitor, for an extra £30, I could upgrade to an LG branded 22" monitor. Perhaps I should buy a monitor separately as you say. Where would you suggest for monitors?

Yep .. that's my graphics card. It's a factory overclocked version of the 8800GTS.

The 8800GT you have specified should be as good or better:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/

Not quite as good as the GTX, but better value (GTX is still pricy).

LCD monitors respond more slowly that CRT screens, so for gaming you need a decent one, otherwise the images will lag. You also want a digital input to take advantage of your graphics card, which the very cheaper generic monitors sometimes lack.

I like Samsung at the moment, as they have very good response times (<2ms) and excellent contrast ratios for deep blacks.

Just check out Dabs / Ebuyer and Amazon to see who is cheapest on a given day. This is the best option:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...0000,379430000

I have this one - which is the earlier version:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...0000,379430000

I was so pleased with it I bought a 40inch Samsung TV as well.

Samsung and Sony are making TV's jointly at the moment, so same quality.

[booforty]

Thanks Paul and NFS.

Out of interest, why is the Intel Core2 Duo E6850 quicker than the Intel Core2 Quad Q6600? With the name "Quad" you expect this to be faster than the "Duo"??

As you are so clued up on the various companents NFS, would you mind specing up the fastest possible PC for c.£1k on pcspecialist for me? Exclude a monitor as I can get this separately. Doesn't matter if its slightly over budget. Cheers!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Thanks Paul and NFS.

Out of interest, why is the Intel Core2 Duo E6850 quicker than the Intel Core2 Quad Q6600? With the name "Quad" you expect this to be faster than the "Duo"??

As you are so clued up on the various companents NFS, would you mind specing up the fastest possible PC for c.£1k on pcspecialist for me? Exclude a monitor as I can get this separately. Doesn't matter if its slightly over budget. Cheers!

A few years ago it was easy to compare intel processor speeds. You just got the fastest processor so a 3.4GHz was better than a 3.0GHz one.

With Dual Core, the concept is that the chip will be as fast as 2 individual processors of the frequency. With Quad Core it should be as fast as 4.

In practice though, software does not necessarily utilise the cores as if they were individual processors, so this doesn't alsways follow.

These charts give some idea of processor speeds for different applications. As you can see the core 2 extremes are usually faster than the core 2 quad, but the quads are not always better than the standard core 2 duo's with high BUS speeds.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

That said, my e6600 is perfectly acceptable so anything above that would be great.

I'll have a look at the site later on.

Actually .. just had a quick look. I would go for the Dual Core E6850 - it's only £40 more than the Q6600 and will be quicker a lot of the time (eg on photoshop or itunes)

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...=882&chart=437

The rest of your spec is fine, but maybe get the 'xtreme music' soundcard.

[booforty]

Great website for comparing! The Dual Core E6850 does seem the best given my budget.

In terms of RAM, is 2GB sufficient? When I select 4GB it asks to change Windows software to the 64-bit version. Is it worth the hassle going up to 4GB of RAM?

[GarryF]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Great website for comparing! The Dual Core E6850 does seem the best given my budget.

In terms of RAM, is 2GB sufficient? When I select 4GB it asks to change Windows software to the 64-bit version. Is it worth the hassle going up to 4GB of RAM?

32 bit operating systems are limited to approx 3GB, if you want to use all the 4GB you need to install 64 bit OS. The problem with 64 bit Vista is you need drivers for all your hardware, you might have a scanner that doesn't have the right driver and it just won't work. Also old software may not run.

In general unless you know what your doing stick with 32 bit.

[330cdsport]

Another tip:
Go to www.shop.bt.com instead of www.dabs.com as they seem to be the same shop with the same prices - only you get free delivery at the BT site for orders over £99

[504Boy]

Originally Posted by scotw

Well I am a Mac fan and have a Macbook so I'd say "Mac" until you mention games. Well, then things are a bit different! So, if Games are important, then its a PC for you.

I have built several over the years and am just about to replace the last one, I've decided to go with a store-bought one as I cannot be bothered with the hassle anymore (plus I resent the cost of Vista).

So, if you have cash to burn, Alienware are good, if not Dell (who own them) have a nice system in the XPS 420, for about £650 you can get a good quad core spec (no monitor) about as cheap as you can build, but without the testing and hassle (just upgrade the RAM to the 800MHz stuff).

If you are totally flash you could go with the XPS 720, but I'm not convinced its worth the extra.

2nd that Alienware or Dell XPS