Affordable Gaming Computer – The “Whirlwind”

Price as at 2 November 2011

Prices fluctuate daily, so it is impossible to update prices every day, so please fill in the form at the bottom of the page for today’s price. I’ll respond as soon as I see your request.

If you would like to order, or have a query about the machine, then use the same form at the bottom as well and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Affordable Gaming Desktop Computer – The “Whirlwind”.

PC games have surprisingly high requirements of they are to be played properly. I do not mean “Tetris’ or “Solitaire” – those are simple games that require very little “horsepower”. Most “real” games, however, need a powerful CPU, plenty of RAM, and above all a powerful discreet graphics card. (A “Discreet” graphics adapter in computer hardware terminology, means that it is not a chip built onto the motherboard and shares the working RAM, but instead is a main Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) mounted onto its own graphics card together with dedicated graphics memory chips and other supporting components. )
Gamers also need particularly sensitive gaming mice and keyboards that can store keystroke combinations. Wireless mice are frowned upon in the gaming community because with wireless technology there is a small almost imperceptible pause between the mouse movement and the response on the screen.

However, there is never enough money…
so here is a good compromise between performance and cost. The “Whirlwind” is a good gaming computer which of course is also useable for general office work, photo-editing or watching videos. In short, this is the ideal machine for a family to share.

Highlights:

• It uses an AMD AM3 PHENOM II 970 processor and 4GB of DDR3 RAM
• An ASUS gaming motherboard
• Large 500GB Hard drive
• ASUS GeForce GTS450 Graphics adapter with 1Gb Graphics RAM
• Raser Lachesis laser gaming mouse
• Raser Arctosa gaming keyboard
• Superb Quality 600W Corsair Power Supply
• Built in 1000bit/s Network adapter
• 7.1 Audio built in for surround sound
• 22x DVD Read/Writer
• 3-year warranty

This is what the internal components look like:

Technical Specifications:

• CPU: AMD AM3 PHENOM II 970 3.5GHz Black Edition Unlocked
• Motherboard: ASUS M5A87 Motherboard – amd870 + SB850 chipset
• RAM: 2x 2GB DDR3-1333
• Graphics Adapter:  ASUS GTS450 Graphics adapter with 1Gb ddr5 video RAM
• Hard Drive: 500GB SATA6G 7200RPM 16MB Cache
• PSU: Corsair GS600 600W Power Supply
• DVD: 22x SATA Super Multi – Double Layer dvd-R + dvd±r/rw + dvd-ram + cd+/-rw
• Raser Lachesis 5600dpi laser gaming mouse – 1000hz poling – 9 programmable buttons
• Raser Arctosa gaming keyboard – 1mS response time – programmable keys + 10-profile memory
• Antec “DarkFleet” gaming chassis

Today’s Price: R7768 + VAT = R8855

Price includes assembly and testing.
Price does not include a monitor or software. See below for suggestions.

• If you purchase Windows (see below), I will install it for you and update it with the latest service packs, patches and drivers.
• If you purchase Antivirus, I will install it for you and download the latest definitions.
• If you purchase one of the Microsoft Office suites, I will install it, download the latest updates and set up Outlook to work with your e-mail account.

Optional extras:

There are literally thousands of extra goodies that I can supply you with.
Here are a few of the most common items that are usually bought together with the machine:

LCD or LED Screen Monitors

 

There are scores of monitors from different manufacturers available. I have selected five different monitors as suggestions to go with your machine. They are all “wide screen” types:

	Price Excl. VAT	Price Incl. VAT
Asus VH192D, 18.5″, LCD, 1360x768px, Contrast Ratio 10000:1	R780	R889
Samsung B1930N, 18.5″, LCD 1360×768, Contrast Ratio 50000:1	R866	R987
LG E2041S-bn, 20″, LED, 1600x900px, DFC contrast ratio – 5000000:1	R1021	R1164
LG E2241T-bn, 22″, LED, Full HD 1920×1080, DFC contrast ratio- 5000000:1	R1724	R1965
Asus VE247H , 23.6″ Wide LED , Full-HD, 2 x 1w speaker , 1920×1080, ASCR contrast ratio – 10000000:1	R2874	R3276

For Gaming, I particularly recommend a somewhat larger screen like the 23.6″ ASUS VE247H

Windows:

 

You will need operating system software to run the machine. You might already have your copy of Microsoft Windows, you might prefer Ubuntu Linux, but if you wish to order Windows7 from me, here are the available versions.
For this machine I would recommend Windows Home Basic – 64-bit although any one of them will work just fine. :

	Price Excl. VAT	Price Incl. VAT
Windows 7 Home Basic 32bit	R769	R877
Windows 7 Home Basic 64bit	R769	R877
Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit	R968	R1104
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit	R968	R1104
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit + 32bit	R1219	R1390
Windows 7 Professional 32bit	R1303	R1485
Windows 7 Professional 64bit	R1316	R1500
Windows 7 Professional 64bit + 32bit	R2091	R2383
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit	R1755	R2001
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit	R1755	R2001
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit + 64bit	R2037	R2322

Anti-Virus:

 

If you are on the Internet, an antivirus is essential. There are free antivirus programs and there are those that cost an annual fee. Free antivirus? Well… let’s just say: “You pay for what you get”. An antivirus program is initially purchased (from your computer supplier – someone like me) and then usually renewed annually over the internet using your credit card. If you are uncomfortable with credit cards over the internet, then you can always get another disk from me in a year’s time. There are two anti-virus programs that I recommend. You only need to buy one of them. I recommend the Kapersky.

	Price Excl. VAT	Price Incl. VAT
Norton Anti-Virus 2011	R132	R151
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011	R153	R174

Application Software:

 

There are hundreds of thousands of programs available. Most are purchased directly from the manufacturers on the Internet via credit card.
The most often-used program suite is Microsoft Office (Word, excel, outlook etc…), which, curiously, is usually not purchased over the Internet and downloaded. Instead Microsoft office is usually purchased from a computer supplier like me. Here are the current prices.

If you are a home user who does not use Outlook, then go for the “Home and Student” version. If you need Microsoft Outlook, however, then the “Home and Business” version should do you fine.

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 – with DVD – includes word, excel, powerpoint, onenote – licensed for noncommerical use	R697	R794
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 – with DVD – includes word, excel, powerpoint, onenote , outlook	R1531	R1745
Microsoft Office Professional 2010 – with DVD – includes word, excel, powerpoint , onenote , outlook, publisher, access	R3997	R4557

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