Whether you’re upgrading your PC or starting
anew, this is the best kit
One of the joys of owning a PC is that you
can upgrade it as you go. Need higher frame rates in games? Drop in a newer
graphics card. More power elsewhere? Grab a new processor or go for that old
favourite: a memory boost. There’s a wealth of upgrades that can transform your
machine, and you can upgrade slowly over time to suit your budget, so you
rarely have to suffer a sluggish rig for long. Every now and then the best
possible upgrade is to throw your current rig out the window and start afresh;
build a whole new machine from scratch.
What sort of machine should you build
though? Which items are important? Which work together well? How much should
you be budgeting for? That’s a lot of questions, and to get the right answers
means having to go and research all the current trends in order to make the
right decision. Before you do that though, take a look the right. You’ll
discover that we’ve taken the hard work out of the equation and presented you
with three machines that fit three different budgets.
Importantly, each one of these machines is
DirectX 11 capable and, as such, will form the basis of a rig that will last
you for years. The more you spend now, the longer it will last in terms of
system requirements for tomorrow’s games, but generally any of these machines
will see you covered for a fair while Happy building!
How to buy a processor
Choosing the right processor for your rig
is probably the most important decision you’ll make regarding a new
build/purchase. It dictates what sort of motherboard you need, and not just
because of the socket either.
If you opt for a chip with known
overclocking potential then you need to spend wisely on said motherboard to
ensure you get the most out of it. Likewise if you pick a CPU with possible
core unlocking possibilities then a corresponding motherboard is also vitally
important.
There are many different choices out there,
from dual-core workhouses to six and eight-core thoroughbreds, and everything
in between. You typical usage model should also colour your CPU choice, a lowly
dual-core isn’t going to give you much joy in a video encoding machine.
Likewise dropping a grand on a six-core
chip isn’t going to have you reaping the rewards in games. A decent quad-core
will give you a balanced machine if you fit between the two, but if you’re a
gamer then there really is no need to go for more. And you can save some crash
for a better GPU too.
Budget: $648
When
every pound counts, you need to spend it wisely.
Motherboard: Asus M4A785TD-MEvo: $108
AMD’s 785G chipset is where the sensible
money is at, and this ASUS mATX board ticks our boxes. DDR3 and ẢM support as
standard make it a platform that’s easy to upgrade too.
CPU: AMD Phenom II 550 BE: $75
You could go quad-core, but you’re better
served by picking this speedy fella for gaming. Belting along at 3.1GHz, the
two cores can handle serious computing.
Memory: Kingston 2x 1GB 1600 DDR3: $30
Memory pricing has fallen enough to finally
affect DDR3, making it a great time to pick up a pair of sticks. If you’re
going 64-bit, we’d recommend getting 4GB these days.
