Current Hardware Recommendations

4850 is only 159nz and unless you know someone, top line old range nvidia cards are hard to come by new in NZ.

Tbh Dremr, go to www.computerlounge.co.nz, navigate to the forums and post what you come up with here.

They are probably the best computer store in NZ along with a good rma service and they will discuss online your build options along with prices and discounts for builds and their cable management/build is second to none (free delivery too).

If you are looking for 2ndhand parts, go to www.gpforums.co.nz and navigate to the buy/sell/trade.
Some bargains come up there at times.

Also chook, any item over nz$400 including delivery (even 2nd hand and/or marked gift) attracts gst.
And customs are switched on about this.

I know as my brother in law works in nz customs at the akld airport and my brother runs a freight forwarding company based at the same location.

You can only bring some product @ $500 marked as a gift in duty free separate to std rules on your person.

Thems the rules.

Also, NZ importers will not honour any warranty on items bought outside of nz.

Hairy pretty much covered it all. You can save a bit by importing from Oz/USA (and I might call on you in the future!) but there's a lot of drawbacks when it comes to import tax, warranty, etc etc. At the moment I'm specifically looking for a rig that will get me playing BFBC2 without any performance issues, and I think this will do me perfectly. The mobo will take an i7 930 next month, and I'll be able to finally get rid of my old gaming rig which has been kept specifically to mod 360s as this micro ATX mobo doesn't have the space to put in the PCI VIA card needed.
So for a low cost quick fix it beats spending $750 on just a GTX 280 and gets me a fresh new PC to install Vista Ultimate and enter the next gen as smoothly as possible, and I can even have 2 decent gaming rigs in the house for mini LANs with mates until I get rid of the old one
Now to continue my quest for a BFBC2 beta key...

Go to www.gamerhub.co.nz, navigate to forums/bf:bc2 subforum and ask them to supply a beta key. (look for appropriate thread offering freebie)

They may still have some at www.gpforums.co.nz navigate to games discussion, look for free beta key thread. (friendlier place than gamerhub. they tend to have a superiority complex)

That mobo won't take an i7 you will have to get a new mobo, CPU and RAM for i7 or i5 thus my reluctance to recommend. I would not recommend a 280 either as they are overpriced for the performance.

Dremr, there's a good guy called 5loth selling off some i7 gear right now on GPForums.
And on gamerhub, another guy is selling off a new 5870 vapor-x.

Chook is right, don't waste your money on the old 775 gear. and oldish Nvidia cards.
A 5850 is more powerful and a more solid card than a 280gtx (at a better price) and the 5870 eats it alive.

Hi Hairy, sloths system is sold as of 5pm, and like I said before this really isn't costing me anything at all and the deal has already been made. I'd LOVE to back out and get new(er) stuff, but it's too late now.

Yeah, it was gone in an hour, same with the 5870 at gamerhub.

The 775 system linked to that trademe auction will do the trick for a while yet anyway.

Not quite an hour but definitely sold by the time I got to it. My mate's gotten some massive offers for his rig so I'm getting a great deal and looking forward to getting it all set up.
BTW Hairy, followed your advice and had a key off gpforums within 2 hours. Was one of the last ones they gave out so really good timing and quite pleased. BC2 looks great on this rig and will probably be amazing on the new one!

long story short guys, i was almost finished building my system that chooky designed over xmas, but because i went to thailand for holidays never actually finished it, when i got home i had been broken into so no half built computer anymore, long story short insurace paid up this week and i had over estimated the price (as we do) so now have around 5k towards my next system, includind screen keyboard mouse etc. if i dont spend the whole amount is a bonus but 5k in the limit, so i want an absolutely ridiculous kick arse system if possible, the case has to look good to as i will be sittin in the lounge room in view, and must have good cooling properties, i will need windows 7 a blue ray reader etc. i would rather over kill than under kill. but pretty much this system has to run all the latest games at full res, it possible. all input welcome thanks guys.

oh and all my parts a brought from cpl (computer and parts land in notting hill)
http://www.cpl.net.au using the green guide. so hopefully there prices are ok compared o umart

thinking maybe i7 950 but have no idea

and one more thing, i want full 1080p hi def sceen and i dont know how it works but can the computer run full high def 2

dude i no fuck all about the computer side of things, but i have my computer set up to a 32" lcd tv, with that cind of budget im guessing you would be ably to spend like 1k to 1.5k and get a fairly nice big screen.
btw i didnt no u lived in melb, computer parts land is very cheap but i use msy, i think they have a store in clayton i think there the cheapest, might be much of a muchness between cpl and msy. good luck dude, you will have a kick arse system.

With 5 k to spend I would look no further than this

omg, ive fallen in love with a computer, how the fuck do people make this shit, if you do buy this one equiped NEVER tell me were you live or i am not responsible for my actions, aka- i will take advantage of the five finger discount.

6 and a half grand (starting price) for that bad boy on Dell NZ!

http://www.scorptec.com.au/system/101

This isn't a bad system for 4 grand.

Rock_N_Rolla wrote:

With 5 k to spend I would look no further than this

found it, only prob is when you customise it a little the price goes through the roof in a big way i started going through it and got to nearly 11k and thought i might keep looking, or do you guys think as a stock standard thing with no extras its a good deal, or will i do a lot better building it myself.

Do it yourself or with the help of a handy friend.

And why buy a i7 950 for a grandish when a 920 is 1/2 that and overclockable to the same point easily?
You could get a second 5870 for that roughly.

Alienware is all gimmick and price imo (not that it matters )

The h/ware recommendation on page 1 - 5850 + 2 x 5870's, maybe a different case if it can't take the length of 5870's and you will be ripping it up with a primo system.
And there there is anything left over still, do 2 x 5970's.

A low input lag/low ms/ 120hz lcd (or 3 with eyefinity)

Decent mouse/k board etc.

Easy 120 + fps constant, everything on high BC2. (2 x 5870)

I agree with hairymofo I would still go with:

CPU:	Intel Core i7 920 Processor LGA1366 2.66GHz 8MB Cache CPU	$379
Mobo:	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R X58+ICH10R QPI 6.4GT/s DDR3 2000 PCI-Ex16 SATAII RAID	$244
RAM:	OCZ 6G(3x2G) Obsidian DDR3 1600Mhz	$225
GPU:	MSY HIS 5850	$377
PSU:	Corsair HX-750 ATX Power Supply, Modular, 140mm Fan	$211
Case:	Antec Nine Hundred Two Tower Gaming Case w Side Window black	$166
SSD:	G.Skill Falcon II 64G SSDHD 2.5 inch SATA II	$241
HDD:	Western Digital 1TB SATAII 32M 3GB/s(WD1001FALS)	$118
DVD:	Pioneer SATA DVR218L 22X DVD Black & Cyberlink	$38
CPU HS:	PC Case Gear 1366 CPU Coolers	$80
OS:	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM	$119
Total		$2,198

Change the DVD to a Blu-ray combo the writer is a waste of money as the disks are really expensive for writing.

Put the extra money on some really nice LED displays. Maybe even a second 5850 and or 128GB SSD

just remember i have no idea how to overclock, so i want a system that will be factory over kill. like those quad core turbo processors, at least a 1000w psu, 12gig ram, two highend graphics cards in sli ? i think. and i want 1080p monitors so computer has to do full hd, and i has to run all the latest at full res. and what is the defierence between the 920 950 etc

why not say 2 x xfx 1gb hd5870 xtreme $649 each, not to be picky i just dont want to upgrade for a while and dont want to overclock it myself so id rather more power than i will need than not enough.

Thants why i'd buy from Alienware if I had the money. Plus if it goes wrong it next day delivery on a new system.


Sometimes it's better to just spend the money on a system that works straight out of the box rather than fucking about building it yourself. I built my own pc for 2k If I had 5 I would buy from Alienware no question about it.