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    Budget PC Advice Needed Please

    Hi, need a bit of budget Pc buying advice because im not up to date on the latest tech knowledge.
    I'm probably going to buy from pc world (the shop not the online site), so ive been looking on the pcworld.co.uk site and wondered if anyone could advise which 'rig' to go for. I'm after a pc which will play dvds, copy cds, browse the net (we have a spangly new broadband connection up in my uni house), possibly play a few games and i suppose i might even do a bit of work on it.
    So, ive found the following 3 pcs

    AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Processor
    256Mb DDR RAM
    60Gb Hard Drive
    DVD-RW Drive
    Up to 64Mb Unichrome GRX Graphics
    17" CRT Monitor (15.8" V.I.S)
    4x USB Connections
    Works 7.0 & Norton Antivirus 2003
    Windows XP Home Edition
    1 Year FREE Onsite Warranty
    ?550

    Intel Celeron 2.5MHz Processor
    128Mb DDR RAM Memory
    40Gb Hard drive
    CDRW/DVD Combo Drives
    64Mb Intel Extreme Graphics 3D
    17" Monitor (15.7" V.I.S.)
    2 PCI Slots
    6 USB connections
    Windows XP Home Edition
    1 Year Free Onsite warranty
    ?500

    Intel Celeron 2.5GHz Processor
    128Mb DDR RAM
    40 Gb Hard Drive
    DVD / CDRW Combi Drive
    64Mb Intel Extreme Graphics 3D
    6 USB Ports
    14 " TFT Monitor
    Epson Stylus C44+ Printer & 1.8 M Cable
    Windows XP Home Operating system
    1 Year FREE Onsite Warranty
    ?500

    Also my dad found a laptop for ?600 which i cant find on the site now, but the printout he got says its a celeron 2GHz, 256 DDR RAM, 30 Gb HD, DVD drive, 64mb intel 852GM.

    Any advice on which to get as i dont have a clue. The top one looks the best to me, as i might even be able to play a few games on it (any chance of something like BF1942 playing on it, as im keen to try out broadband multiplayer, if not ill probably just dig out CS as that should work). Im not particularly bothered about the printer and scanner, as i dont have that much room available and i can just use my flatmates printer if im desperate.
    Long post... any advice please?

    #2
    AMD Athlon XP 2600 (333MHz) ?77.55
    Abit KD7-G Skt A VIA KT-400 DDR400 8xAGP +SATA RAID +Gigabit LAN +USB2 + 6 ch audio ATX ? 57.58
    256MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM ? 30.55
    17" AOC 7F 0.25mm Flat screen ? 78.73
    LG 48x24x48 IDE Burn-proof ? 22.33
    Sony DVD Drive 16x IDE ? 24.68
    Coolermaster CAC-T01 Centurion 1 aluminium + zinc case USB mic audio firewire ? 43.48
    400W P3/P4/AMD quiet PSU with PFC ? 25.85
    60 GB Seagate 7200rpm IDE ATA100 ? 49.35
    ATI 256MB DDR Radeon 9600 DVI-I TV -Out ? 106.93

    ?517 and you have your self a PC which destroys any of those other PC's performance into the ground, just need to piece it together yourself.

    Plus those PC's you mentioned won't run BF1942 to well tbh, or at least at any high level of detail.

    Building PC's isn't difficult and with a even little PC knowledge there is enough info online to do it yourself.

    Comment


      #3
      I think i would do that, thing is im only at home for a week before going back off to uni, so i just wanted to get it all out the way ASAP. Also, if it broke down it would be a pain in the arse to get fixed, whereas if i buy the whole thing from pc world or somewhere like it i will have customer upport lines and 1 year insurance or warranty or whatever its called.

      Are there any shops that let you tell them what you want and build it for you? Or is that just stupidly expensive?
      Thanks for the help all the same.

      Comment


        #4
        If it's for "general stuff which might include some games but a fair bit of other things too, on a budget", you might want to see what sort of deals Dell are doing this month. Perhaps you'll get a bit more for the same money, compared to PCworld.

        edit - sorry, didn't see you wanted immediate fixing capabilities. I suspect Dell do on-site warranties.

        edit 2 - hmm, seems closest Dell is ?579 delivered and matches the last package you've quoted (but it has a full P4 2.4 processor, not a Celeron). To be honest, you'll struggle with BF1942 as mentioned - it's a suprisingly hardware demanding game, I'd say you'd at the very least want a "proper" graphics card, not one of these integrated things. Also, I'd tend to avoid that top one... I've never heard of that graphics card, and it sounds like some really awful integrated ****e.

        Comment


          #5
          Some good points, i will have to find out if its possible to put in a new 3d card at a later date - wouldnt mind one with a TVout bit on it, so i could watch dvds through it on my tv.
          If it would be possible to change the graphics card at some point would you agree that the top pc has the best specs...
          Has most ram, i believe athlon is faster than celeron family of processors, has DVDr capabilities and would last me longest.

          Comment


            #6
            Well, the various machines should have AGP slots, so you'd be able to put in a more beefy graphics card down the line, yeah. On that basis, aye, the top one seems the best. Even my old hunk-o-junk upstairs (p2 450 with an old 3dfx voodoo3 gfx card) plays DVDs fine, I'm sure that machine would cane it.

            Would be worth asking if that 2600 is a Barton or a Tbred.. the Barton will be a bit nippier. When the time comes to upgrade the graphics card, ensure you put in at least another strip of 256meg.

            Comment


              #7
              Thanks again for all the advice, i think i will go for the top model. Looks that little bit beefier than the other models for ?50 more, plus it has the antivirus and works 7.
              Im going to do a few searches and try to find out about the graphics card, the description reads a little weirdly "Up to 64Mb Graphics", have any idea what that means?
              Just thought that i might finally be ableto play GTA3 under decent conditions (ie, with over 10fps which is what it felt like on the current family pc).
              Thanks.

              Comment


                #8
                the description reads a little weirdly "Up to 64Mb Graphics", have any idea what that means?
                hi, that just means the ammout of memory that is dedicated to the graphics from the main memory IE. you have got 128mb ram in you your computer and you use 64mb for the graphics then your system will onlyhave 64mb to use.

                also you can change the ammout of memory dedicatided to the graphices in the bios it will go from 8mb to 64mb.

                hope that makes sense .

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yep i think i get that. Does that mean that the up to 64Mb Unichrome card is actually not as good as those 64Mb Intel Extreme Graphics Cards? Because those dedicated Intel Cards arent using up any of the RAM from the main system. Am i understanding that right? Which system would you recommend?
                  Thanks.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    hi, yeah you got that right but even them intel graphics are shared memory ones heres a link to the intel site with info about them-LINK

                    out of the 3 you've shown i would go for the AMD system even though it's a bit more money but you do get more for you'r money with that system than any of the others

                    Comment


                      #11
                      hi, if you could afford to up your budget to 600quid then you could get this one from pcworld-
                      Intel Celeron 2.7MHz Processor
                      512Mb DDR RAM
                      80Gb Hard drive
                      CDRW/DVD Combo Drives
                      64Mb nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Graphics
                      17" CRT Monitor

                      ok so it's 50--100 quid more than the others but it's way better than the others for starters theres at least double the memory, bigger hard drive and a dedicatided graphics card which will allow you to play games at a decent level .

                      for 600 quid i would say it's a bargin( ok so you would get it cheaper if you built it your self but not every body wants to do that )

                      so i would say if you can afford it go and get it

                      oh heres a link for you-LINK

                      EDIT it even says it's got a TV tuner , which is is nice


                      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      EDIT

                      have a look on dells outlet site and you can get this pc for just under 500quid -
                      2.66GHz Pentium? 4 Processor with 533MHz
                      256MB (2x128) Dual Channel DDR333
                      Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
                      Hard Disk Drive: 120GB (7200rpm) 8MB Cache IDE Hard Drive
                      Video: 128MB nVidia GeForce4 FX5200 with DVI
                      Modem: Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem
                      DVD Drive: 4x DVD+R\+RW
                      Software: Dell Paint Shop Pro Standard Edition
                      Microsoft? Works? 7.0
                      IMAGE EXPERT STD ENG EMEA
                      AOL, Dellnet + Tiscali UK ISP Combo
                      Norton AntiVirus 2003 (90 Day Trial

                      which is a very good spec for the price which includes delivery then that leaves you with 50-100 quid for a monitor which you can get a second hand 17 or 19inch one for under 80delivered.


                      it's up to you which you go for but i would get the one from dell as it's a very good system that will play the latest games and it'd got a dvd rewriter and microst works
                      the only downside is the fact that theres no monitor

                      Comment


                        #12
                        That other pc worl one you mentioned does seem pretty good, but it doesnt have the dvd writer which although i dont have any plans for copying any dvds would be useful for transferring files from one pc to another at some point. I would think about the dell one, but i dont really want to get it delivered as im at uni at the moment meaning im not always in.
                        I think im going to just head into pc world as the place is sure to have a huge selection of pcs to buy, Ill look for the AMD one and any other cheap ones they may have. Problem is i've heard some people online complaining about the quality of advice given from pc world staff when trying to buy pcs. But i think i do have the basic knowledge required to ignore any bull****. Hope so anyway.
                        Thanks
                        for the advice and help chaps.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Dont mean to sound condescending, but if after all this advice your still buying from PC world, your making a big mistake. The muppets in there know as much about PC's as George bush knows about politics.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            While studying IT at uni I had a part time job at PC World. Trust me when I say - DO NOT BUY A PC UNIT from the Dixons group.

                            How does it work? Sales people have certain targets to make on certain units. Therefore those certain units will always satisfy their customer's needs.

                            You will get stuck with an under performing machine, full of propriety hardware which can't be upgraded. You will get stuck with a high end CPU which has the bottle neck of slow cheap memory, and a GF4MX or a GF FX 5200 chipset which are based on GF2 tech. An out dated non universal DVDr, and a slow HDD. Yet you will pay a premium.

                            Avoid PC world, and avoid time. If you ignore the advice, then don't come crying when doom2 or hl2 wont run!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              and to the people recommended the celeron 2 - please stop right there!

                              Bloody hell guys, come on! At least recommend decent, current technology.

                              Comment

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