In need of a new PC

B

Blundred77

Suspended / Banned
Messages
417
Name
Andrew Blundred
Edit My Images
Yes
And apart from PC World (who I wouldn't buy from) and the likes of Dell (who I would NEVER buy from) where else do you get machines from these days.

I used to chop and change my PC all the time when I was younger but all the shops I know and trusted have long gone.

I have used Medion PC's in the past (currently use one now), but its time for a change and I like to make the most out of my money.

One thing for sure (which is bound to get me berated) is that I do not want a Mac.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I've bought a laptop from Ebuyer, and a friend has bought a laptop and desktop and he and I are very happy. :)

My friends desktop was;

Acer Aspire M3802 Desktop, Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz, 6GB RAM, 2TB HDD, DVDRW, GMA X4500, Windows 7 Home Premium. Cost: £480 (march 2010) And it is one of the fastest machines I've seen. :eek:

He uses it for Photoshop and Video editing with no problems.

When we installed CS5 on his machine it was installed almost instantaneously. :eek: So fast that I had to check it had installed, as I'd never see anything install that fast. :eek:


Ebuyer quickly sort out any problems from previous experience. :thumbs:
 
Last edited:
Budget? Are you able/do you want to build your own?

The second gen i7 Intels (you can tell them as they are i7-2xxx) processors are fast as lightning (and will easily destroy a Q8300 ;)). Failing that 2nd gen i5's (i5-2xxx) are not too far off the mark either. Personally, I think it's worth the extra for i7's (I've just bought a laptop with an i7-2630QM to complement the desktop :))

Whatever you choose, I'd go 4G memory minimum, 8G preferred. Graphics card is immaterial unless you game - the graphics processor is only used for 2D rotation/scaling which any can do.

Disk, get a 7200rpm with decent sized cache or SSD for system disk and a second 7200rpm HDD for data.
 
I would do it myself if i were you. What do you need it for is the main question though and budget would help. I would also suggest a browse through Aria.co.uk cause they have some very good deals on pre-built overclocked motherboard/cpu/cooler/memory bundles. All you will need then is a box with a PSU and a graphics card and a couple of HDs and away you go :)
 
As above novatec ebuyer scan if you can put the bit together you can get various bundle deals.
 
Is there anything wrong with you monitor or keyboard?

If not, then all you need is a new base unit.

Novatech have been mentioned already. I have not bought a PC from them, but I have bought lots of components - always good service, they are well thought of in the PC press and they do loads of PC without monitors.

What is your budget?

Dave
 
HI, thanks for the replies, I should be able to do it myself although its been a very long time since i fiddled with building a pc (1993 was when I did my BTEC computers) and not really dabbled since, other than plugging in my graphics card.

Budget is £700, just need to replace the box as monitor is fine and just replaced the keyboard. Have recently purchased a Geforce 430 1gb graphics card as the last card packed in, now other things are starting to fail hence the need for replacement system. The I7 looks really impressive and 8gb would be awesome. Have found a few systems online that just top the £700 mark but have reservations about online shops unless they are recommended.
 
Overclockers.co.uk always have some cracking deals on pc's.
 
Another vote for Scan here - especially if you get the free delivery from various forum memberships...
 
Whichever you buy, first thing you do is format it and reinstall windows, get rid of all the bloatware **** that sellers install on there.

If you can, build your own, might cost a tad more, but you know you're getting quality parts not the basic **** in most prebuilt's
 
I would NEVER buy a commercial computer. You may pay a little less, but this is achieved by the manufacturer loading it with junk for which they get handsome royalties. They also tend to use dedicated hardware, and usually don't supply a full installation disc. I have always used a local supplier, and have exactly what I want on it. I always get a full installation disc supplied so can reinstall from scratch should I need to. I always have two hard drives, plus an external plug in hard drive of at least 1TB. On the external drive I keep a full mirror image using ACRONIS, this is updated regularly. Should any problems occur can pop in and have them sorted out. No waiting in a queue for expensive telephone help lines.:bonk::bonk::bonk:
 
probably for another thread but whats wrong with dell? we've got about 400 odd desktops and laptops plus another 40 odd servers and in the last 5 years i must have called dell out to fix a problem (not inc insurance repairs) a handful of times. if its off the shelf you want you cant go far wrong, plus you get support for the system you dont get with building your own (always worth upgrading to on site over return to base).

anyway, that said personally i build my own. just picked up an i7-2600k, board and 16gb DDR2 for approx £450. if you have a case, powersupply and graphics card you can reuse thats a pretty good price.
 
neil_g said:
you can say that again :lol:
Click to expand...
Pardon :D

The i7 is a great piece of kit. Just make sure it's a secong gen one - it's a LOT faster than all but the priciest first gen (and by priciest, I mean £800+ for the CPU alone ;)). Have a look at the benchmark scores here: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html Whilst you can never boil down a CPU to one number, if you have a program like photoshop/lightroom that can make use of all 8 cores, you get that sort of relative performance on CPUs.

BTW, my overclocked i7-2600K comes in at 11100 using the benchmark off that site :D
 
Thanks again all, forgot about overclockers, I used to live 5 minutes walk from them, remember they were good on price and stock but totally up their own arses (sorry for the bad language).
 
I have priced up some parts to build my own,

Intel i7 2600 3.40ghz "sandybridge" 1155
ASRock p97 extreme6
Samsung Spinpoint f4 2tb eco 32mb cache
Samsung dual layer dvdrw
Kingston 8gb (2x4) 1600mhz
Geforce 430 1gb graphics
Win 7 64bit

parts are from numerous sources (mainly overclockers) and come in at £605 (although thats assuming all cables are supplied with their respective parts)
Galaxy 3 case with 450watt psu
 
Blundred77 said:
Intel i7 2600 3.40ghz "sandybridge" 1155
ASRock p97 extreme6
Samsung Spinpoint f4 2tb eco 32mb cache
Click to expand...
Do you want to overclock? If so, you need to spend the extra and get the 2600k as you can't overclock a non-k part. If you definitely don't want to overclock, you don't need a P67 motherboard, a H67/H61 based one will be slightly cheaper and still offer the same performance. BTW, the new Sandy Bridge parts are easy to overclock (it's just a simple change in the BIOS and I got mine easily from 3.8GHz to 4.3GHz with a single change in my BIOS). Only the P67/Z68 based boards are able to overclock the CPU.

As to HDD, that's an eco disk which will run at 5400rpm and spin down if you do nothing for a while. For a system/main drive, I'd go for a 7200rpm and drop to a lower storage size if cost is an issue.

I assume you're going to stick with the standard heatsink? Didn't try the one that came with my 2600k, but mine is an aftermarket cooler (another £30-£40 for a decent cooler) and is pretty quiet.

neil_g said:
dont skimp on cheap and/or unbranded PSU..
Click to expand...
:agree:
 
stock intel HSF are only good for paperweights. get an OEM 2600K and a decent aftermarket cooler.

i wish mine POST'd last night I want to check out these overclocking options on the H61.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I wasn't interested in overclocking, but didn't know about the "k" variant. Think its about £30 difference on OC. As for the P67 board I saw this as it stated that its perfect for sandybridge and has four memory slots (32gb capacity), only plan on using 2 slots to begin with but hate being restricted as I may well put more at the end of the year and wouldnt want to replace whats already inside.

Thanks for the advice on HDD, again this was due to cost, OC has this listed for £54 for 2gb which I thought was crazy.

It seems that I may have to put a 700 watt PSU for the sandybridge! according to something I have read.
 
Sandy Bridge is 95W for the CPU flat out. Unless you have ultra power requirements for graphics, 500W or so will do (although personally I'd go with a decent 500W+ psu - i.e £50-£60+ with a good name - to give a bit of headroom).
 
Only if it is overclocked and you have a serious GPU in there which you do not . You can safely use a quality 500W one
 
Having looked around a little more I have sort of settled on the following

Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40
ASrock p67 extreme 6 OR Asus P8P67 Pro (cant decide)
Gskill ripsaw 8gb (8-8-8-24) or Corsair vengence (9-9-9-24) - both 1600
Geforce GT430 1gb graphics (in machine now)
Seagate Barracuda 6gb/s 2tb 64 mb cache OR equivalent W/digital

Cant decide on a few bits and still looking for reviews. All in all will cost approx £730 with win7 os (building myself).
 
Blundred77 said:
Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40
ASrock p67 extreme 6 OR Asus P8P67 Pro (cant decide)
Gskill ripsaw 8gb (8-8-8-24) or Corsair vengence (9-9-9-24) - both 1600
Geforce GT430 1gb graphics (in machine now)
Seagate Barracuda 6gb/s 2tb 64 mb cache OR equivalent W/digital
Click to expand...
Looking good. Thought of an SSD for boot drive?
 
Would be nice but I have pushed my spec to just passed my budget so thats something for later on.
 
Case, not sure yet. Had seen one that I liked but not available now.
 
Thanks for the tip. They seem to be even cheaper than overclockers.

Have also tried Altera who seem to be the cheapest as the spec has changed a little

Got the following qoute from them

I will overclock the PC for you to 4.5Ghz free of charge if you wish. Basically you would get the Gelid cooler for free.


Intel core i7 2600k "sandybridge" CPU (Free overclock to 4.5GHz)
Asus p8p67 PRO b3 revision Motherboard
Corsair 600W CX PSU
8gb DDR3 gskill ripjaw x 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 CAS or Corsair Vengeance
GeForce GT 210 512MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card
w/digital 2tb SATA III 64mb cache
Galaxy 3 case
Gelid Tranquillo Fan - FREE
LiteOn IHAS122-18 22x Internal DVD±R/RW SATA Drive
microsoft intelli mouse
Windows 7 64bit, Home Premium

built and overclocked and delivered for £790

But before I go for this I want to check out the "real life" differences between the i7 2600k and the i5 2500k and whether its worth the extra £££
 
I have been favouring HP's as of the last 5 years simply because they don't seem as butchered with additional manufacturer applets. You can pick up ex-display HP's from costco for well under the retail price.

4 years ago I managed to pick up base and 22" HD Monitor for £360 and in the shops the retail price ranged from £480 - £575.
 
Blundred77 said:
But before I go for this I want to check out the "real life" differences between the i7 2600k and the i5 2500k and whether its worth the extra £££
Click to expand...
I can get all 8 threads lit up on my i7 when I'm doing anything meaty in Photoshop/lightroom. The i5 only has 4 threads. It depends how often you can get this to happen as to the differences in speed you will see. But the increase in performance isn't linear. i.e. my i7 isn't twice as fast as an equivalent i5 unless you are doing something totally CPU bound like fprime.

This: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083 was my most often read review when I was looking at i5 vs i7
 
SSD as system and 2x disk in raid1 for data. For professional use get another external drive for periodic backups.

After you try SSD drive, on normal computer computer you will always wonder "what computer is still doing" :)
 
Hi, could you please elaborate a bit more?

I know software RAID can sometimes be a bit of fail, so one should always go with the hardware RAID if possible. Also on top of that, regardless what type of RAID you using or what setup (ie, RAID1, RAID5, etc ) you should always backup the data externally... but assuming that's done, what would be the risk of running RAID1 setup? (I assume once the disk develops the fault, you replace it ASAP, and NOT leave it running for like a month ^^)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top