New Desktop

Cassius99

Hello All,

I am hoping you could help me find a suitable desktop to replace my laptop which has died a death. 

My budget is no more than £600. I use my computer for all the basic stuff (web, word, excel) but I do like playing some games- Football Manager, Europa Universalis IV (Feel like a right nerd now). 

I think that I would mainly need to be looking for a good processor and should be less concerned by the graphics cards but to be honest for someone who has always felt pretty comfortable with computers, I feel totally out of my depth trying to understand what I am looking at when browsing the internet looking for desktops. Would someone please be able to point me to something that looks suitable?

thank you in advance!

[Deleted User]

Both those games are fairly modest in terms of graphics card and processor requirements so anything with the budget of £600 should be capable, however just a few questions to help me and many others who will be able to provide some suggestions:

1. Does the £600 budget need to include a monitor / speakers / keyboard / mouse?
2. If it does, do you have a screen size preference and resolution in mind? (eg resolutions HD 1080p / QHD 1440p / UHD 2160p ie 4K - hint 1080p should be ok for your usage)
3. What sort of form factor are you looking at - full size tower PC or something more compact?
4. Will it need Wifi or will you be using ethernet only?
5. Do you have any particular large storage requirements for photos / videos etc?
6. Any preference between brand new or refurbished PC's?

Neil_Jones

Gaming is more about graphics than processor.  For the most part anyway, though a lot depends on the games you play.  Both the CPU and GPU are important in their own right. Demanding games require both a smart CPU and a powerful GPU. But the question of how significant they are for PC gaming depends on what they will be used for primarily, and for which games in particular.

CPUs are given certain tasks during a game that the GPU isn’t that great at performing - such as the artificial intelligence (AI) functionality of non-player characters (NPC). Many tasks, however, are better for the GPU to perform.  Some games run better with more cores because they actually use them. Others may not because they are programmed to only use one core and the game runs better with a faster CPU. Otherwise, it will not have enough power to run and will be laggy.  Minecraft, for instance, only runs with one core so it doesn’t need extra power. In this case, the CPU’s speed is the only thing that will influence frames per second (FPS) during the game.

Cassius99

1. Does the £600 budget need to include a monitor / speakers / keyboard / mouse?

I have all those except speakers. 

3. What sort of form factor are you looking at - full size tower PC or something more compact?

This wouldn’t bother me. If having a bigger unit meant the cost was cheaper then I’d be fine with that. It’ll be hidden away anyway so shouldn’t be a problem. 

4. Will it need Wifi or will you be using ethernet only?

I would need WiFi. 

5. Do you have any particular large storage requirements for photos / videos etc?
No- I tend to use iCloud for photos and videos so don’t really use that much space on my computer. 
6. Any preference between brand new or refurbished PC's?

Open to refurbished if it gets the cost down as long as it’s from somewhere reputable- eBay/Amazon feel full of scams and misselling..

thanks for your help, was pleased there do appear to be questions about computers I actually do know the answers to...!!

Wrote my reply in your quote by mistake. So typing here to fill minimum character count. 

Cassius99

Neil_Jones said:

Gaming is more about graphics than processor.  For the most part anyway, though a lot depends on the games you play.  Both the CPU and GPU are important in their own right. Demanding games require both a smart CPU and a powerful GPU. But the question of how significant they are for PC gaming depends on what they will be used for primarily, and for which games in particular.

CPUs are given certain tasks during a game that the GPU isn’t that great at performing - such as the artificial intelligence (AI) functionality of non-player characters (NPC). Many tasks, however, are better for the GPU to perform.  Some games run better with more cores because they actually use them. Others may not because they are programmed to only use one core and the game runs better with a faster CPU. Otherwise, it will not have enough power to run and will be laggy.  Minecraft, for instance, only runs with one core so it doesn’t need extra power. In this case, the CPU’s speed is the only thing that will influence frames per second (FPS) during the game.

Thanks. That’s a really useful little crash course in some of the lingo!!

[Deleted User]

Great, that means the full £600 can be spent on the PC. Some starting specifications to help narrow down the choice:

1. AMD processor - best value for money Ryzen 3 or 5 3rd gen (ie 3xxx) or Intel i3/i5 8th/9th Gen.
2. Integrated Vega (AMD) or Intel graphics will be perfect for the games you want to run and I'd recommend because graphics cards are ridiculously over-priced right now and you can always add one later on or just get a basic Nvdia 700 series like the examples below.
3. 8GB Ram
4. Additional wireless adaptor if not included

A great website for checking whether it can run your specific game is:
https://pc-builds.com/cyri/

AMD example:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-home-h11a-amd-ryzen-3-3300x-8gb-ddr4-2gb-nvidia-gt-710-120gb-ssd-1tb-win-10

Or if you want an Intel based machine:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-home-h16i-intel-core-i5-8400-coffee-lake-8gb-ddr4-240gb-ssd-1tb-win-10

Even though the AMD Ryzen 3 is 4 core vs 6 core Intel i5 in the above example, the AMD performs about the same as the Intel processor.

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8400-vs-AMD-Ryzen-3-3300X/3939vs4076

Anyway, starting point, I've seen a lot of people on this forum find some great bargains and I fully expect them to beat the above specification and find something better but it gives a comparison point to start with.

getmore4less

For low end gaming the games PC builders have been knocking out  decent  prebuilt close/under DIY costs.
follow the threads on HUKD by this prolific deal finder and check out others as well.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/profile/sarden84/overview

Should get a feel for what's out there fairly quickly.
This one has a good selection
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ryzen-vega-systems-3200g-ps260-3400g-ps30799-4650g-ps340-240gb8gb-or-ps65-deals-for-16gbmhz480gb-other-deals-from-ps260-at-palicomp-3724574