Too lazy to search, minions get in here.

[The_DarthMoogle]

So I recently acquired a fairly large sum of money. That apparently should be spent on a car that will sit on the drive because I go the same school my dad teaches at >.<

Problem is, online banking's being a bitch and I'm unable to buy a new computer ('cause my shitty school laptop isn't giving me more than 1k view distance on ArmaII) without physically writing a cheque.

This more or less means that my parents have the final say in what I will potentially spend a large amount of money on. (Understandably)

Unfortunately it is in their nature to take me to PC World and buy me a prebuilt rig, that won't have nearly the right specs I need to run Cubase without any hitches. I pretty much need a gaming computer. Processing power is key, though.

So I need your help to suggest the best possible deals on desktop PCs, gaming or otherwise for £800 (upper limit of £1000 as I may be able to have £200 subsidised from elsewhere). I am in the UK, in England.

Please do not discuss others' posts, as I need to show my parents this thread (and similar ones on other forums) to convince them that there are other, and far better options. (Yes I will clean up OP, and I actually could spend waaaaaaay more, but cars are cool admittedly)

Best one I found so far

http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/hermes-i7-gaming-pc-p-98.html

Huge thanks in advance,

TheDarthMoogle

^{Hooray for copypaste}

[hoho]

Is the price with or without screen?

If with then how big one do you want/need?

Do you plan on overclocking any of the parts?

[The_DarthMoogle]

Ha, got a 32-inch flat screen from school for free.

Also no overclocking, I need lots of juice for music, but overclocking could make things noisy.

[hoho]

Ha' date=' got a 32-inch flat screen from school for free.[/quote']At what resolution? To be honest 1080p seems rather mediocre. Also 3D support might be interesting for some people. Only problem is getting a decent screen would use up more than half your budget

[The_DarthMoogle]

That's what aftermarket coolers are for.

But would, say an overclocked i5 processor be better than an i7 with watercooling?

Because in the build I found, the i7 plus ASUS motherboard is cheaper. 'M on a budget, you see.

[hoho]

But would' date=' say an overclocked i5 processor be better than an i7 with watercooling?[/quote']Majority of cheap-ish watercoolers cost twice as much as decent air cooler, produce more noise and are at best equal to them in terms of cooling performance.

Though in the end the performance of the CPU depends on how high you can OC it. Difference between i5 and i7 at same clock speed is relatively minor and won't get much bigger as long as apps/games don't get properly optimized for >4 cores. I don't expect that to happen before some 4-5 years with games.

[fidchelle]

Let them know that more often then not, building your own computer can be considerably less expensive then buying one (with all the retail markup) from some other company.

Site evidence and math to prove your point. Remind your parents that you are growing up, and would like an opportunity to show them, that when given freedom, you can still make a responsible, and informed decision. If they decide to let you buy it yourself, get them involved. Explain to them what it is your doing, and why you are doing it. Show them what your getting, and explain why it is you chose to buy this over that. They will really appreciate your eagerness to show them what your doing.

This could be a disappointing compromise. But it doesn't have to be If you are willing to turn it into a healthy trust building experience between you and your parents.

[The_DarthMoogle]

Remind your parents that you are growing up, and would like an opportunity to show them, that when given freedom, you can still make a responsible, and informed decision.

Oi, leave semantics out of this! The money involved in this is complicated, mainly because of where it's come from, so they have every right in every way to stop me from buying an expensive custom built gaming PC. Presenting research on this is the way to show that I am being responsible about it.

[KarthGuyThat]

It is sad that I do not know your age.* Regardless of that it would probably be a wise idea to get a car if you are not in a financially secure family. I made that mistake, and I have this awesome rig sitting next to me left leg. However, biking two miles every day certainly does keep me in shape, I'd much rather drive two miles a day back and forth to my current place of work. /rant

Otherwise, Build the rig yourself, unless you have friends to help you build it. It may be, and look easy int he end, but it's always better to have some outside help. Now, of course, if you don't have outside help, as I did not either, I purchased my rig from here, and was very satisfied with my purchase.

Lastly, I do not believe they do anything out of the United States of Plutocracy, as the giant sign on their door step that is in red white and blue with stars seems to indicate. I'm sorry I could be of no further help.

* Edit, Reason; Added a period here.

[The_DarthMoogle]

Odd that this forum is the only one that has gone on about my family and the money itself >D

The money involved is 100% mine, but there are numerous banking issues involved that stops me from just buying stuff myself due to a complete balls up with my account activation that will take months to solve.

So therefore that money will have to go in my parents' account(s) in order for any payments to be made. That is why they can stop me from buying a super incredible computer because they think the nonsense at PC World is better, and they control my money almost exclusively for the time being.

I could build the rig myself, but for some insane reason the ones others have found elsewhere are actually cheaper than buying individually. And have at least three years parts and maintenance on top of that.

[hoho]

So therefore that money will have to go in my parents' account(s) in order for any payments to be made. That is why they can stop me from buying a super incredible computer because they think the nonsense at PC World is better' date=' and they control my money almost exclusively for the time being.[/quote']Well, then all you have to do is to convince them the custom build is better.

Not sure how it is where you live but here in Estonia, if you want decent warranty you are better off buying components and building the thing yourself. Ready-made boxes generally have 1-2 years of warranty and you aren't allowed to open the case while individual parts have manufacturer's original warranty that's generally 3y+ and you can do whatever you want with the case, including upgrading individual components.

[NightKev]

This site is good for finding deals on parts, it lists prices from many major vendors (tigerdirect, newegg, etc), whether it's a sale price or has a rebate available, etc. You shouldn't have a problem beating the price of any pre-built rig with it.

[TheGuy]

Buy an msi.

Total crap, but runs minecraft at 1-2 FPS, which is very good (at least it's better than what I get..)

/trollmodeoff

I recommend buying your own parts at a local store, and building it yourself. I did that a week ago, and now I have epicness.

Specs:

Intel Core i7

some nvidia grafx card

16GB RAM

*6* TB HDD! (3x2 hd's)

an epic 52" screen, basically a HDMI TV, designed for XBox MC, my computer (with wireless mouse + keyboard), my Wii, my PS3 and my XBox ELITE. every day = MINECRAFT, we have an amazing world I gen'd on the FIRST TIME!

I recently came upon $100k from an apartment my family sold, that my dad's parents left him. IM FUCKING RICH!

I got an alienware laptop, it's so epic. First time I walked into school and set up my station, the kids were like

I play Technic with 60FPS now so it's much, much better. I can play Portal 2, BF3 and even Terraria with epic FPS! (And on all-high quality)

TL;DR

Get an alienware. Chances are, they fucked up the assembly, but mine's fine.

[ErusPrime]

Get an alienware. Chances are, they fucked up the assembly, but mine's fine.

Dude, you got a dell.

MOD EDIT: Don't meme here, please.

[TheGuy]

I know Alienware is a baby company of Dell.. but it's still epic.

[The_DarthMoogle]

No. It is far from epic.

Custom parts isn't quite cutting it, what with VAT and all, plus very little in the way of insurance.

So the thing in teh original post is still pwning performance wise.

[TheGuy]

I guess we all could whisper "portal, portal, portal" and Cave Johnson would combust a lemon into a computer, but I doubt he'd do that with his bankrupt ass. (After all, in the '70s he got bankrupt because of Black Mesa)

[The_DarthMoogle]

Can we probate this dude for memes? Or the other garbage he's been posting...

[MephistosChan]

Can we probate this dude for memes? Or the other garbage he's been posting...

They could but I've been getting away with shit for ages so I don't want them to raise the bar to high.

[Jay?]

Can we probate this dude for memes? Or the other garbage he's been posting...

We don't probate for memes unless the user in question is already a shittastic poster. Erusprime has been here almost as long as i have, and has been a pretty solid poster. Not the best, but solid.

[ErusPrime]

since when is the dell guy a meme?

[The_DarthMoogle]

Wasn't talking 'bout Erus,

I was just fed up of TheGuy posting tripe on EVERY SINGLE THREAD I have posted in, within about 10 minutes of each other.

[TheGuy]

Well 'scuse me for posting! I'm not more different than any other guy here.. (Except for the memes)

I'm in meme rehab! I even blocked 9GAG from my computer since my sister goes on it often..

[NightKev]

Custom parts isn't quite cutting it' date=' what with VAT and all[/quote']If you buy 10 things for a total of 500 the VAT will be more than if you buy a single thing for a total of 500?

[The_DarthMoogle]

If you buy 10 things for a total of 500 the VAT will be more than if you buy a single thing for a total of 500?

In theory, no. In practise, yes.

It's like a dinner jacket and trousers may be £130 each. But a whole suit of the same quality made by another designer may be £250.

It's a small difference, but there's also insurance and OSs bundled in which there's no harm in taking advantage of.