Be Excellent To Each Other

As I have got my MSDN subscription, I can now start learning server and stuff.

My current PC is a Pent 4 2.0 with 2 Gig of ram. I can use this as a server?

So my question is where is a good place, ebay (recommended seller) or online shop, where I can get a cheap Dual core system from? (I know JC is good at finding bargins)

Or is it cheaper to built it myself?

That's fine for a server. I can't imagine you'll be doing much with it...?

No it is just to play with.. So I can learn more about servers etc.. maybe do an MCSE etc later (if I can get the company to pay for it).

But I will need a new desk top.. but not sure where to start looking, as I don't want to spend a silly amount..

If you get one from Ebay then it's not cheaper to build one. Recently there were some more Alienwares and Dells but they were pretty high end (I7 etc) so weren't that cheap.

I'll have a good sniff for you

Thanks dude, I don't need as high as yours as don;t play new games, but something that is semi ok..

I know dual core will be better than my current system..

What was you looking to spend? If I have a rough figure I can spec to cash.

Around £200 maybe £300.. Is that enough?

yes it should be. OK lemme see what I can find

Akshully, I'm after a new PC also, sort of around the £300-350 sort of range. I'd like to maybe play a few games on it but mainly it's just going to replace this one. So it will be doing pretty routine stuff mostly also sharing files with the 360 downstairs.

That would be perfect if I wanted to replace the one I've got with something twice as expensive and half as fast.

This is OK but does need a bigger hard drive

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-PRECISION-39 ... |294%3A200

You could perhaps swap the hard drive you already have, if it'll fit.
Hard drives are cheap as chips anyway.

Why drive a Ferrari when you could have a Yugo?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-XPS-700-Inte ... |294%3A200

Is pretty expensive but damn fast

How about a quad core for £312

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CORONA-Q8200-QUAD ... 1|294%3A50

Because thats an advent and they overheat and break down lmao.

I'd rather have something a bit more solid and reliable than some unbranded cack. At least Dell know how to make a PSU

That's truly awful Nem. It has an AsSrock motherboard. It really is a concoction of the cheap and most vile.

How is that an advent?

Its a small company who build their own PCs and seems perfect for the criteria given. Unlike yours which is overpowered and overpriced (given the criteria)

I have a similar PC which I bought at a computer fair and has served me well for 3 years. No problems whatsoever. You are a PC snob.

I'm not a PC snob. I just know my components and want the best for nothing lmao.

That case they've used is the same one Advent used for my 'toaster' PC. Toaster in the literal sense. The motherboard in it is absolute junk and the only thing it really as going for it is the CPU (and that's how they've cleverly marketted it, to blind you with the core 2 quad).

I've used Assrock motherboards before, they are truly the worst of the worst. The Dell I posted is much better than that.

How about this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-OPTIPLEX-745 ... 1|294%3A50

Stick a graphics card if you want to play games and for £250 you have a core 2 duo.

There are so many on there in the price range I could go on all day. lol

Amazing how cheap PCs have become really.

Oh, just noticed the first one you posted that makes sense, unlike your second one

It's called variety hehe. I would avoid Optiplex Dells. They're, well, weird.

Well I am gonna leave it to the expert then. I would not want anyone getting a weird PC

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Vostro-200-P ... 2|294%3A50

That's quite nice.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-E520-4GHZ-Co ... 7|294%3A50

bargainage.

That is not a bad price is it? The store is only a few miles away..

What is up with Dell optiplexes?

Optiplices.

Nothing. They work OK. They're just incredibly bland, ugly, integrated and boring.

They're kinda like the Nissan Sunny of PC's.

My current work PC is an optiplex. It's the most reliable PC I've seen yet (cue it exploding). It has a nice looking case which opens sideways and a huge and very quiet cpu cooler / fan thing.

I recommend it.

They keep going forever?

That's pretty much exactly what I'm after. This one I have now I built and it's been faultlessly reliable. The same can't be said of my missus' HP which we got given and which my current PC will replace.

Yes we have them at work, well untill they are replaced by HPs

Productivity will be down 1000%, then.

They are our lords and masters now, so my dell D630 laptop has to go back at some point

No its a very good price. It uses cheaper components than Zombi happens to like that is all.

Until I got my Alienware I always had PCs with cheaper components and never had any issues.

Looking at their feedback it seems that their previous customers are happy as well.

Are the components that cheap?

I'm certainly inclined to avoid el cheapo computer fair type machines which offer amazing specs for the money. Common sense must tell you that something has to give.

Well I am not sure I could build it cheaper than that. When I say cheap I mean the motherboard is £50 not £150 and the graphics card is £40 not £200 so relatively cheap when compared to a top end machine but they cost at least twice the price so for the budget of £300 you won't get a better machine unless its second hand and someone is doing you a favour.

Found another Optiplex - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-Optiplex-760 ... 2|294%3A50

Yeah you get what you pay for.

You've had your PC for ages now haven't you? Or is it more of a 'Triggers Brush'?

Nope, it's the same one I built about five years ago. Been solid as a rock, in fact thinking about it I'm pretty sure I haven't even reinstalled the OS in all that ime.

I've done more expensive farts. I don't think you realise just what absolute bum cheddar that computer is based on. But if you wanted reminding see the pic.

Shit mobo, shit computer. Probably a shit PSU aswell. I'd rather have something older, slower and more substantial.

Asrock - ASSrock. Seriously.

I've built my last 4 computers, and I've never spent more than £60 on a mobo. They've all done exactly what I wanted.

Which is why I linked to the expensive one just incase Kovacs wanted something really nice.

It's very hard finding something good cheap. Nemmie & myself's Alienwares were genuinely extremely cheap and asbsolute must haves. But that doesn't happen very often.

The XPS Core 2 Extreme I linked to is cheap. Because even now, new, the processor would cost more than the PC itself.

Yes. But they do nothing well. If that makes sense.

BTW. A cheap PC is just that. Cheap usually means shit. In my opinion this -

DELL XPS 700 Intel Core 2 Extreme X6500 ( 2.93 GHz )
The Tower unit may have some superficial scratches/marks to the casing. This will differ from item to item.
Chipset - Intel Core 2 Extreme X6500 @ 2.93 GHz
Memory - 4 GB (4 X 1GB)
Storage - 1TB (2 X 500GB X SATA).
Optical - Dvd +/- RW.
Graphics card - Nvidia Geforce 7950GX2 DVI.
Does not support VGA (adapter sold separate)
Extras - Card reader.
PSU - 750Watts
Sound - Sound Blaster X-Fi.
Operating System - Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit. (COA included)
Colour - Silver and Black.

For £625 is a cheap PC. Simply as when new that would have been over £3000 (just over a year ago).

It's also cheap for what it is in the literal sense. It's a solid, rolls royce like computer for a low price. One that would last (speed and reliability) AT LEAST twice as long as two £300 pcs.

What about getting from A to B?

When would a £300 PC die?

When you've cut his ear off, danced about like a ponce then shot him.

It's not really a case of dying. Though as an example I brought a Advent that was pretty much identical to the £315 PC and it was the quad core phenom that lured me in. Within a month it was overheating (thanks to the minute case) and I had to move it into another case. It was £400 new. Within six months the PSU needed replacing, then the DVD drive went and the 500gb hard drive went pop (I blame the shitty psu that was in there).

So I ended up fixing it with spare parts and gave it to my cousin. That's a cheap PC it was utter crap.

I then brought my Alienware with a dual core cpu and it pisses all over the quad core one I had. Simply because the component quality is top drawer.

Dell XPS are the Alienware of Dell. The PSUS are enormous, that one has a dual GPU video card, masses of storage and a processor that's sick fast. There's a massive difference between the core 2 and the extreme, trust me.

TBH advising 'cheap' PC's isn't something I generally like to do. Simply as I truly believe in the get what you pay for philosophy. There are cheap PCs. And, most would do the job. But that's all they will do. And, they usually need replacing within a year or two. Throwaways I call them.

I'd much rather buy something nicer, that's more expensive, that will hold it's own spec wise for a lot longer.

The main advice I have always given to people (even in 8 years of running a PC shop) is to spend the absolute maximum you can afford to spend. And then stop looking at the prices of them.