Best place for new PC ??

[Pierscoe1]

further to my other post, and it's about time for an upgrade anyway, what are everyone's recommendations for PC suppliers....

I want somewhere that sells just the box, i.e. no monitor/software/speakers/keyboard/mouse/assoc crap

and preferably configurable...

at the moment I'm looking at either a Scan 3XS system, or a box from Overclockers....

any suggestions/info/feedback on these or any other suppliers ??

Thanks all

[UncleDave]

To be honest... eBay!

They are so much cheaper than shops online and on the highstreet..

The only way you can do it cheaper is to build one yourself.. and the performance you can get for the cash is excellent..
Or you could just buy a case, motherboard, PSU and CPU -- then fit the rest yourself... That's probably what I'll be doing when I upgrade..

Thanks,
Dave.

[Pierscoe1]

not going to be buying off ebay... want a reputable company...

interested in the case/mb/psu option though.. know any (non-ebay) places to get such 'almost-bare' boxes ??

[UncleDave]

Not really...

However eBay is a good place... there are hundreds of eBayers that have over 10,000 99.9% Positive or more feedbacks..
I have bought/sold on around 300 different occasions on eBay... had just one problem.. (over a £3 item!)

All, or most of the Computer sellers on eBay are actually businesses, and will have websites etc set up.
Otherwise, try a Custom PC search on Google.. and just ask them to build you a comp with Motherboard, CPU only.

Thanks,
Dave

[roadsweeper]

Dell's PCs are configurable, but I'm not sure whether you can drop the mouse, etc. However, some of their deals are good enough that it doesn't really matter.

I suggest subscribing to their newsletters (including Dell Direct for even better prices) - every few weeks a deal comes along that's so good I'm tempted even though I already have a PC! It's like seeing a deal on cat food that's so good you want to buy some even though you already have a cat!

[petros]

Try Evesham Computers, I bought mine from them, the price is good, you can configure the axis model to suit and the service and warranty are excellent.

[_dan_]

You considered building one yourself?? It's not that hard to tell the truth and could be done in less than a day.

There's alway a wealth of knowledge on here if you get stuck.

The hardest part IMO is choosing the right bits in the first place.

I just built myself a decent system with a AMD64 3500+ processor, 160Gb drive, 1Gb of decent memory, DVD burner, 128Mb 3D and capture card, firewire, surround sound, 1Gbit network card and so on.

Whole lot cost less than £700 if I remember correctly.

>> Edited by _dan_ on Tuesday 23 August 02:33

[Pierscoe1]

have very much considered building one.. but just not that sure whether it turns out that much cheaper...

e.g. Overclockers 'Titan' system (amd 3000+,1Gb,6600GT etc etc) is around £550...

added up all the components, and got basically the same price... without the reassurance of a warranty, and the hassle of building it/installing the OS myself...

The overclockers option is looking the best so far, as they just do the box itself.

thanks for all the suggestions though...

[cirks]

[quote=_dan_]....specification...
Whole lot cost less than £700 if I remember correctly.
/quote]
If you can't be bothered to build, have a look at Dell Outlet. I got a Dimension 8400, 1Gb RAM, 260GB SATA, SB Audigy soundcard, firewire, XP plus other S/w etc etc PLUS 20" Digital flat monitor (non Outlet) for £700. Couldn't easily match that by building own - plus get warranty with Dell.

[Podie]

_dan_ said:

You considered building one yourself?? It's not that hard to tell the truth and could be done in less than a day. There's alway a wealth of knowledge on here if you get stuck. The hardest part IMO is choosing the right bits in the first place. I just built myself a decent system with a AMD64 3500+ processor, 160Gb drive, 1Gb of decent memory, DVD burner, 128Mb 3D and capture card, firewire, surround sound, 1Gbit network card and so on. Whole lot cost less than £700 if I remember correctly. >> Edited by _dan_ on Tuesday 23 August 02:33

It costs more to build your own these days... see the above spec, add another DVD-ROM, another 160GB (both are SATA) and turn it to a Pentium 4 3.4GHz and I parted with £400 from Dell.

[MarkBarton]

Overclockers are good, as are Novatech and eBuyer for components, bundles and complete machines. Sourced all my bits for a "build it yourself" project from these three.

I'd recommend building it yourself though; it's easier than you might think, very satisfying, and you'll get more bang for your buck.

Pre-built machines might have good headline components (Fast CPU, lots of RAM, etc.), but as often as not the rest of the parts are cheap generic rubbish to keep the costs competitive. If you build it yourself, you know exactly what you're getting.

[pdV6]

Overclockers (run by a PHer) or Novatech

[Plotloss]

Build your own.

Alternatively name your spec and I'll build it for you for a couple of pints...

[MarkBarton]

Podie said:

It costs more to build your own these days... see the above spec, add another DVD-ROM, another 160GB (both are SATA) and turn it to a Pentium 4 3.4GHz and I parted with £400 from Dell.

That's a seriously good deal. Forget what I posted above, if you can get this sort of package (and it's not made up of generic components), don't even think about building your own!

[cirks]

Podie said:

It costs more to build your own these days... see the above spec, add another DVD-ROM, another 160GB (both are SATA) and turn it to a Pentium 4 3.4GHz and I parted with £400 from Dell.

forgot to include that mine also had DVD ROM and Recorder, and is 3.4GHz.

[Plotloss]

Podie said:

_dan_ said: You considered building one yourself?? It's not that hard to tell the truth and could be done in less than a day. There's alway a wealth of knowledge on here if you get stuck. The hardest part IMO is choosing the right bits in the first place. I just built myself a decent system with a AMD64 3500+ processor, 160Gb drive, 1Gb of decent memory, DVD burner, 128Mb 3D and capture card, firewire, surround sound, 1Gbit network card and so on. Whole lot cost less than £700 if I remember correctly. >> Edited by _dan_ on Tuesday 23 August 02:33 It costs more to build your own these days... see the above spec, add another DVD-ROM, another 160GB (both are SATA) and turn it to a Pentium 4 3.4GHz and I parted with £400 from Dell.

Its quite easy to beat Dell on comparative performance for the money.

They may put £250 processors in their machines for marketing bragging rights, its the £8 motherboard that lets them down.

[Chim_Knee]

Plotloss said:

Alternatively name your spec and I'll build it for you for a couple of pints...

I take it you mean beer - not "Marc Almond"?

[_dan_]

Podie said:

_dan_ said: You considered building one yourself?? It's not that hard to tell the truth and could be done in less than a day. There's alway a wealth of knowledge on here if you get stuck. The hardest part IMO is choosing the right bits in the first place. I just built myself a decent system with a AMD64 3500+ processor, 160Gb drive, 1Gb of decent memory, DVD burner, 128Mb 3D and capture card, firewire, surround sound, 1Gbit network card and so on. Whole lot cost less than £700 if I remember correctly. >> Edited by _dan_ on Tuesday 23 August 02:33 It costs more to build your own these days... see the above spec, add another DVD-ROM, another 160GB (both are SATA) and turn it to a Pentium 4 3.4GHz and I parted with £400 from Dell.

One of the main reasons I built my own was so I knew I was putting quality components in there.

For instance, I went for a Hi Spec Abit MB with huge overclocking and tweakability features. An AMD with a Winchester core instead of the Newcastle. Geil CAS2 RAM, made sure the GFX card was (although only 128Mb GFX-RAM) 256bit memory instead of the crappy 128bit cheapo option that is put in alot of these cheaper machines. Also I wanted a Video in/Video out capable GFX card. And also had to have firewire and surround.

Granted, Dell and the like do sell PCs far cheaper than can be built yourself, but they generally use cheap bits and even with all the options they give you, your still not really getting quality parts. Even though if on paper the specs may look the same.

Edit: Also, a good portion of the £600-£700 I spent went on a decent Antec case and PSU!! (about £130)

>> Edited by _dan_ on Tuesday 23 August 10:46

[mcflurry]

From time to time dell discount codes come up

6 months ago I sourced for a mate a 2.8ghz, 1gb ram, 160gb hdd with 17" tft for under 400 credits. The only 'upgrade' it needed was that it only came with a 40x cd drive.

[jsr]

How apple the Apple website