Where did you buy your PC?
peregrinus
Join Date: 2010-07-16 Member: 72445Members
Join Date: 2010-07-16 Member: 72445Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">(UK retailers)</div>Need to buy a PC; where would you recommend I get one from?
Want one that will be good for gaming and video editing.
Price... ideally ≤£800 including monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Are these suitable? <a href="http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/" target="_blank">http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/</a>
Want one that will be good for gaming and video editing.
Price... ideally ≤£800 including monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Are these suitable? <a href="http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/" target="_blank">http://www.chillblast.com/Systems-less-than-L750/</a>
Comments
Wouldn't buy from the US anyway. As soon as it landed in the UK I would be charged 20% tax on the price of the PC, plus handling fees.
This system is more expensive than what I had in mind but looks pretty great, though I'd have to add a bluray drive
<a href="http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Striker.html" target="_blank">http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Striker.html</a>
Basic Specification:
EZCool A200D Rev 2.0 ATX Case
Intel Core i5 2500K Processor 3.3GHz
Asus P8Z68-V LE Motherboard
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Graphics Card
1000GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Disk
24x Sony DVD-RW Drive
650watt EZCool PSU
Onboard High Definition Audio
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
Included Peripherals:
Asus VS242H 24" TFT Monitor
Corded Keyboard & Mouse
2.0 Speakers
Ports on rear of system: *
4 x USB 2.0 ports
2 x USB 3.0 ports
1 x PS/2 for keyboard
Audio outputs
1 x 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet for network
1 x DVI output
1 x HDMI output
1 x VGA output
Even I can do it- the only finnicky part is hooking up the case's USB/audio/HDD+power lights to the mobo, and even that stuff is optional.
Even I can do it- the only finnicky part is hooking up the case's USB/audio/HDD+power lights to the mobo, and even that stuff is optional.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I find that easy. The finnicky part is socketing the CPU and ensuring proper thermal conductivity between it and the cooler.
I either get mobo instructions in Chinglish or it says something like "connect the yellow cable to + and the green cable to -" *looks at red and black cable*
'Nuff said<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Obvious Didn't read thread
a) Newegg doesn't ship UK
b) 20% VAT TAX or something when it hits UK shores
Overclockers is expensive but can have a better selection, especially for RAM and Graphics cards. They also go through a thorough test on your PC before they ship it to you.
When you buy a warranty is it best to get a 3 year one even though it adds £200?
overclockers.co.uk
scan.co.uk
Are my main port of calls.
Will there be significant performance difference between these options? The 2nd option is £29 more expensive
<!--coloro:#00FFFF--><span style="color:#00FFFF"><!--/coloro-->1) Pro Memory Upgrade 8GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 4GB sticks)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:#FFFF00--><span style="color:#FFFF00"><!--/coloro-->2) Corsair 8GB PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 4GB sticks)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
or, is it worth paying an extra £59 and getting this
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro-->Pro Memory Upgrade 16GB PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (4 x 4GB sticks)<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
Is 16GB overkill? At most I'll use it for gaming, photoshop, video, photos - but not all at the same time.
'Pro Memory Upgrade' is actually the brand name, would you believe lol. But yea point taken.
Unless someone corrects me, I think RAM is there to make things like alt+tabbing and loading into games less painful. Doesn't affect frame-rate in games unless the system chugs if it has to load new stuff into a maxed-out memory (unlikely to happen when most games are made for consoles). No idea how it affects your photoshop, video and photos though (by "video and photos" you mean editing, right?)
If it's any help, ebuyer tells me I bought "2x Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 unbuffered" a year ago, and the system is happy for me to alt+tab BF3.
The 2nd option supports higher clockspeeds. As long as your mainboard can support speeds that high it'll give you some extra performance. Not terribly much, but some.
Unless someone corrects me, I think RAM is there to make things like alt+tabbing and loading into games less painful. Doesn't affect frame-rate in games unless the system chugs if it has to load new stuff into a maxed-out memory (unlikely to happen when most games are made for consoles). No idea how it affects your photoshop, video and photos though (by "video and photos" you mean editing, right?)
If it's any help, ebuyer tells me I bought "2x Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 unbuffered" a year ago, and the system is happy for me to alt+tab BF3.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Memory is mostly used for quick access to files that you don't want to load from the HDD each time you want to use/modify. So having everything of importance in Memory will greatly improve loading times. SSD is a cute addition to this as well.
Never buy a PC, always purchase the parts seperately and put it together yourself. It'll be way cheaper and you won't get shafted.
As far as RAM goes, it's dirt cheap these days, and the more you have the faster your PC will run. You can't really go far wrong, just make sure your motherboard supports the right type and make sure you have at least 4GB.
Never buy anything that says 'pro' on it either. That's just another way of making something sound fancy when it isn't and charging you extra for the convenience!
The 2nd option supports higher clockspeeds. As long as your mainboard can support speeds that high it'll give you some extra performance. Not terribly much, but some.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is what I've selected - can still change it:
Intel Core i5 2500K Processor 3.30 GHz
Asus Sabertooth P67 Motherboard
1TB 7200RPM Hard Disk
8GB Corsair PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 4GB sticks)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB
Sony 24x DVD-RW Drive
OCZ StealthXstream 2 600W PSU
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
24" Asus VS247H Widescreen LED Monitor
total = £930
Any thoughts?
Never buy a PC, always purchase the parts seperately and put it together yourself. It'll be way cheaper and you won't get shafted.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Would you <i>really</i> recommend that to someone with zero experience of these things?
I'd like to try but it seems too risky if I connect something the wrong way or put things in the wrong place.
Out of interest I searched on Dabs for all the components I have selected from Chillblast and the total is £938.12, compared to £931.19 from Chillblast which includes Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.
Only the RAM and the monitors were slightly different since Dabs didn't have the same one Chillblast had. I don't see how ordering separate parts would save money...at least ordering from Dabs.
Definitely! I'm the least DIY-capable person ever, and if I can do it then you can.
A built up computer might look confusing with its masses of cables but when you start from scratch yourself you'll see it's only a few modules clipped onto the motherboard or case.
The only tool you need is a crosshead screwdriver and the only bit of experience that helps is knowing the order to install things (I think I tend to go PSU -> motherboard -> CPU -> GFX -> RAM -> disk drives).
In terms of connecting cables there's actually not that much (the majority are just pushing generic PSU connectors into drives/mobo/GFX card). Like I said, the only finnicky bit I find is hooking the cases front-side inputs to the motherboard, but lolf says he has no problem with these. After I built this computer nothing happened when I pressed the power button (that stomach-churning feeling when you think that money has been thrown away) but it turns out I mixed up the + and - for the power button. Swapped it around and it worked. Looking back on it I'd have thought that should have made things go boom but it seems fairly sherpa-proof.
There are plenty of tutorials out there, and the process itself is only marginally more complicated than Lego at this point (back in the day of jumpered motherboards, manually-assigned IRQ addresses and memory ranges, not so much), around the level of putting together simple flat-pack furniture. Seconded that getting thermal paste on the CPU properly is the most difficult part of the build, unless you buy an aftermarket cooler with a paraffin thermal transfer pad already laid on it (the performance difference between the idiot-proof paraffin and enthusiast thermal grease is negligible for non-overclockers).
Just make CERTAIN that you only leave the case-standoffs which are directly under the mounting through-holes on your motherboard attached. Unscrew or unclip any others that might be screwed/clipped in for shipping purposes. Shorts caused by metal touching where there shouldn't be any metal against the back of the (mother/main)board are Bad News.
So consider it, but if the mere thought of building your own fills you with dread, then maybe you're better off buying a good computer now and then to try your hand at adding upgrade parts to it later once the warranty's gone anyway. Ease your way into it. Once you're comfortable swapping GPUs, hard drives and RAM you may feel ready to try your hand at the rest.
Protip: Go for one that has a solid processor and a good mainboard. Everything else is easy to upgrade.