So my laptop blows..

[brendude13]

NotStan said:

£400 should be fun, would that include a funky case on top too? I wouldn't mind dishing out that much for a decent rig tbh. But I think that likely means I'll have to move the PS3 downstairs as I barely have enough room on my table.

If I were to start building one myself can I has a hand in choosing the right components etc? Because I have totally no idea what motherboard, graphics card etc is best for its value.

I think in terms of actually assembling it I am capable enough to do so, but MAY or may NOT damage my components. How does warranty go on the components btw? A friend of mine had custom made for £1100, it broke twice already. First they had to replace the video card I think and now something else. So what I am getting it at, is if I had built one myself and something goes wrong with it, do I have some sort of warranty on the components still?

 

(Also that test failed me on low too, but I just switched to standard for teh lulz)

A £400 build could play Battlefield 3 / Crysis 2 on high settings @ 720p and 30fps, if you think that's overkill then tell us what you want your build to do and we'll recommend the right components. The build I'm working on right now is around £450, so I could just send you the list of all the components I'm buying, with the odd downgrade, if you want.

To find the right components, we will need to know if you will be running any CPU intensive programs or games, like FRAPS, video encoding software or Grand Theft Auto IV. We will need to know what games you want to run, so you don't buy a graphics card designed for Crysis 2 when you're only going to be playing Starcraft 2. Lastly we'll need to know if you want to future proof your machine. The rest of the computer can be built around those components.

Warrantly generally doesn't last long, it's the typical 1 year, but if you buy decent components and don't damage them they should last you a long time, me and my friends' PCs have lasted years without a problem.