Please help me spec my PC!

Percy1983

It seems a bit hit and miss with the free delivery, I have had things the next working day and some things on the 5th day.

I would just hit free postage and see what happens, even if it does take them that long its not all that bad, is it? (depends on your patience levels)

irisandalex

The more I've read about SSDs the more I'm convinced it's the right option. Can even justify the cost in that it makes it less likely I'll need a second 4GB RAM: using the swap file on the SDD won't be anywhere near as bad as with a HDD. Cost per MB might be high, but I don't need lots of MB. I reckon I might be glad I put the money into that rather than a bit more L3 cache or an extra core or extra MHZ. But we'll see......

Also thinking putting the SSD in the old laptop could have been a great way to boost it's performance for a few more months and allowed me to put off getting this replacement PC for a while.

Still, all ordered now!

irisandalex

Thanks to all for your very valued posts. Still took me ages to figure all the components out but at least gave me plenty of pointers.

Percy1983

As I say there is a benefit to SSD and its seems you have made an informed decision so all is good, was just a bit worried at first it was the 'its more expensive so must be better' mentality to which I hate people wasting money over spec'ing PC's.

Now with the laptop you posted about before I really wouldn't bother with SSD, the rest of the system is the real bottleneck there and I doubt the hard drive is the problem + an SSD maybe be worth as much as the rest fo the laptop put together.

Of course keep us updated how its goes and some windows experience scores will be nice.

irisandalex

A quick update after 3 months of use!

The computer is fantastic for my needs.

The SSD is brilliant - supremely quick, such a novelty not having to wait for anything to load.

The processor is plenty quick enough - internet radio, webcam monitoring (x2), plus all my work runs flawlessly at the same time. My internet phone is stutter free whatever I do at the same time.

I never play games on the computer, no doubt 3D graphics would be where my setup showed it's limitations.

RAM wise 4GB has been perfect, particuarly as the SSD speed means there is no longer a need to keep all applications open in case I need them again.

So, I'm very happy all round. Bargain price, easy to build and phenomonal performance!

Thanks all again for your very valued input.

Percy1983

Fantastic, thanks for coming back and updating I had forgot all about this.

More importantly glad we got it right and glad we could help.

Did you manage to get the 4th core going out of interest? As for things loading instantly I would put it down to the SSD alone but it certainly will be helping, it seems SSD's are still getting better/cheaper so its only a matter of time before I jump in, right now my RAID 0 array is more than quick enough.

Happy computing.

irisandalex

No, didn't manage to get the 4th core running, didn't spend long trying but attempted to enable it in the bios with no luck.....

Percy1983

I wouldn't worry about it, I think we said when spec'ing it, 3 cores should be more than enough and if the 4th runs its a bonus.

irisandalex

It's time to spec my next PC, I'd appreciate even more great advice here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4031359