Good specifications for a new PC??

Simran

Hi…I have had an HP Pavilion for the past 8-9 years and have concluded that its finally time to change (yes, I'm a bit slow)!! My PC is grinding to a halt and with Windows 98 SE, doesn't seem compatible with any new software.

I would like to get a Desktop PC which is fairly powerful so that I don’t need to change for another 5-10 years even with ever-increasing demanding hardware/software requirements, only problem is that as I've been out of touch from the PC market for sooo long, I'm really confused about the millions of different types of processor, RAMs etc…can someone give me a dummys guide as to which types of processor, RAM, graphic card are better then which, what are the typical specifications of a great PC and suggested sites which have good PC offers? My budget would be around £5-600.

Many thanks!

deejayen

I have used these 2 before www.misco.co.uk or www.ebuyer.com and both seem to be good. Friends of mine have also used them with success. Please remember that if they have Vista on them that you really need a minimum of 2GB RAM installed. -- dave

Blacksheep1979

go to dell and see what you'll get for your money. Without you saying what you use your pc for nobody can really say what's best for you. But going on how old your pc is I guess emails, wordprocessing internet etc? In which case almost anything new will last the course unless you want to continually upgrade software etc (not much point if you're happy with what you've got)

Simran

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Without you saying what you use your pc for nobody can really say what's best for you. But going on how old your pc is I guess emails, wordprocessing internet etc?

Hi Blacksheep1979, I tend to use it for e-mail, office work (requiring large file sizes) and music, TV downloads and my kids are growing fast & I can anticipate heavy use!

Thanks

isofa

Minimum Intel Core 2 Duo, or better would be the Quad-Core versions. Buy one or two down from the top end spec as it's better value for money.

3 or 4Gb RAM, with expansion possibilities.

Decent sized Hard Disc, 500Gb I'd recommend, in 5-10 years time, this will feel tiny.

Powerful graphics card depending on whether you play games or not, else a standard card will be fine as long as it can drive the size monitor you require.

OS Vista is obviously the current, but you'll get more speed using XP Pro
Many arguments for and against.

I tend to buy top end spec machines and keep them for ages too, so it pays to have a good starting point.

Poppycat

Novatech are good supplier for computers, I used them and Ebuyer a lot. I got a barebones system from them earlier this year (dual core 2) and my daughter is getting a Quad core barebones from next next month. You just add the graphics card (PCI-e), hard drive (sata 2 with a sata cable), dvd writer to add which can add about £50-£100 or £200 for a high end graphics card.

Prices start for barebones from £140 (not dual core) plus add drive etc above. Also need operating system or opt for a pre built machine

Its very easy to build up pc from a barebones system from Novatech and they provide a pdf on how to do it on there web site. This can save money by building partly your own

Had good quick service from them and after sales service best I come across

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/home.html

5-10 years is too long for a pc to last. Technology moving so fast you probably want to change after 5 years

Blacksheep1979

isofa wrote: »

Minimum Intel Core 2 Duo, or better would be the Quad-Core versions. Buy one or two down from the top end spec as it's better value for money.

3 or 4Gb RAM, with expansion possibilities.

Decent sized Hard Disc, 500Gb I'd recommend, in 5-10 years time, this will feel tiny.

Powerful graphics card depending on whether you play games or not, else a standard card will be fine as long as it can drive the size monitor you require.

OS Vista is obviously the current, but you'll get more speed using XP Pro
Many arguments for and against.

I tend to buy top end spec machines and keep them for ages too, so it pays to have a good starting point.

In a word - rubbish, for the op's needs they don't need a quad core and there would be no benefit to them from xp pro over xp home. One or two down from the top end cpu's is going to be £300+ just for the processor. If they're not using into heavy use of photo manipulation, most recent games film or music production then it's worth saving the pennies and going for a dual core amd cpu for about 1/2 the price of an intel one - this will still do exactly what they want in 5-7 years time as magically they don't tend to slow down that much .

My main computer was bought almost 5 years ago and was middle of the road then and still serves me fine for most things, including watching video etc so I'm sure a mid range amd cpu which is going to be about 8x better is going to suit the op's needs.

This will save you a few £'s that could be used for printers, scanners, big monitor - anything else you may want.

nickmack

Simran wrote: »

Hi Blacksheep1979, I tend to use it for e-mail, office work (requiring large file sizes) and music, TV downloads and my kids are growing fast & I can anticipate heavy use!

If the above is an exhaustive list, I would say you are a light user.

A Dual Core CPU with 2Gb RAM and 250Gb Hard Disk should do fine.

If you anticipate your kids (or you!) playing new games, you should look at a decent graphics card as well as improving the above spec.

You will not get a PC that's future proof for 10 years. However if you choose the maximum expansion capabilities in terms of RAM and CPU, you can upgrade at a later date should you need.

isofa

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

In a word - rubbish, for the op's needs they don't need a quad core and there would be no benefit to them from xp pro over xp home. One or two down from the top end cpu's is going to be £300+ just for the processor. If they're not using into heavy use of photo manipulation, most recent games film or music production then it's worth saving the pennies and going for a dual core amd cpu for about 1/2 the price of an intel one - this will still do exactly what they want in 5-7 years time as magically they don't tend to slow down that much .

In a word: rude...

The point is to make the system last as long as possible, I believe that was the original OP's question. With top end Dell systems just a few hundred today it is entirely possible.

The quad core would make no difference with XP I grant you, but, the user may well include moving to one or two new iterations of Windows, no doubt by then able to take full advantage of multiple cores. Surely nice to future proof a bit?

I assume from your advice, you are still happily running DOS and maybe even Windows 3.1, and hopefully128Mb is still enough for you? Because, as you say, on an old system "these magically don't tend to slow down that much". No but when you install newer OSes, and more powerful software, you'll find they do slow down, and not that magically.

tom9980

I agree with both Blacksheep and isofa to an extent both bring up good points. Im not going to spend a long time looking so just used the Dell website for a quick comparison of what they have.

Cheapest Quad Core with Vista - Inspiron 530 = £479

Dual Core with Vista similar-ish spec - Inspiron = £429

Difference isnt that much really and you still have room for a good all in one printer/scanner and other accessories with the OP budget.

Dime_Bar

Depending on what you use for office work, it would probably be worth moving to Vista. Yes there are horror stories but for a "Light" user it works perfectly. My Gran bought her first PC last year with Vista on it and she loves it ( she is 78 ).

Also with XP support ending in 2014 you are only going to get updates for 6 years.

If you go for Dell make sure you shop around for all the periferals and extras as these can be very expensive, the PC's usually are very cheap.