Cheap new computer, tower

supersonic

Any deals out there? Don't really run big graphic hungry games, mostly office stuff, internet and photoshop plus videos. Want at least 2gb of ram, pref 4gb. Have peripherals.

Anonymous

new, or second hand?
Or... would you be interested in a self-build?

Tolk

Build your own mate, it's so easy!

projectsome

If you can get a copy of windows buy a machine with linux on and install over it. At least £150 cheaper than a windows based machine.

My current netbook only cost me £110 with Linux whereas a similar win based one would have cost £200+

http://uk.webuy.com/product.php?plid=49

chances are you'll have a local store.

supersonic

I'd have a crack at a build, sure! Need some guidance though!

Chunkers1980

You need a motherboard that is as future proof as poss always the place to start.

I always look at it like a beginner building a bike from scratch - always a few more fiddly bits needed that you didn't plan for then have to source somehow.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

I'd have a crack at a build, sure! Need some guidance though!

It's pretty basic, like a jigsaw essentially. All the parts will only fit in where they need to go anyway. And, if they WILL go in more than one place, they'll work in more than one place. essentially.

Tartanyak

Firstly, pick a price!

supersonic

WHat would a typical build be, for example?

Anonymous

have you got any bits already, like a case from your old computer?

supersonic

Yeah, got a full working tower at the min. Dell DE051

Anonymous

Hmm, some Dell cases are strange, and non proprietary.

A quick round up of the bits you need, for a decent little machine, nothing too fancy.
Sadly, it seems things are quite expensive at the moment.

supersonic

Cheers for the info! Is quite expensive, yes!

Anonymous

Might be worth looking at small ads and stuff like that. See if you can find a core2Duo machine on the cheap. All the buzz is around intel's Corei range now, so you might find a bargain.

supersonic

I could just RAM up what I have, but still stuck with a 4 year old computer that will take no more upgrading.

Anonymous

The mad thing is, I built this machine I'm using now nearly 3 years ago, for around £500. And if I was to buy the SAME machine now, it would still cost me... nearly £500 :?
Something's not right there.
I keep thinking every now and again, when I have some spare cash, "ooh, I might upgrade the old puter", then I realise, it really doesn't NEED upgrading, it's doing me fine.
(ahem, apart from stacking stars, which a new machine would be nice for )

bwfc4eva868

Try a barebones bundle from Novatech and other companies, they come with the motherboard,processor and Ram installed in the case, with a PSU. So all you need then is an operating system, Hard disc drive, CD drive and graphics card. Or you can just use the motherboards on board graphics.

Anonymous

might also be worth looking at the Dell outlet for refurbished stuff, or cancelled orders etc.

Kiblams

If you want cheap I would get:
AMD athlon X3 425/435,
Cheap motherboard with an onboard Nvidia graphics chip with a HDMI port
4gb of Kingston value DDR2 RAM
Cheap 500gb HDD,
Any old DVD+/-R drive
Efficient 300w PSU

Shove all of that into your existing case and if you already have any of the cheap items listed; use them too.

Anonymous

How do you rate those Athlon X3s, Kiblams?
Once intel bought the Core2Duos out, I pretty much turned my back on AMD, I'm ashamed to admit, and never kept up with what they were up to since then.

Cleat Eastwood

I built my own using mostly gear from pcnextday, cheap, especially the clearance bits and bobs.

They've actually got this for sale

Zoostorm 11-0810 PC, AthlonX2 5000+, 2GB, 500GB, 512MB 8400GS, Vista HP

for under 300 squid.

Kiblams

yeehaamcgee wrote:

How do you rate those Athlon X3s, Kiblams?
Once intel bought the Core2Duos out, I pretty much turned my back on AMD, I'm ashamed to admit, and never kept up with what they were up to since then.

There is no doubt that Intel hold the crown for both energy efficiency and performance with their new I3/i5 etc CPUs, but bang for buck you can't really beat the Athlon X3s.

I can't bring myself to get an Intel CPU as I can't bare to buy a new motherboard everytime I upgrade the CPU.

Here is a good article and chart to catch up quickly:

Toms hardware

Anonymous

The whole "new motherboard for each CPU" thing swayed heavily against AMD though. They seemed to switch sockets every bloody day for a while, whereas intel's 775 lasted a hell of a long time in computer terms. All the way from the last few penitum 4s, through the Core, and Core2, up to Core 2 Quads. And of course, the various "celeron" branches along the way.

whyamihere

yeehaamcgee wrote:

The whole "new motherboard for each CPU" thing swayed heavily against AMD though. They seemed to switch sockets every bloody day for a while, whereas intel's 775 lasted a hell of a long time in computer terms. All the way from the last few penitum 4s, through the Core, and Core2, up to Core 2 Quads. And of course, the various "celeron" branches along the way.

A mobo which takes an X3 will also take the current top model Phenom (AMD's top chip). I've just built a new computer using an Athlon X2, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a new 1TB hard drive, using the case, PSU, optical drives I already had, for just under £200. I'm planning eventually to whack a Phenom X6 in there (the current processor was about £40, which isn't bad for a 3.2GHz dual core...) so I'm not too bothered about not using it for long.

supersonic

I think I might stick to the old route: get some ram, delete shite, defrag and minimize needed processes lol.

Kiblams

yeehaamcgee wrote:

The whole "new motherboard for each CPU" thing swayed heavily against AMD though. They seemed to switch sockets every bloody day for a while, whereas intel's 775 lasted a hell of a long time in computer terms. All the way from the last few penitum 4s, through the Core, and Core2, up to Core 2 Quads. And of course, the various "celeron" branches along the way.

I think there seems to be a correlation between having leading edge CPUs and releasing new sockets every few months, looks like it has worked for AMD and Intel now

oh and SS, what do you have now? it is within the realm of possibility that you could upgrade what you have, motherboard is an important piece of information here

supersonic

Is a Dell Dimension DE051. Wonderfully device manager and hardware will not load the bits!

Kiblams

O and I have been trying not to do this, but if you are looking for a way to speed up the way a PC feels to use without spending much you could look here (written a while back, but may still help)

:oops: apologies for the self plugging :oops:

nicklouse

supersonic
if i can put a PC together I am sure you can.

supersonic

Lol!

Cheers, I'll look at that.

Any ideas why Decice Manager is blank?

nicklouse

supersonic wrote:

Lol!

Cheers, I'll look at that.

Any ideas why Decice Manager is blank?

the what?

thank god you don't write code.