Buying a pc, are these any good?

[damz]

Since iv'e moved to england and i've only had my 360 and my tatty laptop so i've been saving up for a pc since my old one is back in scotland.

times have changed since i last bought anything pc related so all this quadcore stuff etc means nothing to me, was so simple, high ghz processer, high ram and high mb of graphics memory and you had a gd pc.


anyway i have been browsing ebay the last few days for a pc, im only in need of a tower as my tv doubles as a pc moniter and i have a wireless keyboard and mouse already.

i know its cheaper to build your own pc's but i dont know how to so its not really an option.

here are a few i have seen

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GL-DDR3-GAMING-PC-COMPUTER-E3300-DESKTOP-PC-500GB-2GB-/390270819864?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item5addf41e18

only thing that concerns me is the graphics card, im use to only getting ati or nvidea


or this
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GAMING-HP-XW6000-Dual-Xeon-6-4GHz-4GB-250GB-Desktop-PC-/310276820814?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item483df08f4e

again the graphics card concerns me as it being 256mb, my old pc had that much memory.

last choice is this

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/POWERFUL-HP-TOWER-PC-BUSINESS-GAMING-/110615384404?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19c130d154

a lot of these pc's all seem to be using xp, is that not going to be an issue for new games?

my budget is roughly £200-220

any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

i should also say im not after top of the range graphics, i usually tone graphics down to play games online better. only graphically intense game i can think of that i want to play atm would be dow 2 which min specs were

3 Ghz Processor (Pent 4 or equivalent)
1 GB RAM
256MB Graphics Card of a GeForce 6800 or better
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[Frost]

Don't get a Xeon.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-239-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

[defblade]

Building a computer is really, really, really easy. Hardest bit these days is fitting the heatsink, which is just 4 push pins on the lower end stuff!

There are loads of guides to it on the net but basically, all the plugs/slots etc are different so you can't get it wrong (unless you start REALLY forcing stuff together).

Try it once and you'll never look back.

Remember that you're paying about the same for someone to put a budget PC together as a £1000 one (similar number of parts, just the parts cost more!) so you'll get a LOT more bang-per-buck if you do build it yourself when you don't want to spend much.




The other option is second hand... some people just can't help upgrading all the time
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[Syris the Indomitable]

This seems good for the money as you should be able to run all games released to date with the card that's installed. ATi Radeon HD 4650 Dual Video Output card, it's almost too good to be true so be aware!
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/POWERFUL-HP-TOWER-PC-BUSINESS-GAMING-/110615384404?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19c130d154

The middle one has an AGP port for graphics so that'sa no no!

Upon searching there seems to be a lot of cheap gaming PC's with Intel Xeon previous post says that's a bad thing!

This had good components, upgradable and you can always add another graphics card in the future https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INTEL-E3300-DDR3-GAMING-COMPUTER-500GB-4GB-GAL-PC-/200553093953?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2eb1e55b41

Slightly better and will run most games https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GL-DDR3-GAMING-PC-COMPUTER-AM3-250-DESKTOP-PC-500GB-4GB-/390270819814?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item5addf41de6

I would go for this, it supports 1333MHZ DDR3 RAM and graphical upgrades in the future.
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-DUAL-CORE-2-9GHz-AMD-245-PC-COMPUTER-2GB-DDR3-250GB-/280587447720?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item415450ada8
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[damz]

I dont see building a pc being much cheaper, componants on ebuyer for example a cpu is like £35 plus gfx cards are rather expensive.

If someone could post up what componants i should get i could cobble something together. At the moment i have no idea whats good to buy or not to buy.
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[Syris the Indomitable]

It's only slighter cheaper to build your own PC if your building a modern setup.

I would recomend this with your budget.
https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-DUAL-CORE-2-9GHz-AMD-245-PC-COMPUTER-2GB-DDR3-250GB-/280587447720?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item415450ada8

I agree with this!

[damz]

sadly xmas was rather expensive so no pc back then

however i'l be getting one tomorrow i reckon, did a bit of searching just now and found this

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMD-AM3-DUAL-CORE-6000-X2-3-0GHz-500GB-HD-2GB-DDR3-PC-/280592885831?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item4154a3a847

seems alright, decent processor and graphics card as far as i can tell. Do you get the cables with the tower? also what should i do about operating systems, pirate it or is there anywhere to get them really cheap?
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[clancy]

[damz]

i have very little knowledge of computers these days, i wouldnt even know where to start
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[clancy]

whats your budget ? after iv got all my bits i could send you a list and link for all the bits i got. as i said will be about 330 total for the computer

im using it for running various CAD and estimator programmes aswell as a bit of gaming so its pretty good for the cost
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[damz]

budget is around £210
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[Hetzer]

[Seb]

The graphics card in that AMD is onboard, won't be viable as a gaming machine for current titles but it's plenty powerful enough for everything else. Also keep in mind that it doesn't have a licensed OS.

Have you had a look in your local second hand shops? Can often bag a quality pc for peanuts, just keep in mind that the bigger a bargain it is, the more likely it's going to be a virus pit and need restoring/reinstalling
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[The Tot]

For gaming, £210 is the budget for most sensible graphics cards!

In terms of building your PC's, you can fine tune your components. Have a read on the latest issue of PC format if you want to get a general feel of what's in fashion at the moment. They have their recommended components for a particular budget.

If you can stretch to 400, you can get a pretty decent setup (OS is free if you can get a cracked copy!) But I even went out of my way to pay microsoft £70 for a registered copy of Win7! Although i did get some bootleg copies given to me when I went back to indonesia.

Core i3 and 4gb ram is plenty for a budget rig. Look at the appropriate motherboard specs for what you want... chipset and ports etc. I always get Asus out of preference.
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[damz]

what operating system should i use?

i gave ebuyer a bash, would these go together

case
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/172779
psu
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/190751
hard drive
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/159691
dvd drive
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/145450
cpu
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/237554
motherboard
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/246637
memory
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/178942
Graphics card
https://www.ebuyer.com/product/244127

all together it comes to £237, is it better than the pre built ones? also can i expand on it in the future? or will they even fit together?

i have a cracked copy of win7 already provided my bro-tard hasnt lost it.
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[johnsmith222]

Hi damz.

I would get a bigger hard drive. Ebuyer do a samsung 1tb hard drive for 39.99. I actually bought it myself. For 15 quid extra you're getting a drive 4x the size.

I would personally be looking for a quad processor if I was putting a computer together. That Ram does look good though.

That motherboard has onboard graphics so you shouldn't need a graphics card to start off with if all you want is the internet etc. You'd be better off putting a bit more money into the processor, then saving for a graphics card.

Whatever you put together will be better than one that's sold complete. Normally wire routing is shit, have had 4 ram slots filled with 4x256mb sticks and normally just cheap components such as cpu etc. I would say this is especially found on computers in your low budget.

You'll want an exhaust fan for that case probably too.

If I were you I'd go for 4gb of RAM as it's very cheap atm. (unfortunately it's not the same story for older/slower DDR2 RAM).

[chris-red]

an 8400 would struggle with most modern games IMO. Have games do you want to play on it? Remember you will need an operating system too.
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[Scotsman37]

Customising a PC is a good option if you have the latest software to make full use of whats out there on market, but if you don't have the latest say Windows 7 then buying a complete system is usually better as it comes with the latest operating system, etc, and no need to search for COA codes to get it to run and get regular updates!

Yes, having at least two fast hard drives installed is good for downloading from torrent sites, but also in addition having an external hard drive for backing up essential data is also a must allowing you to safeguard but also take it with you, if need be at short notice!

Buying a well known name brand motherboard is definitely good with regular BIOS updates for years to come, etc, for keeping it update with newer hardware being connected to it. Personally, I would avoid AMD chipset like the plague as I and others have moved away from them due to a history of compatibility problems and so prefer to stick with Intel chipset on motherboard due to it's popularity with mainstream software/game developers.

The graphics card is probably the most important aspect apart the the processor to spend a lot of money on because you want to stay ahead of the current demands on hardware, if possible, by at least 6 month/year to keep up with the demands of hardware for games playing at full detial, if you like that sort of thing?

Sometimes buying a motherboard with everything built in is NOT usually the best option as you sometimes get stuck with something that isn't up to par with demands by games.

[Ditto]

You won't be playing many modern games with a cheapo graphics card.

Ideally you want dedicated graphics, which means the graphics run off their own card. Integrated graphics will be not much good for games, but ok for Photoshop, Windows Aero etc. It's not all about the size of the memory of graphics either, it's like camera megapixels.

In general you are not going to be getting a gaming PC for £200
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[Hetzer]

This is the kind of gig you could be looking for:

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gigabyte-G41-Motherboard-Q6600-QUADCORE-CPU-2GB-DDR3-/290535509280?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item43a5440d20
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[clancy]

[Scotsman37]

[chrisw]

If you don't know much about 'computers' and aren't all that interested the last thing you'll want to do is build one or buy one that someone else has knocked together. In this situation spend more on warranty than on hardware.
So instead of spending hours/days fault finding components if/when something goes wrong, you just need a diag. disc and a phone. You can be in this situation for 5 years when it'll be time to rinse and repeat (or just string it out if cash is tight).

If you don't mind one way or the other and just want a machine, it stopped being worth the while building your own about 10 years ago. Buy a pre-built. (Take time into account and the price of components disappears).

If you want to play games and generally like tinkering, build your own.

Don't ask a tinkerer for advise, they'll tell you to build your own and list the part numbers. Don't ask a 'I once looked inside a computer' type, you'll get bad advise. Don't ask me, I don't give a monkeys I use any old junk I get from work that's out of warranty

[Scotsman37]

True if the person is not a tinkerer of computers then it's best to buy whole system than build one because it's easier to have installation disc(s) from the manufacturer if you ever have to reinstall software in the future, but most of all you get 1 years warranty if by chance the new system develops a fault that requires a replacement. It will be the sellers responsibility to either get it fixed/replaced and if unable to do so you may even get a full refund and takes the anquish of you trying fault find whats wrong with it!

[damz]

i can tinker with computers fairly well, its just when i last bought componants for my last pc it was ages ago before dual core,pci etc.

ok so il buy these

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/172779

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/190751

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/145450

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/246637

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/178942

and get this instead of cpu

https://www.ebuyer.com/product/242140 quad core

as for hard drives i've got an external one already. i'l buy a dedicated graphics card at a later date.

do the componants come with the cabling needed? for instance the power cable with the psu?

the most demanding game i think i own is dawn of war 2 which is now a few years old.
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