Recommended Desktop PCs?

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:42 pm

Hi, team - I am looking to invest in a decent desktop PC quite soon, and I wanted to know which ones you would recommend.

I am looking to spend no more than about £500 - £600, and I would (ideally like 8 or more (decent) processors, and some sort of GPU - could you please give me some suggestions of good PCs?

Thanks,
From Chris

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:43 pm

Hi Chris,

You got a few initial options:

1) Build it yourself, and decide which bits are most important and have a budget in mind
2) Get a local shop to build one to your specifications
3) Buy an off the shelf unit from a branded supplier

As far as option 3 is concerned, there are few "brands" now available, compared to say 10 years ago. Back then there was a huge number of brands that built their own spec machines and gave you a wide choice.

Nowadays, the most likely option for many people is Dell. So, you can get a good deal, BUT, they tend to design their own cases and motherboards, making them more difficult to upgrade at a later stage.

But they are competitively priced and they tend to be reliable.

As far as option 2 and 3 go, buying from a 3rd party means you will have a guarantee that it'll work together and in the first year (say) if something fails, you're covered.

With option 1, you might save some money but you will have no guarantee on the system (as a whole) but you'll gain experience building something and making it work.

In the end it depends on who you trust more

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:49 pm

Thanks, Tim - I would like to try and find one that I could easily change parts on and (eventually) apart it, but at the moment, I'm not up to building it myself - other than Dell, what would you recommend from experience, that you don't need to build yourself?

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:15 pm

Hi Chris,

I don't have any personal experience of any branded PC's, as for the last 20+ years, I've always built my own.

From a work point of view, I know people who have Dell and they seem to like them, though in some cases they have Business Support packs, so if something fails, they are covered.

Of the other brands, you could walk into PC World/Currys and get whatever they have. I know of a brand called Viglen, who've been going for years, but they are now more focused on schools and business, rather than the domestic market.

There are firms who specialise in "gaming rigs" and it's maybe best to look in that sector, as you're more likely to get something with multiple CPU's and a half decent GPU card.

I think before you chose a supplier though, you need to consider what sort of CPU and motherboard you want. There are 2 main ones: Intel and AMD. Intel usually charges a slight premium over a similar CPU from AMD but there isn't that much difference between them.

In the end, it's down to personal choice and which "platform" you think will be supported for the longer period (as mostly when NEW CPU's come out, they bring out a new CPU socket for them....

So, you might find a particular generation of CPU isn't upgradeable after about 2 years in production.....though of course you could always buy a cheaper model CPU of a specific CPU socket type, and then once prices come down, after a while, upgrade the CPU to a faster version of the same type socket. I did this a few years ago with a Q6600 quad core CPU, and the motherboard I got, supports the QX Extreme series which are faster and with more on board cache.

Originally the QX cores were horrendously expensive at £600+ each but a QX9650 can be bought from abt £75 now.

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:17 pm

Thanks, Tim - I'll have a proper search soon

rich2000k · Post by **rich2000k** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:53 am

Hi Chris

I built my own for less than £500 having never done it before, difficult, yes, do it again yes. However that said there are many companies out there that will build you a decent pc for less than £600.

I would recommend overclockers.co.uk

Don't get me wrong they do some HUGELY expensive systems but for your budget you should get a pretty decent system.

Hope this helps.

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:01 pm

Thanks, rich

scole of TSBT · Post by **scole of TSBT** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:27 pm

What do you want to use it for? General purpose with or without crunching, gaming with or without crunching? New or used? Intel or AMD? GPU(s) for everyday use, gaming, crunching or all?

I could write a book on what I've learned while cobbling together systems for crunching. Happy to share if you want, but won't bore you if not.

scole of TSBT · Post by **scole of TSBT** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:17 pm

There are also some decent used systems out there. Check Ebay used Dell Z600 systems. Here's one with 2 Xeon X5650 CPUs (24 threads) with 12G memory. Only an hour left on . Thinking of bidding on it myself...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Z600-WORKS ... 1532339748

Very limited upgrade options with it though. And ouch. Import and postage fees from US high.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:25 pm

scole of TSBT wrote:There are also some decent used systems out there. Check Ebay used Dell Z600 systems. Here's one with 2 Xeon X5650 CPUs (24 threads) with 12G memory. Only an hour left on . Thinking of bidding on it myself...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Z600-WORKS ... 1532339748

Very limited upgrade options with it though. And ouch. Import and postage fees from US high.

Hi Steve

Sorry, but I've edited your ebay link as it was causing the forum to go a bit funny with regards to screen width

Hope it's OK

As far as the Z600 goes, it looks like a good machine, though I don't think I'd risk using USPS to try and get it to UK in one piece...and looking at the sellers terms, they don't ship internationally anyways !!

It's certainly a brute in terms of CPU crunching capability - though I'd replace the GFX card with a nice fast s/h Nvidia GPU.

regards
Tim

scole of TSBT · Post by **scole of TSBT** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:39 pm

Nope. I was just too lazy to figure out how to get a better link. :)

And that system may not have been what Chris is looking for. I just wanted offer an example of a used system with a decent processor setup at a decent price. I picked up a Z600 with a single X5650 a few months ago and have been happy with it. But be aware (or beware), Z600s have custom cases, fans, etc. You can't just add or change out a case fan or PSU. I think they're only 610 watts, so you have to be careful about the power requirements of a GPU. And their CPU heatsink with fan is custom too. I don't think you can put just any aftermarket CPU cooler on them. They are duel socket though, so you can get one with a single CPU and upgrade later. For the money, they're not bad systems if you can buy them in country.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:51 am

scole of TSBT wrote:Nope. I was just too lazy to figure out how to get a better link. :)

And that system may not have been what Chris is looking for. I just wanted offer an example of a used system with a decent processor setup at a decent price. I picked up a Z600 with a single X5650 a few months ago and have been happy with it. But be aware (or beware), Z600s have custom cases, fans, etc. You can't just add or change out a case fan or PSU. I think they're only 610 watts, so you have to be careful about the power requirements of a GPU. And their CPU heatsink with fan is custom too. I don't think you can put just any aftermarket CPU cooler on them. They are duel socket though, so you can get one with a single CPU and upgrade later. For the money, they're not bad systems if you can buy them in country.

Hi Steve

No worries

I'm sure Chris will be happy with whatever suggestions come his way

And one thing for sure is that any Xeon based PC is going to have plenty of horsepower within it, even if the upgrade potential is limited.

After all, the Z600 is more designed to be used as a server, than a gaming PC.....as can be seen by the limited PSU and GFX upgrade paths.

Ultimately, as you commented before, Chris needs to understand what he wants a PC for, and to get one based on his current and future requirements. As such, there is a wide range of choice that he look at and find one that offers the solution to his needs and budget.

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:35 pm

I'm not fully sure what I'm looking for, but I would like a decent GPU, and a good set of processors