Your views on this PC please! :-)

[YAKOBU]

Hi everyone

I've been playing MTW and RTW for a number of years but my computer couldn't handle the step up to Alexander and MTW2. I'm now having increasing problems with RTW so am looking at purchasing a computer from a colleague.

The specs I'm being given are:

Dell 3000
Intel Celeron D 330 (2.66GHz) Processor
512MB PC3200 DDR Memory
80GB 7,200rpm Hard Drive
48x CD-RW Combo Optical Drive
AC'97 Audio with Dell A215 Stereo Speakers
Intel Extreme 2 Integrated Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory
v.92 56Kbps Modem and 10/100 Ethernet
Six USB 2.0 Ports and Three PCI Slots
Dell 17" LCD Monitor
Windows XP Home, Word Perfect Productivity Pack, MS Money 2004 and McAfee Security Center

Can you please give me your opinion on whether this is suitable. I think I may need to buy a graphics card for it, can you also recommend if this is the case.

Thanks for your help.

[caravel]

Hi everyone

I've been playing MTW and RTW for a number of years but my computer couldn't handle the step up to Alexander and MTW2. I'm now having increasing problems with RTW so am looking at purchasing a computer from a colleague.

The specs I'm being given are:

Dell 3000
Intel Celeron D 330 (2.66GHz) Processor
512MB PC3200 DDR Memory
80GB 7,200rpm Hard Drive
48x CD-RW Combo Optical Drive
AC'97 Audio with Dell A215 Stereo Speakers
Intel Extreme 2 Integrated Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory
v.92 56Kbps Modem and 10/100 Ethernet
Six USB 2.0 Ports and Three PCI Slots
Dell 17" LCD Monitor
Windows XP Home, Word Perfect Productivity Pack, MS Money 2004 and McAfee Security Center

Can you please give me your opinion on whether this is suitable. I think I may need to buy a graphics card for it, can you also recommend if this is the case.

Thanks for your help.

You will need to buy a graphics card for it, which going by that spec will probably have to be AGP. It is also pretty low end by today's standards, and you would not want to pay any more than about £200-300 for such a machine. Personally I wouldn't touch it.

What is your current spec?

[Husar]

I wouldn't touch it either, it's very low end.

It's a slow Celeron CPU, has only 512MB RAM and if you're unlucky, it's some weird Dell-only mainboard that doesn't even have an AGP slot.

[Beirut]

Yep. What they said.

The video card is simply too small and it could be a serious pain to change it something better.

I'd pass on it.

[YAKOBU]

Thanks guys.

The asking price was £500 but wouldn't buy for £200 based on your knowledgeable advice.

With that in mind does anyone know of something in the UK at a reasonable price that will fulfil my requirements?

[TevashSzat]

With 500 euros, you can certainley buy a half decent computer ages better than that. Where are you getting this deal from because they are ripping you off.

[Beirut]

Thanks guys.

The asking price was £500...

Gah!

That rig, with the screen would be $500Cdn or less. (That's 229 pounds.)


Sorry, I don't have the English pound sign on my keyboard.

[caravel]

...and if you're unlucky, it's some weird Dell-only mainboard that doesn't even have an AGP slot.

Good thinking, and that's exactly what it is. I believe it has three PCI slots and that's it.

With 500 euros, you can certainley buy a half decent computer ages better than that. Where are you getting this deal from because they are ripping you off.

Seconded. Even a place like PC World would give you a better deal than that, but I'd avoid them. There are some good places where you can order online, and you should be able to get it customised somewhat to your needs. Just don't be hasty, the worst thing you can do when buying a PC is jump in there blindfolded.

[Crian]

Wow, 500 pounds for that???

Your colleague was trying to rip you off! Stay away from it, you can buy a MUCH better laptop or a pretty high-end desktop with that money! That thing he's trying to sell you won't perform that much better in RTW than what you already have.

Good thing you asked around here first.

[YAKOBU]

Yes it was and I'm very grateful.

I'm still hoping you will all recommend a good PC in the UK.

Someone here is mentioning Alianware.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

I just bought a 2.8 pentium 4 with a 80 gig hd a gig of ram and a dvd burner for $200. Its two years old and all cleaned up and freshly formated with xp pro. Some colleague you have there

[TevashSzat]

Someone here is mentioning Alianware

Alienware is known for their horribly overpriced computers. Their computers are top of the line no doubt, but you can easily build one Alienware comp alot cheaper than if you order it from them. Get Alienware if you want a top of the line computer and don't find spending at least 1000-2000 euros.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Get Alienware if you want a top of the line computer and don't find spending at least 1000-2000 euros.

You can get a new Alienware here in the US for $999. Thats a lot less than 1000-2000 euros. I doubt it will be as good as my $1300 dollar custom built however. Not as good a proccessor or vid card.Lets just say for $1000 you can build something better.

[Crian]

I wouldn't recommend Alienware, Dell, or any of these companies because they're overpriced... and Alienware is near the top of the overpriced heap.

You can build yourself a much better PC for the same price as any of these companies. It's the best thing to do but if you don't want to do that, well, I've always built my PCs myself so I can't help you there (plus I'm not in the UK)

[Lemur]

Actually, Alienware's low-end notebooks are really competitive. But that's not what we're talking about. So I'll shut up, Can't help you with UK builders, so sorry.

[Slug For A Butt]

Just chucking out a few ideas here, if you want to build a decent M2TW PC on a budget why not look at something like these bits

Processor:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/109092/rb/27899969760

Graphics:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111199/rb/27900061248

Ram:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/cat/Memory-...t/DDR-3200-1GB

CPU fan (for overclocking the seriously overclockable San Diego processor):
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101471/rb/27900172376

Take your existing sound card, hard drive and PSU (if over 450W), get a suitable motherboard and bang it all in a case (£20) and you've got a good MT2W PC for under £250.
This is what I did and I'm damn happy with the results.

[DukeofSerbia]

I wouldn't recommend Alienware, Dell, or any of these companies because they're overpriced... and Alienware is near the top of the overpriced heap.

You can build yourself a much better PC for the same price as any of these companies. It's the best thing to do but if you don't want to do that, well, I've always built my PCs myself so I can't help you there (plus I'm not in the UK)

Btw, Dell is owner of Alienware, as I know.

[YAKOBU]

Hello again everybody.

Not being an IT wizard and taking all your comments on this and other threads into account I believe I am looking for the following characteristics:

Core 2 Duo/Quad E6400-E6800
1 to 2 GIG RAM
GForce 7600-8800 or ATI 1950.

On PC World in the UK we have an HP A6090 at a whopping £1,079.99:

Features for this HP A6090

- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6700
- Genuine Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium
- 2048MB RAM Memory
- 320GB Hard Drive
- Dual Layer DVD ReWriter Drive
- 512MB ATI Radeon 1650SE DVI Graphics
- Built-in TV Tuner + Remote Control
- Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
- 15-In-1 Media Card Reader
- 22" Widescreen AOC TFT Monitor

Specification for this HP A6090

Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
Clock-Speed 2.66GHz
Front Side BUS 1066MHz
Cache 4 MB
Operating-System Windows Vista Home Premium
RAM Memory 2048 MB
Hard Disk Capacity 320 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Built-in TV Tuner Yes
Built-in Digital TV Tuner Yes
Remote Control Yes
Graphics Memory 512 dedicated up to 1280 MB
Graphics Description ATI Radeon 1650SE DVI
Sound Card Intel High Definition Audio 7.1
Media Card Reader 15-in-1
No of USB connections 6
No of PCI Slots 3
No. of Firewire Connections 2
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Yes
Mouse Yes
Weight 9.6 kg
Height 414 mm
Width 175 mm
Depth 387 mm


Would this do the job? Are there areas where I could save cash? I don't plan on buying my PC from PC World but just want an idea of what I am looking for.

Cheers in advance!

[YAKOBU]

Also can anyone take a look at this site and give me their impression:

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=results

Looks like they will build a PC so much cheaper than PC world prices.

[DukeofSerbia]

Hallo.

Hello again everybody.

Not being an IT wizard and taking all your comments on this and other threads into account I believe I am looking for the following characteristics:

Core 2 Duo/Quad E6400-E6800
1 to 2 GIG RAM
GForce 7600-8800 or ATI 1950.

On PC World in the UK we have an HP A6090 at a whopping £1,079.99:

Features for this HP A6090

- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6700
- Genuine Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium
- 2048MB RAM Memory
- 320GB Hard Drive
- Dual Layer DVD ReWriter Drive
- 512MB ATI Radeon 1650SE DVI Graphics
- Built-in TV Tuner + Remote Control
- Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
- 15-In-1 Media Card Reader
- 22" Widescreen AOC TFT Monitor

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...ory_oid=-27743

I'll be honest: this computer is good business and multimedia machine, BUT terrible gaming platform. Radeon 1650SE is junk graphics card (again junk).

Would this do the job? Are there areas where I could save cash? I don't plan on buying my PC from PC World but just want an idea of what I am looking for.

Cheers in advance!

As I said, for gaming is terrible. Lower processor to at least 6600 or even 6400, and put better graphics, at least Radeon X1950Pro.

And no speakers!

[DukeofSerbia]

Also can anyone take a look at this site and give me their impression:

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=results

Looks like they will build a PC so much cheaper than PC world prices.

Not bad, but you should check on some forums how good they are.


This is my choise build on their site. They have bad choise of cases and PSUs. I don't know what manufacturers they sell. The same story with hard drives, graphics cards, optical drives...

Processor (CPU)


AMD ATHLON™ 64 X2 3800+ (2.0GHz) 2 x 512K L2 Cache (Socket AM2)

Memory (RAM)


2048 MB CORSAIR DDR2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x1GB)

Motherboard


ASUS M2N DH: DUAL DDR II, SATA, x16 slot, 3 PCI ETC

Operating System


WINDOWS® VISTA Home Premium (inc Genuine CD & License) (£70)

USB Options


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

Memory - 1st Hard Disk


400GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB 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 GEFORCE 8600GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

2nd Graphics Card


NONE

Sound Card


6 Channel SoundMAX High Definition Audio (Onboard)

Modem


NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Network Facilities


Onboard Wireless 54 Mbps LAN (802.11g) & Gigabit LAN

Floppy Disk Drive


1.44MB - 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive

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


500W (Peak) Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£25)

Processor Cooling


STANDARD CPU COOLER

Firewire & Video Editing


NONE

TV Card


NONE

Monitor


WIDE 19 INCH TFT Silver/Black 1440 x 900 8MS, D-Sub, Audio (£109)

2nd Monitor


NONE

DVI Cable


NONE

Keyboard & Mouse


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

Mouse


Black Logitech® Premium Optical Mouse (£4)

Speakers


NONE

Printer


NONE

Surge Protection


Belkin 4 Socket 2M Surge Protector with Phone Protection! (£7)

Webcam & VoIP


NONE

Media Center Kit


NONE

Anti-Virus


NONE

Office Software


NONE

Warranty


2 Year Return-to-Base incl 2 Years Free Collect & Return: £69

Delivery


Standard Insured Delivery to UK Mainland (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm) (Free)

Quantity


1

£742 inc VAT and Delivery.

If you want to spend more money, I will put better machine (btw I am AMD fan, but I can create you Intel based system withour problems). And you need speakers.

[Slug For A Butt]

And if you want to spend less than 3/4 of a thousand pounds on a machine to play M2TW there are better options I think.

[Papewaio]

Can you assemble lego?

Then you can build your own PC.

You'll get something better, faster, cheaper and incidentally far more satisfying then buying from a large bulk wholesaler.

The only time you can do better is one of the smaller (and highly competitive) mum and pop stores... and then the best thing to do as always is shop around and/or talk to mates who have bought from them.

Brand name adds cost as people believe what happened in the past will happen in the future... Dell is a good example of paying through the nose for brand id.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

£742 inc VAT and Delivery.

Looks mighty overpriced to me. Heck put that card in the PC I posted for under $1000 and it will blow that rig away and still be cheaper. Or is it you Brits just get ripped off over there? Isnt that like $1500? You should see what I got for that price.

[DukeofSerbia]

I think all of you three misunderstand me. YAKOBU asked for help in this thread, and only what happened is that people wrote theoretical, and still people do it.

And if you want to spend less than 3/4 of a thousand pounds on a machine to play M2TW there are better options I think.

Than help YAKOBU. He left link, and I checked. For me, price is fair.

Can you assemble lego?

Then you can build your own PC.

You'll get something better, faster, cheaper and incidentally far more satisfying then buying from a large bulk wholesaler.

The only time you can do better is one of the smaller (and highly competitive) mum and pop stores... and then the best thing to do as always is shop around and/or talk to mates who have bought from them.

Brand name adds cost as people believe what happened in the past will happen in the future... Dell is a good example of paying through the nose for brand id.

I didn’t know that wholesalers sell goods to ordinary people. Do you mean large retailers?

[IMO, large brand names (like Dell) are excellent choice for companies, but for home usage I don’t think so.]

Looks mighty overpriced to me. Heck put that card in the PC I posted for under $1000 and it will blow that rig away and still be cheaper. Or is it you Brits just get ripped off over there? Isnt that like $1500? You should see what I got for that price.

Not to me. £742 is ~1083 euros. The same machine cost a bit more in Serbia, which is fine, as prices of hardware at us are 5-10% higher than in the rest of Europe.

You Americans have cheapest prices in the world, especially hardware and software, and we all know why that is. So, comparing US prices with European is not relevant. Your proposed Alienware doesn’t have the same price in USA and the rest of the world ;).

[Slug For A Butt]

Not to me. £742 is ~1083 euros. The same machine cost a bit more in Serbia, which is fine, as prices of hardware at us are 5-10% higher than in the rest of Europe.

I think you are getting mixed up between Euros and Dollars. He was correct in stating that it is approx $1500, which seems overpriced to me also.
It depends on what budget he is looking at, and I am assuming we are looking at about £500 ($1000) as that was the figure mentioned originally.
In which case £750 is over budget, he can build a decent M2TW for less than that.

[TosaInu]

Hello YAKOBU,

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pcranges.html
Note that the monitor and speakers are optional and not included.

[YAKOBU]

Hi TosaInu

Thanks for the link.

I assume only the Executer and the nForcer Elite are suitable. Prices look ok but the monitor and speakers will pump up the cost.

I'm popping to a local PC shop shortly about pricing up a build and will utilise all your advice.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Hello YAKOBU,

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pcranges.html
Note that the monitor and speakers are optional and not included.

Those prices are more like it.

You Americans have cheapest prices in the world, especially hardware and software, and we all know why that is.

Is this politics creeping into the hardware forum? Maybe its because we invent most of it?

[YAKOBU]

Hello again

I've taken some pics from the Novatech site to my local PC-build shop and they are going to build the following for £664.72 Net of VAT:

Intel Core Duo 2.4Ghz E6600.
2GB DDR 2.667.
GForce 7600GT PCIE 256MB.
19" Monitor.
Windows XP and Antivirus Software.
Other bits and bobs i.e. case, motherboard etc.

What are your thoughts as I want to play M2TW.

Thanks