What minimum PC spec should I be looking for?

gonzo127

https://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=2253

add windows 8.1, change to 120gb SSD and add a 1tb secondary hard drive £290 plus delivery

ok so the CPU isn't exactly stellar, but should be enough for your usage, with the biggest bonus being the SSD which will speed up all basic usage a lot and will probably give a more noticeable difference in speed than a better CPU

https://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=1791

can build the same basic spec but intel CPU for £312 plus delivery

spookylukey

On the subject of back ups, I have around 81Gb of photos which are stored on the hard-drive of this PC, they are also on my 64GB iphone (compressed as they only take up 20+Gb of storage). Then I pay a monthly fee for Hubic online storage. All of my photos/documents are uploaded to hubic, if I change a document and save it on my PC then Hubic auto-syncs and saves the new document on there, or if I add some new photos to the PC Hubic auto-syncs and uploads them to it's cloud.

I did have an external hard-drive with all the pics on but that died after a year, hence me deciding to go for paid cloud based storage. I also have vital documents backed up to google drive so I'm hopeful that one way or another I'd be able to retrieve my data if something bad happened!

getmore4less wrote: »

Not sure you got it!

what happens when one of your files gets corrupted or deleted(and you don't notice).

If those changes get synced, how do you get your file back?

I'm not sure I do!

The file is also kept/saved on my PC so surely if it's corrupted then it'll also be corrupted on the PC. If it's auto-synced then it's also corrupted on the Hubic storage too but if I was doing a 'self' back up to an external drive then it would also be corrupted on there so I don't see how Hubic auto-syncing every hour or so is any more dangerous that doing my own manual back ups as the original file (corrupted or not) is kept/saved on my PC?

getmore4less

spookylukey wrote: »

I'm not sure I do!

The file is also kept/saved on my PC so surely if it's corrupted then it'll also be corrupted on the PC. If it's auto-synced then it's also corrupted on the Hubic storage too but if I was doing a 'self' back up to an external drive then it would also be corrupted on there so I don't see how Hubic auto-syncing every hour or so is any more dangerous that doing my own manual back ups as the original file (corrupted or not) is kept/saved on my PC?

You also have the issue that if you make a change and it was wrong you can't go back

You probably need a stratagy that keeps multiple historic copies of the files that are changing.

There are hundreds of options find one that does what you need(once you decide what that is)

eg regular full backup with incrimentals is quite common.

For text based files there are tools to manage the history, common where version control is important.

plenty of papers written on options suitable for home use, google is your friend.

The bottom line is having multiple copies of the wrong files does not help.

spookylukey

getmore4less wrote: »

You also have the issue that if you make a change and it was wrong you can't go back

You probably need a stratagy that keeps multiple historic copies of the files that are changing.

There are hundreds of options find one that does what you need(once you decide what that is)

eg regular full backup with incrimentals is quite common.

For text based files there are tools to manage the history, common where version control is important.

plenty of papers written on options suitable for home use, google is your friend.

The bottom line is having multiple copies of the wrong files does not help.

To be honest my current solution suits me just fine, pics are in 3 places (PC, Hubic and iphone), word docs are in 2 places (PC & Hubic) and the important ones in a 3rd place (google drive).

For my needs that's just fine and I like the fact Hubic backs up automatically as if I relied on manual back up onto a hard-drive there's always going to be a period of photos/docs that aren't backed up and would potentially be lost if the PC died (unless you're backing up manually every day) so potential for losses there - to me my current solution offers the best of both worlds! If my PC died tomorrow Hubic will have auto backed up every single photo/document that I've added, including recent ones.

bsod

Imagine your drive gets corrupted, or you have an accidental deletion, or the sync goes wrong, or a virus overwrites all your important files with crap, the crap gets sync'd, you've lost the lot. With an external backup, which isn't connected constantly, or a read only backup, you don't. Then imagine you don't notice straight away, and sync your iphone and google drive. Syncing and third party reliance is inherently risky.

getmore4less

spookylukey wrote: »

To be honest my current solution suits me just fine, pics are in 3 places (PC, Hubic and iphone), word docs are in 2 places (PC & Hubic) and the important ones in a 3rd place (google drive).

For my needs that's just fine and I like the fact Hubic backs up automatically as if I relied on manual back up onto a hard-drive there's always going to be a period of photos/docs that aren't backed up and would potentially be lost if the PC died (unless you're backing up manually every day) so potential for losses there - to me my current solution offers the best of both worlds! If my PC died tomorrow Hubic will have auto backed up every single photo/document that I've added, including recent ones.

You still don't get it,

you are not backing up.

Moneyshow15

The problem with answering the OP's question is that different PC components are released at different times, eg new processors from Intel, the old ones normally disappear at the end of January, etc and that may affect what you get offered, but there are others coming up for a Spring-to-summer release. AMD processors are also cheaper and their APU range aims to use less power but as usual that means less speed, you might be storing all these photos but do you want to retouch them etc using Adobe or other retail photo software? If you do stick to Intel.

Dell is the headache-free option with proven support from my family's experience - three rellies and a neighbour have been more than happy to the point of buying 2PCs and a laptop in one extreme case.

PC Specialist have had a lot of general forum recommendations and have recently started advertising on TV, but if you want to play safe with a reliable UK indie then Novatech is the last man standing from the early 1990s big UK system builders after other familiar names shut down. I'd have said Viglen for a third choice but have the feeling they went business only.

Spec-wise look for:

- 16Gb RAM, DDR4 is the standard coming in whilst DDR3 is current and a little cheaper regardless of market fluctuations - your choice of processor will influence what you end up with anyway

- Windows 8/.1 - I love Win 7 but mainstream support ended in January, meaning that even though you will still get security updates and patches to 2020, they will never get rid of that 2hr wait when a new Win7 installation, downloads and installs 190 updates. Just go with Win8 to get the Win10 as you mentioned.

- Whatever amount of HDD space offered, try to get it split eg 2 x 1 Terabyte drives instead of a single 2 Terabyte drive - as you are backup conscious anyway there's no point risking it all on one drive. If you decide to buy a (solid state) SDD for the speed then you'll still want a mechanical hard drive for the capacity and backup.

- Almost any DVD Burner you like as prices have crashed, they will all burn at 16 speed physically and others might use memory buffer tricks to go a bit faster hence the boasting of up to 24 speed (same as CD Burners except they'll never go to "48 speed"). Blu Ray burners haven't come down in price that much yet but since it'll be more convenient to back up 25GB or 50GB at a time, ask about them if you are spending more than £500. They are also competing with USB sticks as well of course which would have been my only suggestion to add to your backup plan.

- USB 3 ports, any new case/system builder should include a minimum of two
- As many USB 2 ports as they can fit in for convenience.
- Confirm the case will still have a physical reset switch as some PC builders have started to drop them
- Check the number of fans inside the case that they can fit you - two would be a nice minimum, a third smaller fan on the side of the case would be a big help as well

- IF you get any choices over power supplies check for brand names like FSP, Antec, Corsair, Seasonic. Enermax are great but expensive so for a non-gaming system I wouldn't expect you to be offered the latter. With Dell it'll be whatever they've bought in and matched to their parts, have never ever heard of their stuff going wrong electrically without there being an external problem like a lightning or other power surge.

For power ratings you want this PSU to last you this system for its whole life so don't go below 500-550W on an AMD machine UNLESS you choose a low-power APU processor where the graphics card will be integrated 90% of the time. For Intel stay at 600W, preferably 650W but that is personal bias from spending a little more on my last PSU for a 650W and it's now gone past its 7th birthday without a problem, despite a natural loss in efficiency.

Sorry it's a bit long, have marked out the important stuff in bold. Best of luck and come back and tell us what you bought.

enfield_freddy

all very nice , but slightly OTT for what the OP requires


a simple suggestion , http://www.gumtree.com/p/desktop-workstation-pcs/desktop-computer-new/1108615180 would fit the bill quite well and is the sort of machine that could be upgraded at a later date , It would be fast enough for most users now, however perhaps in 6-12mths time , change the HD to a SSD drive (£45 ish) and perhaps change the CPU to an i3 / i5 /i7 ranging between £75 and £600 , , the g3220 fitted in that machine is actually faster than quite a few (3 series) i3,s and quicker that a lot of laptop i5,s