New Build- Couple of questions

NewApproach

Hi,

Posted this thread in the main computers forum and was suggested that I consider building a computer myself. First off, I have no experience of doing this from start to finish, the furthest I've gone with regards to hardware is changing RAM, simple stuff like that.

As for the computer itself, its basically going to be used a lot, for everyday tasks: office, internet, music, video etc. I've been told a budget of €1k, which I'd say is more than enough for what he needs. He would want it to last for 4 years at least I'd say, so I'd want to 'future-proof' as much as possible without getting things that are completely unnecessary.

Doesn't need a monitor or any other peripherals either

So basically, will I save money by building it myself?
How hard is it to build?
What would you recommend both spec wise and self build/Dell etc?

Thanks

marco_polo

NewApproach wrote: »

Hi,

Posted this thread in the main computers forum and was suggested that I consider building a computer myself. First off, I have no experience of doing this from start to finish, the furthest I've gone with regards to hardware is changing RAM, simple stuff like that.

As for the computer itself, its basically going to be used a lot, for everyday tasks: office, internet, music, video etc. I've been told a budget of €1k, which I'd say is more than enough for what he needs. He would want it to last for 4 years at least I'd say, so I'd want to 'future-proof' as much as possible without getting things that are completely unnecessary.

Doesn't need a monitor or any other peripherals either

So basically, will I save money by building it myself?
How hard is it to build?
What would you recommend both spec wise and self build/Dell etc?

Thanks

For those needs I think is a 300-400 euro Dell all the way and just buy another one in four years time to be honest if it is starting to age.

I think a good PC bought 3-4 year ago would handle what he needs now so there no need for future proofing, as the same should hold true for a fairly good PC bought now.

EDIT: If you want to spend a grand then you would save money building your own , below about the 400-500 mark it is not really worth it, unless for the experience and satisfaction of having done it.

jonny72

Just look for something with at least 1tb harddrive, plenty of ram and a quadcore processor - those components will extend the life of his PC, and will be fine for the next 4 or 5 years easily (unless he ever gets into gaming then it will be obselete a hell of a lot quicker)

Go with a dell aswell, overpriced but you get a warranty and theres no hassle.

http://ireland.dell.com/ie/en/home/Desktops/desktop-xps-430/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-xps-430&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1



.. on another note.. for the other builders here.. to 'upgrade' to a GT220, a 55 euro card, they want you to pay .. wait for it..

nVidia GeForce GT220 1024MB graphics card [add € 140.00 or €6/month1]

Leman_Russ

jonny72 wrote: »

unless he ever gets into gaming then it will be obselete a hell of a lot quicker

I thought there was no such thing as an "Up to date" gaming PC. By the time your items arrive in the mail, new stuff has come out ;D

marco_polo

jonny72 wrote: »

Just look for something with at least 1tb harddrive, plenty of ram and a quadcore processor - those components will extend the life of his PC, and will be fine for the next 4 or 5 years easily (unless he ever gets into gaming then it will be obselete a hell of a lot quicker)

Go with a dell aswell, overpriced but you get a warranty and theres no hassle.

http://ireland.dell.com/ie/en/home/Desktops/desktop-xps-430/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-xps-430&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1



.. on another note.. for the other builders here.. to 'upgrade' to a GT220, a 55 euro card, they want you to pay .. wait for it..

nVidia GeForce GT220 1024MB graphics card [add € 140.00 or €6/month1]

For exactly that reason I think anyone considering spending as much money as on an XPS Dell should certainly go with a self build.

Effluo

jonny72 wrote: »

Just look for something with at least 1tb harddrive, plenty of ram and a quadcore processor

These are completely unneccessary for the ops needs.

If you think about it the power which can be found in a netbook equals that of a decent laptop from around 4+ years ago.
A netbook will not struggle with any of those tasks either!
Well as long as you don't want to watch hd content on it.


Anyway i'd still go for a dual core proc(cause they're so cheap+not celeron), and at least 2gigs of ram, Windows 7 would also be a good thing to get.

A good rule on Dell machines is "If you want anything more expensive than 500euro or anything customised from their set rig then, you'll be paying too much"

The right rig for you is definately a cheapy dell though. If you want more hard-drive space than they're offering you then don't upgrade with them, It will as the rule states be way overpriced.
Just get one from komplett.ie or ebuyer or onestoppcshop.ie and install it yourself. It's very simple

Check back with us to what exactly you're looking at

jonny72

Of course a 300 or 400 euro pc is fine for him, however reading the OP original post his grandfather prefers to spend money and get a quality machine, and if he is determined then a quadcore, 1 tb and lots of ram will theoretically last a lot longer than a dualcore with half that space, I guarantee if he is offered the two and had reasons explained he will still go for the quadcore

As for recommending building - it saves money and is much better than a dell _for us_ ... most of my friends, some of whom are quite techie, just want to buy a machine that they press the on button and it goes and they would detest the idea of having to build machine regardless of how much money it saves them.

superfly

he could just spec a machine and get Komplett or Ankermann to build it for him

Effluo

jonny72 wrote: »

Of course a 300 or 400 euro pc is fine for him,

Yes you're right!
That would be perfect for him for years and years to come. When the most extreme thing you're running is a office suite then it makes next to no difference between having a single core, dual core or quad core.

The point is that any machine can run an office suite very efficiently. Office suites will not get much more resource hungry for another... well probably ever!

He'd be trowing away money, On the quality argument... Think about what you're saying! There is no difference in "quality" between quads and duals, unless one is blowing up pretty regular!


Also check out prices for the cheapest Dell(which is all he needs) and building your own. You end up using very old parts when trying to compete with the Dell's price.
I'll pick a Dell later to show exactly where i think the best value can be found right now

mgadget

I agree with what marco polo said. I have a 2+ year old Dell Dimension with an Intel Core2Duo chip, installed Windows 7 on it and have handed it down to the parents and it is no way a redundant technology. It'll serve them well for at least 4 more years or more. The i7 in your other thread would be overkill for most peoples needs.

marco_polo wrote: »

For those needs I think is a 300-400 euro Dell all the way and just buy another one in four years time to be honest if it is starting to age.

I think a good PC bought 3-4 year ago would handle what he needs now so there no need for future proofing, as the same should hold true for a fairly good PC bought now.

EDIT: If you want to spend a grand then you would save money building your own , below about the 400-500 mark it is not really worth it, unless for the experience and satisfaction of having done it.

Effluo

Right just had a look on Dell and looks like it's the ops lucky day!

Amazing deal, Windows 7, dual core 2.6ghz pentium proc, 3gigs of ram all for 329 delivered!

Standard 1 year warranty, Just get the standard package btw

If you need a new screen too, don't get it from dell Although they offer great screens, they don't offer any budget options!
Their cheapest screen is €160 which is a lot when you consider things like this
http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=31284447

and this with built in speakers

http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=30991245

Don't buy anything from Dell other than the pc ok
For anti-virus download "AVG free edition" or "Avast Free edition"(there's no need to spend money)
For an office suite, you could also download "Open Office" for free. It contains all that Microsoft word has except once again it's free and has a pdf converter. Although some people are not a fan of it, no one will argue that it's not a great option for the occasional user


Also if you fancy more than that 320gig storage you could just stick a second hard-drive in it by yourself. It's very easy
Here's a terrabyte for 64euro
http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=24542930

NewApproach

Effluo wrote: »

Right just had a look on Dell and looks like it's the ops lucky day!

Amazing deal, Windows 7, dual core 2.6ghz pentium proc, 3gigs of ram all for 329 delivered!

Standard 1 year warranty, Just get the standard package btw

If you need a new screen too, don't get it from dell Although they offer great screens, they don't offer any budget options!
Their cheapest screen is €160 which is a lot when you consider things like this
http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=31284447

and this with built in speakers

http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=30991245

Don't buy anything from Dell other than the pc ok
For anti-virus download "AVG free edition" or "Avast Free edition"(there's no need to spend money)
For an office suite, you could also download "Open Office" for free. It contains all that Microsoft word has except once again it's free and has a pdf converter. Although some people are not a fan of it, no one will argue that it's not a great option for the occasional user


Also if you fancy more than that 320gig storage you could just stick a second hard-drive in it by yourself. It's very easy
Here's a terrabyte for 64euro
http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=24542930

Just spoke to him and he said he wants to wait till after Christmas, but after seeing that there, I might get him to reconsider, it looks great, thanks! But for another €70 could get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
4096MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [4x1024] Memory
500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive.

Would this be a better deal?

Then I could add a graphics card, something like this:..... OK was going to link, but komplett is down, basically something around €100, any suggestions?

Thanks for all the advice, its great!

NewApproach

Also I meant to add he already has a good monitor so there's no need for a new one.

marco_polo

NewApproach wrote: »

Just spoke to him and he said he wants to wait till after Christmas, but after seeing that there, I might get him to reconsider, it looks great, thanks! But for another €70 could get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
4096MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [4x1024] Memory
500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive.

Would this be a better deal?

Then I could add a graphics card, something like this:..... OK was going to link, but komplett is down, basically something around €100, any suggestions?

Thanks for all the advice, its great!

For moderate usage not sure that there would be much of a noticable difference for the extra 70, but either would be a fairly good deal I think.

Shouldn't need to spend anything extra on a graphics card really, if it is only for the purposes above the the onboard should be fine.

Effluo

NewApproach wrote: »

Just spoke to him and he said he wants to wait till after Christmas, but after seeing that there, I might get him to reconsider, it looks great, thanks! But for another €70 could get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
4096MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [4x1024] Memory
500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive.

Would this be a better deal?

Then I could add a graphics card, something like this:..... OK was going to link, but komplett is down, basically something around €100, any suggestions?

Thanks for all the advice, its great!

Yeah for 70 euro more delivered that would be a good deal in terms of what components you're getting, but as marco said, "it wouldn't make much of a differ considering what you'll be doing" Make sure it has Windows 7 too though..

Graphics cards are for gaming and video editing(only with certain softwares + gpus it's pretty much for professionals) So the onboard as long as you're not doing either of those would be perfect.

P.S. If he wants to wait till after Crimbo then go ahead and let him. The price of computers as a whole goes down pretty steadily month by month.
And the deal which i found will more than likely be easily bettered in two months time
Although again we have the argument of What does it matter. Really and truly the best pc for your needs is the cheapest one

swirlser

NewApproach wrote: »

Just spoke to him and he said he wants to wait till after Christmas, but after seeing that there, I might get him to reconsider, it looks great, thanks! But for another €70 could get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
4096MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [4x1024] Memory
500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive.

Would this be a better deal?

Then I could add a graphics card, something like this:..... OK was going to link, but komplett is down, basically something around €100, any suggestions?

Thanks for all the advice, its great!

Thats making a lot more sense than the i7 anyway

As for gpu, even tho he may not need any - Its my own personal opinion that onboard is so freaking dirty its unbelievable - with that being said however, the absolutely cheapest thing you can find will do you just fine. (dont want him doing image editing on a 22inch with intergrated graphics). That was actually the very thing I was bumping into when I did have a glance on dells site, the cheap 300-400 machines (which would serve all ur needs) only came with on board gpu.

Anyway, your definitely going in the right direction now at least.