New PC's

[Lazzaro]

Anyone know where I can get a pretty good spec PC built from scratch, just with windows on it ? Cos I need one and preferably as cheap as possible.

[krashd]

AW Computers, Gellatly St.

They are as cheap as you can get in dundee, but still pricey unless you shop online.

[kj]

build it yourself, might sound daunting, but with some reading and the good advice from Hallyburton computers in dundee, you'll not have any problems building one. I built one and it lasted my about 4 years without any problems. Plus all the parts will have their respective manufacturers warranty / guarantees etc, so you're covered in that aspect.

Plus, the fact you built it will help sort out any problems that may arise in the future

[Red_Baron]

I'm with KJ, get a mother board with onboard graphics and sound and there's 2 probs gone, try tekheads.com or dabs.com for parts buy a pc for dummies book and spend a Saturday getting everything up and running.

Teckheads will do you a good deal on Windows if you buy parts form them. But whatever you do don't buy a shite monitor or a shite mouse these two things are essencial to get right.

[Rebelius]

and graphics and sound cards aren't???

[kj]

the most important thing in my eyes is getting the right mother board, since this is the central part of the computer. you'll want to get one that has plenty of room for upgrade/additions, support for today and tomorrows technology, one thats well laid out so that you can add and fiddle with components without problem.

And dont forget to get the correct type of box, else you'll look a right dumbo.

[Red_Baron]

Originally posted by Rebelius
and graphics and sound cards aren't???

Not really, unless you're doing stupid stuff with audio ( like recording multiple tracks) you only need 5:1 onboard sound for games or a £30 PCI.

And as for graphics cards there's little to choose from when ATI and GForce get in the ring so pick one up from the 9500 and you're ok. He said as cheap as possible so I'd go for the 9500 as it's DX9. But if you're not gamin then a 9000 is fine.

But Mice and monitors tend to be the thing that gets forgotten. A cheap mouse won't last very long if you're gaming ( or even using your PC every night) bets to go for an optical one.

As for monitors a bad one can strain your eyes if looked at for a long time. Even if you're not gaming you still got to look at it. Also regardless of the equipment driving the the thing if it's not up to it you'll get crap display and in the worst cases black outs. Also the bigger the better!

[Rebelius]

i'd agree about cheap mice, although i dont like optical ones, my Razor Boomslang does me fine, but i doubt many people will wanna splash out £100 for a mouse, even if it is the best you can get. I got it for my xmas couple years ago an it's still as good as it was then.

I wouldnt know much about monitors, just got the standard Dell 19" with the PC

Tom

[AlanG]

Say what you want about Microsoft but their mice are the best (next to logitech) go for either the intellimouse with scroller ball or if youve got more dosh the lovely laser one (comes in cordless too)

also avoid ergonomic keyboards as they are suck.

Like Red_Baron says if the PC is for gaming get good sound/graphics, if youre gonna use it for doing essays and surfing the net just get cheap (or onboard) sound/graphics. Soundblaster Live is very good though, and dont forget that no matter what you spend on a soundcard it can be wasted by having crap speakers.

motherboard, most should have AGP and USB anyway but make sure it does as most likely you will need these ports at some point.

i was away to say "thats all the general answers unless you state specifically what you need" then noticed you only asked where to get a pc cheap, so probably know all this anyway and we seem like tubes, excellent