Spec any good ?............

Swanseajack

Swanseajack

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Still in the market for a new computer and have seen this i7 6700 machine which I can get for about £540 after our Clubcard boost. I know the RAM is low and with the saving I would look to upgrade it to 16gb after Christmas. My current HP desktop is about 7 years old and looking at my previous posts it's not worth upgrading. And I fancy something new.

My main reason for changing is my current one is slow in LR & PS but fine for our other needs. Surfing is fast due to Virgin BB and we do very little documents, so main use would be LR and surfing. I have bought a Dell 24" monitor a few months ago so I am fine there.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-pavi...gclid=CL6so57LuMkCFarpwgodeOYDaA&gclsrc=aw.ds

Main specs:

  • RAM: 8 GB DDR3L (2 x 4 GB); Total slots: 2 DIMM
  • Storage: 128 GB SATA SSD; 1 TB 7200 rpm SATA
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-6700 (3.4 GHz, up to 4 GHz, 8 MB cache, 4 cores)
Read more at http://www.tesco.com/direct/hp-pavi...tural-silver/160-7981.prd#rMk0GsEHU14yCyZu.99


Edit: Specs from HP site > http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=N8X32EA&opt=ABU&sel=DTP
 
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that spec seems pretty decent. the i7-6700 is the newest skylake chip from intel and just the cpu alone costs about £270 to buy retail. The ssd is a little small but easily upgradable if you need more storage like the ram.
 
hsp70 said:
that spec seems pretty decent. the i7-6700 is the newest skylake chip from intel and just the cpu alone costs about £270 to buy retail. The ssd is a little small but easily upgradable if you need more storage like the ram.
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Thanks for the reply.

It seems a fair spec for my needs, when I was looking a few months ago, the i5 machines without SSD were not far of this price. I have a HP now and apart from the machine slowing in LR & CC it has served me very well with no hitches as such.
 
I just paid £500 in PC World for a HP Pavillion 550.

Mine is i5, 2.7GHz, 8 GB Ram, 2TB hard drive.

Based on your clubcard boost it looks a reasonable deal, but the Tesco price is not especially good to start with.

Amazon have one at £549 with 12 gb ram see link here
 
Grey77 said:
I just paid £500 in PC World for a HP Pavillion 550.

Mine is i5, 2.7GHz, 8 GB Ram, 2TB hard drive.

Based on your clubcard boost it looks a reasonable deal, but the Tesco price is not especially good to start with.

Amazon have one at £549 with 12 gb ram see link here
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

The one in your link is an i5 machine without a SSD. There seems to be a confusion in the specs, which seems to be common with Amazon these days. See the the question section and it's a i5 machine to go along with the heading, although the specs say i7 and heading i5.




Edit: Just had a look on HP site and it is an i5 machine >http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/desktops/product-detail.html?oid=8587652#!tab=specs
 
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I7 6700 is a really nice CPU, add in some extra RAM and a big HDD to compliment the solid state drive and your got a good yourself a good PC.
 
Swanseajack said:
Thanks for the reply.

The one in your link is an i5 machine without a SSD. There seems to be a confusion in the specs, which seems to be common with Amazon these days. See the the question section and it's a i5 machine to go along with the heading, although the specs say i7 and heading i5.




Edit: Just had a look on HP site and it is an i5 machine >http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/desktops/product-detail.html?oid=8587652#!tab=specs
Click to expand...


Although it is i5 it has 3.2GHz which is close to your Tesco i7 machine, I thought it was worth considering. Also it has more RAM. Perhaps you could add a SSD? I'm not that technically literate so I'm not sure about these things.
 
Grey77 said:
Although it is i5 it has 3.2GHz which is close to your Tesco i7 machine, I thought it was worth considering. Also it has more RAM. Perhaps you could add a SSD? I'm not that technically literate so I'm not sure about these things.
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Thanks for the help.

I'm the same, not sure on computers, I have always just used them. I have had a look around and I can add 16gb for around £65.00, I have an external HD storage so I think for about £600, (if I do upgrade the RAM) I will have a tidy machine. http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Memory---PC/16GB

I had a look around PCW and a similar spec machine (when I have upgraded the RAM) is currently £749, and without a SSD so it's cheaper doing it my way, I think:confused:
 
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Swanseajack said:
I'm the same, not sure on computers, I have always just used them. I have had a look around and I can add 16gb for around £65.00, I have an external HD storage so I think for about £600, if I do upgrade the RAM I will have a tidy machine. http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Memory---PC/16GB

I had a look around PCW and a similar spec machine (when I have upgraded the RAM) is currently £749, and without a SSD so it's cheaper doing it my way, I think:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes it is certainly highly specced. I don't think you will be disappointed with that.
 
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Surprised it's not DDR4 RAM.

I recently posted a spec for a self build machine which came out at £540 without an OS, including a half decent graphics card. Without the discrete graphics, that would come out at £390.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/wB2Hcf.

I would advise against an OEM machine, particularly with Windows 10. You will end up with the vendors skunkware periodically reinstalled. Couple that with the recent Lenovo and Dell root CA certificate madness, and you could wind up a machine that puts your privacy at risk.
 
afasoas said:
Surprised it's not DDR4 RAM.

I recently posted a spec for a self build machine which came out at £540 without an OS, including a half decent graphics card. Without the discrete graphics, that would come out at £390.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/wB2Hcf.

I would advise against an OEM machine, particularly with Windows 10. You will end up with the vendors skunkware periodically reinstalled. Couple that with the recent Lenovo and Dell root CA certificate madness, and you could wind up a machine that puts your privacy at risk.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

Whats the main difference I would see between DDR3 & 4 Ram for surfing and some LR use and very little PS, or is it just for Gaming?

If I was to up the RAM to 16gb could I put the DDR4 in if needed or would I have to change the motherboard?

Also, in your link it's a i5 processor vs i7 in this one, what would be the benefit of the i5?
 
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I'd check the max ram the mobo can support. You ideally want to be futureproof so I'd look if you can upgrade to 32gb in future if needed.
 
At the moment you will not see much actual difference between DDR3 and DDR4 Ram.

For light room and Photoshop the i7 will make a difference over the i5.
 
htid said:
I'd check the max ram the mobo can support. You ideally want to be futureproof so I'd look if you can upgrade to 32gb in future if needed.
Click to expand...
SamTD said:
At the moment you will not see much actual difference between DDR3 and DDR4 Ram.

For light room and Photoshop the i7 will make a difference over the i5.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the further replies, I believe I have read the computer can go upto 32gb if needed, which would be a huge improvement over the 3gb I have now.

Here are the specs of my current machine, if it wasn't for LR /PS I wouldn't look to change and I have poor dexterity in my hands (waiting for ops) so can't be bothered to try and upgrade what I have.

Spec of current puter from Piriform Speccy

Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

CPU AMD Athlon II X2 220 27 °C Regor 45nm Technology

RAM 3.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 536MHz (7-7-7-20)

Motherboard FOXCONN 2AAF (CPU 1) 31 °C

Graphics L225W (1680x1050@60Hz)

ATI Radeon 3000 Graphics (HP)

Storage 465GB SAMSUNG HD502HJ SATA Disk Device (SATA) 32 °C

Optical Drives hp CDDVDW TS-H653R SATA CdRom Device

Audio Realtek High Definition Audio
 
DDR4 ram is mainly due to cost of upgrading in future. Yes it's a little bit more expensive now, but DDR2 is getting very expensive for those looking to upgrade older systems.
The i5 is just closer to the sweet spot on price/performance ratio.

My general point being that you could self-build, save money over the Tesco price and not have to worry (so much) about dodgy OEM software creeping in under Windows 10. It will still automatically install drivers and accompanying apps, but they aren't as notorious as some of the PC Vendor skunkware.
 
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