[Klug-general] PC builder recommentation

[George Prowse]

Mike Evans wrote:
> I remember a while back someone mentioning that they had a new PC built 
> for them by someone and recommended them.
> 
> I'm currently torn between going down to PC World and getting something 
> cheap but up to date with Vista on it (Yeurg!  But at least I would have 
> a fall-back.) and then fighting with whatever hardware choices they 
> made, or custom building a machine.  I'm not looking for ultimate power. 
>  The spec is probably more like a media PC in that I want it to be 
> reasonably quick, have enough graphics capability to be able to watch 
> DVDs on a good size monitor (min 23" but larger if poss), fit in the 
> space I have (which means flat rather than tower) and be silent or 
> nearly so.
> 
> I've been looking at various components available.  However it's been so 
> long since I did that level of hardware that I don't know my Northgates 
> from my Southgates any more.
> 
> Any recommendations for either kit or someone who is up on these things 
> to advise me gratefully accepted.
> 
> Mike
> 
The trick to building a computer is knowing what you want out of it and 
making sure all the components fit in with the motherboard; I know lots 
of people who have bought DDR2 memory when they also bought a mobo that 
only allows DDR.

I'm sure if you said exactly what you wanted out of a system and your 
budget then everyone here could offer opinions and make sure you had all 
the right pieces, it's far easier these days with SATA and better BIOSes 
- you dont have to put the devices in order to get them seen as primary 
master/slave to have them boot in the correct order (very annoying with 
3 HDD)

I have never had a bad experience with microdirect so they are a good 
place to start. This one is ready built and also a good value Pentium 
Dual Core E2160 / 1.8 GHz for £327.81:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(22421)HP-Compaq-Business-Tower-DX2300-50-Cashback.aspx

As an AMD fan I have been disappointed with the fact that their 
quad-core technology seems to be slower than Intel's dual-core 
technology so I would go with Intel for the moment, a good start for a 
setup would be these:

CPU:
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(19963)Intel-CPU-Core-2-Duo-E6550-233GHz-1333FSB.aspx
Mobo:
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17706)Asrock-motherboard-ConRoe1333DVIH-R20-LGA775.aspx
RAM:
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(17787)Kingston-2GB-HyperX-800MHz-DDR2-Ultra-Low.aspx

That will give you 2GB of low latency DDR2 matched RAM, a 1333 FSB DDR2 
mobo and a 2.33GHz 1333FSB 4MB cache Core 2 Duo CPU all for £233.01. You 
would still need a case, PSU, HDD and DVD player which you will be able 
to get for less than £100 or what I always do is try to use old bits 
from my other computers to keep the price down.

As you can see, if you buy the bits and put it together yourself you can 
get a much better box for your money (~£300)

George