Just want a little advise on my (to be) new computer, thanks!

[calduf]

This is the specs--

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X2 565 (3.40GHz/6MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3: M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
512MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210 - DVI,HDMI,VGA
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2011 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC (£12)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £420.00 including VAT and delivery.


--- the help I would like on this is as follows, my old computer was ok, but went caput, I reinstalled windows and want to sell it, I was kind of wanting a new one anyway, and because of the glowing reviews that PCS has I thought I would come here. I would like to know if this pc will be good for my type of use. I am using technology every day, and would probably be using this pc every day, I have lots of data such as photos music games and programs I would like to store (hense the 2TB hard disk) I need the computer to be very speedy, and be able to handle a little bit of multitasking. I will be gaming on this, and need it to be able to handle high quality games on quite good settings, I know the graphics card isn't the best but I can't afford a better one. My budget is £420 and can't go over it. I am also wanting to purchase this as fast as possible and a quick reply or two would be much appreciated. I will also really appreciate any assistance on whether I need to change anything and if this computer will be good for me and last a long time, thanks everyone - Calum.

 

[stegor]

OK - first off, you're budget isn't going to get you a speed-of-light PC, but I can see a couple of tweaks to improve it. First ditch the Norton, use MS security essentials or another freebie. Then switch your graphics to the AMD Radeon HD5450 - it's on special and is better than the 210 (although that's not difficult!). This should still bring it in under budget but be warned, you wont always be able to get decent settings on some games.

 

[calduf]

Hi, stegor.
I know my budget is not the best but it's all I have, about ditching the norton though, is that really wise? I tend to download quite a bit and would not like to compromise security. But I would consider if u had good reason why? and About the graphics card, forgive me if it was an obvious typo, but the option for this card is not there?
- thanks again, Calum.

 

[stegor]

Wow, the card was there a couple of hours ago I promise. It must have sold out which is a pity. Re Norton - it's a bit of a memory hog and can be very intrusive. The freebies such as security essentials, AVG etc are reported to be as good at detecting viruses so you wont be compromising security and they run quietly in the background. I use Microsoft and haven't had any problems, before that I used Avira which is also good.
The G210 really isn't a gaming card - put it this way, an Intel I5 integrated GPU is better and my old PC has an 8 year old 9700 pro and even that's better!

 

[vanthus]

You really don't need to buy antivirus programs these days,just use ms security essentials along with windows firewall & malwarebytes,all free.
To be honest calduf I can't see you getting a computer at that price to do what you want to do,but hopefully someone will prove me wrong.

 

[calduf]

Heh, I guess pc specialist components are in high demand just now. I haven't really had a very good past with avg but could always give it another go I suppose, and seen as it's free Ive got nothing to loose. And really is the graphics card that bad, sheesh! Lol so anyway, I was kinna hoping to still get an nvidia one, but suppose I could compromise reluctantly if another was much better, thanks again, Calum.

 

[calduf]

Hi again, stegor and vanthus, I have reviewed my spec of my graphics card and am wondering how much better this will be, a 1gb nvidia geforce gt 560 compared to the gforce 210? I know I said I can't go over budget but I could hold off on 4 pounds worth of sweets I suppose, and the new price of 424 is assuming I go with you both suggesting to use freebie antivirus rather than the norton? Thanks guys- Calum.

 

[calduf]

Correction * 1gb geforce gt 520!

 

[stegor]

I assume you mean the GT520? Yes, much better card. Still not going to break any records but it's got 1gb of memory which is good.

 

[stegor]

Hah, beat me.

 

[calduf]

Lol, yea! And I know it won't be record breaking, but will it be good enough to handle games like bf3 and crysis 2 on reasonable settings?

 

[Wozza63]

you are very far away from any sort of high settings on games, you would need to double your budget at least to do this, my rig (in my sig) currently costs about £1300 although will probably go down by the time i purchase it

make sure to get the silver warranty for a fiver, best deal around

and as always, the big question is, will it run notepad? and maybe calculator? and both at the same time?

 

[Wozza63]

*you would probably be lucky to get medium settings at a decent fps, probably not even that, i recommend upping the budget to £500 if you can and spend the extra cash on a graphics card

also i forgot to say, definitely ditch Norton, ive always hated it, everyone has different opinions on their choice of free antiviruses and they are all similar in being able to catch viruses, and some work better under certain computers with certain parts (like a better CPU for example) so i recommend trying these four and see which you prefer
AVG Free (most popular choice)
MS Security Essentials (some people prefer it mainly because it is microsoft, so its guarenteed security)
Avast (my choice as it uses lowest resources on my laptop and has a gaming mode)
Avira (when i tried this one the database seemed much bigger than the others, although that does not mean it always catches the virus)

Whichever you decide to choose, you MUST download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, that to me is the best program on the internet

 

[calduf]

Yea lol! I know it won't be record breaking by any standards, but should it be able to handle games like bf3 and crysis 2 on reasonable settings?

 

[calduf]

Sorry for double post there, didn't update properly, and thanks for your advise, I will consider the antivirus, but unfortunately I can't go to 500 Thanks all the same.

 

[Wozza63]

im not sure what the minimum settings for them are, what graphics card have you decided on?

 

[calduf]

I have diceded on the 1gb gt520 with no antivirus (will download other suggested later) to keep budget low.

 

[stegor]

Like wozza says you are probably looking at low settings to get a decent frame rate on the latest games. Probably the GT520 is a decent match for the CPU - if you up the GPU a lot you'll just hit the CPU limit next (and so it goes on - up and up until you spend 3 times your original budget - sigh!).

 

[Wozza63]

have a look at this one...


Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD ATHLON II X2 270 (3.40GHz/2MB CACHE/AM3)

Motherboard
ASUS® M5A78L-M/USB3: M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 440 - DVI,HDMI,VGA

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

its not as good as the 520 but includes a better case

i was thinking you could perhaps go down the linux + wine route to save you buying windows

Linux is a free OS and is pretty good, has a free equivalent of most programs including MSWord etc, does not require anti virus (due to the way viruses are written) and it has lots of free games, its also a lot lighter than windows which is often better for gaming

Due to linux not being able to natively run exe files, programs have been created to enable the use of most exe files, not all of them work but a lot do and popular games will most likely be compatible

Ubuntu (the most popular form of linux) is very easy to use and to get used to and it probably wont be long until you prefer it, it loads up much quicker, and i usually get about 30 seconds faster than windows which is infact on a faster drive than my linux one

 

[calduf]

Hmm, yea, but I suppose I can live with it as minceraft is another favourite and is not really any challenge for gpu's. So thanks for all your help guys, you've saved me a bit of money and have something better than what I started with, so thanks once again, and I will post when I get it to tell you how it went! (might be a bit of time before that happeneds though) So I'll see you later

- thanks from an even happier customer , Calum