So how much speed will you get from a stock CPU?

I know you're trying to be funny....but it's not working

What CPU is it?

Definitely a valid point, but all big name brands are the same. And I’ve heard some absolute horror stories from local PC stores.

Custom build is all well and good if you have the nous, but if not I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. Another hurdle is a self built will be individual warranty (usually a max of 12 months) on the parts, if a hard drive fails for example you have to remove it yourself and take it back to where you bought it from.

With a Dell (and a few others in the same league) if something goes wrong, you call customer support and put up with their inability to speak English, and they’ll send someone around to fix it. Warranty also ranges from 1 to 5 years on these as well.

All that being said yes you will get a system much cheaper of you put it all together yourself, but if you’re not real sure about it (no offence intended Jetters) then buy one “off the shelf”.

no offense taken.. I wouldnt know where to start with a custom jobbie... nor would I know how to build one.... its going to have to be a ready made machine that I can just plug in .

my current comp is buggered... I cant get onto all web pages etc anymore... only some such as this site... I have had problems for ages and I have added in more and more anti virus programs etc but I think its just gone too far now... I need to start over with a fresh machine

thanks for all the ideas/info guys!!!

Edited March 15, 200818 yr by jetute

Not sure exactly what area your from but theres a place called MSY that's probably the cheapest computer store around.

http://www.msy.com.au

Since you dont really know what you'd be looking at I've placed a nifty little PC here:-

Processor:- AM2 x2 5600+ - $155

Motherboard:- Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 - $158

RAM:- 2G DDR2 Kit-800(2x1G) Kingston - $53

Hard Drive:- W.D.SATA 160GB - $60

Graphics Card:- Gigabyte 512MB 8800GT - $269 (If you honestly dont care about Gaming/HD-Movie watching on your PC opt for something cheaper possibly Gigabyte 512MB 8600GT - $99)

DVD/CD Burner:- ASUS Retail Lightscribe 18x - $37

Power Supply:- Coolermaster RealPower Pro 550w - $139

Case:- Antec Nine-Hundred - $167 (Once again if you honestly dont give a crap about what your case looks like purchase a SHAW one for around the $20-40 mark)

If your looking for a monitor once again its to what taste you'd prefer if you like to play games, you'd want 5ms and lower on your LCD so that you wont be getting the ghosting effect. Ranges in size are from 19" - 22" Lots of price differences between them.

Personal opinion Core 2 Duo processors instead of AMD are better but your not a computer nut so in all honesty it wont really matter.

cheers for that.....

exactly the sort of info that I was after... will print this and go and see them!!

Yeah, I would 100% Recommend your Local MSY store. They are the cheapest around, But everytime I have been there, It has taken me over an hour to get served because the line is so long sometimes!

The System Scar96 has pointed out is a fairly powerfull one for you needs!

The only thing you will need to do is put it together. Where are you located?

MSY will put the system together roughly takes 1 week, costs around $75 from memory

Depending on where you are in Melb, I can do it for you

Not sure exactly what area your from but theres a place called MSY that's probably the cheapest computer store around.

http://www.msy.com.au

Since you dont really know what you'd be looking at I've placed a nifty little PC here:-

Processor:- AM2 x2 5600+ - $155

Motherboard:- Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 - $158

RAM:- 2G DDR2 Kit-800(2x1G) Kingston - $53

Hard Drive:- W.D.SATA 160GB - $60

Graphics Card:- Gigabyte 512MB 8800GT - $269 (If you honestly dont care about Gaming/HD-Movie watching on your PC opt for something cheaper possibly Gigabyte 512MB 8600GT - $99)

DVD/CD Burner:- ASUS Retail Lightscribe 18x - $37

Power Supply:- Coolermaster RealPower Pro 550w - $139

Case:- Antec Nine-Hundred - $167 (Once again if you honestly dont give a crap about what your case looks like purchase a SHAW one for around the $20-40 mark)

If your looking for a monitor once again its to what taste you'd prefer if you like to play games, you'd want 5ms and lower on your LCD so that you wont be getting the ghosting effect. Ranges in size are from 19" - 22" Lots of price differences between them.

Personal opinion Core 2 Duo processors instead of AMD are better but your not a computer nut so in all honesty it wont really matter.

I agree with the above post. But if I was you I would get a bigger hard drive. Go for a SATA 320GB just because you get much better $$ value, or even a 500GB drive.

For what you want (like mentioned above), you can get a good PC for around $600-$700 that will last you for another 5 years.

Probably should have put the option up there, like I did with the video card/lcd, I was assuming he doesn't really store much information on the computer and a 160GB would be fine for that!

But your right theres not really much price difference when you jump to 500GB these days!