Thinking Of Buying New PC...

Miroslav

...maybe after Christmas.

Basic home needs, for Internet.

What's the minimum RAM and Processor speed I should get?

Where do I buy it from? (Not wanting to build)

My main needs are Internet smoothness, CD/DVD RW and decent size HDD, say around 60GB upwards.

Only game I play is Championship Manager, so doesn't need to be top of the range for games.

After Christmas will have some sales I hope

gavsto2005

Hi. Absolute minimum 256, definitely recommend 512mb of DDR. Processor? Something like a 2800 Athlon XP would suit you fine. Probably best buying it online, perhaps ebay or ebuyer or some place like that, as you could probably find a pc that will suit your specs. Also consider looking in tesco's for an ease of use cheap PC

Miroslav

Thanks gavsto, sounds similar to what I was thinking. Saw one in PC World, 256RAM, 2.8GHZ processor 80GBHard drive, comes with TFT Monitor, although could use this one I got. £399

Can't afford right now, but maybe after Christmas

Thanks

Thenotsowyzewun

Miroslav wrote:

Thanks gavsto, sounds similar to what I was thinking. Saw one in PC World, 256RAM, 2.8GHZ processor 80GBHard drive, comes with TFT Monitor, although could use this one I got. £399

Can't afford right now, but maybe after Christmas

Thanks

That price is really excessive if you've already got a screen, here's the spec I'm building for my Fiance:

"Ayla's:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 2.4GHz £130 shops (novatech)
RAM: Corsair (Value) 512MBx2 DDR PC3200 RAM £57 shops (ebuyer) (undercuts eBay)
Mobo: MSI K8MM-V £42 (Savastore)
Graphics: LeadTek WinFast GeForce 4 MX440 128MB £30 (Ebuyer)
HDD: WD Caviar 120GB SATA 150 £32 (epcbuyer)
PSU: Scan 400W Silent ATX £15 (Scan
(http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=136446))
Sound: 6 channel onboard
TOTAL: £286"

I wrote that about a month ago (I'm working on driving it down now). I'm improving it now since its abit out of date, if you want I'll PM you the final result.

BobToo

Keep an eye on DELL. Last year, just after Christmas, I managed to buy a basic but perfectly adequate base unit for £152. I've seen complete systems for £220 since then but you really do have to be there on the right day sometimes.

Thenotsowyzewun

Here's the spec I've ended up with:

Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz Socket 478 533MHz Bus £100
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/exec/Redirect?w=direct&af_ref=105301127162972445&pos=1_2&af_subname=&t=prdmdl&prdcat=40&ret=3956&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2Fct.html%3Fct%3DeJwrsDCyMDWwLja2TjEyMDA1sDS0tM4xBAA%252FxQVq&af_name=affiliatefuture&id=130292
Quickfind code: 82850

Motherboard:
MSI 865PE Neo 2-V SKT478 DDR400 AGP8x SATA 5.1Audio Retail Box £50
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/exec/Redirect?w=direct&af_ref=105301127163321617&pos=1_1&af_subname=&t=prdmdl&prdcat=35&ret=3956&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2Fct.html%3Fct%3DeJwrsDQwMDS2Lja2TjEyMDA1sDS0tM4xBAA%252FBQVg&af_name=affiliatefuture&id=221176
Quickfind code: 90013

RAM:
Corsair (VS512MB400) 512MB, DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, 184 DIMM, unbuffered £33
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11061847299&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=48122
Quickfind code: 48122

Graphics Card:
Connect3D Radeon 7000 64MB DDR/AGP/TV-OUT/Retail £18
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11061977897&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=63684
Quickfind code: 63684

PSU:
Ebuyer 600w ATX Power Supply in silver with Dual Fans £12
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062121411&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=89191
Quickfind code: 89191

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar 120Gb 7200rpm Hard Drive - OEM £46
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062434784&product_uid=27486&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&filter_display=both&filter_order=rating_useful&offset=20
Quickfind code: 27486

DVD-RW:
LG GSA4163 16X DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Beige) - OEM £30
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062569661&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=82782
Quickfind code: 82782

£289

Just copied that out of Notepad so I'm not going to format it sorry, I'll order it tomorrow after work (just leaving it on here for a day to see if anyone comes along and says hang on a minute there's an amazing deal...) hehe.

justpaper

Thenotsowyzewun not knocking it m8 but the guy did say he didnt wanna build one :A

im a AMD man myself = overclocking

wolfman

Thenotsowyzewun wrote:

Here's the spec I've ended up with:

Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz Socket 478 533MHz Bus £100
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/exec/Redirect?w=direct&af_ref=105301127162972445&pos=1_2&af_subname=&t=prdmdl&prdcat=40&ret=3956&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2Fct.html%3Fct%3DeJwrsDCyMDWwLja2TjEyMDA1sDS0tM4xBAA%252FxQVq&af_name=affiliatefuture&id=130292
Quickfind code: 82850

Motherboard:
MSI 865PE Neo 2-V SKT478 DDR400 AGP8x SATA 5.1Audio Retail Box £50
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/exec/Redirect?w=direct&af_ref=105301127163321617&pos=1_1&af_subname=&t=prdmdl&prdcat=35&ret=3956&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebuyer.com%2Fct.html%3Fct%3DeJwrsDQwMDS2Lja2TjEyMDA1sDS0tM4xBAA%252FBQVg&af_name=affiliatefuture&id=221176
Quickfind code: 90013

RAM:
Corsair (VS512MB400) 512MB, DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, 184 DIMM, unbuffered £33
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11061847299&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=48122
Quickfind code: 48122

Graphics Card:
Connect3D Radeon 7000 64MB DDR/AGP/TV-OUT/Retail £18
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11061977897&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=63684
Quickfind code: 63684

PSU:
Ebuyer 600w ATX Power Supply in silver with Dual Fans £12
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062121411&action=c2VsZWN0X3Byb2R1Y3Rfb3ZlcnZpZXc=&product_uid=89191
Quickfind code: 89191

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar 120Gb 7200rpm Hard Drive - OEM £46
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062434784&product_uid=27486&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&filter_display=both&filter_order=rating_useful&offset=20
Quickfind code: 27486

DVD-RW:
LG GSA4163 16X DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Beige) - OEM £30
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11062569661&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=82782
Quickfind code: 82782

£289

Just copied that out of Notepad so I'm not going to format it sorry, I'll order it tomorrow after work (just leaving it on here for a day to see if anyone comes along and says hang on a minute there's an amazing deal...) hehe.

Sorry to take the thread off on a tangent. Just a few comments:

Instead of the P4 2.8Ghz, go for an AMD64 3000+ Venice Core, Socket 939. A faster, cooler, less power hungry cpu for the same price.

And I wouldn't go for a £12 powersupply. Get something more substantial, it's well worth it, like a Tagan 380W or 420W psu. Alternatively, if you need a case, get the Antec Sonata II with 450W psu. Brilliant case, with a decent psu.

Thenotsowyzewun

Yeah I'm sorry for hijacking the thread, it looked abit dead and I thought the title suited what I wanted to say so I sorta took it off in the direction I wanted it to go. Anyways I'm checking out the AMD vs Intel thing now (I picked an AMD last time (about a month ago) but I'd forgotten the 3000+ (technically 1.8GHz) processor was faster than Intel's 2.8GHz (in fact thats what I'm trying to find out about again now hehe).