Time for a new PC!

[maxd]

Budget can't do SSD at the moment ...

I don't know AMD gear so can't comment on the processor/mobo. I do wonder about your SSD vs HDD decision though.

As I see it you'll be paying around £40 for a very modest HDD. Are you sure you need the 500 GB? If half that would do you as your OS/apps drive -- using whatever HDD you can salvage from your old system as your data drive -- then you can get a very good SSD, the Samsung SSD 850 Evo 250GB, for around £55. Trust me, it's worth the difference, many MANY times over. It's one of those upgrades that you'll be thanking yourself for every time you use your system, no exaggeration. FTR a 256GB SSD is what I'm running and it's plenty big as my OS/apps drive and that includes about 100+GB of games.

FYI I would recommend against stepping down to a 128 GB SSD, they tend to be the poorest performing models of any SSD product line, sometimes dramatically so.

 

[Jono777]

Thank you again all!

I managed to get in touch with an old contact who I thought had moved far, far away today, turns out he is now less than 3 miles away!!!

His primary job involves PC salvage, rebuild etc but I did not have much optimism about getting hold of him, hence the 'no mention' until this point.

The information provided thus far on CM (especially my yourself) I have read and re-read and it has been VERY helpful in my progress towards both understanding more and what I need.

Following your and other members advice I defo want the SSD as part of the 'deal/package' and for some reason when I spoke with this contact I can only assume he was trying to keep things as cheap as possible, even though I'd made some notes from this thread and used them during our conversation.

Also at the point of the telephone call, I had not done my 'Budget Doubling' roulette spin via Mark's offer so I'd not given him much of a budget indicator to work with.

I have at this point not committed to anything and he is ringing me tomorrow lunch time so I will insist on the SSD. I certainly won't use 500GB of storage space on a HDD either, current PC is 160GB and only approx half of this used.

As for the DVD drives, I will not use those and can only hazard a guess that he may have a part built tower 'lying around' which he plans to use to build to my specs maybe?

Edit: Missed a post/question (sorry!) - Regarding the graphics card, just checked the info I jotted as we spoke and it has not been mentioned so made a note to double check this also tomorrow!

 

[Mark_32Red (retired acct)]

Good job Jon and I am genuinely pleased with the result, just please make sure your guy is 100% genuine. If his job is all about refurb etc you could easy end up with a second hand kit which isn't of the best quality - if he's a friend then obviously no worry there.

Apologies if stating the bleeding obvious!

 

[Harry_BKK]

Thank you again all!

I managed to get in touch with an old contact who I thought had moved far, far away today, turns out he is now less than 3 miles away!!!

His primary job involves PC salvage, rebuild etc but I did not have much optimism about getting hold of him, hence the 'no mention' until this point.

The information provided thus far on CM (especially my yourself) I have read and re-read and it has been VERY helpful in my progress towards both understanding more and what I need.

Following your and other members advice I defo want the SSD as part of the 'deal/package' and for some reason when I spoke with this contact I can only assume he was trying to keep things as cheap as possible, even though I'd made some notes from this thread and used them during our conversation.

Also at the point of the telephone call, I had not done my 'Budget Doubling' roulette spin via Mark's offer so I'd not given him much of a budget indicator to work with.

I have at this point not committed to anything and he is ringing me tomorrow lunch time so I will insist on the SSD. I certainly won't use 500GB of storage space on a HDD either, current PC is 160GB and only approx half of this used.

As for the DVD drives, I will not use those and can only hazard a guess that he may have a part built tower 'lying around' which he plans to use to build to my specs maybe?

Edit: Missed a post/question (sorry!) - Regarding the graphics card, just checked the info I jotted as we spoke and it has not been mentioned so made a note to double check this also tomorrow!

I see your quest continues mate. Not easy but you are getting close:

I would suggest the following:

- Intel i5 or AMD comparable
- Samsung SSD 256GB hard drive
- no DVD drive unless you really need it
- USB 3.0, minimum 3 x
- separate Graphics card, don't go for the onboard option
- 8GB RAM minimum
- Windows 10 & MS Office 2013

You should be able to get all of the above at GBP 300-400.

 

[maxd]

As for the DVD drives, I will not use those ...

As others mentioned, ditch 'em unless you have a specific need to do otherwise. That money is far better spent on a SSD and a modest graphics card.

Except for a few carefully chosen exceptions -- well beyond your current budget -- the on-board GPU you get with a modern processor will be under-powered for any real-world photo/video/audio processing. Even a basic graphics card -- say a GTX 750 for roughly £75 (if you're going the Intel route) -- will be money well spent.

 

[Jono777]

Morning

Thanks guys, just read the latest posts which were posted after I'd gone to bed last night.

Made more notes (including model numbers etc) and will have it all with me when I make the call later today.

In Summary I will be insisting on: -

Samsung SSD 850 Evo 250GB
Separate Graphics Card (GTX 750?)
Intel i5 or AMD equivalent version
USB 3.0 x3 ports
Minimum of 8GB Ram
Windows 10 (as I have a genuine Win 7, this part is free I believe?)

I will use the full budget withdrawn from 32 Red (£400) which as you say should cover this, great stuff.

@Mark - I met this guy when he opened a PC repair shop just around the corner from me (it was more of a base/workshop than for passing trade) he was there for 12 months or so and during this time I got to know him reasonably well. Pretty confident he wouldn't 'do the dirty' but I plan to say 'I will come to your house for the PC if we go ahead' just to cover my ass!!

Once again, cheers all and today is the day we will hopefully be moving forward.

 

[maxd]

If you're into it I highly recommend

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

, great way to bang up a rough system and not have to worry about incompatability issues (their database is quite good, flags problems for you, even filters out non-compatible items if you let it). You can choose your country of purchase in the upper right and you'll see real prices for your country as opposed to converted prices for stuff from elsewhere. For instance, I did a rough go at your system here:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

Don't worry too much about the prices at PCP, they tend to be a little high because they don't have a huge reach in terms of suppliers. For instance the price for your system -- making some assumptions about the processor, a case and power supply -- was a touch over £500.

I use

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

for a much better idea of real street prices. I've shopped through them several times and have always got the goods for the best prices listed. Invaluable! Going for the same items as used at PCP the final price on your system was £440. FWIW, SkinFlint.co.uk has German and EU sister sites, all of which I've used at various times for different projects.

The CPU I chose for your system is an excellent one, very highly rated. You could easily shave some off the total price by down-grading here, going to an i3 for instance (say the i3-4130). That'd drop the total by £50.

If you want to get a quick-and-dirty look at the relative oomph of different CPUs I suggest

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

. Their "passmark" is a good, rough yardstick to see how different CPUs compare to each other.

 

[Jono777]

Fantastic Stuff Max.

The link to the guide for my potential set up is VERY useful indeed. Thank you!

I am going to make the call now and send the guy the link also.

Will probably opt as you suggest for the 3.1 processor (to save the £50) and this will cover his labour charges I would have thought or at least contribute.

Edit: Just spoke with the 'PC guy' and what a result!

I have managed to get EXACTLY the spec and parts as detailed in Max's guide (

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

) for £380 (including labour and the 3.3Ghz processor!!)

He is currently onto his suppliers checking availability etc but I've given him the go ahead at this price.

Thank you wonderful people for all your valuable time and contributions It is very much appreciated.

With my very limited knowledge I could have easily been 'taken for a ride' but thanks to this community I was able to make detailed notes so it actually looked like I knew what I was talking about whilst informing the 'PC Guy' of my exact specifications and requirements.

Hopefully will get my PC early next week and celebrate with a couple of pics and some lag free Winners Videos!!

Cheers All

 

[maxd]

The i5 is an excellent processor but it does have a bit of a premium price around £150. The i3 is good too, solid mid-range performer, but about 50% less "muscular" than the i5 and will be roughly £85.

Good to hear your guy can do it! Should be a nice little box. You're not going to set the world on fire with it but you shouldn't have to think about doing this again for at least a couple years.

Bravo on the SSD, you'll love it!

 

[Jono777]

The i5 is an excellent processor but it does have a bit of a premium price around £150. The i3 is good too, solid mid-range performer, but about 50% less "muscular" than the i5 and will be roughly £85.

Good to hear your guy can do it! Should be a nice little box. You're not going to set the world on fire with it but you shouldn't have to think about doing this again for at least a couple years.

Bravo on the SSD, you'll love it!

I insisted on this part especially!

Couple of years value is good to hear, don't expect miracles for such a small outlay but will probably doing this thread all over again in 2018

Thanks again Max for sharing you knowledge and also for your time I know you have put a lot into this thread and I am eternally grateful.

 

[maxd]

No worries. Post us a pic when your new machine arrives.

FWIW since you are probably going to receive your system with the stock Intel processor fan brace yourself for it being a little noisy, particularly when your machine is under heavy load. If you find that it is too much fear not because it's a fair easy problem to solve without spending much money.

I went through this myself -- more or less -- and know for a fact that a choice upgrade in your CPU cooler can really calm things down. Silence, or close to it, is a beautiful thing in a PC.

Just let me know if it comes to this, I spent months researching coolers so I can save you a lot of time in terms of narrowing down and/or making your selection.

 

[Jono777]

No worries. Post us a pic when your new machine arrives.

FWIW since you are probably going to receive your system with the stock Intel processor fan brace yourself for it being a little noisy, particularly when your machine is under heavy load. If you find that it is too much fear not because it's a fair easy problem to solve without spending much money. I went through this myself -- more or less -- and know for a fact that a choice upgrade in your CPU cooler can really calm things down. Silence, or close to it, is a beautiful thing in a PC.

This is the whole problem that started the 'ball rolling' in the first place.

Ironically it is quiet as I type this but usually the fan is on all the time and even getting to the stage when we are having to turn up the TV!

Pleasing to hear tho that it can be dealt with cheaply and I won't mind spending a little extra on my new set up if needs be. Wouldn't spend a penny on the soon to be obsolete system I have atm.

 

[maxd]

I hear you. Silence in PCs is a bit of a voodoo art: everyone has opinions but what I've seen in practice leads me to believe that your end result will depend on all kinds of things specific to your own situation. Stuff like where your PC sits, what is around it, whether it's in a cool well ventilated space or not, whether you have pets or not (pet hair and PCs don't mix well!), etc will have a huge and unpredictable effect on whether you're happy with the noise it actually makes when in use. If you look at it as an on-going thing that may need a few tweeks along the way then you'll not be disappointed and should be able to get what you're happy with without being stupid about costs, etc.

One last note since your guy hasn't confirmed the parts list: you're right to stand firm on the SSD and there's no reason to budge on that. Same, more or less, goes for the processor. There is however lots of wiggle room when it comes to the motherboard, case and power supply. I chose ones I know to be good or found to be highly rated at places I trust but there are other, equally good, options out there. Feel free to run any deviations by us before you pull out your wallet and hand the guy your cash: chances are his alternates will be fine but no need to take any unnecessary risks.

With motherboards especially it's very easy to make a good-looking but ultimately flawed choice and be stuck having to make do. I triple-check everything when it comes to motherboards because I've been burned a few times and it can really suck: a good mobo can be a joy but a not-so-good mobo can make you want to toss your computer out the nearest available window, day after day after day. Not fun.

 

[Harry_BKK]

Fantastic Stuff Max.

The link to the guide for my potential set up is VERY useful indeed. Thank you!

I am going to make the call now and send the guy the link also.

Will probably opt as you suggest for the 3.1 processor (to save the £50) and this will cover his labour charges I would have thought or at least contribute.

Edit: Just spoke with the 'PC guy' and what a result!

I have managed to get EXACTLY the spec and parts as detailed in Max's guide (

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

) for £380 (including labour and the 3.3Ghz processor!!)

He is currently onto his suppliers checking availability etc but I've given him the go ahead at this price.

Thank you wonderful people for all your valuable time and contributions It is very much appreciated.

With my very limited knowledge I could have easily been 'taken for a ride' but thanks to this community I was able to make detailed notes so it actually looked like I knew what I was talking about whilst informing the 'PC Guy' of my exact specifications and requirements.

Hopefully will get my PC early next week and celebrate with a couple of pics and some lag free Winners Videos!!

Cheers All

That looks indeed like a nice and good little box mate, perfect for normal house use ..... you should be OK for at least the next 3-4 years with that and it should be much quieter than your present one

 

[Jono777]

I hear you. Silence in PCs is a bit of a voodoo art: everyone has opinions but what I've seen in practice leads me to believe that your end result will depend on all kinds of things specific to your own situation. Stuff like where your PC sits, what is around it, whether it's in a cool well ventilated space or not, whether you have pets or not (pet hair and PCs don't mix well!), etc will have a huge and unpredictable effect on whether you're happy with the noise it actually makes when in use. If you look at it as an on-going thing that may need a few tweeks along the way then you'll not be disappointed and should be able to get what you're happy with without being stupid about costs, etc.

One last note since your guy hasn't confirmed the parts list: you're right to stand firm on the SSD and there's no reason to budge on that. Same, more or less, goes for the processor. There is however lots of wiggle room when it comes to the motherboard, case and power supply. I chose ones I know to be good or found to be highly rated at places I trust but there are other, equally good, options out there. Feel free to run any deviations by us before you pull out your wallet and hand the guy your cash: chances are his alternates will be fine but no need to take any unnecessary risks.

With motherboards especially it's very easy to make a good-looking but ultimately flawed choice and be stuck having to make do. I triple-check everything when it comes to motherboards because I've been burned a few times and it can really suck: a good mobo can be a joy but a not-so-good mobo can make you want to toss your computer out the nearest available window, day after day after day. Not fun.

Cheers, the only alternative he mentioned during the call was possibly the GTX 750 video card, suggesting that It maybe currently unavailable from his suppliers. The alternative he spoke of was the same but 'Ti' which he did say was very similar maybe slightly better ?? with a very slight increase to the quote.

 

[maxd]

If he's talking a GeForce GTX 750 Ti then he's doing you right. The "Ti" means "Titanium" and in the world of GeForce graphics cards basically means "tweeked for performance". If it's the Asus card and the price is same or close jump on it!

If it's not an Asus though I'd want to know what brand it is. There are many makers of these cards, not all ... "equal" you might say.

 

[Jono777]

Talk about lucky timing!!

How's this for ironic!!

Just pretty much agreed and ordered my newer system and 'boom' my current PC 'gives up the ghost'

Far from clued up as you guys know but I think its something to do with the part of the mother board where the display adapter connects. (Took cover off and it plugs straight into MB)

Spinning away at 32 Red, suddenly the symbols are in 'old style' really low definition graphics and then just the monitor test screen.

Had a quick 'clueless tat around' but nowt lol, using an old Dell I 'stashed' for emergencies at the moment!

Roll on the new one

 

[dunover]

How's this for ironic!!

Just pretty much agreed and ordered my newer system and 'boom' my current PC 'gives up the ghost'

Far from clued up as you guys know but I think its something to do with the part of the mother board where the display adapter connects. (Took cover off and it plugs straight into MB)

Spinning away at 32 Red, suddenly the symbols are in 'old style' really low definition graphics and then just the monitor test screen.Had a quick 'clueless tat around' but nowt lol, using an old Dell I 'stashed' for emergencies at the moment!

Roll on the new one

Sure that's not MG's 10 year-old doing another Viper 'update'.....

 

[maxd]

Just pretty much agreed and ordered my newer system and 'boom' my current PC 'gives up the ghost'.

Excellent timing! For me it's usually order the new one and take the old one out back to introduce to my lovely old brickmason's hammer.

 

[dunover]

Excellent timing! For me it's usually order the new one and take the old one out back to introduce to my lovely old brickmason's hammer.

Nah...it's what he's not telling you here that's important. I reckon he got a 3-reel WD on 1,4,5 and no join on 2,3 and put his shoe through it.

Maybe a reinforced rubberized cabinet for the list too?

 

[Jono777]

Nah...it's what he's not telling you here that's important. I reckon he got a 3-reel WD on 1,4,5 and no join on 2,3 and put his shoe through it.

Maybe a reinforced rubberized cabinet for the list too?

Looks like with the time spent on here you've gotten to know me very well

 

[dunover]

This is costing me a fortune.....

.....I'm getting through 2 laptops a week.

Any sponsors for a new one??

 

[Jono777]

Love it

 

[Jono777]

Finally done the 'deal' this morning. Paid in full and project 'No Lag' underway!

Quad Core 3.8Ghz Processor
8 GB DDr3 Ram 1600mhz
GTX 750 Ti Graphics Card
Samsung Evo Pro 250GB SSD
Win 10 OS

Top end of my final budget after labour charges etc but all good!

ETA - Thursday (Wednesday if I'm lucky)

Thanks again to all who helped me 'get there'

 

[Lucky Loser]

Nice machine. I expect it's a big upgrade on what you had previously.