Computer help

[K9sixtwo]

Im a bit dim when it comes to computers so heres a question or two

AMD or Intel ?? whats the difference..
And can anyone reccomend a good website for cheap, but quality, computers.. for gaming purposes.. no home office or similar such malarky..

I thank you
 

[ifm]

AMD or Intel ?? whats the difference..

Nothing worth worrying about these days, back in the day i'da said intel were better only because all the software/hardware vendors tested all their products on intel because the vast majority of computers used them meaning there may have been the odd bug or 2 with amd chips.
No problem these days though just get the most powerful you can afford.

[rex008]

Historically, AMD have usually given better performance per pound than Intel. AMDs still tend to be cheaper, but value these days is probably pretty similar. Last 3 PCs I've bought have been AMD, and never had a problem in terms of compatibility. Instruction set is pretty standard these days.

Cheap (define cheap? £400? £600?) gaming computer not easy. Gaming these days is the one of the most computationally intensive thing PCs are asked to do. If you must spend as little as possible (and I'd suggest £400 as an absolute minimum, and even then it's not going to really get you a gaming PC), make sure you get one with a separate graphics card - motherboard graphics tend to suck up memory and CPU. Also get minimum of 2Gb RAM.

I'd suggest Dell for fairly good value PCs. They usually have a page listing all the available promotions - often they'll do deals with memory/HD/monitor upgrades. You can select a base spec and then upgrade the bits you want, although you tend to get MUCH better value by finding, say, a £600 PC rather than a £400 base with £200 of upgrades. MESH (www.meshcomputers.com) have a very good rep, although I've never had one.

Andrew

[Grier78]

The big question is whether you want to play DirectX-10 games or not, if you do then it will cost a bit as you would need to get a Geforce 8800 graphics card which are at a premium right now. A decent DX10 system will cost you between £1000 and £1250.

If you only want to play currently released games and future games without all the features turned on then you can pick up one for about £600 which should easily do the job.

You want at least 2GB of RAM and a seperate graphics card like rex said.

AMD or Intel makes little difference but you may save a couple of quid with AMD.

BTW If you waited a few months then a DX10 system should be a lot cheaper. Thats what I am doing.

[Bongo]

I'd say Intel's offering is the best at the minute, considering performance and price.

I don't there is such a thing as a cheap, quality computer for gaming either!

[K9sixtwo]

one final question ... why is DX10 coming down in price?? and whats the difference between quad core and core 2 duo ??
as you can gather im totally cluless... budget about 500 but dont tell the missus!!

thanks for your suggestions its appreciated

[Grier78]

one final question ... why is DX10 coming down in price?? and whats the difference between quad core and core 2 duo ??
as you can gather im totally cluless... budget about 500 but dont tell the missus!!

thanks for your suggestions its appreciated

A system capable of running will come down in price beacuse at the moment there is only one real graphics card that can do it the Geforce 8800 which is the top of the range and costs about £400, in about 6 months this will have been superceded and other DX10 cpable grahpics cards will come onto the market and be priced about £200, in a year a budget DX10 card will cost about £60.

If you can reuse the monitor you already have then you should be able to get an ok system for £500, if not then you might be better sticking another £100 on top. I will have a quick look and see what you can get.

[Grier78]

From Dell £429 - will run most games released in the last few years quite well but does not have a monitor.

AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst™ cache
256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 2600 XT graphics card
16x DVD +/- RW Drive

£599 from Mesh - a slightly stronger system with a monitor.

Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
New AMD Phenom™  Triple Core 8600
2GB Memory - 667MHz DDR2
500GB Hard Drive - SATA 2 with 16MB Buffer
512MB ATI 3650 Graphics
22" Widescreen TFT LCD Display w/speakers
LightScribe Super Format 20x DVD Writer
5.1 High Definition onboard sound card
Logitech S220 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer
PCIe Mainboard, 4 USB, LAN
1 Year Onsite Warranty (Home Service)

At all costs avoid PCWorld, Currys, Comet etc
A local computer shop might be ok as you can easily take it back and they can often build to your requirements, check on your local internet forums to see if any of them are any good.

[Tractor]

Great pcs.

http://www.cube247.co.uk/

They have various price brackets, great spec for the money.
A friend of mine has had two from them, no problems.

Im going to get one as soon as i get back from my holidays   <fly in 10 hours time, back in a week>

[cia260895]

with the multi screen version(as below) does the cursor scroll acroos all 3 screens? am thinking about for multi tabling poker and could all 3 screens be used on different sites?

http://www.cube247.co.uk/?customise=3

[Nem]

www.chillblast.co.uk