Desktop PC help

[Ginginho]

I want to replace my desktop PC.
It's so old it barely even starts up nowadays.
I don't want anything fancy, just a basic desktop PC, with a reasonable amount of hard drive space and memory (maybe 2gb) and maybe Vista/Windows 7 operating system.

I don't need a monitor or keyboard or anything.

Where is the best place to look?

I don't want to spend any more than £250-£300 if possible.

Thanks TEFers

[Samdy Gray]

This is good spec for the price. Has no OS though, so you'll need a version of Windows + licence key.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218929

[LucienSanchez]

I wouldn't go through eBuyer... after the last couple of days i've had argueing with those cunts, i am actively recommending people to avoid them

[Peter Venkman]

I nearly always use Ebuyer, I have put £30k+ through them in the last 3 years and had not one moment of bother.

I guess I am the lucky one or LucienSanchez is the unlucky one...either way.

But I would suggest you build it yourself Ginghino, I put together a core i3 system with 4gb and a 9600gt graphics with Windows 7 for about £300 last week from there.

[Sippo]

http://www.c-p-ltd.com/

They have a special offer on with the acer desktop.

[Sippo]

http://misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=456592&CatId=0

[LucienSanchez]

I ordered with free delivery a week ago, they cancelled my order at 23:45 the day before it was meant to be delivered without reason. The service I received was awful, and they refused to ship my laptop with free next day delivery to compensate. They also claimed I was lying about all the emails I received, and couldn't work out what mails, if any, I had been sent by their system. I had to forward them all mails, and a screenshot of my inbox to prove the timings and content, and then they still refused to send my items. Cocks.

[Peter Venkman]

Thats not good at all and very unlike them, but then you only find out how good a company are when you have a problem, one reason I wont use Pixmania any more for stuff due to their inept handling of problems.

[Gethimout]

Does anyone have any experience of building a PC? If so, is it fairly easy?

I have no previous experience of building anything like this.

I want to purchase a new computer. Have around £500 to spend but don't want to go to PC World or anything like that.

[Ginginho]

But I would suggest you build it yourself Ginghino, I put together a core i3 system with 4gb and a 9600gt graphics with Windows 7 for about £300 last week from there.

I forgot about this thread!

I wouldn't know where to start putting one together myself.

[Samdy Gray]

Does anyone have any experience of building a PC? If so, is it fairly easy?

Yes, it's simple if you know what you're doing. Just have a search around on Google, you'll find plenty of guides.

I'm not that clued up on what's the best spec right now because I haven't built a new rig for quite a while, JJ or stfcinbmth will be the best people to tell you what to buy and what to avoid.

[Peter Venkman]

I can't say its easy but its not difficult, as long as you follow the instructions closely and as long as you have someone near by that can help you if things don't go well or how to test if you have put things on correctly or not and what the symptoms of them are.......such as....

Incorrectly fitted cards, memory, faulty memory, faulty chip, bent pins on CPU's (not on new intels) badly seated or incorrectly fitted heat sinks, screws shorting out connections, faulty power supplies causing shorting out or even minor fires and small explosions (seriously! I have had a few in my time!)
Making sure all the settings in the bios are correct and memory speeds set up to optimal, this does not happen "out of the box" with DDR3 memory as it often defaults back to 1333 settings despite it having almost double the speed.

Then installing and setting up the operating system.

If you are confident then go for it, you wont save an awful lot these days...probably £50..but it does give you satisfaction when it does work.

Or if in doubt, get someone to help you that knows what they are doing for the first PC you build.

[suttonred]

If it works... which would be unlikely if you've never built one. Not worth the hassle for a first timer buy ready to boot.

[Gethimout]

Thanks for the information!

If i'm only saving around £50 then i may not bother. It'll save my sanity as i'm not that patient and will end up smashing the thing to pieces!

I've had a scout around on ebuyer so may purchase one on there.

I just want it to run multiple applications smoothly, what do i need to look out for?

[Sippo]

I remember when I built my first PC. I bent the pins on the processor, worth about £300 back then. To say the boss wasn't happy was an understatement.