Tv or dedicated monitor.

[loki365]

Hi, I'm in the process of purchasing a new computer, self build on the cheap for now but I will be chopping and changing to improve its performance. I have a 19" tv, would an HDMI cable run through that see to my audio/visual requirements or would I need to invest in a long 3.5 to 3.5 cable as well?

And on to the main thrust of my question. Would I do well to plan the purchase of a full HD monitor for gaming or can a TV serve my purposes in this regard?

Thanks in advance.

[DeArmittE]

When I first started gaming on my PC I had little cash left over, so I played on a TV I already owned. I thought it was fine until I played games with smaller details like Civ 5 or CK2. I would definitely recommend a monitor, as now that I have one I don't think I'll be going back to a TV.

[MrJim]

The audio from your PC should pass through to your TV via the HDMI cable, although you might have to enable it in your drivers to do so. Of course the quality of the sound will be limited by the speakers in your TV, and on a 19" set, they're probably not that great.

The TV should certainly work as a monitor, but you'll be limited to its resolution, probably something like 1366x768 if it's widescreen. The quality of the image will obviously depend on the TV too, and if you want a higher resolution in games, you'll need either an HD (1080p) monitor or TV, plus a graphics card that's capable of running your games at that resolution.

What's the specification of the system you're building?

[loki365]

Nothing too exciting just yet.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3-basic but gets me the Z87 chipset and access to...
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K The one spot where I've allowed myself to spend. Its a retail model so I'll be able to swap out mobos if it becomes totally necessary.
GPU: EVGA GT 620, planning on upgrading to a GTX 760 when feeling solvent
PSU: Corsair 450W VS, cheap and cheerful, will keep me going until I upgrade GPU
RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance LP
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda.
Can just about stretch to an SSD as well to hold windows. Was looking at either Crucial M500 120GB or Plextor PX-128M5S 128 GB. Recommendations?

Wrapping it all up in Corsair Carbide 200R. Again cheap and cheerful but a solid case which only falls down in SSD storage and front air flow.

[KeyboardDemon]

Personally I would say to go for a GTX760 straight away or get a used card if you can't afford to buy one new, rather than buy a GT620 and upgrade it to a GTX760 later. It seems like a good idea in principle to get a £35 GPU and then upgrade to a £200 GPU later, but in reality you will not enjoy gaming with the cheaper model so that by the time you can afford the £200 GPU you'll no longer have the desire to use your PC for gaming.

Here's a video of Battlefield 3 on a GT620 with fraps running, look at what needs to be done to make the game playable.

Here's another of Battlefield 3 on a GTX760, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

That is assuming that you want to use the PC for gaming, if you're not planning on using it for gaming then I would stick to the integrated graphics instead of getting a £35 GPU.

Good, used GTX760 cards can be found, at a reasonable price, like this one but remember that postage to the UK will add about £15 to the price.

Please consider what I have said, I learnt this the hard way when I thought I would be ok getting a 5770 as a 'placeholder' and I really didn't enjoy the gaming experience, but I was lucky to have bought it used from a friend at 80% below retail value and was then able to sell it on ebay at 60% of retail value while I used the integrated graphics on my mobo at the time (even worse for gaming!), but this helped me save for the HD6970 that I used until I upgraded to an HD6990.

[MrJim]

Personally I would say to go for a GTX760 straight away or get a used card if you can't afford to buy one new, rather than buy a GT620 and upgrade it to a GTX760 later. It seems like a good idea in principle to get a £35 GPU and then upgrade to a £200 GPU later, but in reality you will not enjoy gaming with the cheaper model so that by the time you can afford the £200 GPU you'll no longer have the desire to use your PC for gaming.

I agree with this - if you're playing games on your PC, I'd hold on the SSD for now, if it allows you to spend more on the GPU instead. The SSD won't speed up your games anyhow (except load times at least), so spend the money where it'll make the most difference. You can always add an SSD later of course.

I would probably go for an XFX PSU (which are made by Seasonic) rather than a Corsair, as Corsair's quality control doesn't seem to be quite what it once was IMHO.

[loki365]

My PC gaming plans are very limited in the immediate future. I'm playing WoW at the moment and I've got an Xbox One for the demanding stuff. All of the demanding PC games I'm looking at aren't yet on the release radar. Squadron 42 will be mine, maybe Star Citizen if my friends are playing, I want to be ready for Cyperpunk 2077 and I'm thinking Witcher 3 on PC rather than XBone as I've got a warm place in my heart for PC RPGs.

So far as I could tell a cheap dedicated GPU would see to my video and game wants until the funds are there to upgrade. Let me know if I'm just babbling incoherently and that everything I want will run fine off the CPU's internal graphics.

[loki365]

I'd hold on the SSD for now

That's what I was thinking but will I be able to move an OEM copy of Windows 7 to an SSD in future? Or will I be stuck in customer service hell with Microsoft?

[MrJim]

I've certainly re-installed Windows multiple times when upgrading my PCs. You might have to dial the freephone number to get an additional installation code, but they've always agreed to this. Hard disks fail all the time, so it's to be expected that the OS will need to be reinstalled occasionally. Of course if you were ringing up every other day trying to 'reinstall' the same Windows licence it might ring alarm bells with them!

[KeyboardDemon]

My PC gaming plans are very limited in the immediate future. I'm playing WoW at the moment and I've got an Xbox One for the demanding stuff. All of the demanding PC games I'm looking at aren't yet on the release radar. Squadron 42 will be mine, maybe Star Citizen if my friends are playing, I want to be ready for Cyperpunk 2077 and I'm thinking Witcher 3 on PC rather than XBone as I've got a warm place in my heart for PC RPGs.

So far as I could tell a cheap dedicated GPU would see to my video and game wants until the funds are there to upgrade. Let me know if I'm just babbling incoherently and that everything I want will run fine off the CPU's internal graphics.

The 4670K uses the same HD4600 as found on the 4770k, here's a review, unfortunately they test it against a GT520 not a GT620 but the IGP beat the GT520 by 29% overall. Assuming a 20% performance increase from the GT520 to the GT620 that would mean that the GT620 running at 1280x800 with 2xAA would give you around 20.16 fps where the HD4600 was producing 20.8 fps, which is over 0.5 fps more for the HD4600. I still say save your money on the GT620 and use the IGP until you can move up to a dedicated GPU that will give you the results you want.

That's what I was thinking but will I be able to move an OEM copy of Windows 7 to an SSD in future? Or will I be stuck in customer service hell with Microsoft?

Worst case scenario is you will have to reactivate Win 7 by ringing MS and typing in a 25 digit code using the keypad on your phone, they then give you a new 25 digit code to type into your PC and that reactivates it. Process took me nearly 3 minutes when I last had to do it.

[loki365]

Alright, thanks for the help, I'll reassess my build and look for new and exciting ways to bump up my GPU budget.

[loki365]

Hokay, taking those two items off the build saved me about £100. I'll put that to one side and, when I get paid in two weeks, a graphics card should be easily affordable.