Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Amit]

A PREDICAMENT:
As of late, I've become increasingly obsessed with the possibility of modding Fallout 3. Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough PC to do such a thing at the moment; I need a good, economic solution that will allow me to play the game on high settings (which, as I've heard, does not exactly require the best video card in existence.) Is anyone willing to help me with this predicament?

e: well this was a dumb question
good job reading the first post sam

Besides skinning, I fail to see how a crappy video card would stop you from modding the game. I've squeezed another 30 hours out of Fallout 3 by modding the game. Hands down the best SP RPG I've ever played.

Also looking into getting a bluray drive, just one that plays bluray disks. I have no use for one that serves as a DVD/CD burner, considering I already have a drive that serves that purpose... Besides installation, I literally have 0 clue about drives. I saw this one had good pretty good ratings, but maybe some of you have more insight on what to look for ;]

Whoa, that's a cheap Blu-Ray reader. Well I guess it's gotta be good since 80% of reviews are 5 star positive. Guess it just lacks features.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

4670 should do you fine.

[Huero]

Besides skinning, I fail to see how a crappy video card would stop you from modding the game. I've squeezed another 30 hours out of Fallout 3 by modding the game. Hands down the best SP RPG I've ever played.



Whoa, that's a cheap Blu-Ray reader. Well I guess it's gotta be good since 80% of reviews are 5 star positive. Guess it just lacks features.

I don't even have the minimum RAM required; and we're due in for a new PC anyway. I'll just go for the low end setup here.

[Amit]

I don't even have the minimum RAM required; and we're due in for a new PC anyway. I'll just go for the low end setup here.

Alright, then. I just didn't think you'd embark on a new PC-building endeavour just because you want a few features. Well, if we only new the model number of your motherboard, we'd be able to tell you if it's worth upgrading the components or building a new PC from scratch. I just prefer to kill my PCs first. Push it to the edge, identify the failed components, and then do an analysis to see if it's cost-effective to replace the part(s) or to build a whole new PC. My current PC I built just a year and a half ago so I don't think I'll need to upgrade anytime soon, except that I've been so fucking poor that I can't even afford to replace this X1600PRO. Had two of them in crossfire on my old PC and jacked one to put in here once I sold my Atomic HD 3870s for a ridiculous amount of money (probably should have kept one). Protip kids: herb = significant cash loss. My dad wants this computer, though...he's always taking my computers away from me But he always funds my new system so maybe I'll be able to build something with more bang for my buck this time.

[Huero]

Well, as it turns out, the screen is black when I turn on the computer. Every time I turn it on. Uncanny timing, no? Methinks the video card is fried, and I don't know how to go about telling you the motherboard model otherwise. I do know that it has like, 512 MB of RAM, and HAD a GeForce 6100 (evidently not now, lol.)

[AAA]

Open up your case and smell it. Never failed me.

[Limited]

Okay guys I need your help. I'm building a new PC, I have like £550 ($917) to spend.

I asked my friend to look up some good parts, he has but he didnt check they were compatible. If you guys could check, and also say if the parts are good etc.

Mobo:
XFX nForce 750i SLI Socket 775 (1333MHz FSB up to 1800MHz overclocked) 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
£67.99

Ram:
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit CL5 1.8v
£75.00

GFX Card:
XFX GTX260 Black Edition 896MB DDR3 Dual DVI PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card
£146.84

CPU Fan:
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
£16.59

HD:
Western Digital WD5001AALS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Black
£42.07

Case:
Antec 300 Three Hundred Black Case - No PSU
£39.74

PSU:
OCZ Stealth XStream 600W PSU - SLI Ready ATX2.2 12cm Fan
£59.99

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£101.50

Please note, I'm not going for a gaming pc, so I dont need it to be mega great, some thing reasonable that can be play games pretty well.

If you guys recommend other parts, could you check this site (http://www.ebuyer.com/) has them, and they are still within the budget, because UK prices are more expensive.

[sdavis117]

Wait, why are you buying your CPU in a retail box (which has a CPU fan) and getting a separate CPU fan? You should either get an OEM Processor with the separate fan or get the retail box version and leave it at that.

[Bhamid]

And the fan you selected isn't really that good...

[Limited]

Hmm, I'm assuming because he though stock fan wasnt too good.