right peeps i need sum 1 whos knows about all the parts that go into making 1, i want a pc made for gaming, ive just got the new red alert command and conquer and the lap top isnt good nugh to play it, so i want a pc made for games, not really botherd about the hard drive so a small 1 will do say 90gb, been told to have arounbd 3gb ram for gaming i gather im gona have to have vista which makes no odd's, the graphics card has to be at least geforce 6800 or beter and i need a good processor and the dvd rom has to be 8speed so any 1 who can help me plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hmm well building one is very personal in terms of parts.

If you want ease and a warranty try these guys, basically refurbish dells very very cheap:

PC
(MD170) Dell Dimension-TW XPS 720/Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6800 2.93GHz/4096mb Ram/750gb SATA/DVD Drive/DVD-RW Drive/Sound Blaster X-Fi/768mb GeForce 8800GTX
£419 + VAT


Monitor
Dell 24inch £175 + VAT


What budget do you have?

A decent pc could be this: (the refurbished one linked above is much faster)

All I can say is I always go for Dell.

For gaming go for their XPS range BUT and this is important. Configure the PC on their website and print off the specs and then phone the order through. You can usually get either a better deal or bargain them into a extended warranty etc.

Forget their alienware ranges though they are way overpriced.

DELL Alienware is waay expensive for the spec - mine (for it's time) is just as good and does all I need it to, cost me about £500 for the bits in 2004. Already had the monitor, case etc, and I aint too fussed with aesthetics, quietness etc...

are any of these any good....ohh it has to run direct x 9 or better

[ebay]290283566401[/ebay]

[ebay]390016870285[/ebay]

[ebay]320325529534[/ebay]

[ebay]220332102416[/ebay]
sorry bout the link size.....cant remember how to shorten it

faz stick with quad core intel processors, 4gbs of ram, atleast 250gb of hard drive, graphics stick with nvidia graphics cards as these a stable and reliable 8800gt / gtx cards or the latest 260 or 280 cards are best.

The issue with stuff from ebay is they tend to be made from the cheapest components which can be really bad

The same can be said of the cheaper systems from many other stores. This is how retailers can sell a complete, works-out-of-the-box, nothing more to buy desktop system for under £400. The downside of this is that when you come to upgrade the system, you find there are next to no free slots inside, the PSU is on the limit and the case often is unsuitable for upgades such as extra drives, etc.

Depends what you are after, really. I built my own system, because I have the ability and I knew what I wanted. Most of the parts were sourced from places like eBay 3or4 years ago and it's still going strong... At the end of the day, they should still have a warranty of 1 year - so you'll be covered if the worst happens...

Also worth a look, Craig, is:

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/

They do a good selection of ready-to-go systems and also sell all the bits required to build and upgrade your own. They also sell the OEM versions of Windows and other required software like internet security etc - these will be typically £30-£50 cheaper than the boxed retail versions...

I've been building system since i was 14 years old so a good 10+ years, with what you have said so far Faz you should really go for pre-built unless you really have the confidence to do it yourself.

As for people in regards to dell and alienware, my last build is sat in an alienware case the machine that inhabited this case previously is still working perfecting 4 years on since alienware built it (al be it now in a server case) the build quality is what makes the price and the components are fantastic (this machine was a gift to me... well my company from alienwares pr company). Now Dell's gamers range (like the one i linked above) is known as XPS which basically is an alienware.

My advice is that you should grab a couple of magazines like custompc and the like and have a good read

Building yourself is alot cheaper and you get better parts than the pre-built machines. However it all depends on your cash flow.

I agree with the rest, dell are good machines and will last you but be prepared to pay for a top end gaming machine. Ive bought from dell outlet before now and can save you £200 + sometimes they do free delivery and an extra £50 off if you catch it right.

Go here: and click on dell outlet deals

If your confident in building your own machine try these sites cheapest around and have daily offers + top end stuff:




DONT go ebuyer they are a bunch of monkys and whenever i have bought from them at least 1 part has been DOA and sometimes you can have trouble RMA'ing them for a refund.

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Sam, AMD all the way for me too

I current have an Acer Aspire T180 with AMD chips. HOWEVER, I have had enough of all that Windows crap so looking to get an iMac in the new year.

I spend all day in IT and have better things to do with my spare time that f*nny around fixing Vista (just like I have done with every other version of Windows since I first got a PC in the early 90s).

if your interested i'm selling my rig in the new year.

specs are:

Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @ 3ghz & Scythe Ninja HSF
Mobo - ASUS Striker II NSE - cost £250
Memory - 2gb DDR3 1600mhz
Hard Drive - 250gb Maxtor SATA
DVD Drive - Asus SATA Burner
Graphics - 8800gt
Sound - X-Fi Fatal1ty (The Top Spec One)
Case - Cooler Master CM-690 or Thermaltake Kandalf case.
PSU - Corsair - 500 or 600 watt, can't remember.
£400 if ya want.

plays everything very nice, the board is way too good for what i'm doing with it (ie haven't used my pc for about a month now)

if ya find ya need more power for games, just drop in another couple of gfx cards if ya need to.

can give a screen kb and mouse if needed, though my monitor is only a 17" dell lcd.