[markdr80]

Hi there,

I'd like some help on purchasing a new Desktop please.

My budget is up to approx. £1600 including a monitor and it will mainly used for software development and playing games such as Skyrim at max settings so no doubt I'll need a top end graphics card and a good monitor (no less than 24" screen).

I've got a 3 year old 24" iMac at the moment which I use Bootcamp to run games and run development software like Visual Studio in Windows but do I still use OSX from time to time as well. It's still going well but it's time for an upgrade and it's not really up to playing the latest games such as Skyrim at max settings.

Firstly, should I consider a new 27" iMac for my needs or a PC and possibly a mac-mini instead? And secondly, I don't want to build my own PC myself so I'm really looking for a rough spec for my needs and possibly a list of the best UK suppliers for it.

Thanks in advance

[EndlessWaves]

If you're serious about running Skyrim at maximum settings (not just very high, ultra or with everything except the high demand, low impact, bragging rights options turned on) then the iMac is completely unsuitable with it's high resolution screen coupled with a mid-range card (the Mobility 6970 is a slightly slowed down £95 Radeon 6850). It's not even going to average 30fps@2560x1440 on Skyrim at maximum based on the tests Tom's Hardware did at 1920x1080: Ultra Detail, 4x MSAA Plus Transparent/Adaptive AA : Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: PC Performance, Benchmarked

If you don't mean maximum and just want something that'll make the game look good then the top iMac would be sufficient, although that particular PC is a little overpriced and other options would get you a graphics card that's a fair bit beefier.

The first thing I would decide on is a monitor as that's down to personal preference and has a big impact on both performance and the remaining budget. Generally there are a few things you want to consider:

120hz TN vs. IPS. These are two types of LCD panel. 120hz TN panels handle motion better but require higher frame rates to be at their best (up to 120fps) and have poor viewing angles. IPS panels are the sort your current iMac uses and have good viewing angles and generally receive better reviews for their picture quality, they also tend to be more expensive.

Matte vs. Glossy. Matte screens diffuse the light hitting them meaning they don't reflect anything. Glossy screens do create reflections but some people feel they make the picture look more 'vibrant'. I'm sure I don't have to tell you which sort your iMac uses.

1920x1080/1200 vs. 2560x1440/1600. Higher resolution means more space for programming but means it requires more horsepower to run games at higher settings.

[STdrez625]

Aria Dabs SCan CCLonline and ebuyer shops all are generally quite good . Your need is really going to focus on your monitor anf gfx card. I presume an I5 will do everything you need at a great price, or posssibly an octocore Amd, not even sure what they call their CPu's FX or APU. INtel will be better in almost everything except

[psikey]

Invest in best cost vs performance GPU, I can highly recommend a GTX 670 (~£300). I do have mine with a IvyBridge i7 3770K but the cheaper IvyBridge i5 3750 (~£175) will be fine.

This combination with Corsair XMS3 RAM and X77 motherboard plays everything I have maxed out at 1080p.

Sure all my rig can be done for under your price (details here: mATX gaming beast finished 0.1 away! )

Suggestion:

• Corsair TX 650W V2 ~£70
• 4 or 8 GB Corsair XMS3 1600 RAM ~£20/4GB
• Optical drive (more for Blu-ray drive) ~£15 or £50+ Blu-ray
• 1 x 120GB SSD used for the OS ~£70
• 500GB+ 7,200rpm 3.5" HDD for storage ~£50
• 1 x Akasa 120mm Apache Fan PWM rear case fan ~£15
• Silverstone TJ08-E mATX case with integrated 2 speed 140mm penetrator front fan & inline filtration ~ £80
• Intel IvyBridge i5 3.4GHz QUAD 3570K CPU ~£175
• ASUS P8Z77-M PRO (or V) motherboard with 6 USB3.0, SATA6 and 2 x PCI-e 3.0 lanes ~£100
• NVidia GTX 670 ~ £300+ dependant on card choice
• Thermaltake Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler ~£30 (great low noise plus overclock CPU to 4.5GHz)
• Windows 7 Home ~ £70
• 24" Monitor of your choice ~ £150 (check out reviews)

So minimum £1150, or around £1250 with 8GB RAM & larger than 500GB Hard Drive. Don't forget keyboard/mouse if you don't have one and around £60 for a dedicated sound card if you want to do 5.1Live for surround gaming.

Quick list based on my own rig with some bits I've left off and less costly CPU, PSU & GPU.

My Rig gives 3DMark Vantage score of over 34,000 (see my thread) and build above wouldn't be much slower. I have v-sync set on Skyrim to 60fps but think it was averaging around 80+fps with all maxed out at 1080p.

Can add another GTX 670 in SLI if needed at a later date or to bring spec upto £1600 but not needed in my opinion.

This is based on a mATX case rather than a full size case (don't like/need a big case), but you may need use of more PCI slots.