[Jaspersharpe]

Cool.

[Jaspersharpe]

Of course I completely forgot (despite knowing) that Dell are cunts and their advertised prices never include VAT and delivery meaning £210 is actually £260 and that I can get a better spec machine for that than the one I was looking at from elsewhere so I'm still looking.

 

Seen a decent one with no OS so if I was to put XP on it which one do I need to get as there seem to be a million different versions (32 / 64 / with various service packs etc). My head hurts.

[Jim]

am very busy at home at the minute jasper so haven't been able to contribute much of late. right click on my computer - properties. what cpu and ram does it say you are currently running?

[slackline]

Seen a decent one with no OS so if I was to put XP on it which one do I need to get as there seem to be a million different versions (32 / 64 / with various service packs etc). My head hurts.

You need to get the one with the penguin on the box 

The 32/64-bit refers to the type of processor and the size of the data blocks it can handle.  (See this if you want to hurt your head some more).

Post up the spec of the machine you're looking at and I'll be able to tell you whether you want a 32 or 64-bit OS.

The service packs are simply the updates that M$ release, you shouldn't have to worry about this, and certainly shouldn't pay more for one, 'cause you can download them for free!

The question then is whether you go for Home/Prox/[insert other name of a useless variant] which I know nothing about.

[Jaspersharpe]

Looking at this.........

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176488

[Jim]

propably best sticking with 32 bit sp3 home.

i will be recycling some computers soon, so may have one good enough for your needs, i could also put windows 7 on it (obviously got off my mate in jail etc...)

[Jaspersharpe]

Cheers Jim / slackers.

propably best sticking with 32 bit sp3 home.

i will be recycling some computers soon, so may have one good enough for your needs, i could also put windows 7 on it (obviously got off my mate in jail etc...)

When's soon btw as I really need to get this shit sorted sooner rather than later!?

[slackline]

propably best sticking with 32 bit sp3 home.

I defer to the man in the know on all things M$

[Johnny Brown]

propably best sticking with 32 bit sp3 home.

i will be recycling some computers soon, so may have one good enough for your needs, i could also put windows 7 on it (obviously got off my mate in jail etc...)

I can recommend Jim's Computer Sales. Quotes and actual prices are linked by an exchange mechanism I don't fully understand, but you'll get a decent machine ready to go.

[dave]

why slum it with 32bit like a common leper, jim'll sort you out with a 256bit system. the day the world changed yeah.

[Jaspersharpe]

One of the reviewers of that PC I linked to (last link) says he's installed 64bit Windows 7 on it and it's running fine. Is that likely to be correct? I don't really understand all this 32 / 64 stuff but the price of both seem to be about the same.

Sorry for going on and on but I'm tearing my hair out with this shit! 

[Jim]

soon = next week

your better off with 32 bit as you won't have any compatability issues. 64 bit is only really usefull when you are dealing with a lot of data (seriously large amounts).

what spec computer have you got now? i may be getting some fast p4's my way very soon so could offer you an upgrade for less than fuck all. i may also be selling my htpc which is a bottom end core 2 duo but runs really well and is virtually silent

[Jaspersharpe]

Only have a super old bag of shit PC that I liberated from work a few years ago (and a netbook) which is why I'm starting from scratch really (unfortunately).

Good info re 32/64 ta.

What sort of spec is the one you may be selling and for what sort of price etc?

[Johnny Brown]

an upgrade for less than fuck all

Ha! I told you his quotes were competitive. Shall we have a sweepstake on the exchange rate?

[Jim]

The problem with building your own computer at the moment is that ram has nearly doubled in price.
I built one 3 weeks ago and was expecting to put 4gig ddr800 in for about £35 (some gold shit like cofe's), however it was nearer to £70 so only ended up putting 2gig in it. However this is more than enough for the average user. This is due to the introduction of DDR3
The low end core 2 duo chips are great value, they run really cool and the stock fans turn at very low rpm's (even when overclocked) and are virtually silent. My E2200 is overclocked from 2gig to 2.5 gig very nicely with no increase in noise this E1500 is only £35 and I bet would overclock to near enough 3 gig with out any worries alongside some decent memory.
Hard drives cost fuck all, 500gig = £35, 1tb = £58, 1.5 tb = £73, even SSD's are nearly at acceptable prices.

[Jaspersharpe]

So by those figures I can see why building your own might not be the right or even the cheapest option for me as just for the processor, memory and HD you'd be looking at £135 to get the same spec as the ebuyer PC I've been looking at (linked above) which is only £230 all in.

Only thing I'm not sure about now is a wireless card thing which it doesn't seem to have but which I presume would be easy enough to buy/install (I've put memory / graphics cards etc in machines before so I'm not a total retard when it comes to this shit). If someone could recommend one though that'd be handy.

Oh and my final sticking point is the OS. I know £70 is fuck all in the grand scheme of things but A) will it be easy enough to install Windows 7 on it if I buy it and B) (steady Slackers) Should I really be paying £70 for a bit of software when I could probably get a hooky version from a mate in prison etc? I'd sort of prefer to do it properly but provided the only thing I need to watch out for is Bill Gates "genuine software" update thing........

My Mrs is going to kill me unless I get this sorted in the next couple of days and to be fair I've had enough and just want to buy something!

All the advice so far is much appreciated.

[slackline]

Only thing I'm not sure about now is a wireless card thing which it doesn't seem to have but which I presume would be easy enough to buy/install (I've put memory / graphics cards etc in machines before so I'm not a total retard when it comes to this shit). If someone could recommend one though that'd be handy.

Depends, where does your internet come into the house, and is it near where you want to site the computer?  If its not too far between these two points then just go with a cable if its not going to be visually annoying.

Failing that I always go with Linksys networking periperhals, but most command brands (NetGear D-Link, ZyXel) are likely to be ok.  You could either get a PCI card (similar to the graphics cards you say you've installed) or tie up one of your USB ports with a USB adapter.

Oh and my final sticking point is the OS. I know £70 is fuck all in the grand scheme of things but A) will it be easy enough to install Windows 7 on it if I buy it and B) (steady Slackers) Should I really be paying £70 for a bit of software when I could probably get a hooky version from a mate in prison etc? I'd sort of prefer to do it properly but provided the only thing I need to watch out for is Bill Gates "genuine software" update thing........

Dual-boot 

[Jaspersharpe]

I've got enough rock boots, what does that mean?

[Jim]

If you can try and plug into your router with a cable, its a lot faster and cheaper.
Personally I would definately go with windows 7. If you don't want to buy it I may be in the peak on wednesday and can give you a copy from my mate in prison

[Bubba]

Jim, are you a PC ebay seller or something? You always seem to be building one...

I'm in the market for a new desktop soon too - just need something that will do usual t'interweb stuff, as well as photoshop/lightroom/traktor pro with ease. No video processing or anything hardcore. Since I'm currently running an Athlon XP2800+ pro I suspect anything modern will be a massive upgrade. Any ideas of a ballpark spec/price?

[Jim]

you can't go wrong with the low end core 2 duo's like the one I mentioned above. get a uATX board with graphics & sound onboard and you've got a nice little machine that will run quickly & smoothly as long as your not doing any intensive cpu or gpu action on it. Also as I previously mentioned they are virtually silent as they run really cool and the stock fans turn at very low rpm's even when overlocked and in the summer.

No I don't sell PC's, I just build them for mates and its kinda of a hobby. I also recycle computer bits, putting together systems from odds and sods and either giving them away or selling them for a couple of pints depending on how good they are

[Jaspersharpe]

A copy of Windows 7 (from your incarcerated friend) would be great. Nice one. I'll drop you a PM.

[Jim]

only problem with that package is you don't know what motherboard or what speed memory it will have although I'm sure it'll work fine.
Also that E6300 is an old chip but still good.
I could get my mate to post it via the prison postal services if I don't make it over the peak next week, in return my incarcerated friend asks that you purchase a pint of quality ale and I am to drink it on his behalf  .

I just priced up a self build budget system:
DVD writer, case, 2gig ram, everything onboard uATX motherboard, CPU, 500gig HDD = £173.67 with 4gig ram = £213.34 so not far off that price at all

[tomtom]

Jasper - building a PC is piss easy - like a lego kit (if not easier) the hardest part is if a couple of jumpers need changing.. (all this is assuming its not much different from the last time I built one - about 5 years ago)

Jim - would it be possible for you to put up a slightly more detailed spec of whats there - or PM me one? it would be much appreciated..

I keep meaning to buy Mrs TT a new machine and I recon I might well just build her one instead..  also - wheres the best places to get components from nowadays - last time I did it it was Dabs etc.. but they dont seem as good as they used to be...?
T

[Jim]

depends on where you live. aria is where I get all my stuff from these days as it's only 5 mins down the road rom my house http://www.aria.co.uk/

cpu
memory
hard drive
case
motherboard
dvd writer