Desktop mainly for gaming and watching dvds

the_devil_made_me_do_it

My nephew is looking for a desktop which isn't expensive but will handle playing computer games/Xbox, watching DVDs & using the internet wireless.

Anyone seen any good deals out there which fits his requirements?

Knarf44

A moderately priced decent spec'd desktop system capable of playing recent games at medium settings is going to cost somewhere between £450-£600 depending on exact spec. Does he need a monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers too? If so budget around another £150 for basic items.

Of course if your budget is eg £300 then you might prefer to buy him an XBox. There are cheap desktops around but to get a decent gaming spec for that sort of money would be a real challenge.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Not sure what the budget is. He has been using a laptop, but he's complaining that the battery life is rubbish & he's only had the laptop less than a year.

So, he suggested getting a desktop.

Knarf44

You/he really need to give us some idea of a budget and whether he needs the additional items I mentioned in post #2. There's no point in anyone recommending systems to you if they are not within your budget.

gonzo127

well £450 for the basic tower unit would be the lowest i would spend on a 'gaming' computer my current reference system is this http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=935 - please note i have not purchased anything from this company so do not know what the quality of service is like,

anyways this system will give a reasonable gaming experience (better than consoles) and is not bad priced and has so so customisation abilities, there could be better systems out there hence why i use this as a reference

anyways if you can find out a budget and his full requirements (montior etc needed) we will be able to advise better

rodenal

As above you will struggle to guestimate what sort of system you need/ should get without a budget.

Assuming it's a fairly low one and you need to buy monitor etc I'd consider building one yourself.

As a rough guide here is a list of components and guide prices for a budget system that will play all modern games at decent levels of details, you would just need to add your monitor and keyboard etc.

Case: £20 (basic atx with mountings for front and rear 120mm fans)
psu: £50 (Brand name 500w psu - you will be able to buy something for much less than this, but it isnt really reccomended)
motherboard £50-60 (plenty of choice here, skt am2+/am3 to go for a cheaper cpu, youll probably want to look at something from gigabyte or asrock)
CPU: £60 (athlon 2 x2 255 would be an excellent buy, more than likely will also unlock to 4 cores)
GPU: £80-90 (somethinig like a hd4870 would be excellent, hd4850 also a decent card)
CPU Cooler: £20 (any number of aftermarket coolers out there for this kind of cash)
HDD £30-35 (500gb sata drive)
Optical drive(s) £20 each (you will get a perfectly good dvd writer for this, or pay about £50 for one that will read blue ray)
RAM £60-70 (4gb ddr2 pc6400)
OS £take your pick

Total £400ish before os monitor etc

That should give you a pretty good machine that wont need much in the way of upgrades for a while. Of course if you're willing to buy second hand components you can either knock about £150 off the price or get a much much higher spec for the same money (but potential less use).

Edit, after seeing the post above I couldn't honestly reccomend what I've listed above unless you're buying some used components or willing to really shop around for prices.

gonzo127

the thing as is i stated rodenal in your configuration you would be able to choose all the parts for a simular price and therefore could end up with a much better system overall, which boils it down to the 2 choices more effort for more choice, less effort but less choice

even if the basic spec is the same the OP could have the better componenets if they built themself which would make a difference such as
the CPU cooler and better ram (none generic) would allow the OP to overclock the system therefore giving them a quicker system
a better powersupply would mean a more stable system which would allow a easier overclock on top of giving more choices for the future upgrades

rodenal

Yeah that is definately one way to look at it, I'm positive you could save a little on all the components i listed even buying new and not take much / any performance hit.

The real kicker for me (in the op's position) is the purchasing of the os - if that isn't a factor, or he has access to one of ms's deals (windows / office for £10 etc if you work for certain companies) then it'd be hard to argue against building a system, isn't difficult to do at all (maybe his nephew could even put it together) and as you say you will come out with better quality components and have ready made overclocking ability.

I reckon you're also much more likely to upgrade a system you have built yourself rather than sell / bin it in 3 years time and buy another so more potential savings.

It can be daunting though if you've never built your own system before, especially if on first boot it beeps away or wont post as you havent quite seated the ram correctly etc.

gonzo127

well this is always a great place to start if your looking at building your own http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2010/11/03/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-november-2010/2

GRM

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Not sure what the budget is. He has been using a laptop, but he's complaining that the battery life is rubbish & he's only had the laptop less than a year.

My kid's managed to kill the battery in their laptop inside a year too. When I made them pay for the replacement battery they took much better care of it ;-)

Condition it to begin with - full charge and full discharge cycles.

Take the battery out if it's fully charged and you're going to be plugged into the mains for a few hours. Laptop batteries don't like being overheated - don't use the laptop on top of a duvet thereby blocking the fan.

BatteryBar is a great freeware utility that shows the design capacity of the battery as well as its current capability. They had killed the first battery with 94% wear. They've only incurred 4% wear on the new extended battery in nearly 12 months of use.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

It's his nanna with the budget, I just said I would check out what's on offer.

He wants to be able to use his Xbox on the computer, not use the computer as a console.

Apologies, but I'm not clued up when it comes to gaming technology lol. I have no kids, so never had the need to know about these things.

I think he will need monitor, tower, mouse. He may already have speakers.