Advice needed for buying a new pc!

[chris_askham]

Looking at buying a new PC, and was hoping someone might offer a bit of advice.

My current PC is about 7 years old, uses windows XP, 2GB ram with a 140GB hard drive, and a Pentium 4 processor (3.06ghz). At the minute, pretty much everything i use - Photoshop, web browsing, Youtube, etc -  is causing the whole system to grind to a halt.

For cost reasons I can only really go for something low end - would go for a Mac if price was no issue, but there you go. Also, the wife needs a new one too, so going to have to pay out for two at the same time.

So, this is the machine I'm looking at -

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compaq-cq2940ea-desktop-pc-17392839-pdt.html

This is the price range I'm looking at. The 8GB of ram is what caught my attention, and I think the 500gb hard drive will just about do. Not sure about the processor - can anyone tell me much about that? Also, will I struggle with Windows 8, after using XP for the last 7 years?

Think that's about it. Any advice much appreciated. Won't be using the PC for any gaming - really just web browsing and artwork. I've done a bit of research elsewhere, but still very unsure.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Go to PC Specialist.

I've bought my last two PCs from them and I've found them to be the best in terms of bang per buck.

If possible, I'd avoid Windows 8 like the plague. It's the ground-work for an attempt by Microsoft to create a walled garden (ie everything routed through them), is based on mobile phone interfaces and is a different universe from the old style windows.

Hopefully, you can get Windows 7 which I find to be the best Windows evah.

I don't use a lot of photo applications, but I understand that they are heavily dependent on processor power - certainly I know that video encoding is. Therefore, particularly if you are not interested in games, you may benefit from an AMD processor over an Intel.

At the risk of teaching granny to suck eggs, both have multiple core processors. Basically, this means the processor can do more than one thing at a time. If it is 2 core, then two things. Four core, then four. And so on. AMD as I understand it (and I haven't read it up for a while), are not as good as Intels when it comes to games but are fine for other programs. YMMV - maybe read up on other forums about AMD or Intel processors and your favourite software?

Memory is also very useful for video / art software.

As a general rule, avoid the high street. They tend to buy in stock and sell it at a high price then, as it becomes obsolete, tout it as a bargain at a sale price.

Also, I would not worry about hard drive space. These drives are cheap (compared to other components) and it is a doddle to add or replace a spare drive - not the one with windows on, mind.

If you are not a gamer, then you can also save by specifying the cheapest possible graphics card.

Last, PC Specialist has a phone line that can talk you through the pros and cons of a system and what you are looking for, which may help.

I don't work there, BTW!

[chris_askham]

Much appreciated, Dr X!

[IndigoPrime]

On graphics packages, RAM is the main issue. Any reasonably modern PC will be able to cope with the likes of Photoshop reasonably well, but you'll need enough RAM to ensure that won't cause a bottleneck. 4 GB minimum, but 8 GB is sensible these days.

One other thing: if you're not already doing so, budget for including back-up drives and software of some kind into the equation or else examine some kind of online service (like Crashplan)—getting a new machine is a good time to start such a good habit of you're not already backing up/cloning your drives.

[Banners]

I used to recomment PC Specialist - my old PC from them never let me down.

I don't have anything against PC Specialist at all, but Chillblast are now my preferred choice, so they should be worth looking at too.

[Jon]

I recently bought through PC Specialist and also whole-heartedly recommend them.

"If you are not a gamer, then you can also save by specifying the cheapest possible graphics card."

Sadly, not necessarily true any more. I spent a lot of time on my old machine trying to get the best out of Photoshop, and moving to a 64-bit OS (and version of the program) and a half-decent graphics card made more difference than doubling my RAM. I suppose it depends what version of PS, if any, you're using but anything from CS3 onwards runs much, much better with a decent graphics card.

[Professor Bear]

Anyone on the board using alternatives to Windows OS?  I have to replace my pc but I'm fucked if I'm buying anything with Windows on it.

[DoomBot]

Anyone on the board using alternatives to Windows OS?  I have to replace my pc but I'm fucked if I'm buying anything with Windows on it.

This'll start a flame war, you realize that... Still there isn't that much choice. Mac OSX if you can afford it. Just bought my son a Mac mini. Makes a very nice desktop provided you don't intend playing demanding games on it.

Alternatively, recommend Ubuntu (Linux) if you are on a tight budget. I've been a Linux PC user for 10 years and Linux has never been easier. Easily beats windows in every respect except support for the latest and greatest peripherals. Eg your new iPod/ ithingies may not work. This means a bit ( a lot) of research on your part for compatibility before you buy anything. In the end I got lazy and moved to a mac...

That said, windows 7 isn't that bad.... Just everything before and after it is terrible.