43 replies to this topic

[lincs1]

Are you going to try and build one yourself then mate?
I can't recommend it enough,the savings you make...the satisfaction of knowing you built it(especialy when it boot's on start up 1st time).

If you need any help whatsoever through the build just give me a shout.

i will not build my own because i'm worried that it will be mayhem

[jay2]

i will not build my own because i'm worried that it will be mayhem

I thought the same when i built my first pc. It's really not as hard as you think,and there are a lot of people on here that will help you along the way.

Give it a go,make it a project and post your progress on here with any problems (if)you encounter and help will be on hand if you need it.

[lincs1]

I thought the same when i built my first pc. It's really not as hard as you think,and there are a lot of people on here that will help you along the way.

Give it a go,make it a project and post your progress on here with any problems (if)you encounter and help will be on hand if you need it.

the only thing that worries me are the bios settings and the jumper setting's and if it doesn't work when i have thrown it all together...lol

i was quoted £500+ not saying who to custom build me a pc and it was £400 odd just for the bits only and that is using top brand stuff

[frankie4fingers]

Is it the full OEM version though mate?cos if it's the upgrade version your knackered,you can't upgrade a blank HD(unless you install win98 and upgrade that way).

Or have you got the special version?

I've installed a new ms windows system using an upgrade disc. You have to have a an earlier operating system installation disc when you install. ie insert brand spanking new sp2 upgrade disc, it will say it wants an older operating system. It will ask you for an older windows disc. Shove it in and your laughing (i hope)

[RB]

some taiwan firms are pushing all onboard mobos toeards system builders
Specs are onboard:-
Nvidia / ati Graphics upto 512mb shared ram
onboard modem/lan/sound etc
onboard (soldered) 512mb - 3gb DDr ram
onboard (soldered) Amd/ Intel cheap as chips CPU's ie not leading edge CPU's
onboard Sata/usb 2.0/ 8xAgp (no agp Slot or Epci slot) 2 PCI slots
all for under 100 trade....lower for bulk buys...

Back to bunging the system come upgrade time...

[jay2]

I've installed a new ms windows system using an upgrade disc. You have to have a an earlier operating system installation disc when you install

Yeah done that myself a few times,but as it's his first time....

[dtrmad2004]

the spec's are pretty good for the price BUT as stated in the ad,there is no operating system installed so if you wanted to install XP home ed SP2 you are talking about £140 for the full edition(install on a formatted hardrive).
As i've said before the most expensive part of building a pc is the monitor and OS.

There are way's around it though;)

Im sorry but id never pay for an OS especially at £140:eek: I didnt know it was this much, I know Microsft brought out this WGA thing but theres always ways round it.

Id rather spend money on other hardware components, f**k buying a crappy os that crashes all the time, I know I might sound like a hypocrite because im using windows but its what im used to.

Andy

[lincs1]

i paid £67 for my full original version of XP PRO + SP2 and that was off ebay.

[jay2]

the only thing that worries me are the bios settings and the jumper setting's and if it doesn't work when i have thrown it all together...lol

A good start for beginners is a barebones package, where the motherboard,cpu,heatsink and fan are fitted in the tower for you and delivered.
All you have to do then is install the drives,memory,any extra's you want ie graphics card,os and your away.
Dont worry about the bios at first,it will be set at a standard boot state.

[frankie4fingers]

Yeah done that myself a few times,but as it's his first time....

Upgrade cheaper than full version...save money...drink more beer

[stevie300online]

In all honesty, building your own PC may give you a certain level of satisfaction but often leads to problems further down the line. Economies of scale dictate that companies like Dell will be able to produce a PC for less than you will be able to, unless you want to reuse old monitors, operating systems (which incidentally often will be not strictly legal if using existing OEM versions).

You have to ask yourself 'why do the majority of companies use Dell'? Well, in my experience, a Dell machine with whatever spec you choose will have been strenuously component tested to ensure total compatibility and 'should' be more reliable than PCs built using a mixture of components that you choose.

I'd agree with the posts that recommend that you to look at the Dell Outlet store, but be advised that the deals change daily. One day, you can be lucky and get a good PC for around £250 ex VAT and delivery, whereas the next day you can expect to pay £400 for a similar PC.

I've been advising clients to buy Dell for the last 7 years and I've had no complaints so far. Can people who recommended Tiny, Time, Packard Bell (to name a few) say the same?

Remember that you don't know who you are dealing with when you buy off Ebay. For all you know, your 1000 star supplier could be a 17 year old kid building PCs in his bedroom - it's easily done

Good luck with your final choice!

[unclechicken]

Pah, Tiny computers, thats a laff, my cousin got a tiny computer and just after the warranty it went (excuse the french) tits up big style.

Every other week he's calling me up saying its not working properly.

Just either stick to a generic PC if you can build them, or buy one from Dell, my dad got one from Dell and theres been no probs at all, and generic ones, if you know what you are doing when you build them are usually OK.

I built mine up from bits from a computer fair and it is still working ok upto now. Just remember components usually come with a years guarantee anyway so if anything goes wrong its quite easy to replace it after all.

And dont buy extra insurance/guarantee from Dell or any other major company, if theres something going to go wrong with your computer it would usually be in the first year anyway (dont get stuff from PC world or Tiny also there crap at technical support), and the normal legal guarantee would cover it.

[lincs1]

thanks for all the advise given by everyone.

i will just shop around and i may attempt to build my own....lol one day

curry's store had an ex display for £200, but i might go and have a look again

cheers guys

[nails]

i bougt a dell server, something like 1850?

it was a rolls royce in a box, dual cpu fans merely diverted the hot air and blew it out the back. the psu was enclosed seperatly underneath, and the SCSI hd clocked up some 220mb per sec!

the only drawback what that the pci-e gfx interface was disabled, purely to help with system stability, thus i sent it back.

for £399 for a Xeon based sysem was great value, it made my adobe premiere editing time minimise to minutes, insted of hours (so to speak..) but since i couldnt play with mfme2.0 or halflife2 in the meantime, mean it was no use to me.

[lincs1]

i have just come across a local pc shop, and i might arrange with these guys to custom build a pc for me as they give full warranty and tech support which what be handy.

http://www.eastcoastcomputers.co.uk/

now can anybody tell me what sort of spec i would really need

motherboard?
cpu?
case?
graphic card?
memory? ddr?

i use the pc for running mame and fruit-emu and buisness and thats all. can you recommend spec that i would require so that i could ask these guys.

i guess i could use some bits from my current pc like harddrive, floppy, ect

thanks all

[Jimmy_mac]

oh yeah, definately go for a tiny, i hear they are a really stable company and the machines are exceptionally reliable.

No worries about the company ever dissapearing on ya so you be set for the future

[nails]

WHAT!

i worked at the brighton time store when it first opened, it the first week we were snowed under with PC`s bought back for repair.

the first pc`s to reach the customers (that we had sold at the brighton shop) were littered with defects, ranging from -

the floppy drive falling into the case (no screws were holding it)
CPU fan glued to CPU (melted off after first day)
1 screw holding psu in place
3 hard errors found on hard drive when arrived
3rd party modem not pushed in properly

there were problems from customers who paid some £300 for GOLD service (this is ontop of the £2000 for the latest 512mb 1400mhz system!

utter shite, and to think i travelled from Brighton to the granville technology buisness park, up in burnley - for my training

[Jimmy_mac]

nails, chill out fella, the post was a sarcastic one.

Sarcastic for a couple of reasons, firstly, i too worked for granville technologys in 1998 and again last year and know what a nightmare they are.

and secondly cos Granville technologys went into administration around a month ago and so therefore Tiny and Time no longer exist

(you got trained?!?!?!? Just threw me into it!)

[lincs1]

i have just been given a price by eastcoast computers near me and they have qouted £395.

black sturdy case
asus motherboard
amd 3000+ cpu 64 bit
160 hard drive
256 graphic card
1 gig memory
onboard lan 10/100
5.1 sound onboard
dvd re/ + dvd rom
no o/s included to which i have my own

12 months warranty and full 12 months tech support
3 years warranty on cpu

opp's forgot to mention all parts used are major brand and not cheap shite...