Confused pc buyer

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Robert
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I do not want to spend a fortune business is slow. In fact I'd rather not spend anything but the old pc is knackered.

I need it for general office and lightroom 6 duties. I doubt it will ever need to edit anything large than 24mp raw files I'm still using a 16mp at the moment and in no rush to upgrade.

What is the minimum i can spend without being totally frustrated? I need this by Monday so this doesn't leave many options. I have Argos, pcworld, maplins, Costco near by. Or head into Cardiff centre if needed.

What about this hp for £500
http://support.hp.com/gb-en/product...desktop-pc-series/9259612/document/c04923094/
 
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It looks quite reasonable for the money and from personal experience HP support is pretty good.
its not full of bloatware so provided you have copies of your existing progs I would have thought it would be OK.
Just check if you get a Win 10 disc with it , if not find out how you make an install / recovery disc
 
I have an earlier model of the same machine (Intel Core i5 2.7GHz, 8GB RAM, Same graphics card) I bought mine at PC World and didn't get a Win 10 disk with it.

It tells you to make a recovery disc, in my case this required three blank DVDs. I've had mine 18 months now without any problem.
 
+ve
SSD and HDD

-ve
AMD
Only 2 DIMM slots
Putting a better video card in it would probably mean changing the PSU as well
Dual core



I found this in PC World, if you can stretch to £650:
http://support.hp.com/gb-en/product...esktop-PC-series/13823514/document/c05392645/

+ve
SSD and HDD
Intel
Quad Core

-ve
Only 2 DIMM slots
Putting a better video card in it would probably mean changing the PSU as well

Even though it shares some of the same negatives, I suspect it will be a much better choice for Lightroom and Photoshop given the CPU benchmarks:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2262&cmp[]=2929




If you can order through Amazon prime and wait until Tuesday for delivery, I found this for £609:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Desktop-...&qid=1490523285&sr=1-14&keywords=intel+i5+SSD

+ve
SSD and HDD
Intel
Quad Core
Good benchmark: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2929&cmp[]=2570

-ve
Only 2 DIMM slots
Weedy graphics card
Power supply is better at 300W as oppose to 180W - you could possible get away with upgrading the graphics card without changing the power supply



Hope this helps.
 
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I have an earlier model of the same machine (Intel Core i5 2.7GHz, 8GB RAM, Same graphics card) I bought mine at PC World and didn't get a Win 10 disk with it.

With all due respect, Intel versus AMD, it's not the same machine.
 
Sorry I know you said you need one urgently, but if you could get away with a few days have a look at one of these

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/112346229432?_mwBanner=1

I bought one, added a ssd and some ram to take it up to 8gb, it already had a gt210 you and am very happy with the machine.

They would work fine just as they are and you could upgrade later.
 
Can you make a bootable flash stick?

This one caught my eye on Costco for £500. I don't really want to spend more than £500 if i can.
http://m.costco.co.uk/view/p/hp-pav...5-8gb-ram-1tb-hard-drive-tower-desktop-229677

When you search the model 570-p051na the Costco spec doesn't correspond with the details on the hp website which has a hi spec. Have Costco got the spec wrong do you think?


Have you thought of building one yourself?

If you built it yourself you could get a nice system with your budget of £500
 
I'm listening... :p:)

I just did a cursory search for parts on eBuyer and a system with similar specs as the one you linked to could be built for under £500

The bonus of building it yourself is that it can be easier to upgrade as you go along, that plus the satisfaction of having built it yourself
 
Well I've borrowed my parents pc now so not so urgent. I don't think i want to build my own though. So who builds the best value PC's?
 
+ve
SSD and HDD

-ve
AMD
Only 2 DIMM slots
Putting a better video card in it would probably mean changing the PSU as well
Dual core



I found this in PC World, if you can stretch to £650:
http://support.hp.com/gb-en/product...esktop-PC-series/13823514/document/c05392645/

+ve
SSD and HDD
Intel
Quad Core

-ve
Only 2 DIMM slots
Putting a better video card in it would probably mean changing the PSU as well

Even though it shares some of the same negatives, I suspect it will be a much better choice for Lightroom and Photoshop given the CPU benchmarks:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2262&cmp[]=2929




If you can order through Amazon prime and wait until Tuesday for delivery, I found this for £609:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Desktop-...&qid=1490523285&sr=1-14&keywords=intel+i5+SSD

+ve
SSD and HDD
Intel
Quad Core
Good benchmark: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2929&cmp[]=2570

-ve
Only 2 DIMM slots
Weedy graphics card
Power supply is better at 300W as oppose to 180W - you could possible get away with upgrading the graphics card without changing the power supply



Hope this helps.
That Amazon one looks pretty well specced for the money.
 
Well I've borrowed my parents pc now so not so urgent. I don't think i want to build my own though. So who builds the best value PC's?

You could build the best value PC

It is not as hard as it first seems
 
Have a look at the Dell outlet store and also Pc Specialist - my default PC shop.
 
as above, Dell outlet,most scratch and dents are cosmetically ok and for a tower does not really mattter. Any issues with it just send it back EDIT- new stock most week day afternoons, watching it now for a new laptop
 
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Could i use parts from my old desktop? Will the power supply and fans be sufficient?

You started off saying your old PC is knackered, what precisely is wrong with it and what spec is it(whats under the bonnet?)
 
You don't say what the old PC is, how old it is, or even what's failed.
If it's the hard drive, graphics card or power supply, then you can possibly replace them and get going again, but anything else, it's probably not worth it unless it's a relatively new, good spec machine.
It's probably not worth trying to rescue parts from your old PC apart from the hard drive to get your data off.

You probably need to be looking at Quad core CPUs or better. You're likely to find a dual core CPU (whether Intel or AMD) too slow for photo editing.
There's nothing wrong with AMD CPUs, my AMD X8 FX 8320 is an 8 core 3.5Ghz CPU, equivalent to an Intel i7, but much better value for money.
The AMD A10 processor is a bit slow though and a rather old design (2014).
If you spot a PC and want to see if it's up to task, one way is to do a basic comparison of the CPU.
Go here: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php
Put in your current/old CPU and put in the CPU of the potential new PC and see how it compares, then add another CPU from another potential new PC and compare to that. The website gives each CPU a score so you can directly compare.
Obviously it's only part of the picture but, it's a good start. It'll also show you other CPUs that are similar or better.

If you have the time and skills building your own PC does save money, but if you want something off the shelf quickly with support in case something goes wrong, then there's plenty of options.
I would try to get a system with an SSD boot drive if you can too.

If you are temporarily sorted, I'd do a bit of research rather than jumping for the first thing at PC World.
 
My old pc is old is almost 10 years old and was only cheap back then. I think it was a 2.2ghz dual core with 2gb ram. I had a bios update fail and will not boot. It needs updating anyway because i couldn't run lr6 on it.
 
If i was to buy a motherboard bundle deal with the proccesor and ram would my power pack power it? Where would i need to look for this info?
 
If i was to buy a motherboard bundle deal with the proccesor and ram would my power pack power it? Where would i need to look for this info?
It might not have the right connector. But that will depend on the age of the power supply, which given that you said the PC is about 10 years old, it's probably worth just replacing it.

Here's a motherboard bundle (from the ebay seller I got mine from)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INTEL-Cor...-A-8GB-DDR4-2133-CRUCIAL-Bundle-/121949163054

Then add a case with a PSU included:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CiT-Templ...SB-SATA-NEW-/191881203955?hash=item2cad02d0f3
 
Quite possibly - as it's dead, you'll need to open your PC up and have a look if you PSU has anything written on it.

You'll be looking for a number, e.g. 450W. If it turns out you've only got something like a 200w PSU, it might be worth budgeting for a new one with a bit more oomph, should you want to add a dedicated GPU etc. You can get a decent PSU for around £70. Modular PSU will help as will if you're planning on installing the MOBO/CPU yourself....

Something like this... https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/NrDzK8/evga-power-supply-220gs0550v3

Also need to make sure that the motherboard you buy is compatible with your RAM. Newer Motherboards can have issues with DDR3 RAM, if that's what you've got.
 
It might not have the right connector. But that will depend on the age of the power supply, which given that you said the PC is about 10 years old, it's probably worth just replacing it.

Here's a motherboard bundle (from the ebay seller I got mine from)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INTEL-Cor...-A-8GB-DDR4-2133-CRUCIAL-Bundle-/121949163054

Then add a case with a PSU included:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CiT-Templ...SB-SATA-NEW-/191881203955?hash=item2cad02d0f3
Do you think this bundle from the same seller is better for the same price?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-X8-Co...-16GB-DDR3-1600-Viper-Venom-Red-/150946558968
 
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Do you think this bundle from the same seller is better for the same price?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-X8-Co...-16GB-DDR3-1600-Viper-Venom-Red-/150946558968
It's a four year old CPU, however. You'd be better off with the first bundle.

EDIT - having said that (and looked at some benchmarks), the CPU is actually not all that bad - your 8 cores would do the job for LR. But I'm an Intel snob.

It's probably just me, but I like to 'future proof' my builds as much as I can - but if you're not arsed about that, then it's fine.
 
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It's a four year old CPU, however. You'd be better off with the first bundle.

EDIT - having said that (and looked at some benchmarks), the CPU is actually not all that bad - your 8 cores would do the job for LR. But I'm an Intel snob.

It's probably just me, but I like to 'future proof' my builds as much as I can - but if you're not arsed about that, then it's fine.
Now I'm even more confused. It has a better benchmark score and twice the ram?
 
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