Need a new computer, please help me!?

Question

Hello and thanks for looking.

Im 17 and the two computers in our house are broken. My dad says that he is not going to bother buying another as the cost of repairing it would just be a waste and after all we all have laptops. The problem is though is that my laptop is prone to crashing for some reason and it's out of warranty. Also, I enjoy gaming and cannot do it on my laptop as the graphics card is too poor and from what I have hard its extemely hard/expensive to install a new one into a laptop.

I don't play up to date games, to be honest, the only game I really play is Counter Strike Source and that kind of quality of game so I don't need a top of the market graphics card and computer. However I need one that will run with decent graphics with little lag and freezing so that the gameplay is smooth. I would als use the computer for general work and the internet.

We have two good LCD monitor screens and so hopefully that means that I can use one of them for the new computer but I need someone to confirm this please and this would significantly cut down on the costs?

Finally, I do not want to be spending a lot of money on it as I have limited funds at the moment. I am willing t spend up to around £400 but that would be the absoloute most and it would be great to find something around £200-£350 zone if it will do its job.

Like I said before, I dont want anything fancy, just a computer which has a good graphics card which can run games like counter strike source fine. I dont want a 'gaming pc' as to be gonest im not a hardcore gamer who plays the latest games.

So ideally if any computer works with any monitor, it will only be the actual tower unit bit that I need if I am correct?

So, do you have any reccommendations for this computer?

Thank you very much

Answer 1

You should be able to use the LCD monitors with a new comp with no problem - so if it's just a base unit your after then the packard bell imedia B2217 is pretty good for your basic computing needs.Also has a decnt graphics card.To be honest i'm not brilliant at specs and all but this one does look pretty good.





http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1082257148.1241293317@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadehefejhjfcflgceggdhhmdfhj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=405075&category_oid=



There's quite a few at PCWorld ( i'm assuming your English).

Hope i helped a little- sorry i can't help more.

Answer 2

pounds 350 is around 520 us dollars.



Look for this configuration:



Pentium Dual Core E5200 - $70

(Don't be fooled by the name, it's a Core 2 Duo with low cache which Intel rebrands as a Pentium, runs really great at the default speed of 2.5 GHz, and it can easily do 3.5 GHz if you're into overclocking)



Get a cheap motherboard for around $40



Get 2GB DDR2 800 MHz RAM for around $25 or 4GB.



Get 320 GB or more Hard disk for $50



Get a 500 W power supply for around $60



Get an HD 4770 or HD 4830 for around $120



Get a cheap case and an optical drive.



Voila, you've got a descent PC, which can run MUCH, MUCH more than counter strike. :) You can even try running Crysis on it at low res.



And yes, your LCD's will work fine. And I really recommend 4GB RAM.



Hope that helped! :)



@brianthesnail: i really hate it when people don't read the question fully. He doesn't need an LCD and he needs the PC to be in the pound 350 range.

Answer 3

Sure you can get a minstream comp for 350 pounds!

Don't by brand products like hp, del etc.

For gaming bya decent videocard like a 9600 gt nvidia or 4670 of ati and all new games ar runing in decent resolution whitout freezing it costs about 80pounds An AMD athlon x2 procesor 5000 or above 60 pounds

a cheap motherboard like asus m3n78 45 pounds an 500 gb harddrive 40 pound 4gb ram 40 pound a case 30-40 pond so this is it and it is around 300 pound

If you want better performance get a phenome quad procesor!

Answer 4

Go to Novatech's site. They make computers and sell towers separately. They will also give you honest advice (pre sales dept) on what you need to run what. Good after sales support too, which is very rare these days.

Answer 5

Go for Core2Duo 2.8 with 965 motherboard and 2 gb ram will be sufficient and 250 gb hdd.



I think it is the best configuration for general computing needs and gaming.

Answer 6

Hi, sorry but I really don't think you'll even find something that can run games like runescape on low definition for 400

Answer 7

On a Mac, shift/administration/3 takes a image of the reveal. in case you press shift/administration/4, you are able to click and drag over the area you go with; the image is taken once you launch the mouse button.

Answer 8

okay ill help you out to were you wont need to get a new computer. but fist heres the legall stuff.downloading and installing any kind of software with out paying for it is illegall and you can serve time for it if you get cuaght and i dont do it but i know how becuase im good with computers .okay

go to download.com look for bittorrent go and download it.now go to isohunt.com and search for windows xp with crack go and download windows xp.

then search for power iso with crack in the isohunt search box then just download it and install power iso and use the crack keygen to activate it then when xp finishes burn it to a disk and then reboot your computer and install it heres a video to show you how to install xp



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDLkfyeDIB0

Answer 9

hi dan

i thouroughly understand your situation and the good news is that for your budget of £400 you can get a pretty decent gaming rig,yes there are some excellent gaming p.c,s for less than £400(for even better rigs try pushing the budget to £500)

the first system i have for you is the "cyberpower Gamer Ultra 600"( http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Gamer_Ultra_600/) and this pc is based around the AMD Phenom™ X3 8650 Triple-Core processor which is a excellent modern cpu which will run all the latest games and applications and this is backed up with 2gb of ddr2(pc6400) memory clocked at 800mhz

storage is supplied in the shape of a massive 500gb sata II hard drive and theres a sony dual format dvdrw drive for your burning tasks

as for the graphics you get the ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 512mb of gddr3 memory,and this is more than enough to run todays games allthough you may need to lower some of the detail settings

this is a excellent pc for its price (£409 in. VAT) however for another £90 you may want to consider the "cyberpower Gamer Ultra Yin"( http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Gamer_Ultra_Yin/) and this again is based around the AMD Phenom™ II X3 710 Triple-Core CPU,however instead of waffling on here is the full specs for the gamer ultra yin:

CASE: Cyberpower Gangster Mid Tower 420W Black

Lights & Illumination: NONE

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default Case Fan

Power Supply Upgrade: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY ***No OverClocking Possible***

CPU: AMD Phenom™ II X3 710 Triple-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology ***Overclockable XXX***

Overclocking Service: No Overclocking

Cooling Fan : AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK

MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2+)MSI K9A2VM-F V2 AMD 780V Chipset DDR2/1066 MBoard USB2.0, & 7.1Audio

MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (G.SKILL PQ Series w/Heat Spreader)

VGA Power Supply: NONE

VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4830 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card

VIDEO CARD 2: NONE

Video Card 3: NONE

LCD Monitor: 19" TFT Active Matrix LCD Display (19" Wide TFT Active Matrix LCD Display Monitor)

2nd Monitor: NONE

Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Data Hard Drive: NONE

Hard Drive Cooler: None

Optical Drive: SONY DUAL FORMAT 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: NONE

SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

SPEAKERS: NONE

Network: ONBOARD 10/1000 NETWORK CARD

MODEM: NONE

Keyboard: Logitech PS/2 Keyboard (Black)

Mouse: Logitech Optical PS2 Mouse (Black)

Extra Thermal Display : NONE (AS SHOWN)

Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: NONE

Wireless 802.11B/G Access Point: NONE

Flash Media Reader/Writer: None

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

as you can see this is a excellent pc and also comes with a 19" flat monitor which is unusual at this price range and the inclusion of the radeon HD4830 means you can run games at high detail and resolutions,and since the HD4830 has a 256bit memory interface this equates to superior frame rates

finally and from another website i have found the "Acer Veriton M464 - Pentium Dual Core E2200 "( http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Special+Offers/AriaNet+Value/Acer+Veriton+M464+-+Pentium+Dual+Core+E2200+2.2+GHz+?productId=35273) which has the following specs :

Product Description - Acer Veriton M464 - Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2 GHz

Type - Personal computer

Form Factor - Micro tower

Dimensions (WxDxH) - 18.3 cm x 45.5 cm x 37 cm

Localisation - United Kingdom

Processor - 1 x Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 / 2.2 GHz ( Dual-Core )

Cache Memory - 1 MB L2 Cache

Cache Per Processor - 1 MB

RAM - 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300

Storage Controller - Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 )

Hard Drive - 1 x 320 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300

Optical Storage - DVD-RW

Graphics Controller - NVIDIA GeForce 7050

Audio Output - Sound card - 7.1 channel surround

Networking - Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

OS Provided - Microsoft Windows Vista Business / XP Professional downgrade

OS Preinstalled - Windows Vista

Manufacturer Warranty - 1 year warranty

now instead of using the abysmal onboard graphics you could buy a new graphics card with the money you are saving on this p.c

and a ideal card for this pc is the "nVidia GeForce 9600GT 1 GB PCI-E"( http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/nVidia+GeForce+9600GT+1+GB+PCI-E+?productId=34697)

at just £68.94 inc. VAT this card is a ideal gaming card for anyone on a budget,it has a 256bit memory interface and a decent 650mhz core clock

you also get a mammoth 1024mb of gddr3 memory clocked at 900mhz(1800mhz ddr effective)(note: ignore the 800mhz memory clock,this is a printing mistake)

this will run games very well and also suppo