Well my old PC has finally kicked the bucket. I bought it seven years ago and in that time it has had a few upgrades but was becoming increasingly slow and unstable over the past few months.
I have set aside about £1000 to spend on a new PC but I haven’t been keeping up to date with computer technology in the interim. It will mostly be used for everyday activities like the internet, word-processing, graphics programs etc
I do like to play games occasionally but it doesn’t need to be a monster game machine, speed and stability for everyday use is more what I’m after. What do I really need to consider spending my hard earned cash on?
The first rule of buying a computer is to first determine what software you want to run and then get a machine that does that well.
So you’re off to a good start in your consideration.
But I don’t see why you need anywhere at all close to £1000 for a machine for your needs. Not even half that.
So one idea: Get a cheaper PC and use the rest of the money for a small tablet.
One thing for some people to keep in mind: upgradeablity. Can you swap out stuff easily enough to keep the machine up do date, make repairs, etc. or are you locked in? I.e., once you bought it, you’re stuck with it as is. Not all people feel good about doing upgrades, but if you do, this is one great way to save money in the long term. If the PC comes in a standardized case is a good sign. Some tiny little weird case likely means a lock in.
Well I spent that on my last one, though that was a monster gaming PC…at that time…sigh
But I’m happy to spend less if it will do the job! I already have a google nexus tablet which I’m very happy with, but I don’t find it suitable for browsing the internet etc as I like to save interesting things as I go along, including copying and pasting text into a text file etc and I find a desktop a lot more user-friendly for that.
I’m OK with upgrading basic things like memory, graphics card etc though after my last attempt with my old PC I was unable to fit all the cables back inside the case, so its been sitting for the past couple of years with one side open to the elements…
I was going to ask if you were planning to re-use your monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Not that I’m encouraging you to blow the whole budget, but £1000 will absolutely buy a monster gaming PC. If you want something more modest, you could spend a lot less. A nice screen makes a big difference, so maybe you could divert some of the budget towards a new monitor.
Missed the edit window… I was going to add that for a desktop, having two screens dramatically improves workflow for lots of applications, so a second monitor may well be worth budgeting for.
I’m not going to re-use anything internal but the mouse, keyboard etc are all fine. The monitor is an interesting point, while I’m very happy with the 24" Samsung I have I’ve been considering upgrading to a larger/more modern monitor for a while now. Unfortunately I don’t have enough room on my desk to accommodate two screens, though it would be nice!
I’d be happy to shell out the £1000 if I thought the result would last another seven years, with easily achievable upgrades (as I did with my old PC).
I too would recommend a second screen. Note that you can use a screen vertically, in portrait mode. Does your current screen have a VESA mount? Because you can get arms to mount them far better than the standard monitor stands.
I suggest you think about things like size (ITX, mATX, ATX) and noise, but my standard recommendation for situations like this is a system based around an Intel i5 CPU, 8-16 GB RAM, a SSD, and a Geforce GTX 970 or a Radeon R9 290X graphics card. Think about what you want and go to a system builder like www.overclockers.co.uk to get a full spec.
Costco offers some nice bundled computers, but only if you need a new monitor. If you buy from a boxed retailer, they often offer a service where they’ll transfer the programs from your old PC to your new one.
(I paid $40 for Laplink PC Mover to transfer programs from one computer to another. I’d paid for licenses and didn’t want to have to re-buy the programs.)
