I'm looking to move on from a laptop, to a new desktop, and need some advice.

- we bought the laptop 3 and half years ago, so I've not been keeping up to speed on what makes a good spec for a computer, so what should I be looking out for (processor speed, graphics card) to make sure that I get something that's at least "above average"? It'll be put to general use, but with the emphasis on working with photos so will need plenty of HD space, and it should be able to handle Photoshop CS3 without needing extra oxygen.

- We'll be keeping the pretty good TV/monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse we already have when we use the laptop in our study. So all we'll be after is the actual CPU/box, we won't need a monitor or the other peripherals. So where's the best place to get that from ?

Budget (if I'm not being ridiculous) is under 500 pounds, as it seems to be possible to get a decent enough looking Dell system for around that much.

thanks

I'm looking to move on from a laptop, to a new desktop, and need some advice.

- we bought the laptop 3 and half years ago, so I've not been keeping up to speed on what makes a good spec for a computer, so what should I be looking out for (processor speed, graphics card) to make sure that I get something that's at least "above average"? It'll be put to general use, but with the emphasis on working with photos so will need plenty of HD space, and it should be able to handle Photoshop CS3 without needing extra oxygen.

- We'll be keeping the pretty good TV/monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse we already have when we use the laptop in our study. So all we'll be after is the actual CPU/box, we won't need a monitor or the other peripherals. So where's the best place to get that from ?

Budget (if I'm not being ridiculous) is under 500 pounds, as it seems to be possible to get a decent enough looking Dell system for around that much.

thanks

Hi,

Check out PC Pro: Products Search for ideas on what

Motherboard that supports DDR3 memory, 2GB is the best option apparently.

Core 2 Duo CPU, although the AM2 platform is cheap as chips at the minute. This is mainly because it's not as good as the Intel offering.

Nvidia 8800 is the king of graphics cards at the minute but you will struggle to build the rest of your system if you bought one. If you aren't heavily into games the AMD/ATI 2600 is good for HD material but is outperformed by the older X1950XT for 3D performance.

Windows Vista Home Premium can be had for

As you're not into playing games and you'll be re-using your existing TV/monitor (model?), it sounds as it the 3D graphics is not that important.

Most flexible option would be to build something yourself to spec (it's not that hard), but the margine and competition is so great out there that the savings wouldn't be all that worth it, particularly if building yourself sounds daunting. The only downside buying something ready-built that doesn't include peripherals is that your choices may be limited.

If main use is content creation and stuff, as Dave suggested, get something which is quick, has loads of RAM and lots of hard disk storage

I can knock something up if you want.

Bought mine from here 2 months ago

eBay Seller: g4-technologies: Desktop PCs, Computing items on eBay.co.uk

Pentium D 6.4 GHz CPU

IMHO, if you're investing in a "new" platform, I wouldn't go for Pentium D, a core 2 duo is much more up to date and far more efficient. Then again, pricing for a P4D is cheap as :eek:

Pentium D 6.4 GHz CPU

I know - I did some reading up.

Still a cheap fast machine which is what I wanted - seeing as also I don't have the 'contacts' sunny of us do :P

Well, admittedly, it's

All of these come without monitors and the OE has to be added in but I can vouch for their service (bought seven pc's from them over the years for us and friends/family) should give you some idea of prices etc.

PC Ranges : Novatech

Try DinoPC.com as they seem good value with good spec/quality bits. You can also change the spec prior to build.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

SWMBO is currently keen on what seems the easiest option - John Lewis sell some HP systems that don't come with monitors

So do Dino and it's a 5 day turnaround!

this is a cpu:

this is a "computer":

if all you want to do is send email, look on the internet and stick photo's on then anything new will do to be honest and most computers now come with massive hard drives, my laptop came with 140Gb and its pretty normal for a desktop PC to come with 300Gb now.

I know what a CPU is

I just figured that if the title was just "buying a box" people would just talk about the cases, and if I just said "buying a computer" some of the discussion would have been about systems with monitors, which I don't need.

TFboy was asking about the monitor - it's a Sony MFM HT75W - can connect to a computer, does fine in HD for the Xbox 360 and can connect to normal TV set -up as well.