Need help choosing a computer

Ashok_2

I've recently sold my Alienware laptop for £1100 and am looking for a desktop replacement. Something fairly powerful, it'll mainly be used for general use and watching a lot of movies and playing music, but also the odd game or two!

I did want to pay by PayPal, and I've narrowed my choice down on eBay to these three:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E6600-CORE-2-DUO-4GB-22-TFT-LCD-320GB-8500GT-1333-FSB_W0QQitemZ200127474850QQihZ010QQcategoryZ179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
That is full package with LCD and all.. Thing is I'm pretty sure the LCD they provide will be a crappy cheap one, and I had my heart set on a stylish Dell 20", for about £150... I was wondering though, the stuff that appears on the screen - is that dependant on the graphics card or the actual monitor.. because it could be a cheap one but still look good with graphics..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E6600-CORE-2-DUO-4GB-400GB-nVidia-Geforce-8500GT-SLI-PC_W0QQitemZ200128871920QQihZ010QQcategoryZ179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This one is just the tower.. The description is slightly different.. I wasn't sure if it was exactly the same as the first apart from the bigger hard drive.. I'd need to buy an LCD in addition as well as a keyboard/mouse..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160136551016
This is the most expensive and looks the most powerful...

I really wasn't sure which one to go for.. I definitely didn't want to go above £1100, but I'd like to keep it as low as possible really..

I wasn't sure whether going for the Quad Core PC rather than the Core 2 Duo ones would make much difference for an additional £80 or so... If it is worth it then fair enough.

Also in addition I would have to buy the OS, I'd go for Vista Ultimate so that's another odd £125..

What I really would appreciate is a rundown on the 3 PCs mentioned, which one's better to go for and why etc.. I'd really appreciate it Like I said it is mainly for watching movies and stuff, and the odd game, but I do want graphics to be good.. and it would be nice if it was futureproof for a while..

Thanks in advance!

GoofyGAT

I reckon the display is more dependent on the quality of the monitor than the graphics card. As an example, my neighbour has intergrated graphics while I have a X800XT PE (this was £300-400 3 years ago). There's no visible difference whatsoever. Actually, I'd say her display looks better because of the slightly better(?) monitor.

If you have the time & inclination, building the PC yourself may be a bit cheaper, & you'll probably end up with many better quality components (compared to most pre-built PCs on eBay anyway). Don't take my word for it - build a comparable PC on eBuyer for example, & see how much you save.

Would you consider Dell? An example...
Dell Dimension 9200 = £675 (incl VAT & del) / More deals through DMXDimension
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600
- Genuine Windows Vista™ Business
- 1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
- Dell™ 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP)
- 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
- 320GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe (2x160GB) [not sure this will be useful to you]
- 256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card
- 16x DVD +/- RW Drive
- Dell™ Enhanced USB Multimedia Keyboard
- Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse
- Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
- McAfee® Security Centre™ 8.0 - 24 Month Protection
- Microsoft® Works 8.0

Btw, Vista Ultimate has 4 advantages over Premium - are you really going to make use of them?

E6600 vs Q6600 (& others) benchmark comparison list - change the tests under 'Choose benchmark'. At present, there's probably nothing to very little that can take advantage of a quad core CPU. By the time there is, you'll probably be ready for your next PC.

With a budget of £1100, a desire to have good graphics, possibly a quad core CPU & future-proofing for a while, your wishes may come true. I'll post a good spec for that price tomorrow. G

GoofyGAT

Total = £1050 (with free delivery option). Got it down to £50 under your budget . I've included a few other options in [ ], mostly cheaper ones.

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 = £245 / [E6600 = £139]
* Asus P5N-E SLI = £70
* OCZ 2x1GB PC6400 GOLD XTC *SPECIAL OPS* ED = £70 / [List of PC6400 memory for comparison]
* Point Of View 8800GTS 320MB = £183 / [8600GTS OC = £135 / X1950TX = £105 (excellent value & performance for today's games, but no DX10 for the future)]
* Seagate ST3400620AS 400GB SATAII = £67
* Samsung SH-S203B 20X DVD±RW/RAM = £21
* Vista Home Premium x32Bit OEM = £64 / [32-bit should be the safer option for now]
* Xerox XM3-22WB 22" Widescreen = £198 / [Dell E228WFP 22" (preorder) = £235]
* Antec P182 Gunmetal Grey Super Mid Tower Case = £81 / [Antec Nine Hundred Gaming Case = £65]
* OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU = £55

Compare the above with a few other places - Scan is a good one, especially their Today Only section. E.g. the same CPUs are cheaper & they have 22" 'gaming' monitors from £164. No free delivery though unless you qualify (not easy to do so).

All the best with it all . Keep us informed on what you've decided & how it goes. G

P.S. If you want even better performance for the money & don't mind a bit of overclocking then post your purchase queries in this Hexus subforum.

[Deleted User]

My 300 quid dual-core athlon PC from Dell does a rather good job playing games, DVDs, divX's and music.. really not sure why people spend a grand on a PC anymore

Ashok_2

GoofyGAT wrote: »

Total = £1050 (with free delivery option). Got it down to £50 under your budget . I've included a few other options in [ ], mostly cheaper ones.

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 = £245 / [E6600 = £139]
* Asus P5N-E SLI = £70
* OCZ 2x1GB PC6400 GOLD XTC *SPECIAL OPS* ED = £70 /[List of PC6400 memory for comparison]
* Point Of View 8800GTS 320MB = £183 / [8600GTS OC = £135 / X1950TX = £105 (excellent value & performance for today's games, but no DX10 for the future)]
* Seagate ST3400620AS 400GB SATAII = £67
* Samsung SH-S203B 20X DVD±RW/RAM = £21
* Vista Home Premium x32Bit OEM = £64 / [32-bit should be the safer option for now]
* Xerox XM3-22WB 22" Widescreen = £198 / [Dell E228WFP 22" (preorder) = £235]
* Antec P182 Gunmetal Grey Super Mid Tower Case = £81 / [Antec Nine Hundred Gaming Case = £65]
* OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU = £55

Compare the above with a few other places - Scan is a good one, especially their Today Only section. E.g. the same CPUs are cheaper & they have 22" 'gaming' monitors from £164. No free delivery though unless you qualify (not easy to do so).

All the best with it all . Keep us informed on what you've decided & how it goes. G

P.S. If you want even better performance for the money & don't mind a bit of overclocking then post your purchase queries in this Hexus subforum.

Thanks.. sent you a PM.

GoofyGAT

Ashok, it may be time to resurrect this post for further input?

I don't know if all those good people who made some excellent contributions in your deleted post would be kind enough to repeat themselves - we can only hope, pray, (beg )...& ASK.

I saved a bit of what I wrote in the deleted thread (fortunately wrote it in a text editor before posting!). Here' some edited bits that may still be relevant....

I agree with Cerro & the others about building your own PC. It's what I suggested too in your Need help choosing a computer thread [this one now!]. I don't suppose you have a friend who can do it for you, do you? It's not very difficult to build your own. The first time can be a little daunting, but it's thoroughly manageable unless you're a complete idiot, which you aren't.

If building is not an option, I agree about the others suggestions to seriously consider buying it off the shelf - I suggest the Dell PC above.

In a pm yesterday you mentioned an eBay seller was going to get back to you about a quote. How did that go?

I'm glad you decided to to post your queries on the open forum rather than sending me pms asking for advice. As I said, more heads are better than one!

Now brace yourself for the flood , G

P.S. I'm sorry your other thread got deleted - it wasn't me honest . I think you realise why, but let's not dwell on it & move on to some serious business of getting you your desired PC.

GoofyGAT

Oh, I forgot to mention that in a few days (22/07 I think) there's going to be some processor price cuts & newer models introduced.

It'll be a good idea to wait for this to actually happen - you'll get the same CPU for less, or a better one for around the same money you were thinking of spending originally. G

Also something to keep in mind when you get those quotes!

Ashok_2

GoofyGAT wrote: »

Oh, I forgot to mention that in a few days (22/07 I think) there's going to be some processor price cuts & newer models introduced.

It'll be a good idea to wait for this to actually happen - you'll get the same CPU for less, or a better one for around the same money you were thinking of spending originally. G

Also something to keep in mind when you get those quotes!

Is that with the manufacturers? Or certain shops?

Thanks for all the effort your making with these posts btw, it really is appreciated..

I'm talking to the person who most likely will build system in about an hour, I'll post full quotes then!

GoofyGAT

The price cuts are with the manufacturers - this will show up in the shops in due course.

The person will build the system or send you a quote in an hour? I hope it's the latter for goodness sake!

You're welcome - these things interest me, so it's more of a pleasure than a pain . G

Ashok_2

GoofyGAT wrote: »

The price cuts are with the manufacturers - this will show up in the shops in due course.

They will build the system or send you a quote in an hour? I hope it's the latter for goodness sake!

You're welcome - these things interest me, so it's more of a pleasure than a pain . G

Latter. I'm going tos peak to him and he's going to discuss parts etc.. but "Cerro" from the forums sent be a rough spec I should go for.. but If ound it a bit pricey so I'm hoping he'll also get back to me soon with something more suited for my needs, then I at least have an idea of what to tell the guy who's going to build it.. right now I don't have any!

Ashok_2

Okay this is the quotation I've been given, bit confusing but here it goes:

Base system: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/E6600-CORE-2-DUO-4GB-400GB-nVidia-Geforce-8500GT-SLI-PC_W0QQitemZ200128871920QQihZ010QQcategoryZ179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem + Soprano Case
E6600...
4GB RAM 667MHz £60.00 (upgrade)
160GB HD + 500GB HD (SATA) £65.00 (upgrade)

Lightscribe DVD+- 20x writers £44.00
ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB £35.00
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 £32.00
Asus 54G Wifi £17.00
Vista Ultimate £175.00
Samsung SM206BW 20" LCD £175.00
Postage £29.99
TOTAL £1,019.99

My main issue was the graphics card, the one included is very cheap, sales person told me it can use the RAM memory as well when needed.. I think it's best I get a better card.. need some advise on which one to go..

In my opinion it's gone too expensive, but maybe I'm wrong.

Now can I have your opinions on where it should be downgraded/upgraded etc... and what you think of the system overall!

Thankyou everyone!