Psvt2's Computer

[psvt2]

Hi all,

As a very new member (yesterday!) I'd value some advice. I'm having a new computer built this month with a loose spec as below - meant for small business (2 people) and personal use. I already have 6.5mg wireless broadband and will be networking this new pc with a laptop. The quoted price for what's included plus build is about £1300, which seems about right but what do members think of the components?

PC based on AMD Sempron 2800+ 64 bit 754 chip, Foxconn 760GXK8MC motherboard, DVD/CD combo, Sony Floppy, Genius mouse and keyboard, 250 Gig HDD, 1 Gig PC3200 memory, Radeon 9550 256 Mb Graphics card, (DVI+TV), MS Windows XP Pro Operating System.
19” TFT monitor

USB External 250 gig Hdd:
USB External Floppy:
TV Tuner card:
Have a query here too - I like the Nebula digitv but am not sure whether to go USB so that both computers can use it or card and wireless access for the laptop - ant experience out there?

Should I be tightening the spec and defining the monitor for example?

Help, please!!!

 

[muckshifter]

Should I be tightening the spec and defining the monitor for example?

Nope! ... you should cancel the order and get something a little more up-to-date for your money.

£1300 is what I would call a "rip-off" for that spec PC ... it will handle business work, but you can get 939/PCI-E 2gig ram and still have change from £1000.

Foxconn 760GXK8MC motherboard = no more than £30
AMD Sempron 2800+ 64 bit 754 = no more than £35
1 Gig PC3200 memory (you need two x 256) = about £70
Radeon 9550 256 Mb Graphics card = about £35-£70

I won't bother going on, that's the bits that matter ... a decent TFT monitor is only £150

 

[Adywebb]

I agree totally with Mucks - that is a rip-off!!

Total cost of those componants you list are £750 inc VAT max for old technology - that means they are charging a massive £550 for labour (check prices at overclockers)

Where is your firm located?

 

[TriplexDread]

Flippin eck!!!!

 

[psvt2]

Well, that's clear then! I did wonder from looking at various reviews but am really not knowledgeable enough to spec it closely. I hadn't wanted to buy off the peg because of all the data transfer and set-up etc - want to use the current hdd as a slave - but would I do better going the Dell route and just bringing someone in in to do the extras? We're in the Banbury area to answer that post.

Thanks for your help - any more ideas to go forward would be welcome!

 

[Adywebb]

Are you saying that the £1300 wasn't just for the PC, but included on-site setting up and data transfer etc?

 

[AbsoluteKevster]

Good job you came to PCReview!
Welcome aboard!

 

[psvt2]

Thanks! Looks a great site and you've already been so helpful. Yes, the £1300 includes build and £160 for data transfer, setting up networking, transferring old hdd etc but I am still worried about speed etc - that chip is "only" 1.6ghz - should I be looking for more? I do tend to multitask and, apart from the business, we want to catalogue 5000 + books and ditto photos.

So pleased google found you!

 

[Adywebb]

I would get something like this from pcspecialist for £900 inc VAT & Delivery, add a external USB 250GB HDD and Floppy from overclockers for around £100 = Total £1000 - then get someone in to set it up.

It will do all your office tasks and more, with some future upgradability

CPU
AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT X2 3800 2 x 512K L2 Cache (AM2 pin)

Memory
2048 MB CORSAIR DDR2-667 PC5300 - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x1GB)

Motherboard
ASUS® M2N-SLI DELUXE: DUAL DDR2, S-ATA, 2 x x16 VGA, 3 PCI

USB Options
SIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)

Hard Drive
SATA II 250 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache

Second Hard Drive
NONE

RAID
NONE

DVD ROM/Combi Drive
16x +/- DVD WRITER (8x +/- Dual Lyr) (5x DVD-RAM) (40x CD-RW) (£19)

CD/DVD Writer
NONE

Graphics Card 1
512MB GEFORCE 6600 PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Graphics Card 2
NONE

Sound Card
HIGH END ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL SOUND (RECOMMENDED)

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities
2 x 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORTS (1 PORT ON M2N4-SLI)

Floppy Drive/Card Reader
1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Case
Stylish Silver/Black Sigma case + 2 front USB

Power Supply & Cooling
500W (Peak) Super Quiet Dual Rail PSU with 120mm fan (£25)

Operating System required
MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP PRO (inc. Genuine CD & licence) (£95)

Firewire & Video Editing
2 x FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD (NO PORTS ON M2N4-SLI)

Monitor
HIGH END TFT: 19 INCH SILVER/BLACK: 8MS + DVI! (£149)

Keyboard
Logitech® Cordless Internet Pro Desktop Keyboard + Mouse (Black) (£17)

Mouse
NONE

Speakers
NONE

Printer
NONE

Anti-Virus
NONE

Office Software
NONE

TV Card
Digital TV Card (Freeview/Radio/Remote/Pause Live TV) (Special: £32)

Warranty
1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return



ps. I'm sure others here could suggest modifications/improvements - but its mainly as an illustration of how much more you can get for your money.

 

[psvt2]

That's brilliant - many thanks for your help!

 

[muckshifter]

... and £160 for data transfer

F F flipping heck, I used to charge £20 ...

"Data" transfer is very simple ... you connect the old HD as a 'slave' and 'copy' over your data, making sure you pre-loaded the original software on the new PC ... it really is that simple.

As for networking, get a Router.

 

[Abarbarian]

F F flipping heck, I used to charge £20 ...

"Data" transfer is very simple ... you connect the old HD as a 'slave' and 'copy' over your data, making sure you pre-loaded the original software on the new PC ... it really is that simple.

As for networking, get a Router.

Thats a fairly old fashioned way of data transfer You could look into this more modern technology available for around £10 to £15 in the uk . Only linked to this site cos its full of pretty good clear info .

http://www.usbgear.com/link/usbnetwork.html

No offence intended muckshifter .

 

[crazylegs]

keep it simple..

Thats a fairly old fashioned way of data transfer

Theres a saying in this business....Keep it simple, why bugger around with usb it's not going to be any faster anyway..

 

[Abarbarian]

Theres a saying in this business....Keep it simple, why bugger around with usb it's not going to be any faster anyway..

Theres another school of thought that says ........ why make life dificult . Plug in a usb cable to one pc then plug in the othere end of the cable into another pc , drag and drop folders/files . job done

 

[psvt2]

Thanks all!

Following Ady's advice, I have a quote from pcspecialists which comes in at £987 (they keep changing the allowed parts!



AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT 3800 (Venice) 512kb L2 Cache (939 pin)

Memory

2048 MB CORSAIR DDR400 PC3200 - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x1GB)

Motherboard

ASUS A8N-VM: DUAL DDR, SATA II, x16 slot, 2 PCI ETC

USB Options

SIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)

Hard Drive 1

SATA II 250 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache

Hard Drive 2

NONE

Raid

NONE

CD Writer/Combi Drive

16x +/- DVD WRITER (8x +/- Dual Lyr) (5x DVD-RAM) (40x CD-RW) (£19)

DVD ROM

NONE

CD/DVD Writer

NONE

Graphics Card 1

512MB GEFORCE 6600 PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Graphics Card 2

NONE

Sound

HIGH END ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL SOUND (RECOMMENDED)

Modem

NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities

10/100 NETWORK CARD FOR BROADBAND - AS STANDARD

Floppy Disk Drive

INTERNAL 7 IN 1 CARD READER WITH 1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Memory Card Reader

NONE

Case

Stylish Silver/Black Sigma case + 2 front USB

Power Supply & Cooling

500W (Peak) Super Quiet Dual Rail PSU with 120mm fan (£25)

OS Required

MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP PRO (inc. Genuine CD & licence) (£95)

Firewire

3 PORT FIREWIRE CARD. (£9)

Monitor

HIGH END TFT: 19 INCH SILVER/BLACK: 8MS + DVI! (£149)

Keyboard

Logitech® Cordless Keybrd + Rechargeable Mouse Sil/Bk (Pre-Order Only)

Mouse

NONE

Speakers

NONE

Printer

NONE

Anti Virus

NONE

Office

NONE

TV Card

Digital TV Card (Freeview/Radio/Remote/Pause Live TV) (Special: £32)

Warranty

1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return

Price (excluding VAT)

£840.00

Price

£987.00

Order Quantity

1

Bulk discount

£0

Total order price (Ex VAT)

£840.00

Total order Price


£987.00





I shall add a Western 300gb external
hdd which is networkable ex overclocking


and use my current hdd as a slave, transferring data via a usb cable etc to the laptop. Will probably still need help in transferring all the "little" things - bookmarks etc - and setting up new users/websites/transferring emails (definitely!) but feel much better future proofed thanks to you all. As a (nearly) silver age but not yet granny, I'm very grateful - started programming with minis in the early 70s, when most of you probably weren't born! Did think of RAID 1 but decided that external back-up and networking, allowing the laptop to be backed up as well, was probably better.

Will let you know how I get on - any other ideas that I might adopt? Enjoy yourselves!