O'cram is in the market for a new PC in September with a budget of 800 sheets. He's asked me to advise but i'm a little out of touch, so I thought i'd open a thread here so you guys could share tips if you have any.

I'm thinking buying everything from since that's where I bought all my components from my last build and was thoroughly satisfied by their prices, choice and service. I'm guessing a pre-built system should be the way to go.

Anyway, here's a few requirements:

- 800 quid budget (not bad at all)
- Windows 7 (might aswell make the change)
- SSD as primary HDD (120GB should cover it - he's got a 4TB external drive for pr0n)
- Decent but not top-range graphics card (no freaking idea here)
- Decent CPU (like an i5)

My suggestions

core i5 CPU. Look at what you can afford. I don't think he overclocks, so the high-binned ones aren't a big deal.
definitely win7 64 bit. Get at least 8GB of RAM.
check tom's charts for a good break down on gfx card prices. I'm still an nvidia guy, but amd is very competitive.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011 ... ,2673.html

If I were forced to buy a gfx card now, I'd get a Geforce 560 ti. That's around $250. If that's too pricey, there are a lot of other good options too. Here's a link to Tom's "best of" for August. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gam ... ,2997.html It's pretty AMD heavy, but whatever.

Beyond that, I'd highly recommend in an SSD boot drive if you have the cash. Minimum 64GB for the O/S and a few apps... At least 128GB if you're going to put your games on there too. It's expensive, but the performance is worth it.

Not sure about motherboards. I'd check reviews on Newegg as a starting point.

Assure him that any modern PC will work fine with goatse and 4chan.

Ok thanks guys... so far:

8GB RAM
Win 7 64b
i5
Geforce 560 ti (possibly or something cheaper)
128GB SSD

Mobo: no idea yet. Need to have a peep. Don't wanna skimp though.
Case: Something half-decent
Fans: 2-3 half decent 120mm
Soundcard: Depends if i get one built into the MoBo

For O'Cram, just go with an onboard mobo sound card. A separate one really isn't worth the money or trouble in his case.

Definitely. And you'd be hard pressed to find a motherboard that didn't have onboard sound in today's world.

And Creative drivers truly are a demon from the abyss. IF you want to save some money, ditch 4gb of ram. He wouldn't notice the difference anyway. And dont go for 550 because it is seriously limited in Anisotropic filtering department.

Antec cases are always a good choice. I'd avoid thermaltake cases, theres always something off with them.

I strongly agree about Creative drivers. I've had nothing but problems with them for years and years, ever since I built my first PC. I haven't used them in the last 5 years or so, but I'd be surprised if anything had changed. The hardware may be pretty decent (I think it is), but without good drivers, it doesn't really matter. There used to be some Creative drivers from 3rd parties out there, Open AL I believe.

an FYI - O'cram bailed... realised he could spend the money on other stuff like condoms

Heh, whats he gonna do with those, he prolly cant get it up without porn assistance, which he cant get without a pc..

Don't worry, you're not the only one. I thought it was Latin. Probably confused with QED. Though in this context, not good. Not good at all.