How to choose a desk top computer about £500

martindow

I'm looking to get a new desk top computer for a small business where I am using Photoshop, an online shop program, Dreamweaver and the usual office programs, email and browsing. I don't play games but do want to stream TV and download films occasionally.

I was looking at this one

http://www.palicomp.co.uk/Cheap-PCs/AMD-Kaveri-Evolution.html

mainly because of its price and magazine recommendations.

I'm concerned about overclocking - would this make it run hot with extra fan noise and does it risk shortening the life of components? They offer the option of supplying it at the normal clock speed.

It is an extra £10 to upgrade from Windows 7 to 8 - is this worth doing?

I would appreciate any comments and other recommendations.

I_have_spoken

Just my views -

Upgrade the video from integrated to separate card for better performance with Photoshop and streaming

Install an SSD as well as hard disk to speed up booting and apps

Stick with Windows 7

spannerzone

For a business PC you don't need to consider overclocking, that's something that just isn't necessary for the average user, especially if it's a work based computer.

Palicomp have improved considerably over the years but they used to get diabolical reviews some years back.

I'd agree with the above about sticking with Windows 7, possibly get an SSD and a hard drive for storage (makes the PC considerably faster in many aspects) - graphics not necessarily needing upgrading but may be worth getting something slightly better than the integrated graphics.

Cisco001

I suggest you get the one with fx6100 and gtx650 instead.
They are same price
http://www.palicomp.co.uk/gaming-pcs/amd-quad-bulldozer-gamer.html

martindow

Thank you everyone. I'm finding it quite baffling choosing with so many choices and variations.

The Far Cry is also 499.99 but it is just the tower - the other one includes the monitor, keyboard and mouse which I will need to get so I suppose would be over 600 pounds all in.

John_Gray

You can get a quite-decent second-hand Dell Optiplex for about half the £500 you're talking of! Example here, including an upgrade to the memory and hard disk, at least.

Oh, and get a 19" monitor, or one from somewhere else.