Gaming PCs

So we're going to try something a little different, over the next couple of months we're going to have a series of articles written by guest contributors reaching across many aspects of computing etc from PCs to websites, you can guarantee we're going to cover it!!!

Our first guest article is written by Callum, an avid gamer who has prepared this review of a number of gaming PCs depending on the price range you're looking at so without further ado...

Pre-built Gaming PC Reviews

As an avid gamer, I know that getting into the world of PC gaming is awash with Custom Configurators and crazy names for products which are almost the same. However, what if you want to avoid the madness and confusion that comes with trying to build your own PC by yourself, or getting other accredited people to build it for you. That’s where ‘pre-built’ PC’s come in. These are sold by retailers, on behalf of manufacturers, in order to provide you, the customer, the ability to start gaming immediately. But even then, there is a large range to choose from, and with prices ranging from £300 to £3000 and beyond, where do you start from? Taking into account different manufacturers and different price ranges, I have selected a number of different pre-built gaming PC’s within three price ranges that I will pick apart to help you determine which one is best for you.

£300-£400:

At this price range, in my opinion, there is really only two manufacturers to consider. Cyberpower and PC Specialist. Both offer PC’s within this price range.

Firstly, PC Specialists Infinity Trion. At £349.99 this is a barebones PC (contains only the parts to get it started) that will form an excellent base for your gaming needs, If you have a copy of an Operating System, an Ethernet cable and a spare graphics card lying around. However, it does come with a quad-core AMD A10 – 7700K APU Processor with a clock speed of 3.4 GHz (which can be overclocked to 3.8 GHz), 8 GB of RAM (with room to be upgraded to 16 GB), 6 USB 2.0 Slots and a 1 TB Hard Drive, which is more than enough space to store your games, music and videos. 

However, if you don’t have the money to buy a graphics card or the know-how on how to install it, then I will recommend buying Cyberpower’s offer. The Empire GT II. At just under £400, The Empire GT offers two different things that the Infinity Trion doesn’t: Windows 10 (64 bit) and a more powerful processor. The AMD A10 7850K APU. This has an average clock speed of 3.7 GHz (which can be overclocked to 4 GHz) and comes with an integrated AMD R7 graphics chip which is perfect for MMOs such as World of Tanks and War Thunder. As a starting point, I would rather pay the extra £50 in order to get a fully functioning gaming PC rather than one missing the crucial bits. However, if you have the spare parts to hand, PC Specialists offer is one you can’t refuse! 

£401-£600

The same two manufactures dominate this price range as well with Cyberpower’s Gaming Empire Elite II and PC Specialist’s Vortex Impact both coming in at £499.99 RRP. Both come with an AMD FX4300 Quad-Core Processor with a clock speed of 3.8 GHz (which can be overclocked to 4 GHz). Both come with Windows 10 (64 bit) pre-installed and both come with a 1 TB Hard Drive. The difference between the two is the graphics card provided. 

The Empire Elite comes with an Nvidia Geforce GTX 960 with 2 GB of processing power whilst the Vortex Impact comes with an AMD R7 360 2GB graphics card. The Geforce GTX 960 is considered by many (including myself) as the best budget graphics card on the market today. So I would recommend the Empire Elite, as long as you don’t mind not having any USB 3.0 slots. Both are perfect for many genres of games ranging from easily accessible MMOs to GTA V at moderately High Settings.

£601-£800

Here, two different (and more well-known) manufacturers show up. Acer and Asus. Both at different price points and both with slightly uninteresting names. Acer’s Predator G3-710 may sound like a photocopier, however it is anything but! At £799.99, This comes at the top end of the price range. But when compared with ASUS’ Republic of Gamers G11CB (£729.99). Both come with Intel I5 – 6400 quad-core processors with a clock speed of 2.7 GHz (can be overclocked to 3.3 GHz) which at first may not seem powerful compared to AMD’s equivalent, but Intel processors utilises hyperthreading which makes up for less cores and lower clock speeds. This makes Intel processors the preferred choice for gamers. The Graphics cards offered is where the two systems separate. 

Asus offer an Nvidia Geforce GTX 950 2GB graphics card which, although cheaper than other cards offered, is nothing special. Acer offer a nice, beefy Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 4 GB card. This is considered one of the best Graphics Cards available within its price range. The Predator only has 8 GB of available RAM compared to ASUS’ 12 GB but the ability to upgrade to 32 GB of RAM. The Predator also comes with a 1 TB Hard Drive and a 128 GB SSD which is perfect for gaming, although more space can be handy as is offered with the ASUS. But with the Acer offering a fast wireless connection, Bluetooth, and an SD card reader, all of which the ASUS doesn’t offer. However, both are great for anything you can throw at them. GTA V, Sure! Counter Strike, No problem! Project Cars, of course! However, out of the two, I would prefer the Acer because I think extra £70 is worth it, for a lot more power and upgradeability. 

But, at the end of the day, it’s up to you to find the Gaming PC that fits your budget and needs.

Credits: Currys PC World - Prices

Set it up...back it up...recover it

 

 

I must say one of my happiest moments is getting hold of a new computer or laptop, tablet whatever (you name it) and getting the chance to put it through it's paces. I must say it can be fun to push technology to the extreme to review or just for reference (note, I don't endorse this unless you're experienced and are aware of what you're doing).

 

But, in the excitement of getting set up and playing with our new toy, one thing can get overlooked all too easily. What do we do when it breaks? Can we get our computer back to the beginning? Well yes provided that you have a disk with a Windows installation or a system image from which you can reboot your system.

 

These days, the responsibility is being put more and more on the user to remember to create their backup media and their reboot media in the event the unthinkable happens. Rule 1...get the system image (often called a system recovery disk) created and set up as soon as it is possible to do so. Rule 2...keep it somewhere safe for when you need it. I can guarantee you that many computers end up being replaced or new licenses purchased when they don't need to be because of the loss of recovery media.

 

It's a simple disk to create and most manufacturers put the media creation software into their devices and it will prompt you after a certain time to take action and create your disk. Do NOT ignore this message for too long or you could find yourself with a heavy penalty financially unless you know someone who can bail you out in some legal way (I do not and never will condone pirated software always buy legit or make sure you have access to legit software it always works out better).

 

It is not always the case that recovery media needs to be created from the system when you buy it. Some systems shipped direct from manufacturer have all the required utilities built in to do this from a reserved section of the hard drive and, if you have purchased a Windows disk, this acts as your recovery media but always always double check. If you're being prompted to create media, it'll be because the system doe not have a built in reinstall tool.

 

If you don't know where to start with making this data or if you want to check if it's needed, you would be best to check your manufacturer's documentation supplied with the computer or laptop or with the manufacturer website. They will normally have documentation and FAQs on the subject so do read around but make sure you're checking for support for the correct manufacturer and the correct model type (again this is supplied with the documentation and will most likely be on the system somewhere).

 

If you are having difficulty with this, we can assist you with our out the box range of services to get you fully set up and running and our system recovery options if you need your system restoring. Check out www.worleyitservices.com for more details and as ever, email enquiries@worleyitservices.com if you would like advice at no cost on how to approach these options. But please do not attempt to create backup media or reboot your system unless you are fully confident in your actions and are completely sure it is the best option.

 

For those windows 10 users out there, I have come across a few instances where Windows 10 is unwanted and a rollback is required to the previous operating system. Do not attempt to system restore as this will lock out the hard drive. Windows 10 has a built in utility to downgrade if you wish to revert to your previous operating system within 30 days of upgrading but please, consult with an experienced IT professional first.

 

I do hope you have found this little snippet useful if you are considering purchasing a device in the near future or just for general reference. Comments are welcome so please feel free to leave them at the bottom of this post and we'll get back to you if you have any other questions.

 

Hope to catch you soon

Ash

To upgrade or not?

With every new operating system that comes out, be it Mac, Windows, Android or iOS, the most frequent question is should I upgrade my software? The answer to be quite honest, is complex lets not forget the let down Vista was and the abomination that was called Windows 8.

Many did think upgrading to be the best option and were very quickly upset to find several stability issues. However, when the operating system after came round, these users were more cautious of upgrading to then find they were missing out on the complete package that is Windows 7. I can't speak for Windows 10 yet as it is in it's infancy after Wednesday's release however, so far I've heard positive remarks.

Now, upgrading does have numerous benefits including security improvements, especially those still using XP after it's support has ended. But at the same time, the newer systems that are supported by their vendors receive copious updates to keep these vulnerabilities at bay.

To be quite honest with you, it's personal preference. If there are any reader's still on XP then upgrading to at least Windows 7 is a must. If you're on Windows 7, you don't need to be too worried about upgrading at this time as it will be supported for a good few years to come. However, this depends on if you want to take advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offered by Microsoft for the next 12 months. If you're on Windows 8, you have nothing to lose in upgrading and you're systems will be the best to handle a newly released operating system.

As I said its preference over necessity at this point for a few years but Windows 10 will ultimately be the defacto in the coming years when 7 is gone.

If you need some more information, visit our new Windows 10 page for upgrading possibilities and advice at www.worleyitservices.com/Windows-10.aspx or get in touch for independent advice on enquiries@worleyitservices.com.

I'll leave it for you to mull over but that's the best way to look at the question. It is preference over necessity at the current time if you don't use XP.

 

The same applies to Mac and Android although, there's not so much a case of security risk as older versions are supported much longer and updates come out more frequently. More often than not, the system will get upgraded when you install updates.

 

At the very least you should aim to have either the current version of software or the version before. These are the most heavily supported systems and will keep you active for much longer before the money needs to be spent on the next best version.

 

Keep it in mind and I'll leave it to you to discuss and debate.

 

ATB

Ash