DaveL001

alrite veryone, i have had my current pc for a number of years now, and its very v e r y slow.
can u guys recommend a new pc and where i should be buying one from, i dont really play games on it, just use it for internet aminly, and like downloading music.

lightning101

Think you'll find 90% of the guys on here will build their own.


Reasons are - matching best compatible components, future upgradability, overclocking possibilities, dedicated gaming machines, high end power supplies, you choice of case.

Oh and the main reason - large savings on PCWORLD, DIXONS etc.

what would scooby do

.. if you just want a standard PC then Dell are good value.. avoid those horrble shops like Dixons/Currys/Pc World etc

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Avoid PC Pants/Dixons/Currys as they massively overcharge. If you really don't want to build your own (which I also recommend - you learn a lot doing it which helps if things go wrong) then on-line buying is best. If you want big names then Dell and H-P are only moderately overpriced.

A better compromise might be a Shuttle XPC or similar Small Form Factor machine: all you have to fit is the CPU, RAM and drives; then load the OS etc.

Next best to building your own is to get a local independant to build one to an agreed spec - but make sure you get some recomendations as to who is trustworthy. Many also often sell prebuilt rigs at a lot less than PC Pants - check the small ads in the local paper.

Or you can get your local guru (there should be at least one at work) to make one for you for an agreed price - our rates or normally pretty reasonable.


M

jfrf

since you dont play games how about something like this for 250 quid
http://www.tiny.com/packages.php?prodid=10986

anything more powerful is pointless really and just a wste of money


if youre a beginer, building a pc can be a ballache
i can do it fine now, but many a time i have been P8ssed off doing it

it should be straight forward but some of the time it never is

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Oh G*d, I forgot to mention Tiny. They actually manage to make PC World look good: their machines are rubbish. It's not so much the obsolete hardware or the rubbish customer support or the poor build quality or the underpowered PSUs or the know-nothing sales taff, or the... hang on, actually it is. They are the worst computer company in the UK apart from Alcor.


M

scoobyboy

so how easy is it to build your own computer i've thought about it but haven't a clue on where to start or how to go about it, any help would be appreciated.

RB5-Black

..... not everyone has the knowledge to build there own STABLE pc. I bought a base unit only from PC world last year. A Compaq AMD 2800 good price compared to online retailers + got it there and then. It hasn't missed a beat in all the time I've had it.

Mick

iTrader: (1)

Beginners guide...

Leave computer attached to mains plug, turned off and with power socket turned off. This will leave the case earthed. be sure to touch metal case frame to discharge any static before touching any components inside!!!!!

Open the box, one side should come off easily - usually LHS when you look from front (tower) or top if desktop case. May need a screw or 2 undoing.

All the components are modules connected together either by cables or by fitting into slots on the motherboard.
It's like working on the car... look at one component see how it is attached undo the nuts/bolts whatever and lift it off. put back in place replace nuts/bolts whatever and hey presto it's the same as it was.

Computer is even simpler... component identifcation is reasonably obvious. See what the board connects to ie if cable out to monitor then Graphics card (or motherboard if on-board graphics ). If you find something you are happy to disconnect cards with external outlet usually have one screw attaching to computer frame, then wiggle gently & pull away from motherboard. If you then put it back and it works you know you could have installed a new one.

Motherboard has a few screws securing it to one side of the case, disconnect everything attached, undo screws and remove board... easy

Sounds like a motherboard upgrade, new chip and lots on RAM will sort you out. Computer fairs are pretty good, if you buy the kit from them they will usually install the chip & RAm on the mobo for you. - Ebay sellers seem to have some good deals on these bundles too...

Good luck

Mick

Dave_A

I've being building PC's for years now, it's a slippery slope to financial ruin imho, as you are always chasing the bottleneck.

When people ask whether they should build their own, I always tell them to go and buy a complete machine from somewhere like PC world, you may not be getting the latest or greatest hardware, but you are getting something that

a) works
b) you can take back to the shop and get fixed
c) has legal software on it

Build your own and you have to consider -

a) what happens if you manage to break something/short something?
b) what happens when it doesn't fire up - where do you start working out which part of the equation is broken?
c) how much do you spend on buying sofware that would have been free (not technically true but for this argumeny)?
d) is the time/effort spent running round buying parts/putting it together worth it?
e) Cost wise, can you build from scratch a machine that has -

1) PC case
2) motherboard
3) graphics card
4) sound card
5) CPU + fan
6) harddrive
7) memory
8) monitor (some PC world packages exclude this, so maybe ignore monitor cost)
9) keyboard
10) mouse
11) CD-ROM
12) DVD-Writer/CD-Writer
13) Windows XP
14) Microsoft Works
15) Assorted bundle of 50 games you'll never play
16) Some medical software to tell you how ill you are
17) 2001 encylopedia
18) Garden Designer 5

....for less than it would cost you to buy a prebuilt PC world base machine?

Note - you could go down the Linux route and spend no money on software, but you've got to have downloaded it all to start with.

Just my thoughts....

Dave
www.scoobyphotos.com

Iain Young

I would NEVER recommend a PC world pc to anyone. I've had to deal with too many of them over the last few months (re-installs etc). Overpriced, low quality, terrible customer support etc. People I know have been coming to me with their problems because they've given up trying to get PC world to fix them ...

If you are not confident enough to build your own, then I can recommend Dell. I have seen several of these machine now (we have them at work as well), and they seem fairly well made. You also get reasonably up to date hardware, and at a price far cheaper than in the high street (including pc world).

If you want to build your own, then it is essential to do a lot of research beforehand to ensure you are buying components that work well together. If you do, then there shouldn't be a problem....

I'm on my 8th PC (all of which I've built myself), and have never broken or shorted a component yet. As long as you're careful, there shouldn't be a problem.

Research - you should really only attempt self builds if you know what you are doing and how to fix problems.

No such thing as free software. When you buy a pc from pc world or dell etc, the cost of the software is included in the machine. Yes you do pay a little more if you build it yourself, but it's not as much as you might think...

Depends what you are after. Personally I'd say yes because it means that I get all of the components / specification I want with no compromises. For the average user however, I wouldn't think it was worth the effort.

Yes!!

angrynorth

I have to say it... have you considered a Mac? If you don't play games and just want something for photo's DVD's and music that will last years, then don't bother with all the windows hassles. Really easy to use, lots of power, no maintenance, high resale value and they just work, straight from the box.

www.apple.com/uk/imac

See what OSX is like here

Iain Young

I wondered how long it'd take you to jump in

Seriously though, if games aren't your thing, then you could do a lot worse than look at a Mac. Only trouble is that none of your existing software would work on it, but if all you're using it for is the web and music, then the Mac has all this stuff pretty much out of the box (I think)...

StickyMicky

im rebuilding mine now

its an old 1.2 athlon which had 512mb ram and 2 x 20gig drives

i uprated the gfx card a few months back to a geforce 5600 or sumthing,and a cheap 80gig drive was added as well, last week saw me add a new black case and keyboard combo

just orderd this

Motherboard & Proccessor Combo

You are bidding on a XP 2500 Proccessor & a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWA:IT
£85 deliverd next day
my mates over clocked his to about 2.4ghz (its a doddle on the xp2500)

other things ive orderd
a cpu cooler rated to xp3200
£10ish from ebay

sum silver thermal paste stuff
£5ish

all i really need now is sum fast DDR ram and im cooking with double the processor power that i had for much cheapness

angrynorth

From what was written in the original post this is a perfect example of the kind of computer user who would most likely benefit a lot from switching.

These days software on OSX isn't the issue it used to be

Out of the box you have...
Music playing & legal downloading
Music Making
Photo's
Movie's
DVD making

Then there are...
One of many P2P networks
Lot's of excellent shareware
More excellent shareware

And of course...
Microsoft Office for OSX (even Bill said it was better)
If there is anything critical you can always use Windows on OSX

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

That depends on whether it's locked or not. My old one does 2500MHz, but it's unlocked. Newer locked ones will be severely limited by the max bus speed you can run the RAM and chipset at.


M

StickyMicky

all the 2500`s are unlocked (from what i read on the net)

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

All current ones are, yes. AMD started about week 36 in 2003 IIRC. Which is why real overclockers use mobile....


M

StickyMicky

well i was suprised to get my deliverry and find that it included a xp2600 and a xp2500 chip

with the asus a7n8x deluxe mother board
qtec overclocking cooler arrived' the same day, nicked sum 256ddr ram from me dads pc as i had none and got to work

my graphics card isnnt a "games" card to be honest, its a nvidia fx 5600 xt with 256ddr

first thing i did was run a 3d2003 bench mark running the xp2600 @ standerd

i got 1711 3d marks
then i tweaked the cpu and ddr voltages and stuff, nipped out and bought a stick of oem 512 400 ddr ram and actualy did much better then i expected, i also clocked the video card to a core speed of 357mhz and tthe memory clock to 499mhz
i used various diffrent combos, if it would run the 3d2003' test i considerd it a pass (a few combos didnt)

207mhz x 11.5 = 2.39ghz ish



ran fine in windows but wouldnt run a 3d test without hanging

206mhz x 11.5 = 2.38ghz ish



this was also fine on windows, but it would crash right at the end of the last test, the v core was up to its max so it wouldnt be stable enough

205mhz x 11.5 = 2.36ghz ish

forgot the pics

this ran fine, 3d test was fine, played a few games, everything was stable, left it over night, all was well and it managed a score of 2499 3d marks, so it was quite a good jump, i then began messing about with the memory timings and stuff, and it all went pete tong

refused to boot, messed me about for about 5 hours, tried reflashing the bios, wouldnt let me, tried the xp2500 chip, it waasnt having any of it, tried the xp2600 again and ran it at standerd settings and it booted into windows, then it started crashing and stuff @ the standerd settings

tried another power supply, no good, refitted the xp2500 chip and gave it a big helping of silver grease on the heatsink, worked fine

ran the fsb @ 200 and windows picks it up as a xp3200+ 2.2ghz (still decent when its a 1.8ghz chip), i think i knackerd windows with all the reboots and stuff
tried to do a system restore and it wont let me lol

going to monitor it for a while and see how far i can push the xp2500 (i heard you can get 3ghz on water cooling )

small point i noted

my mother board runs in dual channel mode with a 512ddr 400 stick and a 256mb ddr 400 stick fitted at the same time, compleatly diffrent makes (thought they had to be matched?)

Dave_A

Agree 100% on the Dell's, solid machines that we use at work without problem.

Building your own PC (as I have done for the last 8 years or so) is good fun if you are confident in what you are doing and have some basic knowledge - the issue is that for someone who has never opened up a PC before, doesn't know their CPU's from their Harddrives, a self build can be an enormous struggle. Knowing what components to get is the key, and without having someone to recommend, or without doing the proper research, you'll never get a machine that performs to its best potential.

For anyone wanting to self build however, www.overclockers.co.uk are pretty good price wise, and www.amdmb.com has some good reading material.


Dave
www.scoobyphotos.com

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

amdmb.com has been PCPerspective for a while now...


M

Dave_A

True, but old habits die hard

Dave
www.scoobyphotos.com