New Desktop

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Smack

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Manchester, UK
Right now I've got the family desktop that I'm currently having problems with (Thread in software section), and my laptop that is decent for games, but nothing special. However with this second year of university coming up, I need to be able to separate university work from any games I play, meaning I'm going to need a completely separate desktop so I don't end up on games when I should be revising. >.<

My current laptop:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600
Motherboard: Acer JV50 with Intel PM45 chipset
RAM: 4 Gig / Dual Channel / DDR3 SDRAM / @ 533.3Mhz / PC3-8500
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 / M924
Monitor: AUO B156XW01
HDD: Toshiba MK3263GSX / 320GB
Wireless: Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN

This runs all the games I play quite smoothly, but I don't really play any intensive high-end games. Football Manager, Dawn of War, Guild Wars when I've got a desktop, Age of Empires.... And that's all of the top of my head. Empire: Total War and Hearts of Iron III.

I need a desktop that can play those pretty much, and something that I'm not going to have to improve or buy a new one. Don't need high end or top specs, as long as it'll last at least 3 years minimum. An operating system isn't necessary since I'll be buying one from a student website for the family desktop, that I can install on more than 1 PC.

I know someone who can put a computer together for me, but I'll need to factor in between £30 and £50. If there are any decent computers pre-built that you can find, great, if not, I'll ask around and see who can put it together for me for cheap.

Budget is £500, though I can stretch that if there is an amazing offer on for something. Top end budget is £800 if there is something that is like, a must have for the price.

I leave my new computer in your capable hands!

~ Smack :)

Edit: Can't buy the computer till the 20th of September if it goes over £500 due to income. Also, my cousin should be moving down from Newcastle, so can probably get him to build it for me fingers crossed. And I'm UK based too if you didn't pick that up from the pounds instead of dollars. ^_^
 
Since you're going from a laptop, I presume you'll need a monitor as well? If you do end up needing one, with your budget it would probably be best to go with a pre-built.

It's difficult to make a £5/600 PC last 3 years, but I'll see what I can do.

Empire:TW is a really quite intensive game.
 
I can use my TV for a monitor, since the PC will be in my bedroom anyway. And if it becomes a hassle, I can get one from the Argos staff shop for less than half price.

Basically, no thanks. >.<
 
I've been having a look, and it can sort of be done for £500. However, you said you'd be prepared to spend more next month once you have the money; in my opinion, you'd be much better off spending that bit extra. It will last you a good deal longer (mostly by getting you a better GPU).
I suggest you ask again next month, and then I or someone else can help you choose parts then (the prices of computing and what is a sensible choice at the minute, fluctuates quite a lot over the period of a month :p)

Here's the £500 build I put together, if you're interested:
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz.. | Ebuyer.com
RAM - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10666 Gold i5 Memory.. | Ebuyer.com
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio.. | Ebuyer.com
GPU - XFX HD 5750 XXX 512MB DDR5 DUAL DVI DISPLAYPORT HDMI.. | Ebuyer.com
PSU - Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80.. | Ebuyer.com
Case - Chieftec Aegis Black/Silver CH-05B E-ATX Mid Tower.. | Ebuyer.com
HDD - Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm.. | Ebuyer.com
ODD - Sony AD7241S 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM with.. | Ebuyer.com
Total: £517.40 free 5-day shipping
 
I shall take your advice and ask again then, but I thought I might as well get the ball rolling now.

As a side note, every Saturday there is a world famous (apparently) computer market in Manchester. I've already had good reliability from them, so whenever I've got a final list of what people recommend online, I'll go to Bowlers and see what I can get even cheaper, which I expect can be done on a lot of products.

Thanks for the start though Yami. :)
 
Good idea, it's always good to shop around. I'd love to visit that computer market sometime :)
 
I must be honest, I do enjoy going around to browse it when I can. I don't know much about computers, enough to get around and fix what I need to, but it is interesting to go and have a look through the wares. Plus it's always fun to read the ready made gaming computers by the names of "The Destroyer" and "Vanquisher". ^_^
 
Right, so it's been nearly half the month, and I only have 2 dates before my money comes through that I can check out the local computer market, (being the 11th and the 18th. Money comes in on the 20th.) Now I know I don't know tons about computers, so what I'm looking for now is a list of components with their current prices and how much they'll cost online, that I can search for at this market and see what I can get cheaper. There is always between £10 - £50 that can be haggled off the prices easily face to ace, so I'm sure I can save some money. Won't buy anything unless it is properly boxed and brand new though. So what I'm looking for is a list of several items for each part of the computer, so 3 - 5 different CPU's so I can see which I'll get cheapest at the market, etc. If someone could provide a list for each part of the computer, or even if it's just 1 part for the sake of putting things together, that'd be awesome.

I don't care how confusing you make things, so if you list parts and only some work with certain ones, and some work better with others while this component won't with this one, etc.. I know I'm being a bit of a pain, and I'm sorry in advance if anyone gets annoyed. ^_^

Also, is it worth moving from an X4 to a X6?

Original X4 from earlier: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz.. | Ebuyer.com

X6 I saw: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz 9MB Cache Socket AM3.. | Ebuyer.com
 
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