Help with finding new desktop pc

miclare

Our desktop pc died and I was going to get a cheap laptop for the time being but realised it would be a waste.

So need something decent, to stream films on, play games like WOW, Skyrim etc, it's also on

Would love to stick to the £500 mark and ideally not a HP or Dell.

I've hd a look but it's been 6 years or so since I bought our last one and I'm used to AMD so comparing that do Intel specs are comfusing me, whether to try and get an i5 or (with some wishful thinking an i7) or go with AMD but then what is an i5/i7 comparible to etc! Argh!

This looks great but well it's £700! But can stick it on JL account and they always have such good support so thats a plus but I'm guessing it's well over priced for what it is - although from researching Lenovo seem to not break down as much as some other big brands.
http://www.johnlewis.com/231740080/Product.aspx

But anyway please help, do I go for a gear i5 or less geared i7 or an AMD. I dont want to have to upgrade this for the next few years so dont want to get anything so basic and cheap that next year it needs help!

Sorry for the waffling and TIA

Michelle

closed

how did it die

an i5 is going to be significantly faster than a 6 year old processor

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5+750+%40+2.67GHz

what to buy depends on your future gaming requirements - the graphics card is more significant for gaming, but buying top of the range to try and future proof is futile and expensive

miclare

closed wrote: »

how did it die

an i5 is going to be significantly faster than a 6 year old processor

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5+750+%40+2.67GHz

what to buy depends on your future gaming requirements - the graphics card is more significant for gaming, but buying top of the range to try and future proof is futile and expensive

Thanks for your reply. The hard drive is gone which I know is easily replaced but it's been on its way out for the last year and it needs a new graphics card, RAM etc and it was a cheapish unit to start with so power supply will probably need upgrading, the sound has always been flaky on it and the cdrw thing doesnt work etc.

I know that whatever I get will need upgrading and that's fine but I just dont want it to be an ASAP kind of thing, as long as it's good for the year then thats great.

If an i5 is good for now then that's what I'll take a look at thanks!

-TangleFoot-

miclare wrote: »

Would love to stick to the £500 mark and ideally not a HP or Dell.

Have you considered self-assembly? The GPU in that JL machine looks a little... weak.

welshee

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/systemview.aspx?id=96

i have used eclipse several times and this as a good spec.

i would upgrade the i5 3.1ghz to a 3.4ghz for the sake of £12
go through the customize and buy option to pick and choose your specs.

You can save money by keeping your monitor etc that you are using now.

gonzo127

that system is shocking for gaming! who on earth puts a GT630 as a gaming GPU in a £700 system needs shooting!!!!

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html give a good indication of graphics card power, the GT630 only has the equivelent power of a mid range gaming graphics card of 5 years ago (the 8800 GT) which although will just about play Skyrim, it will struggle and you will have to have the settings turned down

now since you are looking at gaming i would suggest a custom build company (unless you can build yourself?), there are a few about namely DinoPC, Cyberpower Systems, and PC Specialist all of whom i know of people who have had systems from with no major problems (main one being build time being slower than wanted but thats no biggie)

of course there are others but i dont personaly know of anyone who has used them for a full build, these are companies like overclockers, scan, aria, novatech

now for spec

CPU - intel currently hold the performance crown, and the I5 and above have no major direct competition from AMD for gaming, however this is not to say AMD is the a bad choice, as they are usualy cheaper and can usualy be overclocked for some further performance whereas the intel processors dont allow for overclocking until you get a K series CPU which tend to be on the higher price bracket, and when you overclock a AMD processor you can get close to the performance of the (mid range thinking i5 3470) intel processors but with a lower cost

RAM - 4gb is still enough for most things, although the price of the upgrade is usualy very low 8gb would of course be better, but for the same reasoning if you find yourself lacking in RAM is a cheap quick and easy self upgrade in the future, so could be a area of compromise to get better components else where

Graphics card - as closed has put this is far more important for gaming than any other component, but you do get to a point of deminishing returns quite quick, on the flip side, small increases in price at the lower end tends to get you a lot more power, the current sweet spot in graphics cards is the AMD 7850 at around £150 - this will play basically every current game at 1080P resolutions in high or above detail settings, of course this is a large chunk of your budget and if your playing at lower resolutions you dont nessesarily need that much power, or if you are happy playing with lowered details setting this can also allow for a lower powered (and cost) graphics card, personally however i would not drop below a AMD 7750 or nvidia 550ti in the graphics card comparison already linked

all other bits are less important but used heavily in marketing

hard drive - do you really need 2tb, would 500gb be enough? etc

miclare

Thanks for all the input, I'd love to have a go at putting one together but I have a 3 year old and a 4 month old so dont have any spare time, I just need something up and running so when I or OH do have some free time we can just use it.

I've peviously had a custom built Alienware PC (years ago before Dell bought them out and not sure I'd buy from them now as they look super overpriced) but I had looked at cyberpower before but was sure exactly what I needed and what would just be wasteful IYGWIM.

Anyway it's my birthda today so once it's quiet tonight I shall sit down and go through all your posts and try configuring something out on the sites mentioned. Your post looks great Gonzo I appreciate you going into detail.

Thanks everyone!

miclare

Oh one quick issue I always face when now looking at getting a custom pc is the tower case, I never know if getting the basic smaller unit will further down the line cause an issue with being easily able to upgrade bits inside. So do I pay more for a bigger full size tower or just stick with whatever fits the things I want now and is cheapest? I dont mind at all about noise from it or pretty lights but I also wouldnt want to buy the cheapest and it restricts me later on.

TIA

-TangleFoot-

miclare wrote: »

I just need something up and running so when I or OH do have some free time we can just use it.

If you read a few guides you'll have a pretty good idea of what the inside of your next system should look like.

• Bit-Tech Buyer's Guide
• PC Gamer Rig
• Tiered Power Supply List
• Chillblast Fusion Stealth (expensive example)

Having a case with dust filters is nice.

gonzo127

miclare wrote: »

Oh one quick issue I always face when now looking at getting a custom pc is the tower case, I never know if getting the basic smaller unit will further down the line cause an issue with being easily able to upgrade bits inside. So do I pay more for a bigger full size tower or just stick with whatever fits the things I want now and is cheapest? I dont mind at all about noise from it or pretty lights but I also wouldnt want to buy the cheapest and it restricts me later on.

TIA

well getting a smaller case can cause issues down the line, but you dont nessesarily have to go super expensive, either to get a good case, i personally am a big fan of the coolermaster elite series of cases when it comes to budget orientated builds as its ok all round, no major stand out points, but also no major pit falls for the average person, to be honest i think only the really really cheap (~£10) cases these days need to be avoided if future work is likely

jaydeeuk1

This one looks ok


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaming-Computer-AMD-Bulldozer-16GB-3-3FX6100-1TB-WINDOWS-7-PC-TOWER-ATI-7750-/150974499526?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D5290667867491327002%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D4%26sd%3D140844504674%26

Ridiculous amount of ram but spec ok other than that - I'd be tempted to ask if they'll swap to 8gb and put the cash saved to a better power supply, and if the 7750 isn't quick enough for you, ask about a 7850 or something

Otherwise if you're in the derby area I'd put one together for a price of a 4 pack