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Before buying PC please ask our advice first!

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Reply 4800

k.andy

MODS Could we have a new thread? This is more than 5 years old. Would be thankful to at least hear a response.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4801

JChoudhry

word processing, etc..school work, don't need monitor, keyboard, mouse speakers and OS.

Reply 4802

Zorg

Original post by *k.a.t.e*

I have a November 2007 white Macbook so it's getting a bit old now and I'm not planning on buying a new one until next year. I have the adapter to plug it into my TV and tend to use this for watching films and the like, hence why I know I want a big screen for my desktop. I have upgraded the RAM in it to 4GB but the graphics are terrible for things such as Sims, hence wanting a desktop. Also a lot of the games I want to play are not available for Mac. I was considering buying an iMac and putting Windows on it but it would be much cheaper and much less hassle to buy a Windows desktop. As for photo editing, nothing major....I have photoshop elements and do basic editing on photos from time to time but nothing big.

So you're buying another Macbook next year and you also wish to buy a desktop...? I'm slightly confused.
You can put bootcamp on your macbook as well, either your current one or the new one. Do you really need the portability? Because from what it sounds like you'd just be better off with a nice desktop.
The newest Macbook Pro is capable of playing newish games at reasonable settings, they may not be Crysis but it doesn't sound like that's one of your requirements anyway.

What games do you want to play? That'll also help suggest a decent graphics card.

Original post by k.andy

MODS Could we have a new thread? This is more than 5 years old. Would be thankful to at least hear a response.

Mods don't tend to read every thread. There's nothing wrong with this one being 5 years old as far as I can see...

Original post by JChoudhry

and oh, okay thanks for clearing up.
£320ish

~~What are your uses? With such a tight budget you're looking at AMD probably. Also do you need a Windows license? Speakers? Mouse/Keyboard? etc.~~

EDIT: You posted as I was writing this, sorry.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4803

JChoudhry

Haha thanks, but I'm kind of keen on having the i3 :p:

Although the BE looks hot! Will the quadcore unlock for sure and what's hr? :colondollar:

Reply 4804

JChoudhry

Oooh, my bad, so use prime95 for an hour or something, right? and okay cheers, I'll look into that, but that i3 is what I really want :p:

Thanks though!! :biggrin:

Reply 4805

JChoudhry

I don't mind maybe possibly having to go up to £350 or so if necessary :biggrin:

and okay, I'm definetely considering the BE if it can be unlocked though =]

Reply 4806

guyag

Original post by JChoudhry

Oooh, my bad, so use prime95 for an hour or something, right? and okay cheers, I'll look into that, but that i3 is what I really want :p:

Thanks though!! :biggrin:

I agree with what the other guy is saying. An i3 for your needs is a little overkill, get an AMD x3 or even maybe x4 - you will be getting more for your money, or just a cheaper deal.

Edit: Here is a nice build I threw together. At ~£250 it's pretty decent price too.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4807

username607202

Instead of a buying a PC, just build one. You end up saving loads of time.

If your really interested in building your own PC, email the manufacturers and ask if they have any free parts. Worked for me. :smile:

Reply 4808

guyag

edit: double post.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4809

JChoudhry

Original post by guyag

For some reason I can't find my post, so here it is:

I agree with what the other guy is saying. An i3 for your needs is a little overkill, get an AMD x3 or even maybe x4 - you will be getting more for your money, or just a cheaper deal.
Here is a nice build I threw together. At ~£250 it's pretty decent price too.

Thanks, but I'm a bit stubborn on the i3 :p:

But I'll look into that link as well, seems decent for 275 :smile:

Reply 4810

Zorg

Original post by JChoudhry

Thanks, but I'm a bit stubborn on the i3 :p:

But I'll look into that link as well, seems decent for 275 :smile:

Can I ask what it is about the i3 that attracts you so much?

Reply 4811

JChoudhry

Original post by Zorg

Can I ask what it is about the i3 that attracts you so much?

I'm just a fan of the i series :p:

I've already got myself an i7 build :colondollar:

and I've already got plans for the sandy bridge :coma:

and eventually the ivy bridge :love:

Reply 4812

LittleDD

Hey I've find someone who will build me gaming desktop for 400 pound.

how does this sound

AMD Athlon X2 2.5ghz duel core processor,
4gb kingston Ram
inno 3D 9800GT graphics Card
seagate 500gb 7200rpm hard drive

want make sure i'm not getting ripped off

Reply 4813

somebody else

Original post by LittleDD

Not worth £400, IMO. A quick look online suggests the components (including a motherboard, power supply and case) can be had for about £270, so the price seems a bit steep.

Reply 4814

burgergetsbored

Was thinking for this computer, seems pretty good :

But on another note anyone bought the new dell XPS models? The ones with the nice core i5's, 8GB of DDR3 ram'age, and 1GB NVIDIA graphics cards? Any opinions on them? Only downside I can really see is the lack of USB 3.0 which is really a pretty massive put off.... Anyone used USB 3 yet? Any good?

Reply 4815

Zorg

Original post by burgergetsbored

Was thinking for this computer, seems pretty good :

Are you intending on buying this Dell? What's your budget and your uses and we can make recommendations.

Reply 4816

TShadow383

Original post by burgergetsbored

Buying a dell for gaming is like going to a prostitute for a conversation.

You pay a vast amount of money, and get something vastly inferior to what you'd get anywhere else.

Reply 4817

burgergetsbored

Original post by Zorg

Are you intending on buying this Dell? What's your budget and your uses and we can make recommendations.

I think I'll probably wait till September time for a laptop as prices usually come down or hardware becomes better :smile:

But I'd like a 15" laptop with at least an i5, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and 1GB of dedicated graphics, don't really care about the other stuff.

Original post by TShadow383

Buying a dell for gaming is like going to a prostitute for a conversation.

You pay a vast amount of money, and get something vastly inferior to what you'd get anywhere else.

Gonna go ahead and disagree with this, probably say the opposite, Dell do great machines, and the fact you can customise them to what you want is awesome, I mean most other vendors put a nice cpu in them then crap the whole thing down with like 3GB of DDR3, that's it then, unless you install yourself you can't upgrade.

I wasn't planning on gaming on it, and I don't see how you can say a dell is bad for gaming? Obviously desktops win the PC gaming market but Dell don't make the graphics cards... and the ones they use in their laptops are usually a lot better than any of the other laptops out there. So PIPE DOWN!

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4818

TShadow383

Original post by burgergetsbored

I wasn't planning on gaming on it, and I don't see how you can say a dell is bad for gaming? Obviously desktops win the PC gaming market but Dell don't make the graphics cards... and the ones they use in their laptops are usually a lot better than any of the other laptops out there. So PIPE DOWN!

If you're gaming on a desktop, you either build your own, or go with a builder that makes gaming machines (scan, OCUK, cyberpower etc).

When I bought my current desktop, it cost me about a grand (self-build, since I build computers as a summer job anyway). A couple of months later a friend of mine spent £2200 on a Dell XPS.
Guess which is faster.
Exactly.

Original post by burgergetsbored

I think I'll probably wait till September time for a laptop as prices usually come down or hardware becomes better :smile:

But I'd like a 15" laptop with at least an i5, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and 1GB of dedicated graphics, don't really care about the other stuff.

Asus, HP and MSI all make decent gaming laptops.
In fact, if you want a gaming laptop, you can't do much better than the Asus G53 and G73 series laptops - I have a G73 and it is by far and away the best looking, fastest and best built laptop I've ever used.
This is mine, in case you're wondering:
http://www.hidevolution.com/g73jw-a1.html

Although if you want 3D, get one of these:
http://www.hidevolution.com/3d-capable-laptops-1/asus-g53jw-3de.html
I regret that I bought my G73 the week before this G53 version came out :tongue:

If you don't like the Asus machines, the HP envy series are pretty good too.

Reply 4819

burgergetsbored

Original post by TShadow383

Dell SUCK for upgradeability.

Locked Bioses, non-standard motherboards and cases, HORRIFYINGLY POOR PSUs.
Then you have that lovely buzz that every dell I've had the displeasure of using has suffered due to the case design.

If you're gaming on a desktop, you either build your own, or go with a builder that makes gaming machines (scan, OCUK, cyberpower etc).

When I bought my current desktop, it cost me about a grand (self-build, since I build computers as a summer job anyway). A couple of months later a friend of mine spent £2200 on a Dell XPS.
Guess which is faster.
Exactly.

Asus, HP and MSI all make decent gaming laptops.
In fact, if you want a gaming laptop, you can't do much better than the Asus G53 and G73 series laptops - I have a G73 and it is by far and away the best looking, fastest and best built laptop I've ever used.
This is mine, in case you're wondering:
http://www.hidevolution.com/g73jw-a1.html

Although if you want 3D, get one of these:
http://www.hidevolution.com/3d-capable-laptops-1/asus-g53jw-3de.html
I regret that I bought my G73 the week before this G53 version came out :tongue:

If you don't like the Asus machines, the HP envy series are pretty good too.

Ah but I'm using a dell as we speak, the same laptop I've had for 3 years, never had a problem, BIOS isn't locked, no problems with any of it, sadly it's just become old now as times go on :/ And as you'll find in most laptops upgrading isn't much of an option, usually just RAM N hard drive. And what I listed above was for like a £800 laptop that is much better than any other companies I've seen!

I don't know what this obsession of gaming you have is about! I don't want a gaming pc, as I said I'd build a desktop for that, but as I'm going to uni a laptop is just a more sensible thing to get. Ah the specs on those Asus ones isn't bad, even if they do look horrible imo!