New Pc's for a local primary school

mogwai · 23 Sep 2010 at 13:17

I am helping a local school to replace there classroom pc's which are currently Pentium 4 3 Ghz based.

Looking at the systems available from Overclockers I have settled on the Primo Neo. As this seems to have a good spec and should be able to last them a good while. I would spec them with one of the GPU's on offer and Windows 7 Pro.

What do you guys think of this as a machine for use in a Primary school?

thepeganator · 23 Sep 2010 at 13:28

Umm overkill much!

Look at more generic larger companies, get something cheap and reinstall Windows on it yourself to get rid of the bloatware, why would they need something with a dedicated gpu?

Liampope · 23 Sep 2010 at 13:34

Blimey are they doing 3D rendering in primary schools nowadays?!

How on earth are 3GHz P4s inadequate for the needs of a primary school?? A school will surely buy in bulk from an OEM and be looking to pay 100-200 per unit tops?? This is crazy.

cmndr_andi · 23 Sep 2010 at 13:36

I give a +1 to the OP's plan. If my primary school had super fast PCs I would have been well chuffed and probably got more work done not waiting for stuff to load.

The Titan Neros are some great machines - especially considering the price. The i3 is a very quick CPU and 4GB of RAM should be plenty.

If you need to keep the costs down, then i'm sure the graphics chip that is integrated into the i3 CPU will be sufficient. It can do 1080p video decoding and run modern games (albeit very poorly). I'm sure for primary school needs it will be more than enough and save money on capital costs and power.

mogwai · 23 Sep 2010 at 13:43

They have had there current machines for 10 years near enough and the new ones are being paid for by the PTA.

They will also be used by the teachers as well as the pupils.

Freddie1980 · 23 Sep 2010 at 14:37

So can I ask what's wrong with this system? £316 inc VAT and Windows 7 64bit. I'm sure if you call OCUK directly and speak to a senior sales manager or director and told them that these are for a primary school and your looking to buy in bulk you will be able to arrange some kind of deal with them.

davieg · 23 Sep 2010 at 14:41

Is there not also some kind of different License for Windows available to schools also? A somewhat cheaper version?Thought I heard there was but could be wrong.

rickh · 23 Sep 2010 at 15:00

IMO you should use an OEM such as dell or RM.
Unless you'll be there to support broken pc's then the warranty an OEM can provide is worth a lot.

edscdk · 23 Sep 2010 at 15:04

p4 3ghz is about what most people have at home, jsut reinstall windows and keep them for another 5 years...

what are the kids gonna learn on a cor2 3ghz that they could not learn on a P4d 3ghz?

if you msut reaplce the machines remember the school should be able to get windows for next to nothing ...

Liampope · 23 Sep 2010 at 15:11

10 year old P4 3ghz??

If it really has to be done I'm not sure the PTA will really appreciate big gamer cases and they really dont need high-end gaming grade PSUs, 4GB ram etc etc. You could put something together much cheaper with one of the OCUK value case/psu combos and stick in an matx mobo sticking to the onboard graphics. I still think the OEMs would be much better placed to supply this kind of thing.

EddScott · 23 Sep 2010 at 15:16

rickh said:
IMO you should use an OEM such as dell or RM.
Unless you'll be there to support broken pc's then the warranty an OEM can provide is worth a lot.

+1

I'd also suggest that unless you do this sort of thing for a living you leave it to someone else to install. You will be completely responsible for these machines and if they are for a primary school thats a huge responsiblity if your just helping them out.