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Geek Culture / Looking for a new PC for uni

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Mazz426
17
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Joined: 4th Feb 2008
Location: Edinburgh
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 15:46
Hi, I recently found out that I'll be heading off to uni next year and I dont want to take my bulky, current pc with me.
I need a pc for doing 3D work and of course gaming

Of course the second point isn't all that important but it would be nice to have something that would be able to play the odd game when it comes out across the next few years.

My current price range is pretty much anything below or around £700-800 and I'm not wanting something that will take up half of my room. A mac would be an obvious choice work wise but the cost would be outside that range for something that would do what i want it to do.

Anyway, I'm basically looking for advice on this and currently I'm not wanting to create my own pc from scratch, I don't have the time or knowledge. Amazon seems a safe bet for looking for these things since it's nice and quick with its delivery.

now, so far I've looked at a few pc's and at this stage this seems a reasonably safe bet, excluding the 512mb of graphics card memory:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pavilion-Slimline-S5765UK-Desktop-Processor/dp/B004NSUT9M/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1312634297&sr=1-1

I've heard both good and bad things about HP however I've never personally owned one.
Anyway what do you think, any advice or suggestions?

JRH
18
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Joined: 8th Jul 2006
Location: Stirling, UK
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 16:30
Which Uni? I am in a similar situation.

JRH
18
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Joined: 8th Jul 2006
Location: Stirling, UK
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 16:33
... Just noticed your link. I actually have an older Pavilion model, similar to that one. I was going to get a laptop?

Indicium
16
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Joined: 26th May 2008
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Posted: 6th Aug 2011 16:34
Have you considered building your own?

Kezzla
16
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Joined: 21st Aug 2008
Location: Where beer does flow and men chunder
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 16:52
how about this one
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230603872676&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

when i get my tax return i'm gonna fork out for this machine.

about the best ive managed to find for the price if you dont wanna reasearch individual hardware and buy each piece then build a frankenstein.

with the upgrades I personally want it will end up about a grand but hey, its a monster machine and worth every penny.

Sometimes I like to use words out of contents
heyufool1
16
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Joined: 14th Feb 2009
Location: My quiet place
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 17:34 Edited at: 6th Aug 2011 17:35
Quote: "how about this one
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230603872676&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"


That's not bad but it has an integrated graphics card, and personally I wouldn't trust buying a computer off eBay.

"So hold your head up high and know. It's not the end of the road"
Switch Game Engine
Kezzla
16
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Joined: 21st Aug 2008
Location: Where beer does flow and men chunder
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 17:57
Quote: "personally I wouldn't trust buying a computer off eBay."


The extra money putting the price up to around a grand is the 1.5 gig nvidea video card and the upgraded power source to run it.

I bought a blank box from ebay about 5 years ago and was extremely pleased with the results. (still ok by todays standard, its just i live by the sea and my motherboard is going rusty)
so i've got a good machine from ebay before.

regardless, ill be getting my machine and will update this thread or this forum on the machines performance. I will be buying it within 1-2 months.

i'll let you know how I go with it.

kezzla

Sometimes I like to use words out of contents
lazerus
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Joined: 30th Apr 2008
Location:
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 18:15 Edited at: 6th Aug 2011 18:25
Overclockers Uk normally do excellent deals and have £20ish insured next day delivery. Ordered the most expensive parts for my rig from there. Came the next day 8 hours later, in what was indestructible packaging. I had to use a lock knife to open the outer box it was that well wrapped.

" Titan Xeon "

Looks pretty good what what you want and its in your price range. Upgrade the Gpu to a GTX 460 and your done. 4Gb of ram is plenty. You'd only really need more Ram when zbrush upgrades to 64bit compatability since nothing else would really use 8Gb. Im running 13gb and with max rendering at full out stupid highres images it scathes 5gb's

Heres one of the 50 5 star reviews.

Quote: "Been wanting a relatively high-spec PC for long time.

After reading all 50 5-Star reviews I can still barely say that the system exceeds my expectations.

Starcraft 2:
Ultra settings - Frame rate capped at 60 and develops no noticeable spikes in a 2v2 with all armies maxxed. Ultra is too shiny and I play with shaders turned down, I have no doubt this could handle 4v4.

CoD 4+Black ops: Everything on, framerate capped to 100 (because anything more is needless?) Runs smooth as anything, no problem catching 5 kills from a flank.

Dragon Agerigins :What can I say, it just looks beautiful, however max settings make their armor weirdly shiny.

Counter-Strike: Source
This I haven't tweaked around with so much as there's a lot of settings to deal with but from what I've seen it also handles this beautifully.

I don't really have anything much more demanding. Everything I've seen it do it has done so FAST!

Had a blue screen on the first day, has not reoccurred. Confidence in OC Support."


Mazz426
17
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Joined: 4th Feb 2008
Location: Edinburgh
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 18:49
JRH@
I'm gonna be heading to Dundee.

Indicium@
i thought about it at first but to be honest I wouldn't trust myself you build my own, no matter how simple it is

Kezzla@
I'm not much of an Ebay person, plus buying a pc from austrailia for shipment to Britain might be a bit defeatist.

lazerus@
thanks for the second link, I'm still slightly torn between the one that I've spotted and the one that you've linked, while that one is better in a few areas, I'm pretty sure that I've seen the HP I found somewhere else, mabey costco, for even cheaper than it is listed on amazon. Although that one is a possibility, thanks.

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