Good PC for £450?

GraniteMum

Hello all,

My current desktop is old and slow. I was looking at getting a new machine. A friend of a friend has just built one in the last 6 months which they are selling for £450, which is more than I would like to pay, but I am told it is an excellent system and the term "future-proof" was used which sounds nice but I am not sure what it means!

Anyway, I am not sure I would want the monitor either since I have a nice flat thing already.

I like to do emails, occasional spreadsheet, surf and catch up on a programme on the bbd every other week or so. I do not games play on it (though my kids may occasionally but they are young and it is cbbc type games, not things on cd).

Is this good for me or too high a specification? Thank you for reading and any advice gratefully received.


The specs are:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9950 2.83 GHZ (4 x 2.83 GHZ = 11.32 GHZ)
Graphics: Nvidia 9500 GT, DVI and VGA slots, 1024 MB RAM
RAM (memory): Corsair memory 4GB TwinX 8500 Dominator C5 DDR2 5-5-5-15 1066MHz Kit (2 x 2048 MB) with Dual-Pat Heat Exchange RAM
Harddrive: Western Digital 500GB Sata 2, 16MB Cache
Motherboard: Asus P5Q-E
Optical drive: 2 x DVD/CD RW
Monitor: Dell 1707 FP 17" DVI or VGA

All products come with warrenty some 3 year ,1 year and others lifetime

Dave101t

pretty much what i bought from pcworld 2 years ago for 500 quid, except your spec has more RAM. id expect a better spec than that now. (although you get a monitor too which makes sit a decent bundle)

BillScarab

It's not a bad spec but I wouldn't buy from anyone who claims a 2.83Ghz quad core processor equals 11.32 Ghz.

It's more than you need for your requirements but then it should last you a long time. No Computer is future proof, some just become out of date quicker.

What OS is on it? Ideally you want Windows 7 nowadays.

If it has Windows 7 on it I'd offer £300 without the monitor. It is second hand after all.

kabayiri

Donnie wrote: »

So if something goes wrong, to whom do you turn for your warranty? Firstly, you have to diagnose the problem for yourself and secondly, you would need to detach the offending part and send it off for repair/replacement. Are you capable of these actions?

To me, this is one of the most important points.

You don't need a powerful machine for the tasks you list.

If you bought something from the likes of Aldi with a 3 year guarantee, and you had a problem, you just take the thing back.

It's much easier.

Donnie

GraniteMum wrote: »

Hello all,

My current desktop is old and slow. I was looking at getting a new machine. A friend of a friend has just built one in the last 6 months which they are selling for £450, which is more than I would like to pay, but I am told it is an excellent system and the term "future-proof" was used which sounds nice but I am not sure what it means!

Anyway, I am not sure I would want the monitor either since I have a nice flat thing already.

I like to do emails, occasional spreadsheet, surf and catch up on a programme on the bbd every other week or so. I do not games play on it (though my kids may occasionally but they are young and it is cbbc type games, not things on cd).

Is this good for me or too high a specification? Thank you for reading and any advice gratefully received.


The specs are:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9950 2.83 GHZ (4 x 2.83 GHZ = 11.32 GHZ)
Graphics: Nvidia 9500 GT, DVI and VGA slots, 1024 MB RAM
RAM (memory): Corsair memory 4GB TwinX 8500 Dominator C5 DDR2 5-5-5-15 1066MHz Kit (2 x 2048 MB) with Dual-Pat Heat Exchange RAM
Harddrive: Western Digital 500GB Sata 2, 16MB Cache
Motherboard: Asus P5Q-E
Optical drive: 2 x DVD/CD RW
Monitor: Dell 1707 FP 17" DVI or VGA

All products come with warrenty some 3 year ,1 year and others lifetime

So if something goes wrong, to whom do you turn for your warranty? Firstly, you have to diagnose the problem for yourself and secondly, you would need to detach the offending part and send it off for repair/replacement. Are you capable of these actions?
Do you actually need such a machine? Will you play video/CPU intensive games? If the answer is no...give the machine a miss. The monitor is bog standard.

Here is one with a similar spec. Leaves you with £100 to buy a monitor. You can get a 20" screen with that. If you watch films on it, you may prefer a 23" widescreen instead. Just examples.

tdlwebs

I don't know who started that nonsense, but there is no such thing as 'future proof'. If you doubt it then read up on Moore's Law.

Personally, I would save a few quid by buying an Acer with Windows 7 from Tesco. That way you'll have an up to date machine which is perfectly adequate for your needs with 12months guarantee too.

GraniteMum

Thank you for taking time for me. I think it is best to walk from the offer and try something else. I can open a box and I do know what the bits are called but friend of a friend is no real guarantee and it does not look like a bargain to me now at all.

jassi_9

i just bought one of these last week:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176488

add £13 wireless keyboard & mouse from argos (logitech)

£30 refurb monitor from ebay (dell)

£15 sub woofer and speaker set from comet (logitech)

£288 for the complete system, excellent machine for the money with a very good spec, runs very fast for day to day use.



only thing you need is a copy of windows to install but these dyas evryone has one......

Donnie

jassi_9 wrote: »

i just bought one of these last week:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176488

add £13 wireless keyboard & mouse from argos (logitech)

£30 refurb monitor from ebay (dell)

£15 sub woofer and speaker set from comet (logitech)

£288 for the complete system, excellent machine for the money with a very good spec, runs very fast for day to day use.



only thing you need is a copy of windows to install but these dyas evryone has one......

But GraniteMum doesn't, so no go. So that will add at least another £70 to the system. Not great value, especially when it depends on an imaginary £30 monitor from eBay. What's the matter with you? :rolleyes:

Hintza

These guys might be worth a look, they sometimes have some reasonable deals. Got a scratch and dent one for the MIL a year or so ago.


http://www.itcsales.co.uk/index.html

Donnie

An all in one solution can be acquired inexpensively without having to acquire the parts piecemeal.

For a 'future-proof' PC, think about your likely needs. If you have a big enough screen, it can double up as mini cinema for the children.

This Acer ASX3810 for £353 from Argos Returns has a dedicated graphics card and 1TB HDD for storage, but is let down by the relatively small monitor. But not bad for an inexpensive all round machine for the family. Again, just an example.

In the end, the PC should fit your needs, not the other way around.