Need advice on buying a new PC

[Starmeadow]

As a few of you know, im gonna get a bit of cash next month, and im gonna spoil myself with a new PC. Im tired of my shi*** laptop...

I was hoping that some of you guys could help me specify what specifications i will need to play Lotro, L4D2, a bit of Sims3 , on other than low/medium graphics.
Im not gonna say theres no limit to what im willing to pay, cause there is, but... I want something that can atleast keep me up to date on the memory and graphics for a while. I need something goooood...

Thx in advance guys... every bit of help is appriciated

[finn]

What is your budget andwhere are you buying from? If you can post some links of what you have already browsed, it would be a start.

[Starmeadow]

Thats it... I havent looked anywhere yet, cause I dont really know what to go for.
As for my budget... its hard to say, cause I know that in the UK you can get alot more for your money than I can here in Denmark.
So all i need is really just some specifications on some hardware and what i should focus on as being most important when i buy a new PC or make my dad build it for me

[finn]

I would recommend getting one that is prebuilt, unless you want to spend time (like I should be doing) sorting out the OS and whatever little annoyances it causes

If your getting one built, Mobo/ram/CPU are the priority (imo), then PSU, you need a good PSU, HDD, CPU cooler, case, gpu (will also affect the size of PSU you get) and lets not forget the operating system. OS's aren't cheap. By all accounts you can build a PC (in the UK anyway) for less than £300, but thats before you go near a monitor and other peripherals. Had I not had a decent monitor, speakers and a few other bits, my new build could have went well over £1,000, as it stands, it was very close to £900 Sterling

On building a PC and buying the parts, you need to know they will work, mostly ram/mobo, but crucial.com is your friend as you can compare most mobo's and ram to get the best match.

What I am saying in a long winded way, if you want s good blend of graphics ingame, it won't be cheap. I haven't attempted to use max settings since SoM due to not knowing much about this Windows 7 stuff

Get a prebuilt one. Look for something that has a tri or quad core processor. I am an AMD person, they are good, but Intel is allegedly better I7 is the best). You want the processor speed 2.4ghz, with a minimum of 4gb of ram (2 would be ok, but more is better).

This would be ideal, if it is in your range (Danish anyway )

www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-180-OK

Overclockers are a good store, and the few online specialist PC shops will have good selections and custom models, but they are never cheap.

PC world, I can't remember their European name, are pish (mostly). I like this one:

www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0008989724.1260809060@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccjadejdiljlefcflgceggdhhmdfog.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=140086&category_oid=

Basically, make sure you get a PC that accepts PCI-e for the graphics upgradeability, a 2.4 ghz quad core or higher, 4gb of Ram, a half decent gpu (onboard sucks and stay clear of any that has it). It doesnt matter what size of HD you get, so dont worry about having a 1TB hard drive (unless you have lots of porn, which you shouldn't).

[finn]

Oh, and don't discount Dell, www1.euro.dell.com/dk/da/gen/df.aspx?refid=df&s=gen

Payment plans and you can customise your own PC and you get the monitor to go with it. The last monitor I had was a Dell, and it was excellent.

[Starmeadow]

thanks a million, finn ^^

Just had my dad over for dinner and now ive got an idea of what im getting, combining your advice with his

..about dell... they dont have the best reputation here in Denmark, so noooo, Im not going with a dell pc!

again, ty lots and lots