My best value PC tips (esp Currys/Dixons/PCWorld

Magic_Time

Thelawnet - I take your point about choosing your own components (i.e. that you only pay for what you want, and don't have to settle for components you don't trust in terms of quality).

Just to remind people: go to pcservicecall.co.uk and you can view quite a detailed breakdown of the components used in the PCs sold in Dixons group stores, so you can check out for yourself whether they're from brands you trust.

Just a couple of points on the ebuyer system you suggest as an alternative to the T9102, though: it doesn't have a separate DVD Rom drive, which is well worth having if you want to copy discs, and it only has half the video memory (128Mb vs. 256Mb). Then there's the small matter of operating software! So you'd probably be looking at spending another £90 or so to bring it in line with the Advent - which means it would be quite a bit more expensive after all.

As for your point on processor speed: you're right, of course, that it's not of paramount importance compared to having a decent amount of RAM, say, and people should certainly beware of paying a premium for top-of-range speeds - 3.8Ghz really is an unnecessary luxury at current prices! But having said that, with processors getting faster all the time, I think it makes sense to go for something fairly up to date that will still be respectable a few years down the line.

Matt_F-Smith

not to discredit the original poster but im an avid fan of the building your own PC route....

I was about 16-17? when I built a computer and I was no techy wiz back then With a bit of know-how, (do a google search!) and some screw drivers (ive never bothered with the anti static wristbands) you will have a brilliant little system in a few hours.

I advise everyone I know NOT to buy from such companies, especially PC World. Ever been in there and witnessed the customer support staff 'trying' to solve a customer's problem? It's not pretty viewing

Anyway, a decent system can be made for around £400? Or possibly less, depended on current market trends. Any processor above 2.0GHZ is good, steer clear of the Celeron, go for an AMD and you shouldnt break the bank. 512mb RAM minimum, a home user wouldnt need more than that (windows xp likes a lot) graphics... well 64mb card is minimum these days. If you want a cheap card that will play many titles get a mid range geforce (£40-60) or an ATI 9550 for £45, will play doom3 and Half life2.

As for hard drives 60gig is minimum. lets face it, drives are cheaper now than ever.

Software, ok dont shoot me... but why not *coughborrow* from friends/office or even use *coughpopularfilesharingservices*

Matt

culpepper

re the OS,you could always use Linux which is free to download and present on magazine discs to boot from the disc.

My son built his first PC last year aged 15.We paid for the bits but he got to choose them,he then rebuilt his old 'tiny' computer using bits from an old pentium and presented it to his younger sister as a christmas present

Really if you can put together an Airfix model ,you can build your own PC.

George_Bray

Any processor above 2.0GHZ is good, steer clear of the Celeron, go for an AMD and you shouldnt break the bank.

After taking an interest in this thread, I'm now thinking about upgrading my processor, plus the other components to make it possible.

Here are a few processors which dabs.com stock in large volumes, which suggest they are popular for various reasons:
e.g. AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.5GHz Socket A OEM
£29.98 inc VAT (£25.52 ex VAT)

Can anyone explain the AMD descriptions please? Do they mean it runs at 1.5Ghz but is as fast in real life as an Intel chip running at 2.2 Ghz? This seems like very good value.

The price goes up sharply for only slightly faster processing:
e.g. AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.833GHz Socket A OEM
£53.99 inc VAT (£45.95 ex VAT)


What's wrong with a Celeron?
e.g. Celeron D 335 256Kb S478 533FSB Box
£69.99 inc VAT (£59.57 ex VAT) Clock Speed 2.8 GHz
Bus Speed 533 MHz

And is it worth shelling out for:
Intel Pentium 4E 3.0 1MB S478 800FSB Box
£116.99 inc VAT (£99.57 ex VAT)
Clock Speed 3 GHz Bus Speed 800 MHz

culpepper

Amd 2200 runs at the equivalent of 2.2ghz pentium.
So it doesnt actually run at 2.2ghz but cam manage what a pentium 2.2 can.
You cant exchange a pentium chip for an AMD/ celeron though as socket is different size .
Celeron is the poor relative of the AMD dont know why.

thelawnet

>Here are a few processors which dabs.com stock in large volumes, which suggest they are popular for various reasons:
e.g. AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.5GHz Socket A OEM
£29.98 inc VAT (£25.52 ex VAT)

>Can anyone explain the AMD descriptions please? Do they mean it runs at 1.5Ghz but is as fast in real life as an Intel chip running at 2.2 Ghz? This seems like very good value.


The Semprons are AMD's rebranding of their older chips with a higher rating. The Sempron 2200+ is the same speed as a CELERON 2.2 GHz. It will be slower than the pentium, in the same way that the celeron is also slower than pentium. It's a bit of a con job, as a sempron 2600+ is exactly the same chip as the old athlon 2200+, but costs slightly more. The Athlon chips are difficult to get hold of now, but roughly an athlon will be the same as 300 higher sempron.

>The price goes up sharply for only slightly faster processing:
e.g. AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.833GHz Socket A OEM
£53.99 inc VAT (£45.95 ex VAT)


>What's wrong with a Celeron?
e.g. Celeron D 335 256Kb S478 533FSB Box
£69.99 inc VAT (£59.57 ex VAT) Clock Speed 2.8 GHz
Bus Speed 533 MHz

The Celeron D is not too bad - better than older (non D) celerons. But the celeron d 2.8 is probably about the same as p4 2.4. Non-D celerons are not even worth thinking about. It is pretty competitive at this price point. But generally amd is always the best value. But for £10-£15 more you can get an athlon 64 2800+.

>And is it worth shelling out for:
Intel Pentium 4E 3.0 1MB S478 800FSB Box
£116.99 inc VAT (£99.57 ex VAT)
Clock Speed 3 GHz Bus Speed 800 MHz

It's ok, but I would prefer the AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3000+ 754pin 512kb L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor with 3 Year Warranty and Fan Included for £96 inc vat from ebuyer. THe Athlon 64s are FASTER than pentiums at the same rating, so it's £20 cheaper and 10% faster, especially on games.....

You will (probably) need a new motherboard, in order to match the CPU. So Athlon 64 3000+ will need a 754 pin motherboard, the sempron 2200+ will need a socket a motherboard.

In order for optimum performance you will want fast new RAM as well, as fast (PC3200) ram will improve your performance a lot. But this is probably only necessary for athlon 64 or p4 3ghz. For cheaper CPUs it's probably not worth it.

Matt_F-Smith

in regards to the Celeron question:

If you want to look at CPU's in a league or rank order, they would be bottom of the ladder

The celeron was Intel's attempt at a budget market, effectively serving as an alternative to their high end Pentium 3's/4's

Trouble is, they don't have much juice.

The older AMD Athlon (which do appear to be rare now) are far more powerful. There are still a few on ebuyer

The Semperon is AMD's attempt at the budget market, I have no experience of these as am still running my trusty Athlon 2000XP but generally AMD are very good, so may be worth looking into.

If you want to spend more, the newer and faster AMD chips (64bit models? is that right?) are the leaders of the pack. Along with the high end Pentium 4's

Matt

culpepper

If you are looking into the AMD 64 bit CPU you will need a motherboard that supports it.

madhouse_check

I always use Dell and have for years. I get the machine with the SPEC i need based on what I'm using the machine for.

When I have need support it has always been excellent, and if you really don't want to spend a fortune on software then there are competitors I stopped using microsoft office and now use Sun staroffice, it uses less resource and costs me less.

And if you don't need software you are only surfing with the machine why not use a free version of linux and mozilla.

George_Bray

I always use Dell and have for years. I get the machine with the SPEC i need based on what I'm using the machine for.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the main thing that's 'Dell' on a computer of that name, the badge on the case? If the internal components are any good they will all be produced by people like Maxtor, ATI and other big names. Oh, and Dell then add their awful start up screens and other 'clutter' on the hard drive. I'd choose a blank hard drive and a clean load any day. I think I'd actually go as far as paying a 10% premium for a DIY build rather than purchase a machine from the likes of Dell.