[jules650]

I'm considering getting a mid-range desktop in the UK for games and streaming music to my Squeezebox. My first and only self-built PC had cooling issues and I'm not very technically minded. Therefore, I'd prefer to stay away from DIY. I've been looking at Dell PCs; they seem to be decent value for what I'm looking for.

My question is; is there anywhere else I should be looking for a desktop in the <700 quid range? Also any comments about how loud they run will help as I will be using it as a music server.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Media servers don't have to be very powerful at all..

 

[Nuwidol]

You can actually get music servers that aint a whole pc. Basically just a big hard drive that can stream to your squeezebox (i assume thats what its for)
I cant think of the name of any off the top of my head but there was one listed as a good pair with the squeezebox in this months Stuff magazine (the one with the jargon buster on the front) for under £200 if i recall. Could save yourself £500 & buy a pair of edition 9's second hand to bring to the meet

 

[jules650]

I didn't say this in my previous post, but I mean to use it as a gaming PC. Not looking to run games at maximum graphics settings, but I'm looking for something that's good value for money at the moment.

 

[Dave_M]

I buy most my stuff from novatech, they are good value for money.

For cheap midrange gaming PC there is this one for £445 http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...e.html?PC-1072

Or the core 2 duo virsion is a bit extra but not much http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...e.html?PC-2004

 

[Redo]

My personal favorite for people that don't want to build their own is to grab a HP for ~500 or less US dollars. The main focus is on 2gb of RAM, Dual Core AMD or Intel 6x00 series CPU (none of the 2160 or 4400 crap), a large HD, and a PCI-Express 16x addon slot (in other words avoid those slim "media center" pc's).

Then you upgrade the video card to something like a x1950pro or 7950gt (surprisingly, the new HP cases have almost unlimited room for video cards), get an Antec Trio 430watt power supply (fits perfectly into the regular HP cases), and you have yourself one nice PC.


I'm unfamiliar with HP's prebuilt offerings in the UK though, but I'm sure you could find something along the lines as I mentioned. With prebuilts, the secret is not to let the manufacturer include a nice video card or buy as advertised "gaming pc". The price will sky rocket HUGE for no real reason.

 

[Nuwidol]

If its for gaming i'd strongly suggest an intel core 2 chip & a motherboard thats either crossfire or sli enabled for whichever graphics camp you decide to go with. This will give you a decent upgrade option for a low(ish) price in a few months down the line when games like crysis & ut3 hit the shelves. Intel chips are dirt cheap atm & their performance in gaming is a huge leap over amd.

 

[Gautama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nuwidol /img/forum/go_quote.gif If its for gaming i'd strongly suggest an intel core 2 chip & a motherboard thats either crossfire or sli enabled for whichever graphics camp you decide to go with. This will give you a decent upgrade option for a low(ish) price in a few months down the line when games like crysis & ut3 hit the shelves. Intel chips are dirt cheap atm & their performance in gaming is a huge leap over amd.

Sli/Crossfire should not be used as an upgrade path. Sli only makes sense for people running monster resolutions, in 90% of cases its more economical to get 1 card. I recommend you wait for RV670 to come out in a couple months, it is $200 usd for the pro version and quite fast. Performance greater than that of a 8800gts.

 

[Scottyyy]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=781&subcat=

Seems like a nice home theater PC. Bit over your budget though.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=781&subcat=

Fits your budget, very nice, except I'd rather have Core 2 Duo. It'll be very good regardless though.

 

[Dave_M]

You do not need SLI, that is for enthusiasts running really hi res monitors.

As for AMD vs Intel, I would go with AMD since they are cheaper and gaming performance will be bottle necked by the graphics card.

Go with core 2 duo if you are gong with a high end graphics card. But now is not a good time to buy a high end card because new ones should be out very soon.

 

[jules650]

Update: I've decided to build my own PC now. I was tempted to get a motherboard with 2 PCI-e slots in case I wanted to add another x1950 card in future. If this is not a viable/economical way to futureproof my build I might skimp a bit more on the motherboard and save some money.