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Before buying PC please ask our advice first!

I did have a longer post but I seem to have misplaced it (a regrettable consequence of having 20 or so tabs open at a time).

I'll summarise: save money on the cpu and get a low-mid range conroe, get some cheaper ram if you're not overclocking, go for a single gfx card (keeping one slot in reserve with an sli motherboard), get 2 hard 250gb drives and setup RAID 0 (that's if you actually need 500gb, which I doubt). Spend the money you save on a better case and a separate PSU (v. important that you get a good stable PSU - one that will last through any upgrades) and maybe a better monitor.

Sorry to be so blunt. :p:

Reply 2121

EmptyhollowTree

YES! A page that I hope will remedy my laptop problem! I am looking to obtain a laptop (most likely pay it up!) for around the £400 mark. However, the truth is that I am almost computer illiterate and in desperate need of some sort of guidance from a non-sales person!

All help would be thoroughly appreciated.

It would be great if someone could perhaps send me a private message?

Thanks! :biggrin:

Reply 2122

Kieyza

Wow, this is a good idea :tongue:

Okies, well, I'd like to ask for your advice then! I'm looking to get a laptop for a max of £500. I was thinking a dvd re-writer (I understand most laptops come with that?) a Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but I was wondering, what are the chances of me finding one with 2 gig ram? I'm gonna go ahead and assume very very slim? Whats the most ram I can hope for at that price?

Thanks for your help and opinions! ^^

Chan

Reply 2123

omicronlyrae

11

3tilley

Well I assumed that dual VGA was the way forward, so it would be foolish not to pick a board that didnt support one of the two. I was attracted by the prospect of buying 1 video card, then buying an identical one later. Ideally I would like to get an SLI (open source drivers for linux, cooler running, preference for Nvidia) mobo rather than a crossfire, but I couldnt find any on overclockers! So I subbed in Crossfire assumed that the price would be similar. Should I even go for dual VGA?

Soz, forgot about res! 1400 x 1050

every graphics card now has dual VGA.

But at that res crossfire and SLI are a waste of time because the increase in gaming performance will be from non-existent to tiny, and for the money for 2 card you can just get one better card. if you're going to use 2 monitors, you only need one graphics card.

Reply 2124

xbabydollx

1

hi I've been looking at some laptops on dell.co.uk and ive looked at 2 in particular - ive choosen the options etc. Could you tell me which is better and which is worth its money?

LAPTOP 1:

COST: £475.98

Components :
BASE: AMD® Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL56
OPERATING SYSTEM :Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic ¿ English
HARDWARE SUPPORT :90 Day Base Warranty - Collect and Return
LCD: 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display
MEMORY :1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]
HARD DRIVE: 120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD: 256MB ATI ® Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemory™
OPTICAL DRIVE: Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
PRIMARY BATTERY: 6 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (53 Whr)
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY: Dell™ Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini-PCI Card (for AMD Processors)
CARRY CASES :No Carry Case
SECURITY SOFTWARE :Norton™ Internet Security™ 2007 - 15 Month Protection - English
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE: Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT: No Accidental Damage Support

LAPTOP 2:

COST: £631.48

BASE: AMD® Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL56
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English
COLOUR CHOICE: Bubblegum Pink Colour with Microsatin Finish & 2.0mp camera
LCD: 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
MEMORY :1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]
HARD DRIVE: 120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD :ATI Radeon® Xpress 1270 HyperMemory (integrated)
OPTICAL DRIVE: Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
PRIMARY BATTERY: Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)
CARRY CASES No Carry Case
BLUETOOTH Dell™ Wireless 355 Bluetooth 2.0 Module (up to 3Mbps) with Enhanced Data Rate
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell™ Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini-Card - Europe
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support
SECURITY SOFTWARE Norton™ Internet Security™ 2007 - 15 Month Protection

Thanks

Reply 2125

omicronlyrae

11

first, don;t get norton. second, you've left of the processor from the first PC.

Reply 2126

3tilley

What about the laptop I was looking at?

Reply 2127

xbabydollx

1

olileauk

first, don;t get norton. second, you've left of the processor from the first PC.

ive edited my post so that the processor is written. What's wrong with Norton?

Reply 2128

JayEm

14

xbabydollx

ive edited my post so that the processor is written. What's wrong with Norton?

It slows your computer down and isn't really necessary.

Reply 2129

xbabydollx

1

JayEm

It slows your computer down and isn't really necessary.

So i should get mcafee??

Reply 2130

JayEm

14

Nope, just as bad. ;no;

Vista will have its own built in software firewall which will protect you from hackers. For antivirus protection you can get free software like AVG which will do the job fine. To protect against spyware, use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.

Sorted. :biggrin:

Reply 2131

1sun

hey guys, so after some thinking ive decided against getting a laptop for uni because i cant bare to spend money on a laptop when for the same price i can get much better specs for a desktop. so i have 1000 to spend and have been having a look around, dell seem to be expensive. pcworld seem to have some goos deals, like http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1559548671.1188305528@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddlklhlkkicflgceggdhhmdfhk.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=690559&category_oid=-27743
any suggestions on where to shop, whaT to get would be great, cheers.

Reply 2132

Talon

18

The problem with buying such models is you dont quite know whats in it. You can get a much better deal if you build your own (or get the parts and get a friend to do it).

Reply 2133

1sun

i have no idea how to build a comp, neither do any of my friends i think.

Reply 2134

La Haine

2

Looking to buy a laptop for around the £500ish range. So far I feel Acer and Dell are my best bets with preference going to the latter even if it is a bit more expensive.

My needs are general surfing, football manager (requires a good bit of RAM) and media playing but it would also be good if I could manage to get some CSS and PES going on it too.

I've decided to go for an Intel processor as opposed to AMD and because of the gaming and generally wanting the laptop to last a while I've been thinking about making sure it's a Core 2 Duo. Is that sensible?

Also my research has led me to believe it's more cost effective and relatively easy to fit your own memory upgrade using http://www.crucial.com/uk/ so is it sensible to just look for a 1 Gb laptop and upgrade it to 2 (or maybe even 4) myself?

Looking at the Dell website, I'm a bit bemused as to why the Vostro range is only available on the small business' range as I've heard good things about it. Anyone know why this is the case? And does it mean it's not possible for an individual to purchase it?

Reply 2135

JimboBlue

Any chance anyone could have a look at the system i posted a few days ago and let me know if its a decent-value system, or where i can find some similarly priced laptops.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9680552&postcount=2132

Thanks.

EDIT: Also what are the opinions of buying from ebay, where laptops have a year or more guarantee?

Reply 2136

Bedshaped

14

300 quid.

Want to buy a really good PC. Anybody got any nice links of ready made computers that are worth buying?

Flat screen needed too. Dont know much about computers...so just point me to the best I can get for that kinda money. :smile:

Reply 2137

Pyrrho101

Bedshaped

300 quid.

Want to buy a really good PC. Anybody got any nice links of ready made computers that are worth buying?

Flat screen needed too. Dont know much about computers...so just point me to the best I can get for that kinda money. :smile:

Dell gets my vote :smile:

Reply 2138

omicronlyrae

11

Bedshaped

300 quid.

Want to buy a really good PC. Anybody got any nice links of ready made computers that are worth buying?

Flat screen needed too. Dont know much about computers...so just point me to the best I can get for that kinda money. :smile:

Dell is your best option for a £300 budget.

Reply 2139

Kyle_S-C

12

Hello everyone, I'm looking for advice on my first self-build as I'm not entirely sure what I want with some of the less well-discussed components (e.g. motherboard and PSU and such). I'm aiming to purchase everything from Scan as there's one nearby and I'm wary of ebuyer. Bear in mind that I'm mainly using it for games, maybe some coding and not for CAD/video editing. I haven't overclocked before, but I'm willing to give it a go.

The only current things I'm considering are (feel free to recommend improvements):

•

Case - Akasa Mirage 62 (no PSU)

•

Processor - E6750

•

Graphics card - probably 8800GTS 320MB, not sure which brand as I still have to look for specs

Other components I need to read more about, but I figure that people here have a much greater breadth of experience and could just advise me based on personal experience. I'd also appreciate advice on review sites (I've read Tom's Hardware and Hexus, but not much more).

I guess I'm looking for recommendations on the following:

[*]RAM - looking to spend about £150 on RAM, though I don't know much about such things as CAS timings, the impact of size vs. clock speed and such like.
[*]Motherboard - I guess I need a chipset supporting FSB1333, not particularly fussed about SLI or Crossfire, since I'm probably going to run a single graphics card anyway and just upgrade to 9 series when it's affordable.
[*]Coolers - I'm not too fussed about noise since my current computer is really loud and I get used to it. I've never overclocked before though, so I'd rather not burn out components.
[*]PSU - I know rather little about PSUs.
[*]HD - I don't particularly care again, I'm not a big downloader or anything, so 200GB more than covers my storage requirements.

Overall I guess I'm aiming for a budget of somewhere around £1200ish, considering that I'm recycling only my soundcard and peripherals. I doubt I'll be running Vista too much until things start requiring DX10, but future-proofing (I aim to upgrade again in about 2 years) would be good. Any advice (including links to resources which can offer good reviews and advice) is most welcome.

Before buying PC please ask our advice first!

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