Help buying a desktop please

[notaclue]

Hi, hope I can get some advice with my first post. I'm going to be buying a new desktop and have narrowed my choice down to two-

Core 2 Duo E6300, 1gb RAM, 256mb 7600GT, Vista
http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3362-5402

or

Core 2 Duo E4400, 2gb RAM, 256mb 8600GT, Vista.
http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3362-3433

I don't know a lot about computers so maybe people can advise me which of the above would be better for gaming. I'm not building it, I'm buying a built system and my budget (£550) limits me to one of the above unless anyone can recommend any others. Any help is appreciated... Thank you!

 

[bill_bright]

I think either one would do fine, but if you select the E6300, I would bump the RAM up to 2Gb.

 

[notaclue]

Thank you for the quick reply, does that mean the E4400 system is more balanced? I understand that the E4400 is actually faster but has less cache? What difference would that make?

 

[Me__2001]

where are you planning on getting these systems from ?

can you post the link to each system

 

[notaclue]

Thought the links were in my first post. If they're not working I'll try again...


http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3362-3433

http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3362-5402

They consistently get good reviews and seem to be better priced than Dell, Mesh etc. Hope they work! Thanks!

 

[V_R]

Just about to leave work so am in a bit of a rush.... had a quick look at pc specilest, this is what i speced for £540.

Processor (CPU)

INTEL® Core 2 Duo E4300 (2 X 1.80GHz) 1066MHz FSB/2MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM)

1024 MB CORSAIR DDR2 667MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x512MB)

Motherboard

ASUS® P5VD2-VM: DDR2, S-ATA II, 1 x PCI-E x16, 2 PCI, etc

Operating System

WINDOWS® XP Home (inc. Genuine CD & License) (£59)

USB Options

6 x USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk

160GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk

NONE

RAID (HDD 1 & 2)

NONE

1st CD/DVD Drive

20x DVD±RW/RAM/Dual Layer + Lightscribe (48 x CD-RW) (£16)

2nd CD/DVD Drive

NONE

Graphics Card

512MB RADEON X1650 PRO PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

2nd Graphics Card

NONE

Sound Card

6 Channel SoundMAX High Definition Audio (Standard on P5VD2-VM)

Modem

NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities

ONBOARD 10/100 LAN PORT (ETHERNET) AS STANDARD

Floppy Disk Drive

NONE

Memory Card Reader

INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case

Stylish Black/Silver Trident case + 2 front USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling

STANDARD 350W PSU with CASE FAN

Processor Cooling

STANDARD CPU COOLER

Firewire & Video Editing

NONE

TV Card

NONE

Monitor

17 INCH TFT Silver/Black 1280 x1024 12MS D-Sub, DVI, Audio (£89)

2nd Monitor

NONE

DVI Cable

NONE

Keyboard & Mouse

Logitech® Internet Keyboard + Hotkeys (Black) (£6)

Mouse

Black Logitech® Premium Optical Mouse (£4)

Speakers

LOGITECH S200 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£16)

 

[notaclue]

How does this sound by comparison? I think it sounds quite good, but things that seem too good to be true usually are...

Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Dual Core Processor with 800MHz Front Side Bus and 2MB Cache
2GB DDR2 533MHz PC4200 Memory
250GB SATA300 Hard Drive with 8MB Cache
256MB Nvidia 8600GT Graphics Card
18x DVD+/-RW RAM Double Layer Drive
52 in 1 Flash Card Drive
Black & Silver mATX Case
7 USB2.0 Ports (3 front, 4 rear)
10/100 LAN
19" LCD Monitor with 1440x900 resolution and 5ms response
Microsoft Black Keyboard and Mouse
MS Works 8.5
Microsoft Vista Home Premium

For £515 + £15 delivery.

Would this be a good budget gaming system? I'm asking as I know nothing about computers, only what I read in magazines.

 

[insomnia]

as I like to do from time to time with pre-built systems, if you bought the parts individually from your first post, same spec and near enough same make you could build that system yourself for £411 inc vat just by using froogle, all parts came from the same shop and delivery was an extra £12.50

So not a bad priced basic system but still money to be saved if people would stop buying pre built badness

I am only joking nothing wrong with pre built it's just not that hard to build your own.

 

[V_R]

Although it isn't hard to build a pc, some people dont have the confidence or indeed the time to do it.

But i do agree with you, i would never buy a pre built system, for me or anyone else on their behalf.

notaclue, thats not a bad system, could we have a link? I personally dont like the 8600 cards...But thats me. I also think it may struggle at that resolution in some games with higher graphics settings.

 

[PotGuy]

Agree with VR. Frankly 8600s are pants, but if you aren't going to hardcore game I don't suppose it matters.

Also do you know what the PSU is?

 

[notaclue]

I don't know about the PSU, but I can ask. V_R, the link is above in post #5. I don't have the time, or the skills, to build a system, that'd be one for the future. Thanks for all your help so far! Mainly play older games, so hopefully they won't be too much of a problem for the 8600. I'm assuming DX10 is backwards compatible with DX9 though?

Just seen this one - http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3364-5404

E6600, 2gb RAM, 7900GS, for £650. I'm guessing this one would be awesome, what does anyonre else think?

 

[V_R]

Just seen this one - http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3364-5404

E6600, 2gb RAM, 7900GS, for £650. I'm guessing this one would be awesome, what does anyonre else think?

Thats not a bad system, The 7900GS is good, MSI mb, but slow RAM, i think it would do you ok though.

Still wouldn't buy any of them systems myself, but its not my money.

 

[notaclue]

Thanks for your help everyone, I've gone ahead and ordered! So maybe this thread can be closed? Once it arrives I'll let you know what the company's like... Thank you once again!

 

[notaclue]

Ordered from PC Nextday and cancelled today. Couldn't wait for 'extended delivery times' even though they took payment 2 weeks ago!

 

[bill_bright]

Ordered from PC Nextday and cancelled today. Couldn't wait for 'extended delivery times' even though they took payment 2 weeks ago!

Let us know how quick they are at refunding your money. Their response to your canceled order certainly is a factor in whether they can be trusted, and in turn, recommended in the future.

 

[notaclue]

10 minutes after I requested cancellation I had an e-mail saying they had cancelled my order and would credit my account. Since then someone from their accounts department has e-mailed saying they will refund tomorrow but to allow 3 working days to clear. Fingers crossed though... Are they meant to take payment before dispatch? Isn't that a bit naughty?

 

[bill_bright]

Are they meant to take payment before dispatch? Isn't that a bit naughty?

Sadly, a lot of companies charge your account as soon as the order is "accepted". I suspect that may be because so many pay with bank/debit cards instead of real credit cards - and when they check the card number to see if it is valid, it shows up as valid because right now, there's enough money in the account. But tomorrow, being tied to a checking account, there may not be. I don't like it either, but I suspect a "few" badguys taking advantage of situation have, once again, made it harder on the rest of us.

Any way, it sounds like this company is keeping you well informed and that's great. Now just need to see if they are true to their word about the refund. Let us know.

 

[notaclue]

Refund from PC Nextday processed on the 19th, a day after requesting cancellation. For what I've read it would appear that they've made a start with the customer service side of things, but I would have appreciated being told that there would be extended delivery times. My money has now been spend on a Novatech system, only one word I can use to describe buying from them - AWESOME! Novatech= 10/10.

 

[PotGuy]

Yeah I generally only use Novatech, Dabs and Overclockers.

Glad to hear they refunded and things have turned out alright.

What system did you order from them?

 

[notaclue]

I got the Isys Pro 8600 with the Hyundai N91W monitor - so far both appear to be brilliant, I'm especially impressed with the quality of the monitor! Had a slight problem this morning with Vista but quick chat to Novatech tech services sorted it out. As said before, very impressed and well worth while paying a few quid extra for!