Looking for a new PC

templeguards

templeguards

templeguards

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2003
Posts
510
Location
In the middle of Babylon...
Hey all, I'm looking for a new PC for my parents, around £700-800 max.

COMPLETE SYSTEM, including LCD Monitor and keyboard/mouse. Not necessarily used for gaming, for would be preferable if it lasts for like 5 years before it needs an upgrade.

Also, prefer Athlon 64-bit processor rather than Intel.

Thanks! :)
 
Ok I'll try to explain some of my choices, the 19" monitor is because it is often easier for older people to read a larger monitor and the max resolution is still 1280x1024, the pixels will just be a little bigger. An X2 because if there will be no upgrades for a long time then dual core may be necessary before they next upgrade and there isn't that much price difference. The graphics card is decent and will allow some games playing for the forseeable future but definitely isn't overkill. All the other parts are good solid components and should last a long time, if the budget is really important drop the tft to a 17" model and it will be just under.

MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£44.95 £44.95
GX-053-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-PC)
£79.95 £79.95
MO-022-SA Samsung SM-913N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver (MO-022-SA)
£169.95 £169.95
CA-001-AR Arctic Cooling T2 Silentium Silent Midi Tower Case - 450W Seasonic Silent PSU (CA-001-AR)
£49.95 £49.95
MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£61.95 £61.95
HD-050-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 160GB ST3160812AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-050-SE)
£52.95 £52.95
CD-028-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-028-NE)
£28.70 £28.70
CP-134-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
£179.95 £179.95
KB-072-LG Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail (KB-072-LG)
£19.95 £19.95
Subtotal £688.30
VAT £120.46
Total £808.76
 
ok - Mmm 5 years... don't have a crystal ball so can't promise that but this should last for a few years. Naturally any gaming ability is limited.

Went single core because I felt it likely that only hardcore users are likely to need multi's even in 5 years. 2gig of ram however because memory does increase and browsers can be memory hogs. 19" does have some points but went 17" to keep in budget.

CP-119-AM AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3500BPBOX) (CP-119-AM)
£123.95 £123.95
MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)
£69.95 £69.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£99.95 £99.95
CD-026-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£28.70 £28.70
CA-023-AN Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-023-AN)
£39.95 £39.95
KB-052-MS Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop v2.1 - OEM (KB-052-MS)
£24.95 £24.95
MO-026-HY Hyundai ImageQuest B70A 17" LCD Monitor (MO-026-HY)
£142.95 £142.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£49.95 £49.95
GX-053-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-PC)
£79.95 £79.95
Subtotal £660.30
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £10.95
VAT £117.47
Total £788.72
 
Last edited:
If it's not going to be used for gaming, how about saving some effort and getting

FS-015-OK "Primo Plus Complete" AMD Sempron 64 2800 1.6GHz DDR System (FS-015-OK)
£429.95 £429.95
Subtotal £429.95
VAT £75.25
Total £505.20
 
Larok said:
If it's not going to be used for gaming, how about saving some effort and getting

FS-015-OK "Primo Plus Complete" AMD Sempron 64 2800 1.6GHz DDR System (FS-015-OK)
£429.95 £429.95
Subtotal £429.95
VAT £75.25
Total £505.20
Click to expand...

Well chances are even for non-gaming a Sempron will date quickly. All app's use more and more of the computers ability so speccing a real bottom spec pc now and expecting it to last 5 years is pushing your luck somewhat.
 
OCUK.JPG


Updated!
 
Last edited:
Okay, sounds good all :)

However, I would prefer over 1GB ram if possible, and OcUK RAM is kinda putting me off - GeiL ram is more suited for maximum performance with the Athlon 64 right? About gaming purposes - well, chances are that if my parents decide to go ahead and buy, it'll be used as an all-rounder family computer, rather than just for my parents. The current PC I have at the moment is getting very old, as you can see in my signature, so I definitely need to get with the times!

Athlon 64 X2 - sounds good, but I feel that the clock speed is a bit of a let down - 2 - 2.4Ghz, and I can't see what other advantages it gives over the normal 64. Min. 160GB HDD, and a stylish case would be nice. Remember, I just want to maximise the potential of the system, so any advantageous parallels between components should be considered. As for graphics card, I realise that there are so many new brands coming out at this time, but I would like something which is capable of playing the newest games without any problems at all, and future games with little hassle as well.

If you're going to suggest something, please could you give a reason on why you've selected the parts, as some of you have already done so! :)

Thanks!
 
Heres what i came up with -
GX-101-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO² 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-101-SP)
£119.95 £119.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£99.95 £99.95
CP-118-AM AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM)
£104.95 £104.95
CD-025-SO Sony CRX320E 52x32x52x16 CDRW/DVD Combi Drive (Black) - OEM (CD-025-SO)
£18.50 £18.50
CA-048-AN Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU (CA-048-AN)
£54.20 £54.20
MO-026-HY Hyundai ImageQuest B70A 17" LCD Monitor (MO-026-HY)
£142.95 £142.95
OS-001-MS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM (OS-001-MS)
£52.95 £52.95
HD-087-MD Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8s 40GB 6E040T0 SATA 2MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-MD)
£28.95 £28.95
MB-041-GI Gigabyte K8NMF-9 nForce4 Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-041-GI)
£41.95 £41.95
KB-052-LG Logitech Cordless Internet Desktop Pro Black - OEM (KB-052-LG)
£19.95 £19.95
Total Cost- £805.95
Slightly over i know but it has two gigs of ram (which will keep the system running smooth and any games)
The GTO2 is a great card, without any modding skill, you just need to flash the card (there is a guide below which you find in over-clockers) and will give you a x850xt which is capable of running games fine and the case will help keep noise levels low :P
Guide - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=5632728#post5632728
 
If you take my spec and update to a X850XT and add a aftermarket cooler then you'll have a quiet enough system that's plenty good enough for current games and should last some time on future games too ( although not 5 years for games - need an X1800XT to have a chance of that ). Should add about £50 to my spec.
 
If you want futureproof then DEFINATLY dual core and 2gb ram. As for your graphics card it will never last 5 years as far as games are conserned - I payed £230 for my 7800gt and it will be rubbish in 12 months. PCI-e will be around for a long time yet so you can always upgrade the card every 12 months or so, and the dual core cpu should last a long time..
 
DannyW said:
If you want futureproof then DEFINATLY dual core and 2gb ram. As for your graphics card it will never last 5 years as far as games are conserned - I payed £230 for my 7800gt and it will be rubbish in 12 months. PCI-e will be around for a long time yet so you can always upgrade the card every 12 months or so, and the dual core cpu should last a long time..
Click to expand...
don't agree there, depends on the settings you play at etc.

My old 8500 plays most current games just fine and that's WAY over 12 months old.

If your running at 12x1600 eveything on - then sure - but if your not then cards last longer than you think.
 
You are wanting future proofing for half a decade, you wont get that as within 2 years socket 939 will be dead there will prob only be dual cores around the newish games will need a different gfx card etc..

Plus do you really need the best? After I dont know about yours but my parents use office, internet and the most upto date game would be doom! So all they have needed was a 1.4 athalon and theyve had it 4 years and it still does what they want..

So what do they actually do on it?

And OCUK ram would be fine as they couldnt sell it if it didnt run @ thoe speed, just dont try to OC it!
 
BigDom said:
ok - Mmm 5 years... don't have a crystal ball so can't promise that but this should last for a few years. Naturally any gaming ability is limited.

Went single core because I felt it likely that only hardcore users are likely to need multi's even in 5 years. 2gig of ram however because memory does increase and browsers can be memory hogs. 19" does have some points but went 17" to keep in budget.

CP-119-AM AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3500BPBOX) (CP-119-AM)
£123.95 £123.95
MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)
£69.95 £69.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£99.95 £99.95
CD-026-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£28.70 £28.70
CA-023-AN Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-023-AN)
£39.95 £39.95
KB-052-MS Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop v2.1 - OEM (KB-052-MS)
£24.95 £24.95
MO-026-HY Hyundai ImageQuest B70A 17" LCD Monitor (MO-026-HY)
£142.95 £142.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£49.95 £49.95
GX-053-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-PC)
£79.95 £79.95
Subtotal £660.30
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £10.95
VAT £117.47
Total £788.72
Click to expand...

Good setup. But I would prefer a case which has a 400W PSU - quiet, stylish etc. £60-70 max.
 
templeguards said:
Good setup. But I would prefer a case which has a 400W PSU - quiet, stylish etc. £60-70 max.
Click to expand...

hehe doable there is an antec whcih has that much power, however trust me the 350W will be fine... running a X2 3800+ and X800GTO2 off one :)
 
MB-119-AS Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS) 1
£54.95 £54.95
MY-080-CS Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT400C3) (MY-080-CS) 1
£94.95 £94.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA) 1
£68.95 £68.95
CD-036-PO Pioneer DVR-110BK 16 x 16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-036-PO) 1
£26.90 £26.90
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) 1
£65.50 £65.50
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR) 1
£14.95 £14.95
CP-147-AM AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-147-AM) 1
£113.95 £113.95
KB-058-LG Logitech Cordless Optical Desktop Rechargeable Black/Silver - OEM (KB-058-LG) 1
£29.95 £29.95
SP-050-CL Creative I-Trigue 2.1 3400 Speakers - Retail (SP-050-CL) 1
£48.10 £48.10
MO-016-NV Neovo F-419 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Grey (MO-016-NV) 1
£159.95 £159.95
Subtotal £678.15
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
VAT £121.30
Total £814.40

It all depends on what they are doing with the PC but this setup would give them more than enough for normal usage. I've just recently built a PC for the sister-in-law with this Asus mobo and its top quality....it has DVI & VGA out.
This setup will also be very quiet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom