Advice on buying a new computer (£300-400 price range)

Thok

Hi i am wondering if anyone who is up to date with computer specs would be able to give me some advice on what is a reasonable spec in my price range.

I am wanting to buy a computer primarily to do work for university which obviously doesnt require a good spec at all (any pc these days can run MS office). Would like the ability to play games but not top of the range games with graphics settings on full.

My main problem is i dont want to have to upgrade any time soon, ive had my current pc for 5 or so years and would like another to last me that long too. I have been looking at websites such as PCSPECIALIST.CO.UK but i dont really know what i am looking at and seem to want to select the best of everything which obviously takes any computer out of my price range.

One thing i am wondering is would it be cheaper to but a standard model or a custom built one as i only really need the base unit, have a good monitor and mouse etc

Preferably on windows 7. (plus a cool looking case is always a bonus :P)

Cheers for any help

Vuze

Try a local PC shop and get a custom built tower as that will work out cheaper and you will get a better spec for your money. Do get a quote first though and then compare the spec with what's going in the main stores like PC World, Comet etc.. but if you need a monitor and keyboard etc then the high street retailers sometimes can offer a better bundle deal with a nice big screen.

Thok

I have seen this pc for sale for £400

Intel Q9550 processor - 4 cores at 2.83Ghz each
4GB RAM
Nvidia 8800GT 512mb graphics card
640Gb Hard drive
DVD/CD writer
Windows 7 64bit and Office 2007 installed


Processor is Intel Q9550 quad core runs at 2.83ghz and has 12mb cache.
The RAM is DDR2 800mhz with 4-4-4-12 timings (Crucial Basillitix)
Motherboard is a Gigabyte X38 chipset
Graphics card is a Gigabyte 8800GT 512mb OC edition
Hard drive is a 640gb Western Digital blue
Windows 7 64bit Ultimate OS

Processor has a Xigmatek cooler with Noctua silent fan and the graphics card has an Accelero S1 cooler.
The case is an Antec P182 case that alone cost about £100.
The power supply is an Enermax Modu82+ 550w

Anyone able to tell me if it is a bargin for the price and/or where it would need improving?

Vuze

That seems like a reasonable spec, though if I was getting a PC for myself I would have gone with a 1GB graphics card and possibly 8GB+ of RAM, because I always have lots of windows and programs open and this helps the PC not to choke as much.

Thok

Would it be possible to get a pc with 8+ ram and 1gb graphics card in my price range?

Thok

Is this any good? The seller's looking for £250 for it.

1Terabyte hard drive,Gigabyte GA- MA790FX-DQ6 Motherboard,G Force 9600GT Grahics Card,3 Gig of 1066MHz Memory (2 Gig is Corsair Dominator,AMD 9850 2.5 Quad Core Black Edition,Kabuto Heatsink and Cooler,750Watt Power Supply.The case is a Thermaltake Soprano and is very quiet and keeps the system nice and cool.

It has Windows 7 installed but doesn't come with any disks.

SimbaSimon

Thok wrote: »

Is this any good? The seller's looking for £250 for it.

1Terabyte hard drive,Gigabyte GA- MA790FX-DQ6 Motherboard,G Force 9600GT Grahics Card,3 Gig of 1066MHz Memory (2 Gig is Corsair Dominator,AMD 9850 2.5 Quad Core Black Edition,Kabuto Heatsink and Cooler,750Watt Power Supply.The case is a Thermaltake Soprano and is very quiet and keeps the system nice and cool.

It has Windows 7 installed but doesn't come with any disks.

PC sounds fine but I'd be very weary of buying a PC that has Windows 7 on but doesn't come with any discs. Your most likely find its an unlicensed copy and when you update it you may get told its a counterfit version and asked to purchase a new license for it.

Thok

Would you say it is still an ok price at £250 even considering i would need to spend about £70 on windows 7 at some time in the future.

Thok

Having spoken to the seller again he has told me it comes with a windows 7 disk "Its a oem version of Windows 7 that needs no key.You have to install it as a boot up cd. Its from IBM"

Does that mean that a valid copy of windows 7 is installed that will be able to download security updates etc in the future and do a clean install of windows. Or does it mean there will be problems down the line when it comes to reformating.

After reading up on oem software a little, i see its often sold in breach of the T&Cs set down by microsoft. Not knowing where the software came from origionaly i obviously cannot say if this is the case or not, would this be a problem or would it be indistinguishable from a full retail copy of the OS once installed. Also would the disk have limited installs (possibly used up on other computers) meaning it is useless?

turbobob

The Intel based one is a better spec, obviously more money. An IBM OEM version of Windows (if that's what it is) on a non IBM computer does not sound particularly genuine to me. I'd probably work on the assumption that it's not genuine and if you do need to get it reactivated it won't work.

ddoris

Forget 8gb ram - that is ridiculous for any normal use.
Graphics card memory type is more important than size.
You don't really need quad core either - do you drive a 7.6 litre V8 engined car ???
Why limp along for 5 years with an old pc and then jump right into the fast lane ?