RichardS2005

Hi Guys,

My PC died the other day so I need to find a new one but I'm not really up on the best specs to get.... It will mainly be used for web/email, with image editing/video editing as well. I've got a 360 so won't be playing many games on it but will probably play a couple. I want to get XP media centre to connect to the Xbox and organise my music/movies etc.

I've seen this from Mesh which seems like good value @ £805 with a couple of upgrades:

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default...DUCT&KEY=68884

Special Offer - Limited Edition
64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ with HT Tech.[upg £ 70.00]
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center
ASUS nFORCE 4 PCI- X Mainboard
1024MB DDR Memory
300GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
512MB DDR2 nVIDIA GeForce 7300GS - TV out- DVI - PCI X (256Mb SMA)[upg £ 45.00]
19" Viewsonic VA1912W Digital & Multi Media Widescreen TFT Display[upg £ 35.00]
Sony 16x Dual Layer DVD Writer
5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio
Logitech Desktop KB & Optical Mouse
Classic Warranty-3Years parts & lab..

I'll be fitting my Pioneer DVD writer and if I can get it to work, my old hard drive for extra storage.

Is this a reasonable buy and if not what should I upgrade or is there somewhere better to buy from? I have a budget of £850. I don't really fancy building myself though...

Cheers

Richard

CaptainJohn

Mesh are very expensive and the customer service and quality is nearly as bad as Dell I`d rather build my own any day but if you don`t fancy that why not configure one to your own custom spec at somewhere like Eclipse:

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/syst...?cat=1&mcat=39

Or perhaps Novatech , Savastore or the like , have a browse around and get exactly what you want.

DrEvil

MESH arent expensive compared to others, but one our lot (BF2) bought one recently and had nothing but trouble initially - just unlucky I guess, as several other people I know are perfectly happy with their systems from MESH (but they've not had to call the support dept.).

Pick up a copy of PC Pro, usually have a round up of prebuilts, and seem fair with their scores.

Seems pot luck these days, you'll always find someone that doesnt like X supplier for X reason, and several others that will recommend them for excellent service... good luck.

BTW, the spec above looks great if you're not gaming.

DJ140

CCL Computers are good too,. I've just built a new one, using an AMD 3500 SC, dual 200gb SATA, 1gb RAM, DVDW etc, for just over £400 without monitor.

Excellent Tech support, they sorted my PSU problem very quickly.

GrahamG

Novatech do good bundle deals. I got my P4 3.2 gig a year ago and still run's well. Does have 4gig of ram now but still great!

G.

RichardS2005

Thanks guys, I've speced this up at Eclipse for £810 - does the motherboard/CPU/Processor look ok?

System Configuration
Motherboard
GigaByte K8N-SLi Socket 939 PCI-Exp, SLi, SATA3 Motherboard £78.95
Processor
AMD Athlon64 X2 Dual Core 3800 Skt 939 512Kb CPU -Retail Box £189.95
Memory Slot 1
1024Mb (2x512Mb) Dual Channel DDR Memory £53.50
Memory Slot 2
None
Graphics Slot SLi 1
XFX 256Mb GeForce 6800GS XXX Edition PCI-Express VGA Card £139.95
SLi Slot 2 (Must be same as SLi 1 Slot)
None
Modem
None
Network
PCI RJ45 1000-BaseT Network Card £6.95
Secondary IDE Master Device
NEC ND3550 16x+R 16x-R Dual Layer DVD Writer -Silver- £24.95
Secondary IDE Slave Device
None
SATA Device 1
250Gb Hitachi T7K250 7200rpm 8mb Cache SATA II Hard Drive £67.95
Floppy Drive 1
None
Floppy Drive 2
None
TV Tuner
None
Case
Briza ATX Case Silver with 400w PSU, Side Dust Filter, Fans £33.61
Case Lights
None
Case Accessories
None
Case Cooling - Rear
None
Case Bay 3
None
Case Bay 4
None
Case Noise Reduction
Noise Reduction Pads for PC Case £5.95
Monitor
None
Speakers
None
Keyboard
None
Mouse
None
Desk Managers
MicroSoft Keyboard with Optical Mouse (Black) -oem- £13.95
Remote Control
None
JoyPads
None
Joysticks
None
Steering Wheels
None
Printer
None
Scanner
None
WebCam
None
Digital Camera
None
USB Storage
None
Desks
None
Operating System
MicroSoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005 £73.95

Scooby Dooby Blue

Yeah Richard, the Gigabyte SLi boards are excellent.

I've used a few of them recently to shave £20 off system costs instead of using the ASUS A8N-SLi.

You won't go wrong with the X2 chip either.

Just an observation, do you need the additional network card? There's a gigabit LAN already integrated to the motherboard.

RichardS2005

I didn't realise that - that's £7 saved!

Jim.

U not got any mates who can build one specific to all your needs?

RichardS2005

No not really, also need it asap....

Cheers

Richard