[StealthSoul]

Recently my hard drive fried (yesterday) and then instead of getting a new harddrive i realised that that PC is.. Crap, tbh.
SO! I've decided to get a new one.

I have a £300 - £400 budget, and am trying to look for a good PC I could get with that!
( UK£ 400 = 786.16 US$ )

I'm going to be using it for Games alot, I'm looking for a fast CPU and good ram. Anyone know any good online UK computer stores? I'm thinking I could get stuff cheaper online.

Well, If you need any more info then ask, so please suggest what I should get ^^

I'm looking at mobo's right now, I'm not sure whether to go with Intel or AMD =/

Thanks, Stealth

Edited by StealthSoul, 10 February 2007 - 07:29 AM.

[Advertisements]

Suprisingly, I was looking on play today and come across some good cheap PCs.

http://play.com/PC/P...earchtype=genre

http://play.com/PC/P...PC/Product.html

http://play.com/PC/P...PC/Product.html

Tell me what you think, if not ill help you choose out some individual parts to look out for.

[SuperSam]

Suprisingly, I was looking on play today and come across some good cheap PCs.

http://play.com/PC/P...earchtype=genre

http://play.com/PC/P...PC/Product.html

http://play.com/PC/P...PC/Product.html

Tell me what you think, if not ill help you choose out some individual parts to look out for.

[StealthSoul]

http://play.com/PC/P...earchtype=genre

The first one seems pretty good and affordable!

Thanks for that =)

Well I also want to take a look at some others, and/or picking out seperate parts and see how much that'd cost.

I don't need one of the best computers out there just one thats cheap but good. Not really looking into getting Vista any time soon either

[Neil Jones]

The three machines linked above is using onboard graphics, which are never as good as a separate card no matter what brand of Nvidia onboard graphics it is.

Having bashed the model numbers into Google, the Gateway one doesn't have AGP or PCI-Express on it either, so you won't be able to upgrade it for gaming later. Therefore its not as good a buy as it looks because it won't do what you want, which is gaming as there's no option for it.

The two HPs both have the required connector inside the case to put a decent graphics card in, but you'll then probably find that the power supply they've put in isn't powerful enough to power a separate card so that would have to be replaced at the same time. Therefore you're looking at a lot more than £429.

Edited by Neil Jones, 10 February 2007 - 02:23 PM.

[StealthSoul]

I see.. Thanks for that neil. So according to what you say, It will only handle the onboard graphics and not the graphics card I put in? Because I have an ATi graphics card which I was going to put in if it was better than the one included

Well, Could I still be able to find a decent PC that can also upgrade, within my price range?

Will it be better if I buy the parts seperate rather than a prebuilt pc?

Edited by StealthSoul, 12 February 2007 - 04:57 AM.

[SuperSam]

You'd probably be better making it yourself, but it requires confidence. Sorry about those PCs, they are all very good but I didn't realise about the graphics card lanes missing. Though onboard graphics can be OK for the lower end games, the newer ones it will have a problem with. If you do decide to build your own, post here and I'll help you pick out some parts.

[StealthSoul]

Yeah I think I will build myself. I know how to, I'm just not sure what to get..

[warriorscot]

I would get an AMD system based on the AM2 chipset its the only way you can afford anything decent you dont have very big budget for a machine for gaming. You might just be able to afford a X2 processor and a gig or two of ddr2 but not the fast stuff, ild look at getting one of the cheaper antec cases with PSU the cheap ones dont look as good but they are solid and as good quality as money can buy in a case. Shop around see what deals you can get.

[StealthSoul]

Hm, Thanks warriorscot i'm looking into the AMD stuff.

Does anyone know a good place online to buy these things that'll deliver to the UK?

[warriorscot]

ebuyer, scan and overclockers.co.uk are the ones i use.

[StealthSoul]

Thanks alot i'll take a look at some of the things you mentioned on those sites later tonight =]

[Spider-Man]

Ebuyer have quite a few decent cases in their clearance section, all under £30.There's an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ for £75. 300gb Sata hard drive for £50. And a cheap AM2 Foxconn motherboard for £30 with PCI-E and Sata ports. Then there's Ebuyer 1GB KIT (2X512MB) DDR2 800MHz / PC2-6400 Extra Value Ram for £60
Dabs.com also has a Value brand PSU for £26, DabsValue 550W PSU Titan 12cm, which I've used before and personally quite liked, quiet and easily ran my system without any problems. Finally, there's your optical drives, which ebuyer also has dvd-rw drives for around £20. This would bring this level of system in at about £295. Then you'd have around £100 for either more memory(another 1gb kit at £60) or a good graphics card.

[warriorscot]

I wouldnt get a foxconn motherboard they arent fantastic there are cheap ones from decent brands if you look around, and £26 for a PSU is asking for trouble its the one part that you really cant skimp on you want to be looking at spending at least £40 for something quality for cheap and reliable Antec(get one with a case they are essentially free) or Hiper but in the 400W range which is all you really need there is plenty for 40-50 from really good brands like akasa and tagan.

[StealthSoul]

PSU is the Power Supply, Correct?

What other Motherboard can I get instead that will be better, or is that one fine?

[warriorscot]

One of the K9s from MSI or an abit nforce 570 board would be my advice