Looking for a new desktop, where should I go?

[Galie]

This week I returned from vaction in Japan to discover my desktop had up and died on me, it was a good few years old so it wasn't totally unexpected.

I live in the UK and I'd like to know if anyone could recommend to me a decent PC manufacturer. I have very little knowledge about PCs, but I know I'm looking for a system that can handle DAoC well. Being able to run two ToA clients reliably and without lag in RvR would be amazing.

Any advice on possible specifcations and components would be great too. I'm totally lost when it comes to choosing good, gfx cards and processors etc.

Thanks Galie

 

[Bob007]

Duel accounting, you can't beat a P4 CPU, surgest a gig of ram and if budget can go that far, radoen x800 or 9800 pro graphics card and SATA harddrives.

Check out Overclockers and read up, Try build you own. Not that hard tbh. Few good online shops Dabs, ebuyer and many others, Assemble a parts list and shop around, Get best deals you can.

Once you've got all parts, Don't rush into the build all excited. Take your time, If you not sure what to do, Ask someone then do it. Typical list...

Case
PSU (power supply uniy, Often cases come with em, But not always good)
Motherboard
CPU
Heat sink and fan for CPU
Harddrives
Ram
Use 5.25 drives from old machine for now, Can upgrade them in time.
Also pop in a case fans to get air circulation up.

And must important rule of all if you undertake a self build for first time.

Take your time.

Mistakes can be annoying at least, But when finished and running happily Theres nothing more rewarding

GL

Ps google overclockers and dabs if you don't know urls,

 

[Adrianicus]

As Bob007 says P4 CPUs are great for dual accounting.

The reason for this is they have a feature called Hyperthreading.

As you want to run two accounts make sure the processor has Hyperthreading. Not sure if its standard with all P4s but might want to check the specifications of any that your interested in.

Will allow you to stick your buffbot to your main, and run around with no probs.

 

[Galie]

Thanks for the advice, I think that a self build might be a little risky for me as I know totally nothing about it, I would attempt it if I knew someone in real life that could walk me through it, but nobody I know knows anything about anything techological.

Hopefully I'll be able to find a manufacturer that will put together a system for a reasonable price that has the components I need.

 

[Oro]

If you look on Dell's website, you'll see the XPS range which you can customise to the Nth degree. You can build a basic system and soup it up yourself or pay the full wedge for a high spec megabeastie with the latest stuff in it.

Even if you don't get a Dell system. the web based system builder they have is good for farting around with combos to see what you get. Can be slightly expensive though, compared to some places.

Alienware are reputed to do good gaming machines but I'll be using Dell for the core of my next system. I know you'll always find peeps that have had horror stories with every manufacturer around but I like Dell.

Any PC World bought stuff I've seen tends to be a bag of shite as the unheard of suppliers they use tend to use low grade components. Bought one once, after examining the contents, wouldn't do it again. I'm afraid I can't be bothered to build from scratch any more, my days of spending hours faffing around inside a PC are over, I just can't be assed spending the time. I'll get a core system then tweak it. Most of the stuff I've seen in PC World from known brand manufacturers can be bought direct over the web cheaper from those same manufacturers. In fact, even PC World stuff is often cheaper over the web on their own website.

Bought a lot of components from dabs.com over the years but I've got a friend that has had some horror stories lately so I'm a little wary. Still worth checking for price comparisons. Have to say though, I've had no trouble with Dabs.

Anyway, got stuff to go do. I'll amble instead of ramble now

 

[starr]

<jumps in to recommend the new Dell XPS range>
<looks up>
<shrugs and walks off>

(Roo'd again)

 

[Naetha]

If you're in the UK I'd recommend www.novatech.co.uk - they have good value PCs, and excellent customer service.

If you want to customise your PC, you could also try Team Clockwork I know they have good value PC systems, but I don't know how good their after sale support is. Don't whatever you do buy from www.epcbuyer.com - they have the worst customer support ever, and obviously don't research compatibility issues when putting PCs together.