Solved Best computer for a value of £600 to £650

[Faceofjoe421]

This is the same SSD I need but a different Part Number:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=6FAFA2C5A5CA7304

However this says it is for a different computer, will it still work, and how do I go about installing it, would I put it as a second hard drive next to the Original or can this PC only support one?

 

[essenbe]

Try this at Amazon.com/UK but I don't think it has the 2.5" adapter, but they are very cheap.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

how do I go about installing it, would I put it as a second hard drive next to the Original or can this PC only support one?

Nearly any desktop case has room for two or more drives. Most standard ATX cases can hold 3 or 4.

An SSD has no moving parts, so many people just use tape or tiedowns to mount them rather than screws.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

how do I go about installing it, would I put it as a second hard drive next to the Original or can this PC only support one?

Nearly any desktop case has room for two or more drives. Most standard ATX cases can hold 3 or 4.

An SSD has no moving parts, so many people just use tape or tiedowns to mount them rather than screws.

XPS 8300 Hard Drives - how many total? - Desktop General Hardware Forum - Desktop - Dell Community

Hmm, pretty sweet then - Does SATA allow SSD Drives?

It says there are 4 SATA Hard Bays.

Wouldn't prefer to do tape, rather it was secure.

In total, the whole system will around £800-£900 then

 

[Faceofjoe421]

So my current plan is:

- This computer with the i7 Core Processor:
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Then when I get more money

When customising it says the ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB DDR5 is £550, however after a quick Google it says £220ish, this sounds to good to be true, unless DELL are rip-offs.

This is the £200 one: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...ce=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping

Next I would get 2 lots of 2x4GB Ram from Crucial for £70
8GB Kit (4GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 upgrades for Dell XPS 8300 Desktop/PC, CT1843101 from Crucial.com

Then finally get a 64GB SSD for around £100
64GB, 2.5-inch Solid State Drive, upgrades for Dell OptiPlex 380 Small Form Factor Desktop/PC, CT2222573 from Crucial.com

The actual computer will cost £700, upgrading it will cost £400

I would then Install Windows 7 Ultimate and this would be my perfect configuration.

Will this work out, or not?

Thanks for all your help

Joe

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I can’t see the actual details of your PC when I click your first link. You will have to type or paste in the specifics, such as CPU, hard drives, RAM, monitor, operating system, etc.

If you are buying an Intel 2000 series processor, that would use dual channel DDR3 RAM. I assume you are buying 4 GB, which will probably be delivered as 2 sticks of 2 GB each. Your motherboard should have 4 slots, but you will have to confirm that. The normal upgrade from 4 is to 8, rather than 12. Very unlikely you would make use of 12.

An ATI Radeon 6950 is about $250 US in the US, so yes, Dell is a ripoff.

That is a very powerful graphics gaming card. By the time you save enough money to buy it, there will probably be a better graphics card available for the same money. So don't make a graphics card upgrade decision UNTIL the money is actually available.

If you bought that card, you would probably have to upgrade your power supply to run it. Some Dell PCs have oddball connections for the power supply. This is another reason to have a PC built locally using standard parts rather than oddball Dell parts. I don't know if that particular Dell uses anything oddball.

I don't know if that Dell case is a full ATX size. It may be a skinny case of some kind and that may mean that a regular ATX power supply would not fit. More reason to use a local builder.

That’s a good SSD. I assume you would get it later as an upgrade? If so, I would wait until I had the PC so I could confirm the hard drive mounting setup. It may be that you could use a 3.5 inch SSD rather than a 2.5 inch model.

 

[badger906]

i paid £220 for an xfx HD 6950 2gb about 6 weeks ago the going price.

 

[theog]

You may to take look at one from novatech
The iRush

 

[Faceofjoe421]

I can’t see the actual details of your PC when I click your first link. You will have to type or paste in the specifics, such as CPU, hard drives, RAM, monitor, operating system, etc.

If you are buying an Intel 2000 series processor, that would use dual channel DDR3 RAM. I assume you are buying 4 GB, which will probably be delivered as 2 sticks of 2 GB each. Your motherboard should have 4 slots, but you will have to confirm that. The normal upgrade from 4 is to 8, rather than 12. Very unlikely you would make use of 12.

An ATI Radeon 6950 is about $250 US in the US, so yes, Dell is a ripoff.

That is a very powerful graphics gaming card. By the time you save enough money to buy it, there will probably be a better graphics card available for the same money. So don't make a graphics card upgrade decision UNTIL the money is actually available.

If you bought that card, you would probably have to upgrade your power supply to run it. Some Dell PCs have oddball connections for the power supply. This is another reason to have a PC built locally using standard parts rather than oddball Dell parts. I don't know if that particular Dell uses anything oddball.

I don't know if that Dell case is a full ATX size. It may be a skinny case of some kind and that may mean that a regular ATX power supply would not fit. More reason to use a local builder.

That’s a good SSD. I assume you would get it later as an upgrade? If so, I would wait until I had the PC so I could confirm the hard drive mounting setup. It may be that you could use a 3.5 inch SSD rather than a 2.5 inch model.

Base: Intel® Core™ i3-2120 Processor (3.30GHz, 3MB) - Intel Core i7-2600 Processor (3.40Ghz 8MB)
Microsoft Operating System: English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Operating System Recovery Options: OS Windows® Recovery Media Not included
Enhanced Service Packs: 1Yr Collect & Returns Warranty – No upgrade selected
Online Backup: DataSafe Online Backup 2GB - 1 year licence
Microsoft Application Software: Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads.* No PowerPoint or Outlook
Protect your new PC: McAfee® Security Center* 30-Days trial version
Accidental Damage Support: No Accidental Damage Support
Memory: 3072MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [3x1024] Memory
Optical Devices: DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with Roxio and DVD Burn software
Hard Drive: 500GB (7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Video Card: Graphics : Integrated Intel® HD 2000
Sound Cards: Sound : Integrated 7.1 with THX® TruStudio
Monitor: Display Not Included
Mouse: Dell Optical Scroll USB (2 buttons scroll) DUAL TONE Mouse
Keyboard: Dell™ USB Entry Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell System Media Kit: XPS 8300 Resource DVD
Speakers: No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Shipping Documents: English - Documentation with UK/Ire Power cord
Standard Warranty: 1 year Collect & Return Hardware Support included with your PC
Call Dell Experts: One free Dell Expert call to help with your PC queries within 60 days of purchase
DataSafe: Datasafe Local 2.3 Basic

Most of this is not needed, but why not

I chose the GFX card because it was the only one I thought was compatible

Crucial says the max RAM is 16GB, which I will try figuring out how.

I'm getting the SSD after purchase yes.

I have no idea how to upgrade my power supply or anything

Edit; the RAM has 4 Slots and the Maximum is 16 GB so maybe 4 sets of 4GB Ram?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Base: Intel® Core™ i3-2120 Processor (3.30GHz, 3MB) - Intel Core i7-2600 Processor (3.40Ghz 8MB)

Memory: 3072MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [3x1024] Memory

Video Card: Graphics : Integrated Intel® HD 2000


I have no idea how to upgrade my power supply or anything

Which processor?? The 2120 or the 2600?

The RAM looks odd to me. 3 Sticks on a dual channel board?

The integrated graphics is fine. You would not have to buy a graphics card to start with. You can use that until you upgrade.

I would be very careful about Dell because you will have to upgrade your power supply IF you upgrade to that Radeon video card. You don't know yet if a more powerful video card will fit in that Dell case. It may be a slimline case? And you don't know if a more powerful ATX power supply will fit and connect properly.

I would seriously investigate another supplier--such as Novatech that TheOG mentioned. That way, you would know that you are getting industry standard parts, rather than possibly getting some non-standard Dell proprietary parts.

If you were going to buy the Dell and not upgrade it, I'd say OK, but you aren't planning to stick with the original parts.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

Which processor?? The 2120 or the 2600?

The RAM looks odd to me. 3 Sticks on a dual channel board?

The integrated graphics is fine. You would not have to buy a graphics card to start with. You can use that until you upgrade.

I would be very careful about Dell because you will have to upgrade your power supply IF you upgrade to that Radeon video card. You don't know yet if a standard more powerful ATX video card will fit in that Dell case.

I would seriously investigate another supplier--such as Novatech that TheOG mentioned. That way, you would know that you are getting industry standard parts, rather than possibly getting some non-standard Dell proprietary parts.

If you were going to buy the Dell and not upgrade it, I'd say OK, but you aren't planning to stick with the original parts.

It comes with the 2120, I'll upgrade to 2600.

The only reason I chose that GFX card is because it was an option in the setup so I asumed it would fit.

I have no idea about the memory.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

I would prefer the iRush but googling just shows Irish so I am guessing it's not well known.

i5 - ???? So can upgrade processor.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It comes with the 2120, I'll upgrade to 2600.

The only reason I chose that GFX card is because it was an option in the setup so I asumed it would fit.

I have no idea about the memory.

If that card was offered in the Dell configurator, it presumably would fit.

I don't understand the RAM either.

I don't like it overall. You have a power supply upgrade issue for which you do not yet have answers.

If you can't get answers, you are making a big mistake. The included Dell PSU may have trouble running that high-powered video card. I don't know if Dell automatically upgrades the PSU if the buyer chooses a high-powered video card during the online buying process. But you aren't going to buy the Radeon from Dell, so it doesn't matter.

Take more time.

Investigate more online and local UK suppliers and builders.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

I have found information about power supply and case size here:

Questions about the Dell XPS 8300 and Studio XPS 9100 - Prebuilt - Homebuilt-Systems

Also

Case - Chassis style - Tower (Midsize)
Power Supply - Power Supply Wattage 460 watts

 

[theog]

You may to take look at one from novatech
The iRush

Did you open the link & have look around?

 

[Faceofjoe421]

You may to take look at one from novatech
The iRush

Did you open the link & have look around?

View attachment 184966

I Did yes, but I am really confused on how I can upgrade it.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I have found information about power supply and case size here:

Questions about the Dell XPS 8300 and Studio XPS 9100 - Prebuilt - Homebuilt-Systems

Below are the pertinent portions of that Tom's Hardware link. I would not take the chance on the Dell without more info.





I just found an image of the inside of an XPS 8300 and it looks like there is a drive bay there, so it doesn't look like I can add a HD 6870 or HD 6950 because those cards are too long and the connector for them are on the top (drive bay is in the way of the connector too).

I guess the Studio XPS 9100 is the only choice left if I wanted to add a HD 6870 or HD 6950 graphic card to it.

Dell seems to be using some cramped cases on a lot of models these days.

I just recently received a scratch and dent 8300 from Dell. I installed an XFX radeon 6870 with no problems into the case. There were already 2 6pin connectors available. The system seems to be running just fine with the added load. Quiet as can be.

 

[theog]

You could start here & work your way up.
Barebone Systems : Computer Supplies and PC Components from Novatech

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I Did yes, but I am really confused on how I can upgrade it.

If you have a full ATX mid-tower case with industry standard parts (CPU, RAM, motherboard, drives), you are not going to have any upgrade issues other than the price of the parts.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

This would be perfect

Novatech Barebone Bundle - Intel Core i7 2600K - Corsair Vengence 8GB DDR3 Memory - Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P - Coolermaster Enforcer Case & Thermaltake 700W PSU | BB-I7264GT

If I could bump up the memory, SSD and GFX card, the reason I want plenty of RAM is because I'll be using Virtual Machines.

32GB Max Memory

But does it come with a monitor, mouse and keyboard?

If I could get 32 GB ram, 64GB SSD and maybe that GFX card I mentioned.