# Gaming with PC £600 Help



## Bongomundi (Jan 3, 2011)

I want to buy parts for my PC to be able to play games such as; Skyrim and Shogun 2 Total War on maximum settings.

These are my current specs

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz, Intel64 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 7
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 3263 Mb
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 610377 MB, Free - 206340 MB; E: Total - 953859 MB, Free - 559894 MB;
Motherboard: ASRock, G31M-GS.
Antivirus: None

Could anyone recommend parts that I could purchase to allow me to play these games at max settings for around £600

Thanks


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## oneSorcerer (Dec 18, 2004)

Hi.

If you want to run Skyrim maxed you need a lot of upgrades. You can look at my specs in the drop down and I still can't max out the distant objects detail and shadows. Definitely need a processor and gpu. Most likely that means a new motherboard, which in turns means new memory.

I would look into 2nd generation Intel i7's (they have 4 numbers instead of 3, like 2600) or the amd FX series which is comparatively a little slower, but they are also cheaper. The AMD Phenom II processors have come down a lot in price also, and the top end versions of those are very nice.

graphics cards you want at least an nvidia GTX560 or higher. I don't know a ton about ATI cards, but I think the equivalent is the radeon 6970, I'm not 100% sure though that could be a little be better. Again though like I said, I have a gtx 560 ti and still can't max it.

Long story short though, you will be hard pressed to come in under you budget. I'm not sure on a the pounds to dolars conversion, but your looking at 250-300 for processor, and about the same for the video card. not to mention the motherboard and memory you will need to upgrade those parts. If you could find a motherboard with one of the newer sockets that supports your memory, that would be nice.


Hope this helps you some.


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## Bongomundi (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks a lot for your help, by the sound of it I would need to replace the majority of my components. 
Do you know how the i5's hold up? Such a dramatic change may warrant a new system, if so how are the specs of this computer

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....=STORE:HTMLBUILDER:SIMPLEITEM#ht_10263wt_1139

Its processor is a AMD FX 4100 3.6Ghz Quad Core processor does that compare well with the likes of the i5's or i7's?
Graphics card: ATI 5450 2GB, is this much better than my current one ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series, 1024 Mb?

This package contains pretty much all I would need just curious to have someone rate it in relevance to its gaming performance.

Thanks a lot for your help


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## Tanis (May 30, 2006)

Personally, for a limited budget I would look at i5 not i7 or even AMD as they offer a much better 'bang to buck' ratio.

I would also say you are going to need a significant upgrade or completely new system to get close to maxed settings on something like Skyrim.

Things I don't like about the advert you have listed are the lack of exact make for components, which in turn implies cheaper components have been used.

Have a look here, I almost exclusively use these guys now in the UK, you can pick up some decent bargains if you look in their 'Super Specials' area. Remember you will need to buy a copy of Windows also (around £70) if you haven't got one already so factor that in.


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