I need some help buying a new Windows PC for the study at home

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StewartR

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So the old machine we have at home runs Windows XP, and in a few days time when Microsofts's support ends it will be on the reeiving end of a barrage of malware. So I want to replace it, and I want to do it soon.

I think I know what kind of spec I want. But I'm really not sure about how/where to buy and I'd appreciate some advice.

Firstly the usage. My wife will use the machine to work from home and she's an Excel power user. I do a bit of spreadsheet and database work but not so much these days. I use Lightroom and Photoshop Elements but I'm not a heavy user so I don't need to focus too much on that side of it - just so long as it runs well enough. Neither of us is a gamer and we don't use the PC in the study for watching films or TV or anything like that. But one quirk is that the kinds of things she has open are often very different to the kinds of things I have open, and we often want to switch users without having to shut everything down.

Now the spec. Comments and suggestions welcome.
  • Processor: I reckon an Intel i5 ought to be about right for us.
  • RAM: I think I'm looking at 8GB, maybe a bit more (or at least the option to add more). The current machine has 4GB and that's not enough.
  • HDD: Not really fussed. I'm expecting to transplant my existing HDDs which contain all my photos and all my music from the old machine. So I don't need a big HDD but I do want the ability to have at least 2 and preferably 3 disks in the machine.
  • Graphics: I'd expect integrated graphics to be adequate for our use. But a machine that has the option of accommodating a dedicated card might be handy.
  • OS: It has to be Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. That's what we both use at work and we don't want Windows 8.
  • Monitor: We'll use our existing 24" Samsung. I don't anticipate needing to switch to a dual monitor setup.
  • CD/DVD RW drive: I guess we'll need one but nothing fancy.
  • Sound: Onboard sound and our existing speakers will be fine.
Have I forgotten anything? Have I got anything wrong?

Now, about buying. I don't have time to source the components and build a machine myself. I want to be able to buy a reliable, well-built, reasonably priced machine with the specs I want.

It always used to be easy. Every PC I've bought since about 1998 has been a Dell. Just go to their website, pick the basic platform, and customise everything else you want. But they seem to have changed their business model and they're now a LOT less flexible. For example:
  • The Inspiron 3847 [link] seems great value at £469 incl VAT and delivery and it ticks most of the boxes (4th gen i5, 8GB, 1TB, Nvidia 1Gb graphics), but it only comes with Win 8.1 (and not even 8.1 Pro which is legally downgradeable to 7 Pro).
  • The Optiplex 3020 MT [link] ticks all the boxes except it only comes with 4GB of RAM. Compared to the Inspiron it has lower specs and it's more expensive: £509 delivered. I guess I'm paying for a load of business-class features I don't really need.
  • The Optiplex 7010 MT [link] has similar specs to the 3020, but again is limited to 4GB of RAM. It's even more expensive (£569 delivered)and I guess that's even more business-class features.
  • The XPS 8700 [link] looks like a great machine, somewhat better than the Inspiron, but it's a lot more expensive (£623 delivered) and like the Inspiron it only comes with Win 8.1.
I'm really frustrated with Dell. I feel I ought to be able to buy a machine with the specs I want for about £500-£550, and they have all the parts, but these days they just don't seem to be willing to put them together in different combinations.

So ... where else should I be looking, and what else should I be looking at? Any help and advice would be very welcome.
 
PC Specialist. Ring them up. You can talk to a good honest Yorkshire lad who will talk sense to you. All my dealings with them have been great, and this seems to be the norm.

For example, here's one I prepared earlier. The short version is that it's in budget and to spec. £497 inc VAT. You could go lower in price with an AMD processor, and that'd give you some headroom for a dedicated graphics card, which could be useful for your photo work (not so much graphics performance, but graphics memory).

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN CORE 1000 BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4440 (3.1GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
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 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 11 to 13 working days
 
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pwhysall said:
PC Specialist. Ring them up. You can talk to a good honest Yorkshire lad who will talk sense to you. All my dealings with them have been great, and this seems to be the norm.

For example, here's one I prepared earlier....
Click to expand...
Wow! Thanks. I'll give them a call.
 
Mmm. PC Specialist look very good. Now all I need to do is confirm the specs I want. Can anyone comment on my suggestions?
 
pwhysall said:
I think that for the workload you've identified, the spec you've suggested is quite adequate.
Click to expand...

The spec looks fine but just a couple of small things.

Firstly your hard drive - you mentioned this will be coming from your old XP system - make sure it's at least Sata2 (older IDE drives will not work)
Secondly (small point) - if going for 8GB of Ram (which is fine) you would get better performance using 2 x 4GB sticks instead of one 8GB with the i5 processor. This is due the the processor being dual channel so using two sticks effectively lets more traffic through.
 
I might be tempted to put 16GB of ram in for future proofing - files are only going to get bigger as the years go by (mind you this isn't a big deal as upgrading the ram later isa piece of cake anyway)
 
I know you said you wanted to replace your PC but given the use you have described your current PC may be able to cope easily.

I don't have Lightroom but do have Elements and my use is very similar to yours

My PC has a 2.7GHz AMD 7750 dual core CPU with 4 Gig of 800MHz DDR2 RAM, so a long way from anything approaching high spec. This was running XP but I installed Windows 7 64 bit and it all runs very smoothly, but like yourself my use is light.

It could be the purchase and installation of Windows 7 is all you need.

Just a thought.


Dave
 
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Tringa said:
I know you said you wanted to replace your PC but given the type use you have described your current PC may be able to cope easily.

I don't have Lightroom but do have Elements and my use is very similar to yours

My PC has a 2.7GHz AMD 7750 dual core CPU with 4 Gig of 800MHz DDR2 RAM, so a long way from anything approaching high spec. This was running XP but I installed Windows 7 64 bit and it all runs very smoothly, but like yourself my use is light.

It could be the purchase and installation of Windows 7 is all you need.

Just a thought.


Dave
Click to expand...

good point - and if 4GB of ram isnt enough it would be cheapish to up that to 8 or 16 (chances are your 4Gb is two sticks of 2GB so you might want to buy two or 4 sticks of 4gb)
 
I have a chillblast PC. Pretty good value for money I think and I found them incredibly helpful with a couple of minor issues I had.
 
The spec looks pretty good. I'd just add that depending on the version of Excel/MS Office you currently have, you should be able to transfer the software/licence to the new machine. However if you are buying from a system builder like PC Specialist, and want to upgrade to the latest version of Office*, it's often slightly cheaper to buy it bundled with the new machine.

*Personally I don't like the subscription model of purchase, so I'd stick with MS Office 2013.

I bought a ZooStorm Win7 64bit Pro from Ebuyer a few weeks ago, unfortunately they now only have the Win7 64bit Home premium version available. I don't think it's a bad price at £417 inc VAT, but you'd have to work out whether you'd need the extra functionality of Windows Professional over Windows Home Premium. This explains the differences: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/386085/windows_7_home_premium_vs_windows_7_professional/.
 
Gaz J said:
I have a chillblast PC. Pretty good value for money I think and I found them incredibly helpful with a couple of minor issues I had.
Click to expand...
Ditto for PC Specialist. I even changed my mind on the motherboard halfway through the build and it didn't cause a problem.

I think these smaller outfits often have much better customer service than the likes of Dell or HP.
 
Wissel said:
The spec looks fine but just a couple of small things.
Firstly your hard drive - you mentioned this will be coming from your old XP system - make sure it's at least Sata2 (older IDE drives will not work)
Secondly (small point) - if going for 8GB of Ram (which is fine) you would get better performance using 2 x 4GB sticks instead of one 8GB with the i5 processor. This is due the the processor being dual channel so using two sticks effectively lets more traffic through.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Those are useful tips. I'll investigate.

big soft moose said:
I might be tempted to put 16GB of ram in for future proofing - files are only going to get bigger as the years go by (mind you this isn't a big deal as upgrading the ram later isa piece of cake anyway)
Click to expand...
Mmmm. Good tip. I'll ensure the machine has space for 16GB, but I don't think I'll necessarily buy it with that configuration. (Like you say, it's an easy upgrade if needed.)
 
Tringa said:
I know you said you wanted to replace your PC but given the use you have described your current PC may be able to cope easily.
...
It could be the purchase and installation of Windows 7 is all you need.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the thought Dave. Trouble is, our current machine is a bit of a dog as is. I think that's because of the way we use it; I typically want Lightroom, PSE, Excel, Chrome, Quickbooks etc open, and my wife typically wants Excel, more Excel, Chrome etc, and it really struggles - especially when switching from one user to the other. I'm convinced that it needs more RAM, but unfortunately this machine can't be upgraded beyond 4GB. It's just over 5 years old, so I don't think an upgrade is premature.
 
Wissel said:
Overclockers are good for building systems and good value usually.

Here's a link to a starting point if interested:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/syscon_int.php?prodid=FS-334-OK
Click to expand...
lostsoulal2 said:
Coincidentally I received an email this morning from PC-PRO magazine and the following PC has made it to their A-List top spot for best budget PC and may be suitable for you, albeit a bit more expensive at ~£600, but they do allow you to pick and choose your own configuration - you may need to add a wifi card to the list?
http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Quasar-Haswell-Gaming-PC.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do a bit of comparison shopping.
 
Gaz J said:
I have a chillblast PC. Pretty good value for money I think and I found them incredibly helpful with a couple of minor issues I had.
Click to expand...


Another vote for these guys. Excellent!!
 
Stock changes quite fast so its worth keeping an eye on it. My i7 laptop was half conventional retail. Oh, and as always www.hotukdeals.com is a great resource!
 
I've just bought a PC from PC Specialist. Configured it myself on their website, where you can play around until you find something which fits (or blows) your budget. They also have a forum where you can get advice.

Only negative was it took longer than their anticipated build time, but if you are in a hurry you can pay extra for a quicker build.
 
Thanks everyone for your help. I really appreciate it.

I decided to order from PC Specialist and I've got this beauty on the way:
  • Asus H87M-E motherboard
  • Intel Core i5-4570 (3.2GHz) processor
  • 8GB RAM (2 x 4GB - thanks @Wissel) with scope to upgrade to 32GB (thanks @big soft moose)
  • Nvidia GeForce 210 1GB graphics card - for the RAM if not the speed (thanks @pwhysall)
  • Kingston 120GB SSD - last minute addition but hopefully will make a big difference!
  • 1TB HDD to be transplanted from my existing PC (SATA 3 - thanks @Wissel)
  • Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
I'm really excited. Can't wait!
 
Sounds good! hope you enjoy it.

Which case did you go for? I've got a CoolerMaster Silencio 550, and it's laaaaaavly.
 
pwhysall said:
Which case did you go for?
Click to expand...
I dunno. It's a case. It's got enough USB ports, and it has space for another hard disk or two if I want, and it will sit in the floor under the desk, and that's about the extent of my interest in it.
 
** Mod edit**
Seeling outside classifieds is against the rules.
Start a thread in correct section,
if you wish to sell.
Thanks
 
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