After thinking about getting something I can play games on I have decided to go the pc route. It’s what I preferred when younger. I don’t need it for anything other than playing games. Which companies are best value ?? Looking at about £500

Get a box of bits from EBuyer, plug it all together, load windows, load steam, develop BO and kiss your life goodbye. 🙂

Save yourself the hassle of buying bits and just use Overclockers,no mention of budget but this link will get you started, great forum as well on Overclockers with lots helpfull info…

http://www.overclockers.co.uk

Unlike with bikes, you can save yourself a lot of money by buying the parts and building it yourself. There are plenty of guides around if you need some inspiration. £500 is plenty to build yourself a decent machine, although you’ll also need to consider a keyboard, mouse, monitor, headphones/speakers and Operating System.

Have a read through some of the forums such as Tech Radar or Overclockers.

Hmm Ok I have actually built a pc many years ago. So I could do it. My only trouble is knowing what’s good and what’s not? Am I best too build it around d the processor or graphics card which should take most of my money?

you can save yourself a lot of money by buying the parts and building it yourself.

Is that still true with a £500 budget?

I thought at the lower end it was cheaper to buy them built?

I would ask the same question on the Overclockers Forum.

The best VFM is from a console rather than PC though.

I’d recommend spending out on the Motherboard, and getting a decent mid-range processor to go with it, such as an Intel I5 with a K suffix. That will ensure you are future proof for 5 years at least. RAM only costs pocket money, so knock yourself out. SSDs are not expensive these days, but will make a huge difference to the way your machine performs.

The Graphics Card will be where the biggest gains are to be had, but you’ll need a solid base to get the best out of the GPU. I’d go for a mid range GPU, with an eye on an upgrade after a couple of years.

As much as I dislike reddit, their build a PC section is pretty handy http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

My advice to myself after building one would be don’t cheap out on fans because noisy fans test my sanity. And get a nice case. I upgraded to the Bitfenix Phenom M case and I love it. Motherboards come in 3 sizes, ATX, mini ATX and micro ITX. Micro ITX builds are increasingly popular because you can put them in a wee ITX case.

Bitfenix – my gaming buddy just ditched an MATX Bitfenix as it is next to impossible to disassemble without disconnecting everything. Oh, and the temps were very high.

Good places to look:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

[best grfx and processors for the money run-down].

Also worth reading – the Ars Technica System guides – they’ll help you get your head around how to allocate the budget:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/the-ars-system-guides-gaming-boxes-december-2014/

Overall – my recommendation would be [for gaming, not general purpose]:

Intel system – 4 cores high clocks, or 4 cores plus Hyperthreading.

Aftermarket cooler and overclock by 20-30% keeping voltages a slab below Intel’s published limits/temps.

8GB RAM [more if affordable, but not really necessary]

A REALLY GOOD PSU! Look for reviews that measure Ripple and voltage stability at high loads, also for the company that really makes the item as they’re usually rebranded. This [Corsair CX 750] is a decent pick for the money at the moment.

Spend quite a lot on the graphics card, maybe around 35% of the budget. Geforce 970’s are great for the money and don’t use to much power. [maybe too much £, soz] Target your Graphics card to your intended display resolution!

I always use quite large cases to ensure good airflow.

Source – massive geek.

Have fun 🙂

Build your own, way better value. Something like this:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/HLwMD3

plus a case and os, I use a Enermax Ostrog which works very well for a budget case. i3 is fine for most games and the mobo gives you the option to upgrade to something like a overclockable i5 with a decent cpu cooler if you want more power in the future.