speccing a £500 comp...
Discussion
Righty, the other thread got me all confused and tbh I cant see any off the shelf items that look right for what im after. Can anyone please advise me whether I can get the following spec for £500 or under (not including monitor etc) and tell me what I should be looking for?? :
Fast processor (clueless, what do I look out for??recommendations?)
1gig ram
60gig hard drive+ (currently got a 6 gig one, so anything will seem amazing)
decent graphics card (havent a clue, want it to play GTR/ GT legends with ease)
dvd player would be nice, as would the ability to write cds, but not essential
I basically want something that will see me through the next year and run a load of online car games/ alias. If someone can tell me a list of things I need to ask for then I would be most grateful, I cant seem to find anything off the shelf that fits the bill, but again - all suggestions welcome.
Sorry for asking stupid questions once more, but really do need this soon,
thanks in advance,
Ben CA
Fast processor (clueless, what do I look out for??recommendations?)
1gig ram
60gig hard drive+ (currently got a 6 gig one, so anything will seem amazing)
decent graphics card (havent a clue, want it to play GTR/ GT legends with ease)
dvd player would be nice, as would the ability to write cds, but not essential
I basically want something that will see me through the next year and run a load of online car games/ alias. If someone can tell me a list of things I need to ask for then I would be most grateful, I cant seem to find anything off the shelf that fits the bill, but again - all suggestions welcome.
Sorry for asking stupid questions once more, but really do need this soon,
thanks in advance,
Ben CA
Ben,
Long time no speak! Hope your ok?
Do you want a monitor?? A £500 budget will get you a good spec machine.
I'd go for an AMD chip (Avoid Celeron processors).
A gig of RAM is a good spec
I think my housemate picked up a 160gig HD the other week for £60!
A DVD Burner is about £35!
I'm not sure about motherboards and graphics cards though!
Long time no speak! Hope your ok?
Do you want a monitor?? A £500 budget will get you a good spec machine.
I'd go for an AMD chip (Avoid Celeron processors).
A gig of RAM is a good spec
I think my housemate picked up a 160gig HD the other week for £60!
A DVD Burner is about £35!
I'm not sure about motherboards and graphics cards though!
hey Phill, Im good atm thanks! Actually just come off medication (well, a month ago, so im guessing its all out of my system now!) and feeling alot better about things... except I currently have the flu which is doing my head in a bit.
Im not after a monitor really, but if its quite cheap to get one as a package I would consider upping my budget slightly... I prefer AMD from previous computers, we used to have an athlon that in its day was quite stupidly good!
Im liking the look of that athlon that Tims found, but - hang on, just let me grab my coat - I have seen some very similar spec PC's on (opens door and gets ready to run) PC Worlds website... even a computer illiterate muppet like me knows its worth avoiding them,but they do seem about £100 cheaper??!! Any thoughts anyone?? The Athlon that Tims found comes to £560 once you've added XP home + delivery.
edit: this one looks pretty good:
Features for this PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 1618
- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 519
- 3.06GHz, 533MHz FSB, 1Mb Cache
- 1024Mb DDR RAM
- 200Gb Hard Disk Drive
- Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
- DVD-ROM Drive
- 256Mb ATI X550 HM Graphics
- 8-in-1 Card Reader
- 6 USB2 Ports - 2 x front, 4 x rear
- Microsoft Windows XP Home edition
Specification for this PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 1618
Processor Type Intel Pentium 4 519
Clock-Speed 3.06GHz
Front Side BUS 533MHz
Cache 1 mb
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 1024 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 200 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Optical Drive 2 DVD-ROM Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive No
Built-in TV Tuner No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner No
Remote Control No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready No
Graphics Memory 256 mb
Graphics Description ATI X550 HM Graphics
Sound Card Onboard
Soundcard included No
Speakers Included No
Media Card Reader 8-In-1
Built-In HP Docking Station No
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 3
No. of Firewire Connections 0
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No
Mouse Yes
Weight 6.5 kg
Height 385 mm
Width 180 mm
Depth 390 mm
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
£479.98 + £9.99 delivery = under £500
>> Edited by BCA on Saturday 12th November 07:59
Im not after a monitor really, but if its quite cheap to get one as a package I would consider upping my budget slightly... I prefer AMD from previous computers, we used to have an athlon that in its day was quite stupidly good!
Im liking the look of that athlon that Tims found, but - hang on, just let me grab my coat - I have seen some very similar spec PC's on (opens door and gets ready to run) PC Worlds website... even a computer illiterate muppet like me knows its worth avoiding them,but they do seem about £100 cheaper??!! Any thoughts anyone?? The Athlon that Tims found comes to £560 once you've added XP home + delivery.
edit: this one looks pretty good:
Features for this PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 1618
- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 519
- 3.06GHz, 533MHz FSB, 1Mb Cache
- 1024Mb DDR RAM
- 200Gb Hard Disk Drive
- Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
- DVD-ROM Drive
- 256Mb ATI X550 HM Graphics
- 8-in-1 Card Reader
- 6 USB2 Ports - 2 x front, 4 x rear
- Microsoft Windows XP Home edition
Specification for this PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 1618
Processor Type Intel Pentium 4 519
Clock-Speed 3.06GHz
Front Side BUS 533MHz
Cache 1 mb
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 1024 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 200 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Optical Drive 2 DVD-ROM Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive No
Built-in TV Tuner No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner No
Remote Control No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready No
Graphics Memory 256 mb
Graphics Description ATI X550 HM Graphics
Sound Card Onboard
Soundcard included No
Speakers Included No
Media Card Reader 8-In-1
Built-In HP Docking Station No
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 3
No. of Firewire Connections 0
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No
Mouse Yes
Weight 6.5 kg
Height 385 mm
Width 180 mm
Depth 390 mm
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
£479.98 + £9.99 delivery = under £500
>> Edited by BCA on Saturday 12th November 07:59
I thought this was OK, with consideration to it being new with warranty!
www.ebuyer.com
£127.65
£149.99 inc VAT
Features
Processor: Intel Celeron D 315 (2.26, 533, 256MB)
Memory: 256MB DDR expandable to 2GB.
Disk: 40GB 7200Rpm
52 X CD-Rom, additional slots available to add more optical drives.
LAN 10/100
ASROCK/ ECS Intel 845GV chipset with built-in 64 MB Intel Extreme graphics
Audio on board incl. Front Pannel Audio
6x USB 4 Rear - 2 front
PARRAREL Port
SERIAL Port
Game MIDI Port
External bays: 2 x 3.5, 2 x 5.25
Expansion slots: 2X PCI, 1XAMR
PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse
Stereo Speaker Set
Linux
Open office
Software Included
AntiVirus Software; Audio Player
Warranty: 1 year RTB 48 hour response time though eSys Global Services.
www.ebuyer.com
£127.65
£149.99 inc VAT
Features
Processor: Intel Celeron D 315 (2.26, 533, 256MB)
Memory: 256MB DDR expandable to 2GB.
Disk: 40GB 7200Rpm
52 X CD-Rom, additional slots available to add more optical drives.
LAN 10/100
ASROCK/ ECS Intel 845GV chipset with built-in 64 MB Intel Extreme graphics
Audio on board incl. Front Pannel Audio
6x USB 4 Rear - 2 front
PARRAREL Port
SERIAL Port
Game MIDI Port
External bays: 2 x 3.5, 2 x 5.25
Expansion slots: 2X PCI, 1XAMR
PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse
Stereo Speaker Set
Linux
Open office
Software Included
AntiVirus Software; Audio Player
Warranty: 1 year RTB 48 hour response time though eSys Global Services.
Bargain Dell 5150,P4 3Ghz,160GB SATA,19" LCD,X600 ATI=£514!!
Evalue Code= 100 D11516c
(Change warranty to 1 year)
Really good system for the price, I'd certainly be happy with this one!
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache)
1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz (2x512) Memory [Included in Price]
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16x max. DVD+/-RW Drive
Dell 19" Value Flat Panel (E193FP) (This alone costs £260 on dells site)
256MB ATI Radeon® X600 HyperMemory graphics card
(Dont forget to add he Optical mouse for free!)
£514 in the basket with free delivery and %10 off (ends today! So decide now!!)
Quoted from rpoints.com - does actually come through as £514 - great bargain to be had there mate
Just remember to downgrade on the warrenty
Evalue Code= 100 D11516c
(Change warranty to 1 year)
Really good system for the price, I'd certainly be happy with this one!
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache)
1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz (2x512) Memory [Included in Price]
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16x max. DVD+/-RW Drive
Dell 19" Value Flat Panel (E193FP) (This alone costs £260 on dells site)
256MB ATI Radeon® X600 HyperMemory graphics card
(Dont forget to add he Optical mouse for free!)
£514 in the basket with free delivery and %10 off (ends today! So decide now!!)
Quoted from rpoints.com - does actually come through as £514 - great bargain to be had there mate
Just remember to downgrade on the warrenty
150 quid is probably ok for that PC, but almost every aspect if it is under-specced! Putting extra memory, decent sized hard drive and a proper graphics card in it would really bump up the cost.
£76 buys you a SATA 250GB Hard Drive with 16MB cache (i.e. definitely not budget in terms of spec) so you should be able to get an old style IDE 8MB drive for 10-15 less. Check www.scan.co.uk 's bargains of the day.
Places to avoid: PC World (and Packard Bell PCs), Dell, Ebuyer (Sorry!).
Ebuyer sometimes come up with really cheap stuff, but their postage charges smell, and their support service (as it is laughably called) is in freefall. Check the feedback on http://trust.hexus.net/
PC World have a lot of nice shops to maintain, and still make very nice profits thankyou. Guess where that money comes from. (Watch out for PCs with sound and video integrated onto the motherboard and LCD monitors that look great but have slow response)
Dell seem to go through periods of being good, with machines that are great value and support that works. Alas this is not one of those periods. Profits are down and they are cutting corners to please the shareholders.
So, what to do? Well, look in the Yellow Pages or Yell.com for your local independent PC shop. Then ask them what sort of deal they can do you. Go there in person rather than phoning, so you can see how long they have been going, and if they are overstretched. Try and get at least 2 quotes for the same spec machine. I would also strongly advise you have a look at the magazines in your local newsagent (no not THOSE magazines) where you will discover that there are quite a few established companies that sell PCs at somewhat better value than PC World and Dell.
Mike
£76 buys you a SATA 250GB Hard Drive with 16MB cache (i.e. definitely not budget in terms of spec) so you should be able to get an old style IDE 8MB drive for 10-15 less. Check www.scan.co.uk 's bargains of the day.
Places to avoid: PC World (and Packard Bell PCs), Dell, Ebuyer (Sorry!).
Ebuyer sometimes come up with really cheap stuff, but their postage charges smell, and their support service (as it is laughably called) is in freefall. Check the feedback on http://trust.hexus.net/
PC World have a lot of nice shops to maintain, and still make very nice profits thankyou. Guess where that money comes from. (Watch out for PCs with sound and video integrated onto the motherboard and LCD monitors that look great but have slow response)
Dell seem to go through periods of being good, with machines that are great value and support that works. Alas this is not one of those periods. Profits are down and they are cutting corners to please the shareholders.
So, what to do? Well, look in the Yellow Pages or Yell.com for your local independent PC shop. Then ask them what sort of deal they can do you. Go there in person rather than phoning, so you can see how long they have been going, and if they are overstretched. Try and get at least 2 quotes for the same spec machine. I would also strongly advise you have a look at the magazines in your local newsagent (no not THOSE magazines) where you will discover that there are quite a few established companies that sell PCs at somewhat better value than PC World and Dell.
Mike
anyone have any suggestions, would really like to put in an order some time soon (just transferred cash from my savings account so now ready to buy!)
Could really do with it asap!
PC world + Ebuyer dont seem to be rated too highly,
Novatech look alright I guess...
Mesh look good too, but are pricey!
HATE dell, so thats out
I worry that I may not be getting a decent graphics card and such :
GeForce 6200 128MB PCI-E = novatechs best comp in my budget
128Mb ATI Express X200 Graphics = athlon @ PC World
256Mb ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Graphics = other athalon @ PC world (cheap system, just had £50 knocked off)
256Mb ATI Radeon X550HM Graphics = P4 @ PC world again (over budget, but looks pretty high spec)
sooooo confusing.
I am liking the look of this:- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor
- 512Mb DDR RAM
- 160Gb Hard Disk Drive
- M-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
- Graphics Memory
- 256Mb ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Graphics
- 9-in-1 Media Card Reader
- 7 USB2 Ports
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-
Specification for this COMPAQ SR 1619
Processor Type AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200 +
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 512 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 160 Gb
Optical Drive 2 DVD Writer double layer
Graphics Memory 256 mb
Graphics Description ATI Radeon XPRESS 200
Sound Card Integrated 5.1 sound solution
Media Card Reader 9-In-1
No of USB connections 7
No of PCI Slots 3
No. of Firewire Connections 2
Keyboard Yes
Mouse Yes
Weight 12.8 kg
Height 182 mm
Width 420 mm
Depth 390 mm
Network LAN 10/100 BT Network Interface
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
the rams not so great, but at that price... dont mind too much (512 is minimum for my uni work) so could upgrade further at a later date??
Any more suggestions???
>> Edited by BCA on Monday 14th November 17:03
Could really do with it asap!
PC world + Ebuyer dont seem to be rated too highly,
Novatech look alright I guess...
Mesh look good too, but are pricey!
HATE dell, so thats out
I worry that I may not be getting a decent graphics card and such :
GeForce 6200 128MB PCI-E = novatechs best comp in my budget
128Mb ATI Express X200 Graphics = athlon @ PC World
256Mb ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Graphics = other athalon @ PC world (cheap system, just had £50 knocked off)
256Mb ATI Radeon X550HM Graphics = P4 @ PC world again (over budget, but looks pretty high spec)
sooooo confusing.
I am liking the look of this:- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor
- 512Mb DDR RAM
- 160Gb Hard Disk Drive
- M-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
- Graphics Memory
- 256Mb ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Graphics
- 9-in-1 Media Card Reader
- 7 USB2 Ports
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-
Specification for this COMPAQ SR 1619
Processor Type AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200 +
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 512 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 160 Gb
Optical Drive 2 DVD Writer double layer
Graphics Memory 256 mb
Graphics Description ATI Radeon XPRESS 200
Sound Card Integrated 5.1 sound solution
Media Card Reader 9-In-1
No of USB connections 7
No of PCI Slots 3
No. of Firewire Connections 2
Keyboard Yes
Mouse Yes
Weight 12.8 kg
Height 182 mm
Width 420 mm
Depth 390 mm
Network LAN 10/100 BT Network Interface
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
the rams not so great, but at that price... dont mind too much (512 is minimum for my uni work) so could upgrade further at a later date??
Any more suggestions???
>> Edited by BCA on Monday 14th November 17:03
This is £530 - but looks forking good??
Features for this FUJITSU SCALEO 3601 XP
- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630
- 3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2Mb Cache
- 1024Mb DDR RAM
- 250Gb SATA Hard Disk Drive
- Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
- 256Mb ATI Radeon X550HM Graphics
- 11-in-1 Media Card Reader
- 6 USB2 Ports - 2 x Front, 4 x Rear
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-
Specification for this FUJITSU SCALEO 3601 XP
Processor Type Intel Pentium 4 630
Clock-Speed 3.0GHz
Front Side BUS 800MHz
Cache 2 mb
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 1024 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 250 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner No
Remote Control No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready No
Graphics Memory 64 mb
Graphics Description ATI Radeon X550HM
Sound Card On-board stereo. Fujitsu Siemens speakers
Soundcard included No
Speakers Included Yes
Media Card Reader 11-in-1
Built-In HP Docking Station No
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 1
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No
Mouse Yes
Weight 12.5 kg
Height 373 mm
Width 200 mm
Depth 435 mm
Network LAN On-board 10/100 Ethernet
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Features for this FUJITSU SCALEO 3601 XP
- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630
- 3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2Mb Cache
- 1024Mb DDR RAM
- 250Gb SATA Hard Disk Drive
- Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
- 256Mb ATI Radeon X550HM Graphics
- 11-in-1 Media Card Reader
- 6 USB2 Ports - 2 x Front, 4 x Rear
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-
Specification for this FUJITSU SCALEO 3601 XP
Processor Type Intel Pentium 4 630
Clock-Speed 3.0GHz
Front Side BUS 800MHz
Cache 2 mb
Operating-System Windows XP Home Edition
RAM Memory 1024 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 250 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner No
Remote Control No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready No
Graphics Memory 64 mb
Graphics Description ATI Radeon X550HM
Sound Card On-board stereo. Fujitsu Siemens speakers
Soundcard included No
Speakers Included Yes
Media Card Reader 11-in-1
Built-In HP Docking Station No
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 1
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No
Mouse Yes
Weight 12.5 kg
Height 373 mm
Width 200 mm
Depth 435 mm
Network LAN On-board 10/100 Ethernet
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
or this?? www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pcsextra.html?PC-0809T
Edit: Needs to be able to run car games (such as GTL) all specs I have chosen should run alias easily enough...
>> Edited by BCA on Monday 14th November 17:14
Edit: Needs to be able to run car games (such as GTL) all specs I have chosen should run alias easily enough...
>> Edited by BCA on Monday 14th November 17:14
I'm not really up to speed on current PC hardware, but here's my 2p worth anyway 
The machines with ATI Express graphics use ATI's integrated graphics card - effectively it's built onto the motherboard. These integrated solutions are the lowest of the low in terms of graphics cards and I think you'll be disappointed with the games performance of them. The Radeon X550 uses main memory to boost its smaller amount of onboard memory. There are several different versions of this card, but being PC World its probably the cheapest one with the 64bit memory bus. I expect the Geforce 6200 to be roughly comparable to it and they'll both be a real step up from the Express based machines.
If you plan on doing much in the way of gaming though, it might be better to take a hit on processor speed and get the next level of graphics card instead.
The machines with ATI Express graphics use ATI's integrated graphics card - effectively it's built onto the motherboard. These integrated solutions are the lowest of the low in terms of graphics cards and I think you'll be disappointed with the games performance of them. The Radeon X550 uses main memory to boost its smaller amount of onboard memory. There are several different versions of this card, but being PC World its probably the cheapest one with the 64bit memory bus. I expect the Geforce 6200 to be roughly comparable to it and they'll both be a real step up from the Express based machines.
If you plan on doing much in the way of gaming though, it might be better to take a hit on processor speed and get the next level of graphics card instead.
_Nathan_ said:
Bargain Dell 5150,P4 3Ghz,160GB SATA,19" LCD,X600 ATI=£514!!
Evalue Code= 100 D11516c
(Change warranty to 1 year)
Really good system for the price, I'd certainly be happy with this one!
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache)
1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz (2x512) Memory [Included in Price]
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
16x max. DVD+/-RW Drive
Dell 19" Value Flat Panel (E193FP) (This alone costs £260 on dells site)
256MB ATI Radeon® X600 HyperMemory graphics card
(Dont forget to add he Optical mouse for free!)
£514 in the basket with free delivery and %10 off (ends today! So decide now!!)
Quoted from rpoints.com - does actually come through as £514 - great bargain to be had there mate
Just remember to downgrade on the warrenty
I bought this for my Mum two weeks ago - very impressed. We did upgrade to a DVI flat panel and flashy logitech k/b & mouse. I paid twice as much for the same spec 14 months ago, and that was building it myself, buying parts from scan.co.uk.
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