Shopping around for a medium powered box

[Shockwave]

I don't want anything too extravigant, I don't believe it's good to have anything too state of the art if you are a programmer anyway (one of my eccentricities).

I think I will be in the market for something soon because this old desktop is starting to have problems with some components.. I have been getting memory parity errors occasionally and tbh these days I need to download the video for most releases because my 256mb card won't cut it any more. Anyhow.

I like this look of this;

http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_M5201_-_Phenom_X4_9650_-_22_Inch__TFT_9C.LOR71.UAP/version.asp?PID=488

It seems to have a good processor, enough ram, space for expansion and a fairly good (but not great) gfx card.
More importantly it is in the sort of price range I was looking for.

I don't want a monitor with my computer, I wonder what everyone else would reccommend.

[Jim]

That seems a bit expensive (edit: even with the screen).  Have you considered building your own?  I would think you could get something in the 400-500 range if you do that, plus you'd get the bits you want.

Jim

[va!n]

uhhh.. i think its expensive too.. even i dont know the prices in britain... but it would be  684,89 euros... for less money i have build my own pc with following config:

- Asus P5Q Mainboard
- Intel Q8200 CPU
- 4 GB DDR2 800 RAM
- Radeon 4870
- DVD Burner
- 640 GB SATA Harddrive


Edited:
ahhh.. okay... i see now, it comes with an 22" tft...  need to calculate all the build things to compare if its a really good or not good offer... but however, personally i would build my pc ever by myself ^^

Btw... GPU == GT 120 ?? What is that? Onboard? I dont know a GT120..

[benny!]

Personally I am really not up to date when it comes to modern PC hardware.
So I cannot really help you there. Most important for me are just a good amount
of fast RAM and a decent GFX card. About the CPU, mainboard, HD etc I do
not spend so much attention on.

Just my point of view - but I am really anything but an hardware pro!

[TinDragon]

I think its to expensive as well for the spec tbh, I agree with Jim you could build a system with that spec or maybe higher for less money. My PC is a cheap pre-built quad core and with the new gfx card/psu I put in this year it still less than that price but it was fairly close to that spec. even before I updated the gfx card.

Alot of my firends use this place to get there components http://www.scan.co.uk, they do systems as well. There are other source but scan seem fairly decent.

[Jim]

Just as a 'for instance':
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799-3971761.html
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF25a/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799.html
And that's from HP/Compaq, so you're instantly paying 50-100 over the odds.

Jim

[Moroboshisan]

Why not something like http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Veriton_M670G_Desktop_Tower_PS.M6GE1.U02/version.asp?PID=406 with a mid-range nVidia [or ATI... as you like] gfx card?

I prefer Intel CPU's with Intel-chipset-based motherboard.

Maybe you can save some money looking for a FreeDOS or Linux preinstalled OS... if you do not need a M$ OS...

Assembled machine gives you the freedom to mix hardware to suit your needs (do you really need a QuadCore machine?)

a base would be:
Asus P5Q3 MoBo [up to 1333MHz FSB]
Intel Core2DUO or Core2Quad CPU [Boxed]
3Gb Kingston/Corsair 1333MHz RAM (unless you have a 64bit OS you can't see more than that)
ASUS Nvidia GF9600GT 1G DDR3 HDTV 2xDVI PCI - E
Pioneer DVD burner
500Gb SATA-II HDD
Midi-tower w7600W PSU

more or less you will pay a fair price for some good hardware... (maybe I would consider a smaller CPU to save money: say core2duo in place of a QuadCore)

[Shockwave]

Seems like it may be a lot of fun to build my own PC then.

Thank you all for the pointers on getting a good one. scan looks like a great site

Cheers. I'll let you know what I decide to do, it wont be for a few months at least, I am just planning for the day when my pc goes totally tits up.

[Hotshot]

I think Nick should check these out

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/rangecat.jsp?t=pc

[Shockwave]

I'm suitably impressed by some of those desktops Hotshot

The gaming ones are quite resonable really.

[Moroboshisan]

I think Nick should check these out

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/rangecat.jsp?t=pc

NTT price-range seems very reasonable for the hw you'll buy... iQ9550, nVidia GT260... nice, really!

only drawback I see is "Memory 4GB DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Ram"...

[Jim]

Those 'Hotshot' nettops are great for those home users who want to browse the web.  The problem for SHockwave will be the lack of expansion, the built-in GMA graphics and the 2Gb memory limit. Definitely a market for them, but not for a demo coder.

Jim

[Shockwave]

This one seems pretty good..

Processor       AMD Phenom 9550 Quad Core Processor
      AMD Phenom II Quad Core 955 Processor (Pro version)
Processor Speed       4 X 2.6GHz
      4 X 3.2GHz (Pro version)
Memory       4GB DDR3 1600MHz Ram
Hard Drive       1TB Serial ATA II Hard Drive
Graphics       Ati Radeon 4870 1024Mb Graphics Card
      ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB DDR2 PCI-E Graphics (Pro version)
Drive 1       22x Dual Layer +R/-R/RW DVD burner
Drive 2       NA
Sound       Realtek 1200 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Motherboard       AMD 790FX/SB750
Case       Hiper Osiris Midi Tower Case - Novatech Exclusive Edition
Drive Bays       4 x 5.25", 5 x 3.5" (4xInt, 1xExt)
Memory Slots       4 x DDR2 Slots
Memory Capacity       16GB
Keyboard & Mouse       Logitech Keyboard & Optical Mouse
USB Ports       12 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
Firewire       VIA VT6315N controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (1 at mid-board; 1 at back panel)
Networking Port       Realtek® 8112 Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET 2
Serial Port       NA
Dimensions (mm)       190 (W) x 420 (H) x 400 (D)
Front Side Bus       Supports 1333 / 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz
Warranty       12 Mths RTB
Colour       Black and Silver
Screen       NA

[Jim]

Looks like a beastie!  You'd want to be running 64bit Windows to make use of all the ram and the 1Gb graphics card at the same time.

Jim

[Moroboshisan]

Looks like a beastie!  You'd want to be running 64bit Windows to make use of all the ram and the 1Gb graphics card at the same time.

as Jim said! 64bit OS is a must, you can still run multiple OS instances via Virtual machines using such powerful beast! 

[Shockwave]

It's just about in my price range so what I will do is take the spec from their site and then buy the bits and build it myself I will use 64 bit windows I agree with you.

[Moroboshisan]

take the spec from their site and then buy the bits and build it myself

honestly I must tell you that buying the single bits would cost a little more than a pre assembled one... choosing every single piece of hardware gives you the ability do choose exactly the spec you're looking for...

[Hotshot]

here another one

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range

#  Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium with FREE Upgrade to Windows 7 When Available...
# Intel Core 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83GHz Processor
# 4096MB Kingston DDR II 800Mhz Memory
# 1.5TB SATA II Hard Drive
# 22x Multi Format DVD/CD ReWriter
# Internal multi-card reader
# 1GB 9500GT nVidia GeForce Graphics
# 5.1 High Definition Surround Sound
# Network adapter - Realtek RTL8102EL - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet LAN
# 7x USB2.0 Ports

£489     Not Bad price! 

[Shockwave]

Thanks mate, that does indeed look quite good value, it's not a make I have heard of before though.