Hello any pc experts,
How do you decide when to stop attempting to upgrade the components inside your pc case, and buy a whole new pc ?
My 'needs' for a computer are not specialist; my aims are to be able to handle most modern software, graphics and websites without the pc significantly slowing down. I currently feel sometimes that I may be 'over stretching' my current setup but I can't really put my finger on anything specific.
Below is what I currently have, most of it quite old and 'archived'. Without being too specialist as I am by no means a pc expert, what would you do if you were me?
Running Windows XP Home Edition, fully updated. I run XP's Disk Cleanup and Defragmenter quite regularly.
Motherboard : Intel® Desktop Board D815EEA/D815EPEA
Processor : Intel® Pentium® III Processor 730MHz
Chipset : Intel® 815 chipset
Graphics : Intel® 82815 Graphics Controller
Memory : 512MB, 168-pin DIMM RAM. (I believe 512MB is the recommended maximum)
Sound : Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM)
Internal modem : Creative Modem Blaster V.92 PCI DI5733
USB Controller : Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller
External Modem for broadband : Alcatel / Speedtouch 330 ADSL USB modem
Hard drive : Seagate 80GB hard drive (more than enough space for me in terms of file storage)
Other drives :
Floppy drive
CD-RW drive
Thanks a lot,
Lee
Coventry
Upgrade pc V buy a whole new one ?
Start from scratch. To upgrade anything with your existing setup would mean replacing motherboard, CPU, RAM and Pentium 3 is seriously out of date now, you can either: A) spend loads of money on a "top spec" PC of today B) spend hardly any money on a "top spec" PC of yesterday (socket 939/agp etc. rather than core duo/pci-e)
ok, thanks Bail.
Can you or anyone else suggest or recommend a current 'mid range' desktop pc package / combo?
I appreciate any opinion here may be subjective, but I find it daunting looking through what seems to be thousands of different models / specs etc.
My budget ? hmm I could probably justify around £300 ?? Maybe a bit more if necessary??
My needs ? General 'family' type usage, maybe heading towards 'semi-pro' usage. I don't plan to run a server on it or anything like that, but must be able to cope with demands such as latest graphics, media players etc.
Hard drive size of around 100GB although my current Seagate 80GB is fine.
Should have a second (re)writable drive for storage / backups although my current CD-RW drive seems fine.
Monitor - I like the picture quality of my current 'massive and clunky' CRT monitor, but would like something smaller for convenience. However only if the clarity of the picture is not compromised. ie I have seen screens such as LCD (I think it is) and I don't like their somewhat 'sheeny' images, or the percieved image degrades significantly if you move your head by 6 inches etc.
It'd also be nice to be able to run a 'memory hogging' application and still be able to open 2 or 3 other windows without much disc grinding and waiting !
Software I typically like to run includes:
Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird
Media players including VLC, Real, Media Player Classic, Windows Media Player
Comodo Firewall
Avast Anti Virus
Java Runtime Environment
Utorrent
Filezilla (an FTP program)
Thanks for any advice or personal experience,
Lee
Can you or anyone else suggest or recommend a current 'mid range' desktop pc package / combo?
I appreciate any opinion here may be subjective, but I find it daunting looking through what seems to be thousands of different models / specs etc.
My budget ? hmm I could probably justify around £300 ?? Maybe a bit more if necessary??
My needs ? General 'family' type usage, maybe heading towards 'semi-pro' usage. I don't plan to run a server on it or anything like that, but must be able to cope with demands such as latest graphics, media players etc.
Hard drive size of around 100GB although my current Seagate 80GB is fine.
Should have a second (re)writable drive for storage / backups although my current CD-RW drive seems fine.
Monitor - I like the picture quality of my current 'massive and clunky' CRT monitor, but would like something smaller for convenience. However only if the clarity of the picture is not compromised. ie I have seen screens such as LCD (I think it is) and I don't like their somewhat 'sheeny' images, or the percieved image degrades significantly if you move your head by 6 inches etc.
It'd also be nice to be able to run a 'memory hogging' application and still be able to open 2 or 3 other windows without much disc grinding and waiting !
Software I typically like to run includes:
Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird
Media players including VLC, Real, Media Player Classic, Windows Media Player
Comodo Firewall
Avast Anti Virus
Java Runtime Environment
Utorrent
Filezilla (an FTP program)
Thanks for any advice or personal experience,
Lee
TBH, a £280ish PC from Tesco would meet (and possibly) exceed your requirements based on what you've said.
Can't agree with you enough about the monitor situation. It seems that both the TV and PC monitor marketplace are quite happy to ditch CRT to save space even though all flatscreen technologies produce an inferior picture.
I've now got a 17" LCD monitor myself after my previous display died. And boy do I miss my 19" CRT display - it weighed half a ton and took up 18 square inches of desk space, but the image quality was something to be wowed; it's LCD replacement certainly isn't the cheapest that money can by but it pales in comparison nonetheless.
Can't agree with you enough about the monitor situation. It seems that both the TV and PC monitor marketplace are quite happy to ditch CRT to save space even though all flatscreen technologies produce an inferior picture.
I've now got a 17" LCD monitor myself after my previous display died. And boy do I miss my 19" CRT display - it weighed half a ton and took up 18 square inches of desk space, but the image quality was something to be wowed; it's LCD replacement certainly isn't the cheapest that money can by but it pales in comparison nonetheless.
Hmm... from my experience LCD monitors are a lot more pleasant. They're far more clear and (I think I am right in saying that) they can operate at higher resolutions. The only trouble with LCDs is that they don't operate well at anything other than their native resolution - but an LCD at its native resolution is far better quality visually than a CRT. Video may be a differnet story though.cwathen wrote:Can't agree with you enough about the monitor situation. It seems that both the TV and PC monitor marketplace are quite happy to ditch CRT to save space even though all flatscreen technologies produce an inferior picture.
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Neil Jones
- Posts: 661
- Joined: Thu 11 Sep, 2003 20.03
- Location: West Midlands
Original Poster: Not worth spending the money on upgrading, you may as well put it towards a new system.
Regarding the monitors - LCD monitors are good for people who suffered from eyestrain caused by using CRT monitors. Basically the picture isn't refreshed 50 times a second on an LCD monitor like it is on a CRT - on an LCD individual pixels light up in appropriate blocks instead. Therefore eyestrain is, in most people, totally eliminated because the technology in a CRT that often causes it (the beam) doesn't exist in a LCD.
Not to mention of course they use less power and take up less space. When I bought this monitor I found I could move the desk so far back as to touch the wall. Previously I was lucky to get anywhere near the wall with a CRT monitor.
One common thing is called the response rate - basically how quickly it takes the pixels to respond to what's happening on the screen. 8 milliseconds is common, you can get faster than that. Some people argue that you get a ghosting effect due to the pixels not changing fast enough on the faster and darker games. Other people don't notice it.
Speakers in an LCD monitor are generally crap if they're built-in because the speakers have to be shielded and what not. Therefore you may want to invest in some separate ones.
Regarding the monitors - LCD monitors are good for people who suffered from eyestrain caused by using CRT monitors. Basically the picture isn't refreshed 50 times a second on an LCD monitor like it is on a CRT - on an LCD individual pixels light up in appropriate blocks instead. Therefore eyestrain is, in most people, totally eliminated because the technology in a CRT that often causes it (the beam) doesn't exist in a LCD.
Not to mention of course they use less power and take up less space. When I bought this monitor I found I could move the desk so far back as to touch the wall. Previously I was lucky to get anywhere near the wall with a CRT monitor.
One common thing is called the response rate - basically how quickly it takes the pixels to respond to what's happening on the screen. 8 milliseconds is common, you can get faster than that. Some people argue that you get a ghosting effect due to the pixels not changing fast enough on the faster and darker games. Other people don't notice it.
Speakers in an LCD monitor are generally crap if they're built-in because the speakers have to be shielded and what not. Therefore you may want to invest in some separate ones.
Thanks for your further replies, including the idea of going to Tesco for a new system (or indeed Adsa, etc).
Would such a store sell 'rubbish' though with cheap budget components, or comparable quality to a 'Reputable PC Shop' but maybe just cheaper?
As for the monitor, yes, I can barely pick up my CRT(!) so would like to upgrade to something less bulky, although I do like the apparent resolution / image quality as well as its screen size which is (does a quick measure) 12 1/2 inches width by 9 1/2 inches height.
If any of you have a non CRT monitor of around that size (or maybe a bit smaller), do let me know its brand/model etc if you feel the viewing experience is very similar to a CRT. I just can't stand anything which looks 'insipid' or changes based on the current angle of your eyes with respect to the screen.
ie if there is any doubt I would be 'disappointed' then I would try to seek out a new CRT monitor. (mine is twitching and probably on the way out anyway)
Thanks again,
Lee
Would such a store sell 'rubbish' though with cheap budget components, or comparable quality to a 'Reputable PC Shop' but maybe just cheaper?
As for the monitor, yes, I can barely pick up my CRT(!) so would like to upgrade to something less bulky, although I do like the apparent resolution / image quality as well as its screen size which is (does a quick measure) 12 1/2 inches width by 9 1/2 inches height.
If any of you have a non CRT monitor of around that size (or maybe a bit smaller), do let me know its brand/model etc if you feel the viewing experience is very similar to a CRT. I just can't stand anything which looks 'insipid' or changes based on the current angle of your eyes with respect to the screen.
ie if there is any doubt I would be 'disappointed' then I would try to seek out a new CRT monitor. (mine is twitching and probably on the way out anyway)
Thanks again,
Lee
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Neil Jones
- Posts: 661
- Joined: Thu 11 Sep, 2003 20.03
- Location: West Midlands
I wouldn't buy a computer as such from Tesco or Morrisons or Asda or anywhere like that because they tend to be cheaply made with inferior parts and you're lucky if the bits last 18 months.
There are pros and cons to buying various brands though, and there are cons and pros to buying a bunch of bits yourself and putting them in a case.
Buy bits yourself, you get the computer you want at the price you want to the specification you want. Responsible for your own technical support.
Buy something from PC World, you get a half-decent brand but pay through the nose for technical support that runs on a "wipe the machine" basis for every problem.
Buy something from Dell, once it packs up that's the end of it, non-standard bits. Lifetime is about 3yrs.
Buy eMachines, I'll tell you now the power unit will last 2.5yrs, go pop and fry the main board with it.
Buy from the local small computer shop, if its well established they'll be a damn sight more helpful and probably knowledgeable than PC World technical support, plus prices are usually slightly more expensive but may be worth it in the long run as they may be able to sort you out while you wait.
There are pros and cons to buying various brands though, and there are cons and pros to buying a bunch of bits yourself and putting them in a case.
Buy bits yourself, you get the computer you want at the price you want to the specification you want. Responsible for your own technical support.
Buy something from PC World, you get a half-decent brand but pay through the nose for technical support that runs on a "wipe the machine" basis for every problem.
Buy something from Dell, once it packs up that's the end of it, non-standard bits. Lifetime is about 3yrs.
Buy eMachines, I'll tell you now the power unit will last 2.5yrs, go pop and fry the main board with it.
Buy from the local small computer shop, if its well established they'll be a damn sight more helpful and probably knowledgeable than PC World technical support, plus prices are usually slightly more expensive but may be worth it in the long run as they may be able to sort you out while you wait.
Newer LCDs (i.e. those released within the last 5 years!) don't invert when seen from different angles.fernando wrote:...changes based on the current angle of your eyes with respect to the screen.
I agree with CWathen's point, though, that scaling is worse on LCDs and they are not as versatile.
Thankyou all again.
Bit of a minefield isn't it if you're not someone who has the knowledge or confidence to construct a pc system yourself from scratch.
It sounds anyway like I should stick with a CRT monitor; it happens I can probably get one or two unused ones from other people, so will probably stick with those and just hope I never have to carry them again !
As for the pc, I think I basically need a case which happens to have a reasonably up to date CPU, motherboard, graphics card etc in it.
I could then hopefully find a space for my current CD-RW drive and use my current hard drive.
I might look at PC World for example to see what currently appears to be 'good' then look at ebay for comparable deals.
I'm going to have to sit dwn and have a hard thnk with myself !
Bit of a minefield isn't it if you're not someone who has the knowledge or confidence to construct a pc system yourself from scratch.
It sounds anyway like I should stick with a CRT monitor; it happens I can probably get one or two unused ones from other people, so will probably stick with those and just hope I never have to carry them again !
As for the pc, I think I basically need a case which happens to have a reasonably up to date CPU, motherboard, graphics card etc in it.
I could then hopefully find a space for my current CD-RW drive and use my current hard drive.
I might look at PC World for example to see what currently appears to be 'good' then look at ebay for comparable deals.
I'm going to have to sit dwn and have a hard thnk with myself !