Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Feignz

18 posts

Geek


#136600 3-Dec-2013 00:28
Send private message

Hi,

Looking at buying a new gaming PC, I don't want to build one, but I don't know where to go to buy one (Some place based in the Auckland area) and offers 12 months - 2 years warranty.

CPU - looking for something with 6-8 cores (friend recommended that quad core isn't worth my time, unless he's wrong?).
 
Memory - at least 16GB

Hard Drive - 1TB

OS - windows 7 Pro 64bit 

Budget: $1800

I mainly play WoW, LoL, and rift, but would like to be able to play Ghosts, and Bf4 at high/ultra settings.

Thank you for any help :)

Also sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2 | 3
Ragnor
8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #944481 3-Dec-2013 05:14
Send private message

Are you re-using an existing mouse, keyboard and monitor or do those need to fit in your $1800 budget?

The two best computer stores in Auckland are Playtech and Computer Lounge imo, much better service and build quality than your PB Tech or XPComputers (where you'd go if you want cheap one off parts).

http://www.playtech.co.nz/
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/

Computer Lounge is in Sylvia Park, Playtech is on the North Shore so that may be a factor for you.

Computer Lounge have an active build forum where lots of people request quotes
http://forum.computerlounge.co.nz/yaf_topics36_PC-Build-Help.aspx

GPForums have some example builds at different price points that may be of interest to you
http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/302905/?s=





noc

noc
107 posts

Master Geek


  #944532 3-Dec-2013 09:14
Send private message


CPU - looking for something with 6-8 cores (friend recommended that quad core isn't worth my time, unless he's wrong?).

Games don't even make use of more than 4 cores potential, at least not yet. And if you compare a K-Series Intel CPU with a mediocre 6 core AMD cpu, the Intel will be the one to get without a doubt. (i5 4670K is really nice), however, in saying all that, you could go for the 6 or 8core from AMD if you want to save some cash.


Memory - at least 16GB

I wouldn't bother with more than 16Gig, you wouldn't need more than that yet. Can always add more later on.


Hard Drive - 1TB

With a budget like that, throw in an SSD drive for the OS and your programs and some games to run on, you wont regret it


OS - windows 7 Pro 64bit

Might as well get Windows 8 64bit

timmmay
20591 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #944548 3-Dec-2013 09:44
Send private message

16GB is plenty of RAM IMHO. An SSD would be really valuable, 128GB may be enough, Samsung 840 was the general recommendation when I asked last week. I got the pro model, $200, standard is $150 (ish). You'll want some super expensive video card no doubt, which like a car is worth half what you pay for it as soon as you take it out of the box.



Feignz

18 posts

Geek


  #944559 3-Dec-2013 10:15
Send private message

Ragnor: Are you re-using an existing mouse, keyboard and monitor or do those need to fit in your $1800 budget?


I have my own mouse, keyboard and monitor, headset.

I've looked at Playtech, but their computers seem over priced for what you get.

I've looked at the pre built computer lounge pc's but none of them really appeal to me.

I'll go to the computer lounge forum and ask for a build.

@noc I don't like windows 8, the layout makes me cringe.

Thank you all for your help :) 


xpd

xpd
Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
ID Verified
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #944597 3-Dec-2013 10:49
Send private message

Go and see the guys at Playtech - tell them your budget and what youre after and theyll help.




       Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

 

                      LinkTree

 

 

 


andrewNZ
2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #944609 3-Dec-2013 11:05
Send private message

Feignz: I've looked at Playtech, but their computers seem over priced for what you get.


Don't forget, you're not only paying for parts and a build. You're also paying for warranty, support, and troubleshooting if needed. Be sure to make fair comparisons when you're looking around. If you're thinking "cost of parts plus $50 to put it together" you'd probably be wrong.

timmmay
20591 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #944614 3-Dec-2013 11:10
Send private message

It can take a few hours or more to put a PC together, so just direct costs will probably be at least $150. Add in warranty etc and you'll be paying a premium.

You can DIY, it's not too difficult if you're technically minded, though there are some tricky bits.

 
 
 

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.
MattEast
277 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #944635 3-Dec-2013 11:47
Send private message




Matt East

 

 


Xeon
302 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #944664 3-Dec-2013 12:30
Send private message

Building one isn't too bad, even with no knowledge. Playtech charge $79 for just assembly.

http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=/ID=16981/SID=594475460/productdetails.html

I use that 2tb drive for $129 it's quite a good deal. Intel i5 K model is generally a good cpu to go with for gaming. i7 isn't really necessary just for gaming or you can go AMD if you want to save some money. I have an i5 3570K at stock speed and it's definitely not the bottleneck, I could easily increase its power by 25% by turning on the overclock profile if I need to. Wouldn't go for more then 16GB of ram, would only go for 16GB ram now due to BF4/Ghosts and future games high requirements. Just don't skimp on the graphics card because you'll probably regret it later if you are wanting to max out games. SSD would help but can easily be added on later.

Batman
Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #944678 3-Dec-2013 12:50
Send private message

if you're interested in playing games at super high then you need these in decreasing order

1) a kick#ss graphics card(s) [which needs a decent PSU to fuel it]
2) a decent dual core CPU to keep up. the i5 4670K is overclockable if you're into that sort of thing. otherwise a i5 4570 is the best bang for buck for your needs - cheap enough yet morrrrrrre than powerful enough
3) a fast SSD around 120GB to load things around 10-20X faster (not kidding) so you spend more time playing and less time waiting. caveat is you need around 30% of free space on SSD to achieve these speeds.

hence your first question should be what graphics card and what PSU, then add up 2 + 3 and what's left of your $1800 can go to how much (1300-1600+ low latency - make sure get 2 pieces instead of one stick) RAM, other hard disk etc etc

Feignz

18 posts

Geek


  #944684 3-Dec-2013 12:56
Send private message

@andrewNZ, that's the reason I want someone to build it, for the warranty, support and troubleshooting.

@Matteast I looked at mighty ape, and it's an option, but I'm not rushing into anything just yet, want to see what my options are.

I'd build the PC myself, but I'm to afraid of screwing something up, and then the part isn't covered by warranty = my losing $.

Unfortunately I'm trying to make an account on Computer Lounge but the verification email hasn't come through (waiting 3 hours), and yes I've checked my spam etc.

surfisup1000
5288 posts

Uber Geek


  #944693 3-Dec-2013 13:06
Send private message

Feignz: @andrewNZ, that's the reason I want someone to build it, for the warranty, support and troubleshooting.

@Matteast I looked at mighty ape, and it's an option, but I'm not rushing into anything just yet, want to see what my options are.

I'd build the PC myself, but I'm to afraid of screwing something up, and then the part isn't covered by warranty = my losing $.

Unfortunately I'm trying to make an account on Computer Lounge but the verification email hasn't come through (waiting 3 hours), and yes I've checked my spam etc.


It is great fun to build one -- i bought my first C Lounge PC as a prebuilt box , which was exceptionally well assembled -- then, I built the next box myself , copying some of the assembly methods from the first box.  



timmmay
20591 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #944702 3-Dec-2013 13:16
Send private message

joker97: if you're interested in playing games at super high then you need these in decreasing order

1) a kick#ss graphics card(s) [which needs a decent PSU to fuel it]
2) a decent dual core CPU to keep up. the i5 4670K is overclockable if you're into that sort of thing. otherwise a i5 4570 is the best bang for buck for your needs - cheap enough yet morrrrrrre than powerful enough
3) a fast SSD around 120GB to load things around 10-20X faster (not kidding) so you spend more time playing and less time waiting. caveat is you need around 30% of free space on SSD to achieve these speeds.

hence your first question should be what graphics card and what PSU, then add up 2 + 3 and what's left of your $1800 can go to how much (1300-1600+ low latency - make sure get 2 pieces instead of one stick) RAM, other hard disk etc etc

 

 

 

Re 3, many good SSDs over-provision space so you don't need to leave much if any free space yourself. Also from what I've read RAM speed is largely irrelevant, it makes a difference to benchmarks but not the real world. Processors have 3 levels of cache to mitigate slow RAM speed, even the fastest RAM is slow compared with processor and cache.

 

No need to over-provision a PSU, google pus calculator and trust that. Big graphics cards to take a fair bit of power though. Modular PSUs are better for cooling, and of course bigger fans move more air, more quietly than small fans.

 

The rest looks spot on.

Feignz

18 posts

Geek


  #944714 3-Dec-2013 13:37
Send private message

I would love to build my own pc, I love everything to do with computer hardware/software, I just don't know where to start to learn about it all, I know a bit about software, but almost nothing about hardware.

Can someone explain how an SSD works? is it just like a normal HDD but works faster?
Say if I had a 120GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, which would I save my games/everything too?

andrewNZ
2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #944721 3-Dec-2013 13:47
Send private message

Yes an SSD is treated just like a very fast HDD (But NEVER defrag an SSD).

I have a 240GB SSD in my laptop and that has everything on it including my steam games. I backup the games I'm not using to a HDD (in my case my server) to save a bit of space.

The things you want/need to load fast go on the SSD, everything else on the HDD. In practice a HDD may only be useful for video and archived content.

You could consider a hybrid drive. They're like a HDD and SSD smooshed together. The drive decides what is the most commonly accessed content and moves it to the solid state portion for faster access.

 1 | 2 | 3
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.