Help advise on upgrading my PC

frugal_matelot

I don't know if there any techies out there that can help. I have a PC that was fast 7 years ago. I want to upgrade the motherboard, cpu and RAM. Can anybody advise of a good choice, and all importantly the cheapest place to get said items.
Thanks

Jakejakejake

Try Ebuyer.com. Would you not be better off with building or buying a whole new pc if its 7 years old?

dagger_meerkat

Jus get a new PC, its not worth the hassle to upgrade the mobo/cpu/ram in your old pc. It probably has a power supply that does will not comform with current standards. Ebuyer sells barebone pcs, and system units alone.

sauceychoco

Not that much of a techie, but I have built PC's and regularly help out friends and family with IT issues.

If you have never build or upgraded a PC before your best bet would be to read up on it first. You can buy 'how to build PC' manuals that are quite easy to follow and have lots of pics as well! Was and still is my first point of reference whenever I attempt any PC work.

The reason why I say read up on it first is that depending what you want your PC to do, you will find that your hardware choices may be drastically different.

Back to your question.... I would suggest you have a look at https://www.ebuyer.com and https://www.dabs.com, always my first choice when buying PC stuff online. May also be worth visiting any local PC fairs. Try https://www.britishcomputerfairs.com - I've been to the Croydon venue a good few times and always come out with a bargain.

Also (sorry just had another thought), if your just after a basic PC for Word and the internet you can find plenty of new PC's for £300-£400 that are more then capable - https://www.dell.com are doing some good deals at this price bracket. Try searching this forum for any deals that are going on. May actually work out cheaper then buying all the parts separately

Good luck!

VIJAY_FROM_KENT

frugal_matelot wrote: »

I don't know if there any techies out there that can help. I have a PC that was fast 7 years ago. I want to upgrade the motherboard, cpu and RAM. Can anybody advise of a good choice, and all importantly the cheapest place to get said items.
Thanks

If the system is 7 years old you are probably better of buying a new computer. If you do want to upgrade the RAM though, go to https://www.crucial.com and use the facility for it to automatically tell you which type of RAM you require! :beer:

RichyRich

CCL are always very helpful (they're local to me - if I pop in they will always advise fairly even if it involves losing a sale) and the prices are reasonable.

If you're looking to replace your pc there was a dell one on these boards about a week ago which represented outstanding value; otherwise grab yourself a copy of PC World or Computer Shopper which should give you a good idea of what to look for, then search, haggle and purchase!

Rich

Enterprise_1701C

7 Years old - Maybe Noah could help you!

Seriously though, we tried to convert a PC that was younger than that, just to run on XP, and it became extremely slow.

I would suggest that you look on Dell - might be cheaper than a decent motherboard and chip etc!

pstones578

frugal_matelot wrote: »

I don't know if there any techies out there that can help. I have a PC that was fast 7 years ago. I want to upgrade the motherboard, cpu and RAM. Can anybody advise of a good choice, and all importantly the cheapest place to get said items.
Thanks

The words dead horse flogging a spring to mind. Buy a base unit.

Quaint1

It all depends on how up-to-date you want to be - I have upgraded several PC's using bits bought on eBay and CEX.co.uk and, although not Vista capable (which bothers me not one bit!), they are fine for what I want to do, which is web surfing, playing games, writing and downloading podcasts.
If you want new bits, then I can only second the recommendations above - Ebuyer and Crucial.
Au Res.,
Paul

kizziedog

Just repeating what everybody else is saying - better to buy a new one. Apart from the processor, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, PSU etc (with what are you left?), you should be looking for a nice 19" LCD monitor - makes a major diff!

Dell have some good deals - try http://www.pcpricer.co.uk/Dell/ for info on latest deals (you buy from Dell). Don't forget to buy through Quidco to get an extra 5% (before VAT)

alanrowell

I've never had any problems with ebuyer and their prices tend to be the cheapest of the "majors"

They are also part of "Google Checkout" which means for each over £30 order you currently get £10 off - so once you've decided what you want split it into several orders each just above £30 (excl P&P) and save £10 each time