As per title really I am thinking of getting a new PC (or new bits so that someone else can make one for me lol) and just wondering what is best to do. I tend to want the bestest/fastest things, whether I need them or not (gadget fiend) so after some advice!

 

I'm not into gaming, so my graphics card will do, looking at buying new motherboard (know nothing about these), a new processor and some RAM. Maybe a couple of other bits if necessary, maybe a case, but can probably make do. I don't need hard drives.

 

Any ideas, suggestions, information or advice as to where is cheapest is most welcome

 

Oh, I'll need windows too I guess!

 

Thanks peoples (P.S - Colin, if you read this thread, I already know what your reply will be! :P)

Build is definitely the way forward but can easily get out of hand. So many nice bits you can get and a build can end up being expensive. I originally had a budget of £600 but ended up being £900 once I found out my brother got Amazon discount so I could get better kit for a bit more. I made sure my motherboard was one that was good for future tuning, got 16GB of RAM while I still can and a nice case (Antec 1200). 

Building yourself is quite easy too. It was my first full build and it's all plug and play, everything is clearly marked and there's plenty of people on Brisky to help if you get stuck. I really enjoyed doing it.

Loz, am I right in thinking your in Rochdale? If so I'm only down the A627 so if you need someone to build it let me know. What will you be actually using it for? There's no point in getting an i7 for example when the i5 will do for your purposes.

I went crazy when I did my last rig, got the full shabang including a full water cooling kit. Now I don't game as much I've got myself a pritty decent gaming laptop.

Meh if you're not gaming then don't wast your money on anything you don't need.

 

Intel i3

8Gb Ram

On-board graphics to start with (stick in a card later if you must)

SSD boot drive

SATA storage drive

Decent power supply. 500W+

 

Spend money on a better monitor or even a nicer desk.

 

Don't do anything until MS release Windows 8.1. No point having to do a big upgrade.

 

I play the odd game on similar setup to the above. My graphics card is sub £100 ad I still run most things at max. The i3 has never been a bottleneck. The only thing on my setup that slows it down is the hard disk and I'm just to lazy to set everything up again on an SSD.

 

SSD will make way more difference than a processor upgrade.

 

Personally I'd invest in a decent SSD, a quiet case and a nice 22" monitor.

Even the i3 processor is very powerful these days despite being at the bottom end of the range.

 

Building your own rarely saves you money up front these days but you will be able to fix anything on it later with off the shelf parts and upgrade at yur own leisure.

SSD is the best part of my rig. Starts up and shuts down stupidly quick. Echo what everyone else has said and get an SSD just for the OS and few important programs then all your other drives can be secondary. An i3 should be good enough but I went top end i5 instead of i7. It's plenty fast enough with overclocking potential but it all depends what you want to do. I wanted to future proof where I could so spent a bit more on mainboard and more ram than I really needed.

I was looking at i7, but as the i5 is so much cheaper I will probably go for that. When do they normally release a new CPU? Don't want to buy one then be outdated!

I'm in Blackpool. Where is the best place to buy bits from? And I seem to think last time windows was cheaper as it was bought with computer parts. When is the updated windows due to be released?

Thanks guys!

The only way an i7 is of use to you over an i5 is if you run virtual machines, or do a lot of video editing. For your photo work I'd suggest an i5, at least 8GB of RAM (but it's reasonably cheap these days).

 

Have you looked at Scan? They do bundles that save some cash. All depends what is usable from your current PC!

Yeah I've 'looked' at Scan, but I'm not really up with all this shiz! Do they do set bundles or can you make one up? 

http://www.scan.co.uk/value-systems

 

Look at the G25i - play with the customisation bits.

 

Alternatively, http://www.scan.co.uk/value-hardware-bundles - look at the H81 VB20i

Agreeing with Aspman all the way with Windows 8.1. I'm using the full version at the moment as part of being with technet and testing work apps with it and it is a vast improvement over Win 8. 

 

Hardware wise, its really hard to say at the moment....just doing a simple search on ebay and i found something like this.... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sphere-Desktop-PC-Intel-Core-i7-Quad-Core-3770-3-4GHz-16GB-RAM-2TB-HDD-Computer-/200922418369?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2ec7e8ccc1

 

Either way, just shop around as the prices go up and down all the time...

Loz- check out Novatech . These guys are on the ball . Building a PC IS NOT SOME BLOKEY TING. You take one mother board( with agraphics card etc), add some memory ,add a PSU capable of powering the lot .If you need extra graphics - you add an other card . Then you need some sort of storage, be it normal HDD ,or SSD. If more folks thought this ay ,then PC makers would shut up shop .

Guys. Can someone have a look on eBay for a desktop under £200?

Not very clued up on this stuff. Don't want the pc for gaming, just surfing/itunes/storing family photos etc.

Cheers.

Reading your original post, you want a "Base" unit, as you already have a mouse, monitor and keyboard you want to keep. A PC fair has people that will build you a pc to any reasonable spec you want in under an hour, with prices starting at under £200.

Tthey will even install an OS for you, just take in your CD/DVD or go buy a new copy at one of the other stalls.

No such thing as future proofing with PCs. Unless you are in need of very hefty data processing (video editing or high resolution scan post processing where you are moving 1GB files through your processor are the sort of things that spring to mind) a mid range processor and plenty of RAM should keep you going for at least 3 years.

The game has changed over time. I remember years ago, a PC would be lagging behind after 12 months, but we are well up the diminishing returns slope now, so for most tasks, you won't notice the difference in performance between a good three year old machine and a current one of similar price.

SSD system drive is the biggest performance boost I have ever seen for a PC. Much bigger boost than a massive processor upgrade for most jobs. My nearly three year old PC is ready to use from cold boot in 26 seconds and 16 of that is the CMOS screens.

Chris

I was looking at i7, but as the i5 is so much cheaper I will probably go for that. When do they normally release a new CPU? Don't want to buy one then be outdated!

I'm in Blackpool. Where is the best place to buy bits from? And I seem to think last time windows was cheaper as it was bought with computer parts. When is the updated windows due to be released?

Thanks guys!

 

I work for Intel in their supply team (can't help with getting you anything but can advise on timelines of new processors).

We have just launched (this year) our new 'Haswell' CPUs on i3, i5 and i7, our 4th gen and the first processors on 22nm. This is our new microarchitecture, will give you better vector performance etc, better integrated graphics and so on.... but may not be essential buy for you what you want it for. We have 8 series chipset boards available for this CPU too. THere are plenty of 3rd party board manufacturers though (MSI/Asus etc).

We're also introducing this in a motherboard NUC (next unit of computing) which is a small 'Apple TV' type form factor. This comes with a CPU , motherboard, etc, and just needs memory and wifi to make it work.

As the guys above have said the best way to do it is through Scan, they have online advisors that can help you figure out what you need.

Not really a hepful comment more than to let you know our latest release!

Good luck with your build!

I usually buy from ebuyer.co.uk tbh

 

Some bad reports but I've never had a problem.

Aria and dabs are good alternatives too.

What nobody has asked as of yet is......
What do you have at the moment? No point in advising a whole new pc when it could be new enough to just upgrade a few parts and be "top of the range" again.

Iv been building PC's for years and had many types of questions like this.

 

I always will ask "What will its primary role be" 

 

Email/Internet/Music etc - Average User = Low build cost

 

Video/photo Rendering/GFX enhancement etc - Demanding user - Med-high build.

 

Gaming etc - Demanding User - Med to High Build

 

CAD/CAM - Very Demanding - High cost

 

-----

 

If your an average user then go for something like this - 

 

1. Motherboard - One of the best mobo's for the money

 

2. CPU - Very good CPU, Onboard graphics are probably as good as your card's, Very power efficient 

 

3. RAM (People will say 8gb is far to much but its really not) 4gb is nearly as much as 8gb so a no brainer really.

 

4. Power Supply  - Always get the best you can afford and a "GOLD" star is the best Obvs 

 

5. SSD - 180gb (If you need more then just say)

 

6. Case - Good little case, looks good and is good quality 

 

TOTAL = £460.31

 

What do you think?

 

Regards

Adrian

 

EDIT - I see your in Blackpool im living in Preston ATM and will happily build you one within 2 Days

Edited 3 October, 201312 yr by VRade

I would just get one second hand ex corp pc for £200 of flee bay

Guys. Can someone have a look on eBay for a desktop under £200?

Not very clued up on this stuff. Don't want the pc for gaming, just surfing/itunes/storing family photos etc.

Cheers.

Ask around for what you need, then with an idea of bits, look on Novatech site, and you can ask- they will advise ,from my experience ,rather than try a hard sell, and a "bundle " can work out a lot cheaper  .Bundle is Motherboard+ memory or mb+case+ memory ( barebones) or MB+MEMORY ( motherboard bundle).

BUT-as said earlier -work out power supply needs ( or get a Novatech guy to do it ) and double the size -i.e if it comes back you need a 300Watt supply , get a 600/650 one. HDD- I had to replace mine recently and 320GB was smallest about.

Edited 3 October, 201312 yr by VWD

Would a laptop not be viable?

I would just get one second hand ex corp pc for £200 of flee bay

 

I have never paid more than £60 for an ex corporate job except one pair in bomb proof cases being used as  servers. They cost me £180 for the pair.

I have never paid more than £60 for an ex corporate job except one pair in bomb proof cases being used as  servers. They cost me £180 for the pair.

 

If your going for the cheap and cheerful and aged maybe but if Loz is prepared to pay for a good one then she might as well get something in that price bracket. You could even get yourself an ex corp cad machine with dual Xeon inside and with at least 8gb of mem....The most i've paid on fleebay was 320 for a highend server fully packed....

I might buck the trend and say don't bother. I used to build custom PC's many years ago but now everyone is at it manufacturers of components charge a fortune and if you spec quality bits you will quickly be running into 4 figures. Save yourself a load of money and buy from somewhere like dabs or misco.

That way you will have a PC thats built buy professionals with a warrenty and half the price. If you shop around you can get the spec that suits your needs.

Not as cool or trendy as having a custom PC but much better in reality. Overclocking is pointless as is loads of ram on a 32bit operating system. Iv'e been involved in IT for over a decade and even i don't bother building my own PC's anymore. I have a sony Vaio i5 laptop thats more than powerful enough for my needs. At work i run a custom i7 with 16gb ram and Nvidia Quadro soon to be AMD firepro graphics card for Solidworks 3D modelling but its overkill to be honest.