High spec gaming desktop recommendations

[Spocksmum]

DS has saved up and has about £900 to spend on a good quality 'gaming' desktop PC. He's told me that the Acer Aspire TC-605 is the one he's looking at but I want to be sure he's heading for the right thing before helping him go ahead with the purchase.

His current desktop (Dell) is 5 yrs old, very slow, with insufficient memory or graphics ability. He doesn't really do gaming as such - except Minecraft - but spends hours on computer generated imagery, using things like 'Blender' but can barely get this to work and sometimes has to leave the PC on for 3 days for an image to 'composite' (if I'm getting the terminology right?).

I'm from the era when you kept things forever/for decades and as his current PC works OK, am slightly resistant to him buying a new one but he says the screen is too small, the keyboard ancient etc and he needs a completely new set up.

Someone teccy I asked for advice said it wasn't worth trying to install a new graphics card in what he's got, as the memory (or something?) wouldn't allow a better graphics card to improve anything much. So I think it is probably time he buys a new PC.

Is the model he's thinking of a good buy? Where's the best place to purchase what he needs? I'm averse to the local PC World as there are countless stories of damaged goods, problems with customer service etc etc. He could buy direct from the company, eg Acer - but if something were wrong with the PC, it'd be a major hassle to return it and home delivery of anything is really tricky as I work full-time.

So can anyone advise me how to advise DS? Is there a better model of something similar about to come out in 2015 that he should wait for? He's waiting in any case for January and hopefully sales prices. What does he need to consider?

Have a look at the PC specialist website, they make custom PCs.

I have a fast custom built PC, I have a SSD drive, 16gb RAM and i5 quad core processor. I'm not sure exactly what is good for gaming but mine is pretty fast.

Having had a look at the spec in question, work out how much the following would cost on the PC specialist site:

Windows 8.1
Intel Core i5 quad core processor
NVIDIA GeForce GT 705
16 GB, DDR3 SDRAM
1 TB HDD or 500GB SSD drive

I reckon it'll come up to around the £800 mark.

Also coming onto recommend pc specialist. They have an affiliated forum where if you tell them what you need it to do and budget people will give you a spec/component list.

Which you then transfer onto the website and a week later your pc turns up in the post.

They're cheaper than other similar websites.

Dd's new computer was from there. Same budget and we're very happy with it. Much better spec than buying a named brand computer off the shelf.

We went AMD with dd's computer rather than intel. I was a bit nervous after always having intel but everyone on the forum swore I'd get a better spec for the budget and that they're just as good.

Likewise they all tried to convince me to get a non Nvideia graphics card. Can't remember if I listened to them for that or not now!

These links might help:

www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/desktop-pc/3338847/8-best-gaming-pcs-in-uk-2014-2015-uk/

www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gaming-pc,review-2219.html

www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/i7-pcs-c-20.html

www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/desktop-pc-monitors/desktop-pcs/gaming-pcs/706_7026_70026_xx_xx/xx-criteria.html

Happy Christmas !

following spec from PC specialist is £662 from PC specialist. Includes a monitor but not a keyboard or mouse.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB

Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-6350 Six Core CPU (4.2/3.9GHZ - 8MB CACHE/AM3+)

Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 LE R2.0 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ R7 260X - DVI, HDMI, DP- DX® 11, , Eyefinity 3 Capable

1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY

Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler (£19)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
AOC 18.5" WIDESCREEN LED TFT - 1366 x 768, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D (£68)

Speakers
LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£12)

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days

Many thanks for the advice. DS is worried about not getting a PC from a registered company like Acer and also insists he needs a Nvidia graphics card. I am clueless but will look further into the PC Specialist possibility. Wish I knew more about this kind of thing so I could help DS make an informed decision. Also need to factor in how to get a PC home delivered when I'm rarely in to receive deliveries and don't have neighbours who can help with this.....Lots to think about....

Well pc specialist will do nvidea graphics card. They have been around for years and have a very good reputation. If you go to any of the big gaming conventions like insommnia they always have a stand and are more highly thought of than "branded" computers as you can customise it to your requirements.

I would definitely second your son having a look at the P C Specialist web-site, I bought a P C from them about 18 months ago and wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.
i'm no computer geek but with their help and advice from their on line forum I ended up with a system that is just perfect for me. Ordering was straightforward, and delivery was spot on. I dithered for ages about buying a computer on line but couldn't fault the process at all. An added bonus for me was that the computer came without all the .... that ready made systems come with.
I've had no need to use their after-sales service but I have no reason to doubt that it would be anything less than excellent.