New Pc

jeffk

Basically I’m looking at upgrading my brothers pc, at the minute the sound is knackered (lagging and wobbly) and the pc seems to never stop reading the disc and in turn it’s mad slow.



He has the keyboard etc. and then also an external cd/dvd burner drive, so basically I’m looking for the tower. I’m thinking build a pc, but then I’m not sure if it’s that easy and would it be cheaper than looking at dell etc. for a pc minus a cd/dvd drive etc.


At the minute its xp, running 512mb ram(tried to update that and basically a mistake on kompletts site meant I got the wrong ones and in turn damaged one of the ram holding arms), he uses it for the usual stuff plus InDesign etc. Im thinking a higher end pc with loads of ram and install windows 7, but then I don’t want to end up paying loads.


Thanks for any help!

Unregistered.

Budget?

jeffk

I didn't set one, because im not sure of the cost of parts. I dont want to set a price and be told youll only get x specs for that.

I suppose as cheap as I can get, for as near what I am looking for.

challengemaster

jeffk wrote: »

I didn't set one, because im not sure of the cost of parts. I dont want to set a price and be told youll only get x specs for that.

I suppose as cheap as I can get, for as near what I am looking for.

Er.... well we can't magic prices for you. You WILL only get a certain spec for a certain price. That's just the way things are. You can be sure it'll kick the crap out of the current PC, though.

You're basically giving no info on what you want (specs wise or price wise) and expecting someone to know what you want?

Atleast give some sort of budget so people can work with, otherwise this is just futile.

jeffk

Able to run windows 7/indesign etc with ease
I suppose 2Gb ram is the bare minimum to run 7
As many front and back Usb ports as possible
I suppose they all come with a lan connection

After that with processor etc, its the bare minimum to carry out above mentioned with ease. Im not looking to go gaming, but at the same time I dont want to have to wait ages for it to run indesign or load up or just do heavy tasks in general.


After that on price, I suppose under €100-€150, again this a guess going on needing basically just tower with a hard-drive and looking @ the price of second hand/reconditioned pcs.

tman

jeffk wrote: »

After that on price, I suppose under €100-€150, again this a guess going on needing basically just tower with a hard-drive and looking @ the price of second hand/reconditioned pcs.

No offence, but for that price range you might be better off going for a reconditioned one...
I'm open to correction here, but a new PC at that budget would have to have some seriously cheap and nasty components....

jeffk

tman wrote: »

No offence, but for that price range you might be better off going for a reconditioned one...
I'm open to correction here, but a new PC at that budget would have to have some seriously cheap and nasty components....

None taken, im as much looking to build one as be told your better of getting a reconditioned one. So thanks for your honesty.

jeffk

Double checked and the budgets gone up to around €300.

Is there any places people can recommend to look @ reconditioned pcs? Im trying dell and getting the sites being upgraded.

seraphimvc

have a look at the gaming budget pc thread, and if you are not looking to do any gaming, just take off the graphic card and get a nice matx mobo(most of them have average onboard graphics), probably will cost you around 300+.

marco_polo

Tough challenge but for exactly 300 delivered I have managed to scrape an Athlon X3 build together. Any suggestion for improvement most welcome. Only on the understanding that you don't ever dare attempt to put a decent graphics card into it



EDIT: Wrong build attached first time

Unregistered.

Here is a suggestion. Have a look at the dell website, see if there are one or two PC's that would suit and then come back to us and we can give you some advice. Normally, Dell and other OEM PC's are difficult to better, price wise, on lower budgets but as soon as you start throwing mid to high end processors and graphics into a build, then DIY will get you a better machine for less. Having said that, 2Gigs of RAM can be had for less than €30 these days, so it's probably doable. I am unfamiliar with InDesign, so I can't comment on what's needed for it to work well.
Can you post full specs of what he has now?

jeffk

Thanks for advice.

One thing on building pcs, are they all that easy. Im on a course in Colaiste Ide @ the minute and we take apart and re build pcs. Are all pcs basically put in your motherboard, power supply, ram etc and connect up the wires. I have never done anything to do with installing front power buttons or usbs.

The process is a bit shorten there, but basically the hardest thing ive found is the front panel connections. There are 6 of them, with led and power - and + on them.

jeffk

Here are the specs

http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T5230

jeffk

I just looked up the first number on that list and from what I can see its a dvd drive? If so we can knock that off, my brother has an external one of them.

He has

A monitor
Mouse
Keyboard
External Dvd/cd drive
Plus external drives

All im looking for is a hard drive and then the guts of a pc, motherboard/ram/cpu/psu etc and the case. Basically a new engine!

jamescd

You also need an OS, preferrably Windows 7. I recently did a low budget build for my sister. Came to around €450 including a Monitor and OS. Monitor alone was about €125 so the tower itself and the OS was around €325. I'm sure you could build one for €300 since you already have a monitor.

As for putting together the PC, it's not that hard tbh. It's my 2nd time building a PC now and both went pretty smoothly. Don't worry about the front panel connections, there should be an explanation on your motherboard's manual on where the led and power - and + connect to.

jeffk

jamescd wrote: »

You also need an OS, preferrably Windows 7. I recently did a low budget build for my sister. Came to around €450 including a Monitor and OS. Monitor alone was about €125 so the tower itself and the OS was around €325. I'm sure you could build one for €300 since you already have a monitor.

As for putting together the PC, it's not that hard tbh. It's my 2nd time building a PC now and both went pretty smoothly. Don't worry about the front panel connections, there should be an explanation on your motherboard's manual on where the led and power - and + connect to.

Sorry leaving all the info out here, ive windows 7 ultimate already on a disk.

Well even if its €325, its still beats having to pay €500 or €600, im sure he wont mind if its only a small bit over budget.

Ah grand stuff, as ive said we take apart an re build them in college, but the worse part was the wiring on the front panel. Are the front panel themselves hard to fit?

marco_polo

jeffk wrote: »

Sorry leaving all the info out here, ive windows 7 ultimate already on a disk.

Well even if its €325, its still beats having to pay €500 or €600, im sure he wont mind if its only a small bit over budget.

Ah grand stuff, as ive said we take apart an re build them in college, but the worse part was the wiring on the front panel. Are the front panel themselves hard to fit?

You won't need to touch the front panel, it will be attached to the case and all you will have to do is connect up the 4 or 5 wires to the motherboard connections (power, reset, audio, mic usb etc. ), in consultation with the motherboard manual.

jamescd

You won't even need to touch the front panel in most cases. I had to open up the front panel for my sisters build so I could slide in the internal DVD drive. Even so, it was just a matter of pulling it off with a bit of force and clicking it back into place afterwars. It's nothing to worry about.

All the wirings from the front panel will be inside the case itself. Just put them aside first and then put all the components inside (motherboard, hard drive, PSU, etc.). After that it's just a matter of connecting the front panel wirings to your motherboard with the help of the manual.


Pretty much said the same thing as marco_polo lol. Had to go down and open the door before I got to finish my post

marco_polo

jamescd wrote: »

You won't even need to touch the front panel in most cases. I had to open up the front panel for my sisters build so I could slide in the internal DVD drive. Even so, it was just a matter of pulling it off with a bit of force and clicking it back into place afterwars. It's nothing to worry about.

All the wirings from the front panel will be inside the case itself. Just put them aside first and then put all the components inside (motherboard, hard drive, PSU, etc.). After that it's just a matter of connecting the front panel wirings to your motherboard with the help of the manual.


Pretty much said the same thing as marco_polo lol. Had to go down and open the door before I got to finish my post

Nah I just put it more succinctly, you type too much

jeffk

Thanks for all the replies and information.

Is there a link to a set site, or a basket on a site where someone can send me a link of what to get?

Jonny7

Grab one of these from amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EeeBox-EB1501P-Factor-Premium/dp/B0043D29EK/ref=sr_1_23?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1294947750&sr=1-23

Small, does everything you want

Or a quad core refurbished PC from ebay
http://cgi.ebay.ie/HP-Pavilion-Cheap-Desktop-PC-2-33Ghz-Core-2-Quad-94-/300499168637?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item45f7256d7d

comes with Vista sorry, haven't look much, but a lot of decent refurbished hp's, dell's out there from 200 to 300 euros.


Honestly if you aren't gaming, then the first one would be perfect.. although many of the hardcore builders in here would be horrified with something almost the same size as their cpu fan

jamescd

marco_polo wrote: »

Nah I just put it more succinctly, you type too much

Whilst I completely agree with you (that I type too much), I did have to run down because the door bell rang

jeffk wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies and information.

Is there a link to a set site, or a basket on a site where someone can send me a link of what to get?

hardwareversand http://www3.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp is pretty much the recommended site around here. marco_polo already posted a build from hardwareversand in the 1st page, have another look at it.

jeffk

Thanks for the reply Jonny7.

The first one looks great and all that but id rather stick to the normal set up, that way IF there's any ugrading or repairs I know what im doing.

Also on the ebay etc idea, id rather stick closer to home. My brothers very particular and if I mentioned ebay he wont touch it for electronics. But a good idea all the same!

jeffk

jamescd wrote: »

Whilst I completely agree with you (that I type too much), I did have to run down because the door bell rang



hardwareversand http://www3.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp is pretty much the recommended site around here. marco_polo already posted a build from hardwareversand in the 1st page, have another look at it.

Thanks, I had a look but I couldn't get it to open on the site itself and im to lazy to try an copy the names from the picture.

Unregistered.

Just a note on HWVS, delivery is €30, 10% of the budget. You should shop around, have a look especially on Komplett, where you can pick it up nearby(I see your location is in blanch). Not saying that they'll be cheaper, but should be around the same.

jeffk

Unregistered. wrote: »

Just a note on HWVS, delivery is €30, 10% of the budget. You should shop around, have a look especially on Komplett, where you can pick it up nearby(I see your location is in blanch). Not saying that they'll be cheaper, but should be around the same.

Thanks, im open to any suggestions. Id gladly go to a komplett/elara etc if someone said heres a list from this site and that will get you what you need for your €300-€325 budget.

Basically now thats all im looking for if someone has the time to do that up, that would be great. Im more or less sorted on building it myself, the os is there and after that I just need to order parts.

Unregistered.

Aye, the great Overseer will be around later, he's usually quite snappy with putting builds together. I'm busy until the weekend.

*opens You Laugh, You Lose thread*

jeffk

Unregistered. wrote: »

Aye, the great Overseer will be around later, he's usually quite snappy with putting builds together. I'm busy until the weekend.

*opens You Laugh, You Lose thread*

Ok, grand stuff thanks.

Im not sure on the thread bit, maybe im missing something....

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Unregistered. wrote: »

Aye, the great Overseer will be around later, he's usually quite snappy with putting builds together. I'm busy until the weekend.

*opens You Laugh, You Lose thread*

We got jeff sorted in the end.

marco_polo

Komplett-Tech: Ryan wrote: »

We got jeff sorted in the end.

No offense intended Ryan, but I was poking around last night and Komplett's current selection of budget components (such as sub €50 PSU, cases for example) is a bit on the thin side at the moment (Other quibbles would be no Athlons X3 and only three AM3 motherboards in total on the site). Are there any plans to expand it this side of things or is it a business strategy to concentrate mainly on mid and higher end components?

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Hi marco_polo

No offence taken at all And yeah i completely see where you are coming from, stock is a bit light. The best way to describe the budget components is "Brown banana stock" There is nothing wrong with them, its just they don't sell very well. And to get them at a competitive price you have to buy in quite large quantities. But buying a sku in large quantities of a product group that doesn’t sell well is a bit of a waste. We are however going to be getting in some lower end cpu's and motherboards as well as some ram, i do personally think there is a gap in the market for this type of thing. I mean who wouldn't want another pc kicking around for under 250 euro

jeffk

I just want to say thanks to those that helped. In the end as someone said to try Komplett and well I did and Ryan threw out a build that ticked all the boxes.

I know its his job, so I can understand him doing it with more urgency and push that people doing it in their own time. In the end im sure most people enjoy helping out and talking builds!

Morf3h

Good man Jeff!

Ryan I was wondering if you could put together a spec for a pc for me. I want to be able to play the likes of Starcraft 2/COD at more or less the highest settings. Nothing too nuts though. (I'm used to a laptop so anything would be an improvement!) Was thinking 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive, would need a dvd burner (nothing above basic) one of the mid-range Intel cpus and a motherboard that won't fry on me. I'll probably choose my own monitor (unless you have decent deals on ~22" screens) I have keyboard + mouse.

My budget's probably 600 but could push 800 if you convince me

Cheers!

M

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Hey Morf3h

I'm actually just leaving work now as i have to visit a relative in hospital, would you mind if i put one together for you when i get home at about 7ish?

Morf3h

Komplett-Tech: Ryan wrote: »

Hey Morf3h

I'm actually just leaving work now as i have to visit a relative in hospital, would you mind if i put one together for you when i get home at about 7ish?

Nah leave it till monday enjoy the weekend my man!