1. #1

    Buying new Desktop UK

    Hey Community,

    Well am currently based in the UK and i'd like to ask the UK people around if there is any descent site where I can buy a descent desktop.

    My budget is around 700-1200£ I was thinking of allienware but a bit overpriced I think so. I haven't checked specs etc in a long time so I wouldn't know exactly what to buy atm. I am not looking for a super computer that can play I dunno Crysis 3 in ultra super high def, I am looking for something descent that can afford to play and work on etc.

    I am thinking of also going for an SSD drive since it makes difference not exactly in gaming but generally on any stuff u do on the computer.

    Let me know if there is anything on your mind that I could use and also if you could provide me info where to buy it from. Cause I've been asking around and it seems there are too many websites in the UK that assemble computers etc but they ain't that good.

    Thanks in advance.

    Edit:
    Budget : 700-1200£
    Resolution: -
    Games / Settings Desired: World of Warcraft
    Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): Software development a lot of different studios open in the same time etc... SSD would help descent ram as well
    Country: UK
    Parts that can be reused : not really
    Do you need an OS?: nope
    Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? : I could use 2 monitors from 19 to 23', no need of mouse keyboard speakers etc.

    Thanks
    Last edited by tratra; 2014-09-17 at 03:26 PM.

  2. #2
    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    Moving this to the build/upgrade subforum.

    Also, filling out the full sticky here would help, for what you play exactly, and the rest of the details.
    Gaming: Dual Intel Pentium III Coppermine @ 1400mhz + Blue Orb | Asus CUV266-D | GeForce 2 Ti + ZF700-Cu | 1024mb Crucial PC-133 | Whistler Build 2267
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  3. #3
    If you're wanting monitors as well that's going to take a good £200+ out of it easily depending on which you want. Don't buy pre-built if you can though, you'll always get better if you can do it yourself or ask a friend to put it together.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    Have a look at this:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£166.74 @ Aria PC)
    CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 87.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler (£30.14 @ Aria PC)
    Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£84.60 @ Amazon UK)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£60.46 @ Ebuyer)
    Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
    Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (£299.15 @ Scan.co.uk)
    Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£44.75 @ Aria PC)
    Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.54 @ Aria PC)
    Monitor: Asus PB238Q 23.0" Monitor (£177.59 @ Aria PC)
    Monitor: Asus MX239H 23.0" Monitor (£145.90 @ Amazon UK)
    Total: £1189.76
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-17 19:15 BST+0100

    And think about the GPU, as the new NVidia GPUs are coming out within the next month, so I've put one in that might get you a high-end GTX970 upon release. I've gone for two slightly different monitors, but both 1080p. If you didn't need the second one in the budget, I'd make the following changes:
    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£239.94 @ Aria PC)
    CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£59.00 @ Amazon UK)
    Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£84.60 @ Amazon UK)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£60.46 @ Ebuyer)
    Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.39 @ Aria PC)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.50 @ Aria PC)
    Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£326.40 @ Scan.co.uk)
    Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£70.99 @ Novatech)
    Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.54 @ Aria PC)
    Monitor: Asus PB238Q 23.0" Monitor (£177.59 @ Aria PC)
    Total: £1199.41
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-17 19:20 BST+0100

    It's overkill for WoW for sure, but I'd puyt money on it doing every you want it to, and fantastically for a long time. The GPU is, once again, a placeholder until we get confirmation in the new NVidia GPU prices and performance.

  5. #5
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Pleaasee no suggesting PB238Q.
    This is what I got after I got my colorimeter (i1 Diplay Pro) and measured it.
    dE 1976
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...l/pb238pre.png
    and dE 2000
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...8calmanpre.png

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    Pleaasee no suggesting PB238Q.
    This is what I got after I got my colorimeter (i1 Diplay Pro) and measured it.
    dE 1976
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...l/pb238pre.png
    and dE 2000
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...8calmanpre.png
    That's okay, what would you suggest as an alternative?

  7. #7
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    U2414H or P2414H.

  8. #8
    I think you're saying you don't want to build it yourself...but just get a pre-built system, right?

    If so, have a look at http://www.scan.co.uk/ , I bought plenty of stuff from them, always had a good experience & especially when there's a problem because they'll put it right.
    CPU: Ivy Bridge i5-3570K OC @ 4.2 GHz, Cooler: ARTIC Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
    MB: ASUS P8Z77-V LE, RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
    GPU: MSI R9-280X, Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
    SSD: 120GB SanDisk SSD, HDD: 2x 1TB Seagate HDD in RAID 0
    PSU: OCZ 700W (multi-rail) PSU, Case: Cooler Master Elite 334U case
    Monitors: ASUS VE247H & ASUS VE228H Cooling: Totes cute Akasa 120mm Rainbow LED fans

  9. #9
    Deleted
    The two parts i would change, in either of the two builds tenangrychickens provided, is the mobo with this one and get one good monitor instead for now, as Remilia suggested too.

  10. #10
    Thanks for your replies, I managed to assemble a Pc at scan, I couldnt be bothered doing it on my own tbh, like buying parts and then doing it (its weird but am terrible when it is involving handwork).

    Came around 1240 pounds:

    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/7ea5619...9-a51069303c43

    Let me know your thoughts about it.

  11. #11
    That's a strange build you got there...B85 motherboard with 4690K. This is around same price but more balanced:

    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/61ed9eb...f-406f1ed319f9 i5-4690K OC, H80, 8GB, R9-280X, SSD + HDD, 2x monitors

    But might be worth waiting a few days until new NVIDA cards come out, to see there price/performance.
    Last edited by CandyFresh; 2014-09-18 at 05:50 PM.
    CPU: Ivy Bridge i5-3570K OC @ 4.2 GHz, Cooler: ARTIC Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
    MB: ASUS P8Z77-V LE, RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
    GPU: MSI R9-280X, Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
    SSD: 120GB SanDisk SSD, HDD: 2x 1TB Seagate HDD in RAID 0
    PSU: OCZ 700W (multi-rail) PSU, Case: Cooler Master Elite 334U case
    Monitors: ASUS VE247H & ASUS VE228H Cooling: Totes cute Akasa 120mm Rainbow LED fans

  12. #12
    Thanks Candy, ye I can def wait like a week until I order, by then ill have more money actually = payday haha, but ye I am not up for paying a lot more than 1200 since u know in technology things process so fast ... that ye they will be useless in a small amount of time. + I don't think id ever use the full power of a computer with extreme specs hehe if you get my point.

    Btw you forgot to remove Windows, I already got Windows and an MSDN licence which gives me access to any microsoft stuff so could save a good 70£ from there and use it elsewhere
    Last edited by tratra; 2014-09-18 at 01:44 PM.

  13. #13
    Deleted
    Go for this build:

    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/ae007ff...7-f763a2d6aee2

    Includes a 290 and an overclockable motherboard (which is a little overkill for WoW, but hey.)

  14. #14
    hmm why should i go for only 8gb ram when i am developing i find out that ram becomes a massive problem especially if i have many projects open, also I dont think i need a 4gb graphics card, its not all about gaming for me i could easily do with a 2gb nvidia i guess.

    What do you think?

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by tratra View Post
    hmm why should i go for only 8gb ram when i am developing i find out that ram becomes a massive problem especially if i have many projects open, also I dont think i need a 4gb graphics card, its not all about gaming for me i could easily do with a 2gb nvidia i guess.

    What do you think?
    Add the GTX970 to my build instead, it comes out to the same for that, and if RAM is such an issue go for 16GB and it comes to £1270:

    http://3xs.scan.co.uk/shared/da92867...7-4132aa32cd59

    EDIT: the reason I'm saying this is that there's no opportunity cost for going for the 970 over the R9-280X, and the 16GB of RAM is there if you do extensive SDK work.

  16. #16
    Ye I indeed do extensive SDK work sometimes I get out of ram with my current 8gb spec <:

    ye that nvdia that just came out looks neat, is it any good though? havent seen reviews yet.
    Last edited by tratra; 2014-09-19 at 11:45 AM.

  17. #17
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by tratra View Post
    Ye I indeed do extensive SDK work sometimes I get out of ram with my current 8gb spec <:

    ye that nvdia that just came out looks neat, is it any good though? havent seen reviews yet.
    IT goes toe-to-toe with the lower-end 290X cards, so yes.

  18. #18
    Ive just come across this thread and as I was about to order parts, would I be better getting a 3xs system instead of building my own as I have 0 experience wiring PSU in etc? Budget of 800 might be a little low for their machines?

    Sorry for hijacking the thread :P

  19. #19
    Its ok Drayarr everyone can join Well for me its faster building a 3xs... I am ok with building my own one but for 50£ less ... hmm dunno if its worth it since am not an enthusiast of building my own comp. There are other people that do enjoying assembling them.

    I found out that 3xs is probably one of the best custom made systems in the UK. 800 is cool, the systems that the other people around here have shown are not that far actually, its just the 2 screens that make it jump up to 1200£ and also consider that the built ill go with is a bit excessive for I dunno playing wow and doing normal stuff But money is for spending I guess.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by tratra View Post
    Its ok Drayarr everyone can join Well for me its faster building a 3xs... I am ok with building my own one but for 50£ less ... hmm dunno if its worth it since am not an enthusiast of building my own comp. There are other people that do enjoying assembling them.

    I found out that 3xs is probably one of the best custom made systems in the UK. 800 is cool, the systems that the other people around here have shown are not that far actually, its just the 2 screens that make it jump up to 1200£ and also consider that the built ill go with is a bit excessive for I dunno playing wow and doing normal stuff But money is for spending I guess.
    Its lack of experience that is pushing me towards a pre-built system. I do not need it for designing software so I can get away with like a 3gb 280x and 8gb of ram rather than the 4gb card you had and 16gb. I dont mind paying a little bit for someone to put it together for me as I know it wont explode when I turn it on! :P

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