Recommend a Computer!

[Hyve]

Greetings!

I just got my Student Loan through and I'm now going to be buying my new computer. I'm not wanting to build my own (Although I know it'd be cheaper), I'm just looking for something that's fairly cheap yet powerful enough to run World of Warcraft on at least High settings, and is going to be a recent enough rig to handle Streaming, Programming Compiling, Video Editing and Gaming.

My budget is a little flexible, between £200 - £500 depending how good it'll be. The cheaper the better of course.

I've taken a look over at Amazon.co.uk (Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/computers-ac...node=340831031) and I'm looking for some of you more computer minded people to give me a hand picking a decent machine, maybe from another source as well.

I'm looking mostly at this model, and wondering if anyone can help with finding something nicer, cheaper or if any of the tech on this thing is a little too rough. Thanks.

I appreciate all the help, thanks.

Note: I'd prefer it to come installed with an O.S. (Windows 7 / 8), but I don't need any peripherals (Mouse, Monitors, Keyboard).

[Deletedaccount1]

Good luck streaming or doing half the other stuff you listed on that thing. I'll let one of the many more qualified people recommend a build for you.

[potis]

What you requested is impossible with 200-500 pounds.

WoW at High in 500 pounds is possible, streaming and video editing may be tricky.

What you linked is a piece of garbage and nothing premade of 500 pounds can do what you want it to do, not because they cant make builds like that, because a 500 pound build, usually costs 800+ premade.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£59.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.15 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card (£104.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Force 500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.55 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.35 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £483.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-13 14:11 BST+0100

This is pretty much the least possible you should look at to handle what you want it to do and this is the starter level.

The only way to get what you want is buying the components and have someone build it for you if you are adamant that you -cant-.

[Deletedaccount1]

What you requested is impossible with 200-500 pounds.

WoW at High in 500 pounds is possible, streaming and video editing may be tricky.

What you linked is a piece of garbage.

You seem nice OP so I didn't want to be this crass but he's right.

- - - Updated - - -

Never even seen that graphics card before, is that integrated?

- - - Updated - - -

Wow http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...ell-gpu_5.html

Yeah that isn't going to cut it.

[Deletedaccount1]

That computer you linked won't run WoW at 60 fps unless you play on low or medium

[Hyve]

Thanks - I thought that was the case but some people recommended about a £400 budget should be fine. I'll check around else-where and see if I can secure some financing to buy something more powerful.

[Deletedaccount1]

I'm on PC part picker right now, I'm trying to do everything you're asking for 800 US dollars but I'm having a tough time, would you be willing to spend a little more?

[Hyve]

Sure - I'm mostly looking for a budget that I can work with, so if you can build the machine to match what I need, I'll find the finances to make it work. It'll also help me price up a few other machines and parts and such here.

[Deletedaccount1]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor (£143.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£59.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.15 @ More Computers)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 500GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£38.49 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card (£104.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master Force 500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£31.55 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.35 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £483.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-13 14:11 BST+0100

This is pretty much the least possible you should look at to handle what you want it to do and this is the starter level.

Yeah I'm not sure how well you can stream on a 750 ti, as for it's performance in WoW I would assume there are benchmarks for that. CPU is good. I'm surprised that came down to that price.

[Deleted]

Yeah I'm not sure how well you can stream on a 750 ti, as for it's performance in WoW I would assume there are benchmarks for that. CPU is good. I'm surprised that came down to that price.

You should easily be able to stream with a 750ti as I stream off a GTX560. Mileage may vary by settings and games though.

[Hyve]

Yeah I'm not sure how well you can stream on a 750 ti, as for it's performance in WoW I would assume there are benchmarks for that. CPU is good. I'm surprised that came down to that price.

Amazing! Considering how cheap that is I might not be a lazy jerk and just build it.

+13 Internetz

[Deletedaccount1]

Amazing! Considering how cheap that is I might not be a lazy jerk and just build it.

+13 Internetz

If you were willing to spend like 100-200 pounds more you could really have a great machine but I know that isn't always possible. I've been in college for 9 years now, student loans are my blood and soul.

[Zogarth]

Amazing! Considering how cheap that is I might not be a lazy jerk and just build it.

+13 Internetz

Just to make sure: Are you aware that you will buy the pieces one by one, and will have to put the PC together by yourself?

[potis]

Amazing! Considering how cheap that is I might not be a lazy jerk and just build it.

+13 Internetz

Do realize there is no OS in what i linked you.

750 Ti can handle WoW more than fine,it can probably handle WoW Ultra without Shadows perfectly fine, maybe the useless stuff like Sunshafts off too, and View Distance at "High" and even then doubt there will be an issue, its slightly less powerful than a 660.

They changed Anti-Aliasing in WoW and as always it changes almost nothing but right now its less taxing on the machine.

[Hyve]

Do realize there is no OS in what i linked you.

750 Ti can handle WoW more than fine,it can probably handle WoW Ultra without Shadows perfectly fine, maybe the useless stuff like Sunshafts off too, and View Distance at "High" and even then doubt there will be an issue, its slightly less powerful than a 660.

They changed Anti-Aliasing in WoW and as always it changes almost nothing but right now its less taxing on the machine.

Well, I'm running on Low / Medium at the moment so I've no issues with running at Ultra with a few custom settings. Thanks for the info.

Just to make sure: Are you aware that you will buy the pieces one by one, and will have to put the PC together by yourself?

Aye - My University has some free / cheap versions of Windows 7 / 8, so that's not too much of an issue, just a hassle.

If you were willing to spend like 100-200 pounds more you could really have a great machine but I know that isn't always possible. I've been in college for 9 years now, student loans are my blood and soul.

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. Cheers again!

[Vash The Stampede]

For 500 I would go with this which has a AMD A10 7850k.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freshtech-F2...ords=amd+7850k

Then there's the AMD 6800K for 359.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ADMI-A10-680...ords=amd+6800k

And the AMD 5800k for 369.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCHW-Multime...ords=amd+5800k

In most benchmarks the AMD a10 5800k, 6800k, 7850k are all nearly the same in performance. And yes you can stream just fine with these.

[Twoddle]

I've had very good experiences with Mesh Computers if you don't want to go through the hassle of building your own.

[Deleted]

You should get a cheap/free o/s from your uni. I would look at the following to start with for around 600quid, add an ssd now/later when you can.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 87.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler (£30.14 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£60.46 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£147.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.35 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £618.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 14:20 BST+0100


As you can see this is at least 100quid cheaper than a pre-build while being more powerful.

[Deleted]

For 500 I would go with this which has a AMD A10 7850k.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freshtech-F2...ords=amd+7850k

Then there's the AMD 6800K for 359.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ADMI-A10-680...ords=amd+6800k

And the AMD 5800k for 369.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCHW-Multime...ords=amd+5800k

In most benchmarks the AMD a10 5800k, 6800k, 7850k are all nearly the same in performance. And yes you can stream just fine with these.

The problem with all of these is that the APUs aren't being paired with 2133MHz+ RAM, so those will all lag behind an Intel build, being based on the iGPU vs Discrete. In addition, companies tend to skimp on the PSUs in those builds in order to incorporate extra RAM/HDD space etc.

You should get a cheap/free o/s from your uni. I would look at the following to start with for around 600quid, add an ssd now/later when you can.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 87.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler (£30.14 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£60.46 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£147.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Core 3500 ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.99 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.35 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £618.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 14:20 BST+0100


As you can see this is at least 100quid cheaper than a pre-build while being more powerful.

I've gone a little better than you, price-wise, but I'm not 100% on the quality:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£161.94 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.86 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£66.22 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£59.94 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£147.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Zalman Z3 Plus White ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.16 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: be quiet! 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.16 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £575.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 17:30 BST+0100

[Deleted]

The difference is mainly the mobo (check storage and connector), hdd (i only reckon WD) and a nice mid range case