Need a new PC - any ideas? - UK Web Host Chat, Hosting Forum, Web Hosting Forum

richardys · 5th November 2009

Looking to replace my office PC (MESH Athlon XP 2700+) which I've had for a number of years. Ideally looking to buy rather than build as I don't really have the time.

Needs to support two monitors, current use two via DVI and VGA.

I think the following spec should do

Intel Core i7 (8MB L2 Cache)
Windows 7 Home Premium/Professional 64bit Edition
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory
DVD RW (at least)
2xHDD (Ideally for raid, size not an issue)

Any recommendations or suggestions?

Jon-RackSRV · 5th November 2009

A Dell? If you opt for a Video card upgrade (rather than onboard) it should have dual DVI, at worst you will need a DVI top VGA adaptor

e107xs · 5th November 2009

HP? basicly because I hate Dells?

JonWitte · 6th November 2009

I'd sooner gouge my eyes out with a spoon than have a Dell desktop machine.

Not that I have a strong opinion or anything...

fov · 6th November 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by e107xs

HP? basicly because I hate Dells?

Cant think of any decent HP stuff which would meet the i7 requirement though - I may be wrong. I tend to deal with businesses who get the good stuff and home users who, erm, don't.
DC7900 can do the rest though and are great reliable work horses though.

richardys · 6th November 2009

Doesn't seem to be much choice for i7 at the moment.

Mesh Ice seems pretty good spec.

MESH Computers - Award Winning Review PCs Since 1987 - XGS Ice 7 LE

richardys · 6th November 2009

Anyone used PC Specialist before?

Seems good price:

Intel® Core™i7 Processor i7-920 (2.66GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
6GB CORSAIR XMS3 TRI-DDR3 1600MHz
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R

DR3, 2-Way SLI & CrossFireX
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
8x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT220 PCI EXPRESS
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
STYLISH SILVER/BLACK TRIDENT CASE + 2 FRONT USB
450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£25)
INTEL CORE i7 STANDARD CPU COOLER

£670.43 exc vat.

Ricky-Serverstream · 6th November 2009

Ricky-Serverstream · 6th November 2009

Bargainous.

JonWitte · 6th November 2009

Still got a couple of them

Ricky-Serverstream · 6th November 2009

Me too, albeit in the loft at the house. Think the DD is buggered on one of them tho. You got any spare Solidisk units you don't need?

Pete-CCS · 6th November 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky-Serverstream

Me too, albeit in the loft at the house. Think the DD is buggered on one of them tho. You got any spare Solidisk units you don't need?

Got a couple of external (un cased) full height 5.25s if you want them! Need a PC PSU to run them up mind and boy are they noisy

Ricky-Serverstream · 6th November 2009

Cool, that would be handy. At the moment tho they are stuck in the loft so it's unlikely I'm going to get up and rescue them for my tiny flat as not enough space

Hopefully when we sell the house and I can get hold of more space for techy stuff, yay!

Ta.

burble · 6th November 2009

Perhaps sell them to Neil so he can replace his database server with something a bit more reliable? He could load balance them on a token ring econet behind an A310, should give us a bit more WHC uptime

Back on topic, are Dell really that bad? I've been asked by a friend to get a couple of computers for their office, but I really don't want to end up as their tech support; I figured telling them to buy a couple of Dells would be a good way round it, their support people seemed pretty good when the two Dell things I have broke. Ahh - the only two Dell things I have broke - is that the problem?

fov · 6th November 2009

I'll admit I hate dell kit so have a bit of bias.

But from my experience dell kit has always been less reliable, less likely to be the same hardware in the same PC in a batch and is only marginally cheaper. Im sure overall its cheaper in the long run as the businesses dont have downtime (and that hurts when there are only 3 or 4 staff) and they dont have to either sort the repair/pay me to sort it.