after a new pc..any good?

[dave g]

after anew pc,do i go self build or buy

dont want to spend anymore than 450-500 tops with everything.

so i dont know whether to go 2nd hand,ebuyer or ebay.

was looking at something like this,then pick up a monitor from staples.

pc?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ht_2836wt_1139

monitor has good reviews:
http://www.staples.co.uk/technology/...contrast-ratio

[MatJohnson]

Out of interest, why not try a shop like microdirect.co.uk or aira.co.uk? Ebay might not be the cheapest option anymore.

Although, there are some nice samsung monitors (19" ones) on ebay for about 90 quid.

[dave g]

cant find aira.co.uk

im abit out of touch whats good and whats not,i can build one from parts but not sure where to lay the cash..intel/amd/ssd etc?

it will be used for a bit of gaming,nothing too strenuous,hard drive doesnt have to be massive as i have a 500gb usb drive with all my music and such on..so would a 60gb ssd be better etc.

[markwilliamson2001]

I think he meant aria.co.uk
Also try scan.co.uk - they have top "today only deals"
Avoid ACER, Packard Bell, ADVENT.....
Thats about it.

Don't bother building one anymore, its really not worth it!!!

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by markwilliamson2001

Don't bother building one anymore, its really not worth it!!!

Problem is you don't always know what you're getting with pre-builds, Hitachi HDD ect - those things come broken from the factory!

[dave g]

that was my thought rich..ive had dells etc before..and they were pants value for money wise.

[Richard Lowe]

SSD's are still a bit pricey for the capacity you get and they are getting faster all the time. They arn't silly money any more but in a matter of months you'll be wondering why you paid £200 for a drive that will then cost £75. Just get a Western Digital 320Gb drive for £35 or whatever for the moment.

For your budget you should be looking at an Intel i3 530, 2.9Ghz as standard but most will go over 4Ghz pretty easily on a £70-£80 motherboard. 4Gb of DDR3 1333 will do fine, no need to pay for the 1600Mhz+ stuff really. Graphics card wise the nVidia GTX 460 is the one to look for at the moment, the Gigabyte one would be my choice at the moment as the cooler they use is nice and quiet

I'll look at prices and stuff on components at lunch time for you Dave

[DCM]

novatech is cheap, and to be fair, unless your playing games or doing image touchups there is no need for high power, like most of us, it is probably web and entertainment.

[dave g]

cheers rich,that card is about £170 tho..eek.

[karlst]

Dave, im looking at selling my PC, its a HP with vista, widscreen moniter, very quick pc, not used very much just mainly storing photo's/music on and the occasional surfing when Laptop didnt want to work. so for that reason we want to sell it and buy some external harddrives and another laptop.

Can give you more details tonight fella if your interested.

[dave g]

well drop me the exact specs and i will pass them onto rich to nay or yay

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by dave g

cheers rich,that card is about £170 tho..eek.

Oh don't worry it'll go way over budget

[dave g]

just wait while you need another engine..

[andys]

Dave.

Sounds like Rich os pointing you in the right direction. While he does all the leg work and sorts you out , have a butchers at www.cclonline.com, they are normally very good on price and are up near Ikea, so you can pick up your order and save on postage.

As mentioned, check out the 'today only' page on www.scan.co.uk, they often have value bundles which are motherboard, memory and chip at really good prices.

I always aim to spend around £100 on a graphics card, as that generally gets you something that's really good, but obviously not the best that's out there. I always build my own PC's as I know what's in it then, I also always buy Asus motherboards. I once bought a cheap AsRock board and it was a complete nightmare....
PC's are a bit like the buggies really, would you buy a Ready To Run.... or build you own !