Topic: Computer Spec

[Clive]

What would be a reasonable spec for a new computer these days?  Not for myself but for someone who wishes to surf the net and dabble in a bit of downloading?  She will get it built to the specification at a local (independent) computer store which I have used in the past. 

[Sandra]

Can you give some idea of the price that shes prepared to pay Clive ?

If I was building one now I would go for one of the new Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs.
The best performance/value for money one seems to be the one that runs at 2.4ghz and has 4mb cache on each core, I cant think of the model number at the moment, theyre selling for around £190 inc vat at the moment if thats not out of her price range.
A suitable motherboard would be anywhere between £50 and £150.
I would suggest 1 gig of DDR2 ram minimum, preferably 2 x 1 gig running dual channel, decent ram should be just over £100 for 2 x 1 gig.
You will probably be wanting a PCI-e graphics card, as you havent mentioned gaming then one of the 6 series Nvidia ones should be ok starting at around £35 up to the new 8 series starting at just under £200 and going up to almost £400 

Then of course you need a case and a PSU, even for a modest pc I would now be going for at least 400 probably a 500 watt PSU, again around £30 should get a decent enough one, make sure that it has the P4 connector and a PCI-e connector as some still are being sold without them.

A hard drive and DVD writer/s are the only other thing that she will really need.
Big hard drives are relatively cheap these days and shed probably be ok with 160 gig upwards but I tend to be using 250 gig or bigger these days as the price per gig is cheaper the bigger you go and rather worryingly I am filling them up quite easily, I have 3 x 250 and 1 x 160 drives in my main pc   

A 160 gig drive should be from around £60 and fast, dual layer DVD writers are starting at around £30.

Cases again can cost from £20 and go up to a couple of hundred.

So you are looking at around £450 for a good basic pc that will be Vista ready and capable of all she will need for many years to come and another couple of hundred if you want a good case and more ram and hard drives.

If thats a bit much then she can get a very good Intel dual core 945 CPU for under £100 which is about the best value CPU in the up to £100 price range from Intel, some AMD CPUs may be cheaper but if shes not gaming and wants reliability then Intel is the best to go for.

[Clive]

She's seen one for around £550 at Comet but I've disuaded her from buying it because I'm sure she won't get a good deal.  She will also be brow beaten into taking out useless insurance and will not be given a proper Windows CD.  She will also need a router for connecting to the internet and she is hoping to get BB for around £15 a month.  I'll bet that your spec is far superior to that of Comet.

I'm pretty much certain that she's not into gaming but I will find out.

[Sandra]

Shed need an OS as well Clive, unless she knows someone 

[sam]

or you could just go to dell... (I got my parents a decentish machine with a flat screen for £300 the other day, it runs really well - even with Vista on it!)  - take a look at [here]

[Clive]

Good point Sandra.   

Oh those Dell's seem amaziing value for money!  I think they pass most of Sandra's spec tests too!

[Sandra]

I am a little confused by the dearest pc on that page, it says

DimensionTM E520
As seen on TV - Core 2 Duo Processor to speed up your life 


But in the specs lower down it says its the D915 which isnt half as good as a Core 2 Duo 

 

[Clive]

They are definitely advertising it as dual core aren't they?  I notice that you have to pit your wits against them to achieve that price as they try to flog you a maintenance package to go with it.

[sam]

ummm.. not sure there clive... I think it is but not as good.

AS for the maintenance.. buy it online! dont ever call dell!! online you are in control on the phone they are and you will get screwed.

[Clive]

Well it looks a good machine and there are several free upgrades available including 1024 RAM, Vista home premium and TV tuner.  I'm confused about the dual core thing though.  How can they advertise it as such if it's the wrong processor?

[Sandra]

The D series are Dual Core Clive but they arent the new Core 2 Duo which it says it has at the top of the column, confusing isnt it 

The D915 was a good CPU 24 months ago, I think it was standard in the Medion 8800 that I bought about 16 months back but returned and built my own.

Before the Core 2 Duo Cpus came out late last year the D series were as good as you could get for normal pc use, without going overboard on the price.
I actually replaced my Intel 660 3.6ghz single core with a D945 3.4ghz Dual core as the D series prices have dropped dramatically, a few months ago.
My motherboard wont take the Core 2 Duo or I would have fitted one of those instead.

The 660 still retails at around £260, if you can find one but the D945 is now under £100 from a lot of places and is 3.4ghz as opposed to the D915 at 2.8ghz.

Incidentally the Core 2 Duos are supposedly 40% more efficient, that means they run cooler, use less electricity and are faster than the D series ones.

[Clive]

Thanks for the useful explanation Sandra.  Her current PC is 8 years old and was running Me before she couldn't be bothered to use it anymore.  It also cost £1300 from PCWorld.  To me, the Dell seems to fit the bill quite nicely and won't break the bank. 

I've also found her a nice BB deal from Plusnet.  "Up to 8 Mb"  BB free modem and connection for under £15 a month.  There is also a phone deal available which she might be interested in.

[sam]

does sound like the dell will do, nothing fancy needed.

[Clive]

We've just ordered it and it will arrive in 10 days.  She's going to go with the Plusnet BB phone package.  They are providing a free modem and connection but about how long is that likely to take to arrive?  My BB was on order for months before it turned up but that was in the Neolithic era.

[DJ]

I don't know how long the modem will take to arrive, but have you read up on the PlusNet forums lately? I am with their sister company Force9 and they have both been recently bought by BT. 

They have major trouble keeping a reliable email service and their speed is very slow at times - I hope they get a better service than I have had recently.  They did have a great reliable service .. once upon a time.

If they are migrating (I suspect not?) - have a look at their 30 days free offer.

Best of Luck

EDIT: Just seen this on the Force9 site, so presume it'll be the same with PlusNet

Hardware delivery date
Your broadband hardware will be dispatched so that you receive it at the same time your broadband is activated. Please note that if your broadband activation fails for some reason, you will need to return the hardware prior to having any activation fee refunded.

DJ