im looking at getting a pc for my house, usual stuff will be used on it, word and excel etc. other packages such as AutoCad will be heavily used on it

im looking for around a

3.0MHz intel 4

512RAM or 1024RAM

cd drive and sep cd writer

128 video card

15in flat screen or 17 for space saving

any ideas where is best and a chearper prices?

www.aldi.co.uk, next thursday have a good un.

or have a look at http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/home.html they sell all types of system and if you already have a computer you don't have to buy the whole lot. most of them are just base unit keyboard and mouse. OS if you want it.

[/p1ss takin mode on]a 3 mhz p4 might be hard to find, i suggest a 3.2 ghz instead. much more powerful [p1ss takin mode off]

sorry, just spotted summat wasn't right. just shop about, i heard dell we alright

Try Evesham. www.evesham.co.uk

I bought a PC from the Glasgow Shop receintly (so much so that it's still being delivered) and they allow you to mix and match parts etc. Prices are sensible my whole system was

I'll say it again, but I assume your lookingfor this spec because you need the power/longevity. Processing clock speeds are flattening out now as other more important issues as AMD and Intel say are apparent.

Autocad will be your killer word etc run fine on 256, cad will consume the 1024 if permitted.

DVD writers are cheap as chips now; far quicker than CD's aswell for the amount of data versus file sizes.

Personally I'd consider a component build. The "highstreet" brands will be priced well but you will hit so many limits.

Example:

Intel Pentium IV 'Prescott' 3.0GHz (800FSB) HyperThreading CPU

- Abit IC7 "Canterwood" (Socket 478) Dual DDR400 Motherboard

- GeIL 512MB (2x256MB) DDR Value PC3200 CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit

- 120GB Western Digital 8mb cache SATA 150 Hard Drive

- OcUK ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB DDR AGP 8x Graphics card

- Samsung Black 52x/32x/16x CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive

- Onboard 6 Channel Audio

- Black Floppy Drive

- Antec SLK3700BQE Black Quiet Midi Tower Case

- Antec 350W SmartPower ATX Power Supply

474 + Vat

I have the same spec mother board but a 2.4 PIV 1024 Ram and a 9800 Radeon different discs and case, but I can say now it's far far faster than my off the shelf IBM workstation which is 2.8 2048 ram and some onboard graphics. It's far faster and has not really cost more owing to the IBM pricing.

If your concerned about self build don't be. Building a lego model is harder I swear to you. the above example comes pre built anyway Things like Ram can be shuffled about to suit or added to, eg in 6 months add anohter 2x256 ram sticks. Where as your retail ones might mean you bin the present memory and buy 2 new and more expensive sticks.

Without going to technical, the new pentiums need fast memory, the 800fsb you see banded about, well this is the memory speed, basic memory for the new PIV's needs to be about 3200 to be capable...some sell with 2700 whilst I desire 4400; does that make sense? Most highstreets ship with the cheap stuff or close to minimum spec, which is right at the end of it's performane range before you even begin, some are acutally past it and thus your getting a slower machine.

An example your car you have your normal motor and then multiply that by fuel say 1.8x95ron gives 180bhp and 1.8x97ron gives 190bhp...well your car is now a PC. It's CPU runs at a multiplier of 12. Using basic or entry memory of say 200 speed you get 12x200 giving it 2400 cycles or a PIV 2.4 Processor.

Now if you use 12x220 you get 2640 cycles. 200 and 220 is the memory speed you have a 2.6 Processor equivilient. Sound complicated? Well that bit is a little ad it's on the slipper slope of overclocking, but what I am trying to point out is that for what seems like a little more money for bits over a highstreet your getting far more.

Sorry for long post.

Have a read of this if the above has mdae you think WTF!

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=35680&highlight=ic7+overclock+guide

And another good UK store for components/bundles is www.overclockers.co.uk

Robmawer on here will also build pc's and support them (if he does not then sorry Rob I thought you did )

cheers for the help guys *apart from begie:D*(sorry typo should have been GHz)

thanks colin, i understand what your saying thanks for the advice

bought ours from 'toys r us' of all places. seemed like the best high street deal at the time- only thing that seems to be common now which i dont have is remote keyboard/mouse -the rest seems still to be fairly well up there with the newer models coming through -although prices have come down a fair bit -pants!

sorry kenny was in a silly mood, but self build is a great idea, if you are just upgrading then you don't need the monitor/keyboard/mouse or maybe even case, just chuck new mother board/cpu/ram/vga/disks/dvd in and your away, might even learn summat too, everyday's a school day ya see

Robmawer on here will also build pc's and support them (if he does not then sorry Rob I thought you did )

This is true...

Kenny, what sort of budget are you playing with, and would you consider a Mac? :rubchin:

Admittedly if you already have all the software you use then it could work out expensive to buy it all again, but Mac OS X is a cracking operating system and the hardware is pretty solid too...

Rob.

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo to mac, just my opinion of course

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo to mac, just my opinion of course

Is that based on any particular reason? :rubchin:

Rob.

Would have to agree with Colin (flyingscot) and recommend www.evesham.com

Can have mine for a packet of Wurthers Originals...hard ones please..the softies get stuck on me falsies! Comes complete with an axe buried in it!

or have a look at http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/home.html[/url'] they sell all types of system and if you already have a computer you don't have to buy the whole lot. most of them are just base unit keyboard and mouse. OS if you want it.

I use novatech a lot as well - always had good service from them

This is true...

Kenny' date=' what sort of budget are you playing with, and would you consider a Mac? :rubchin:

Admittedly if you already have all the software you use then it could work out expensive to buy it all again, but Mac OS X is a cracking operating system and the hardware is pretty solid too...

Rob.[/quote']

I used to use the first iMacs (the one unit ones in the bright colours now superceded by the eMac) on regular basis and found them to be brilliant. The OS, was good, Appleworks software was way more intuative and better than Office was at the time, but if you really needed to you could run windows and office on them too. They were brilliant machines and are were still going strong. The pebble mouse was the major critisism, but thats nothing!

The pebble mouse was the major critisism, but thats nothing!

AFAIK they all use USB now for the mouse/kb (well, certainly the eMac does, so I don't see why the high spec ones wouldn't), so you can stick a two-button USB mouse on it for a very reasonable price.

Rob.

would prefer to stay PC and not MAC.

price range, ive not researched much but prob ably

price range, ive not researched much but prob ably

do you know of any places that would build a pc to my spec, like dell do?

Have you any small pc shops nearby? They can often be a good place to try. A mate of mine had one built at a shop near him, he is well chuffed with it.

Dell don't *exactly* build to spec - they build to spec using a bunch of components from their parts bin...you couldn't get them to fit something that was a different brand from the one they offer...

TBH, most large retailers will do this though, as it's more efficient for bulk purchasing and the like.

You're probably best getting the phone book/Yellow Pages and calling a few local independents - explain your needs, and see what they say and how much they quote. If you think they're trying to spin you a line or overcharge you, post up what they say and I'm sure we'll be able to give a second opinion...

Rob.

cheers for the help, ill take a look at some sites and shops

I have had good stuff from Dell the last twice and you can have the pc built to whatever spec you want - reliable and not expensive www.dell.co.uk