New Gaming Desktop (which GPU?)

[pqs]

Been wanting to buy a gaming desktop for a long while now. I've only ever played games on laptops, so I don't know much about graphics cards.

My budget is £300 - £400 for the moment.

The game I'm concerned about is Guild Wars 2. I tried this on my Macbook Pro 2010 and it just couldn't handle big PvP games in WvW. I'd really like to be able to experience WvW PvP, so these are the graphics cards I'm left with on my budget (unless someone could point me to a better option)

NVIDIA
GT 520 1gb
GT 630 1gb
GTX 650 ti 1gb

ATI HD 6450 1gb
ATI HD 6570 2gb

Pre built ones I've looked at so far are these:
AMD78 FX 6200 3.8Ghz Gaming Pc Computer 1Tb 8Gb Ddr3 Nvidia GT 520 1Gb Vantage | eBay £330

G4-VB AMD QUAD 4.2 GAMING PC ASUS M5A 1TB HDD 8GB MEM NVIDIA GTX 650 TI 1GB GFX | eBay £430

Also, which CPU would run GW2 best in big fights? I hear GW2 doesn't support hyperthreading too well and there are several different CPU options for the graphics cards I listed above. Anyone have any idea?

Thanks a lot!

[nessB]

I would personally get the 2nd pre-built system that you linked.
Even though the FX 6200 is a hexa core, I think that's overkill for a game like GW2. I would only ever need 6 cores for video editing and rendering.
The FX 4170 is highly clocked and has 4 cores which would be enough, and the GTX 650Ti which is paired for it decent to. However according to this benchmark and review done by Tom'sHardware, a duo core i3-2220 can out peform the FX 4710. Shown here: A Close Race Today, But Tomorrow Shows More Promise For AMD : AMD FX-4170 Vs. Intel Core i3-3220: Which ~$125 CPU Should You Buy?

SO...

I would recommend an Intel pre-built system.
I recommend this SpherePC Intel i5 Quad Core Ivy Bridge 3570 3.4GHz, 8GB, 500GB, NVidia GTX650 Ti
It has an i5 processer from the latest architecture from Intel (Ivybridge) and provides the same graphics card as the 2nd link you posted. The i5 3570 is known for being a good processor for gaming as it can play BF3 fairly well and BF3 demands a substantial amount of CPU power.

Edit: If you're just looking for a GPU, I would suggest the GTX 650Ti or the GTX 560Ti. If you want to go down the AMD route, then go for the Radeon 7770 or the Radeon 7850.

Don't just take my word, look around for other opinions then decide.
If you'd like my opinion on other related things then just ask

[pqs]

Ok I've decided not to go with AMD because it seems it's pretty bad for GW2 compared to i5

Problem now is keeping the budget low... £450 is pushing it.

Forgot to mention I will be using 32" TV as a monitor
LG 32LV355T Televisions - 32" Full HD LED TV with freeview HD - LG Electronics UK
so it has to have a HDMI port.

I may have found a winner!
SALE NEW IVYBRIDGE i5 3450 8GB DDR3 GTX 650Ti 500GB Computer Tower Vantage Case | eBay

[nessB]

Nice solid pre-built computer you found there! Great price as well! i5 3450 is just as versatile, a great choice.

Hope you're with your purchase

[Smoogels]

If you buy a computer off ebay, your going to have a bad time. You will have issues with warranty etc but also the GPU included there is pretty poor. RAM is "slow", no idea who made the HDD, i5 is locked, motherboard is not great, case is pretty poor to. I would also expect support to be poor to.

It would be best if you could build your own (Newegg have a really good guide on how to build your own). If you can post a letter through a letter box, you can install CPUs, graphics cards and so on. Not only will you get better value for money (and a more balanced system) you will also know whats in there and have better warranty/support. If you don't feel confident with that, it would be better to get it from a real manufacturer.

[pqs]

If you buy a computer off ebay, your going to have a bad time. You will have issues with warranty etc but also the GPU included there is pretty poor. RAM is "slow", no idea who made the HDD, i5 is locked, motherboard is not great, case is pretty poor to. I would also expect support to be poor to.

It would be best if you could build your own (Newegg have a really good guide on how to build your own). If you can post a letter through a letter box, you can install CPUs, graphics cards and so on. Not only will you get better value for money (and a more balanced system) you will also know whats in there and have better warranty/support. If you don't feel confident with that, it would be better to get it from a real manufacturer.

The problem isn't building it, my roomate can do that for me. It's finding all the pieces for the same price.

I couldn't care less about the case xD so long as it cools it well enough, I don't need it to be all flashy.

I can't use newegg because I live in the UK.
If I'm on a £400 budget, how cheap can I go with the power supply? Supposing it's enough to run this build ofc
SALE NEW IVYBRIDGE i5 3450 8GB DDR3 GTX 650Ti 500GB Computer Tower Vantage Case | eBay

I also don't care too much about the motherboard, unless it really affects performance. So long as I can plug my TV listed above and my speakers (2 + subwoofer 150W)

[pqs]

Parts so far:
GPU
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nvidia-GeF...item3a7cede641


CPU
Intel Core I5 3570 Ivy Bridge 1155 3.4Ghz 6MB BX80637I53570 Retail Boxed 0675901168120 | eBay

OR

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005UBNKZ...SIN=B005UBNKZG

Motherboard

ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP - Motherboard - ATX - LGA1155 Socket - H77 - Gigabit LAN - onboard graphics (CPU required) - HD Audio (8-channel)

RAM (single 8gb for now)
CT102464BA1339 - 8GB, 240-pin DIMM , DDR3 PC3-10600 from Crucial.com

Total sum: £334

Now I just need a HDD, case and PSU...

[CreativeXtent]

personally... i would go to newegg.com and build some shit... PM me for my info and we can build together QUICK and cheap!

[Smoogels]

I would not trust that Xbox site. It takes card payments but has no SSL so it's not encrypted. It's powered by wordpress to, which is not ideal for a online store...

Check out Overclockers UK and Ebuyer for reliable and good deals on hardware.

[nessB]

At a budget of £400 I don't think you'd be able to buy good quality components separately without going over that budget. Getting a pre-built from eBay isn't that bad, I purchased my PC from a trusted seller on eBay and everything went smoothly. Even though the components are not to good quality, such as the HDD or the PSU, you aren't going to get any better with a £400 budget.

My example is this Intel Core i5-3570, MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti, NZXT Source 210 (White) - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom, I picked out parts which would give you a solid system. However it is way over your budget and it's not including the optical drive, Windows 7/8 nor does it include P&P.

My honest opinion is to go for the eBay pre-built PCs, then upgrade off of that. You could easily upgrade to a better PSU such as, Corsair CP-9020048-UK Builder Series CX 600W Power Supply (PSU) - Scan.co.uk

However, Smoogels still has a point. Things don't always don't go right on eBay, especially warranties. However if you buy from a eBay trusted seller that has good reputation, you'd have a less chance of running into problems.

[pqs]

I would not trust that Xbox site. It takes card payments but has no SSL so it's not encrypted. It's powered by wordpress to, which is not ideal for a online store...

Check out Overclockers UK and Ebuyer for reliable and good deals on hardware.

Yeah I've been looking at a bunch of sites and when I came across that xbox one I didn't take a good look at it. Did some research and many people are skeptical about it.

At a budget of £400 I don't think you'd be able to buy good quality components separately without going over that budget. Getting a pre-built from eBay isn't that bad, I purchased my PC from a trusted seller on eBay and everything went smoothly. Even though the components are not to good quality, such as the HDD or the PSU, you aren't going to get any better with a £400 budget.

My example is this Intel Core i5-3570, MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti, NZXT Source 210 (White) - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom, I picked out parts which would give you a solid system. However it is way over your budget and it's not including the optical drive, Windows 7/8 nor does it include P&P.

My honest opinion is to go for the eBay pre-built PCs, then upgrade off of that. You could easily upgrade to a better PSU such as, Corsair CP-9020048-UK Builder Series CX 600W Power Supply (PSU) - Scan.co.uk

However, Smoogels still has a point. Things don't always don't go right on eBay, especially warranties. However if you buy from a eBay trusted seller that has good reputation, you'd have a less chance of running into problems.

I don't mind if it doesn't come with windows, and eventually I will upgrade components, but I don't want to spend more than £100 on my first graphics card... It wouldn't be so overbudget if I went for a cheaper PSU and GPU.

[pqs]

Only thing left to really choose is the PSU

Alpine Silent PSU with 120mm Gold Silent Fan SLi/Crossfire 24+4 Pin Intel v2.03 Enhanced +12V - PS05 - Scan.co.uk

Really tempted to go for this one, but I'm unsure of the quality... I don't want to spend £40+ but last thing I want is to buy a cheap PSU that will ruin my whole system.

Powercool PSUPC550AUBAM 550W Modular Power Supply (PSU) - Scan.co.uk
Would that be enough wattage? Even with overclocking?

Thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it.

[nessB]

I would go for the Powercool PSU, this seems more reliable since it's 80PLUS Certified.
It's wattage is fine, I don't know about overclocking though. If you are overclocking I would advise getting a good CPU cooler, however that is more money.