Help from desktop PC experts please

[Dedworth]

My PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, monitor, dvd drive etc is fine

if I added a new hard disc & Windows 7 would this be any good ?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...BB-93502G.html

needs to be used for MS Office, Web, bit of copying DVD's

Advice/suggestions appreciated

[KeithD]

Depends what you want to do..... The HD is only storage it won't speed anything up.... more memory will do that!!!

[les_taxi]

My PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, monitor, dvd drive etc is fine

if I added a new hard disc & Windows 7 would this be any good ?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...BB-93502G.html

needs to be used for MS Office, Web, bit of copying DVD's

Advice/suggestions appreciated

Well it's ok i guess but it does not include a graphics card so it's not going to be very quick but if you just want something very basic then fair enough.
I have a really fast pc which although its gone up in price its amazing value for money it cost me about £380 I think I will try find you link.
Can't find my model now but here is a link to give you an idea http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...-259-OK&tool=3

[Dedworth]

Depends what you want to do..... The HD is only storage it won't speed anything up.... more memory will do that!!!

I suppose I could use my existing HDD, present machine (5 yrs old XP AMD Sempron 3000+, 2gb memory, ) often grinds to a halt when multiple applications are open ie Excel, Word, Outlook, Sage, Firefox

[Dedworth]

Well it's ok i guess but it does not include a graphics card so it's not going to be very quick but if you just want something very basic then fair enough.
I have a really fast pc which although its gone up in price its amazing value for money it cost me about £380 I think I will try find you link.
Can't find my model now but here is a link to give you an idea http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...-259-OK&tool=3

Thanks Les - would I need a graphics card as it wouldn't be used for games or suchlike ?, might watch a dvd on it but normally use laptop for that. It's basic business use but I want it quick & reliable for that.

[les_taxi]

Thanks Les - would I need a graphics card as it wouldn't be used for games or suchlike ?, might watch a dvd on it but normally use laptop for that. It's basic business use but I want it quick & reliable for that.

No you don't need a graphics card as the motherboard will have video output but even with a reasonably fast cpu you will degrade the pc performance without a graphics card.
I do play games,burn blu-rays etc etc so i have to have a decent system but it's nice to see things whizz along with no lag or waiting.
A pc costing £400 is a damn good machine to one from 5 years ago,it's not a bad outlay to get something which will do all you wish and quick

[Josieyam65]

My PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, monitor, dvd drive etc is fine

Did you try the "Disk Cleanup"? Maybe there are loads of temp files in your pc. And defrag it as well.

My workmate had a problem the same as yours and the reason was her pc had a virus.

[KeithD]

If you just want something for using on the internet, and using Word, etc, get a £200 Netbook.

[Dedworth]

Did you try the "Disk Cleanup"? Maybe there are loads of temp files in your pc. And defrag it as well.

My workmate had a problem the same as yours and the reason was her pc had a virus.

Do that regularly CC Cleaner, Defrag, Scan Disc. Like a few I've spoken to I'm suspicious about Window XP updates I wouldn't be surprised if they've deliberately slowed things to push people towards Windows 7

[Dedworth]

If you just want something for using on the internet, and using Word, etc, get a £200 Netbook.

Wouldn't be any good I don't want to mess about with forms, doc, spreadsheets all day on a small screen and keyboard. I struggle with the laptop for that when I'm away.

[bornatbirth]

get a alienware or use a pen and paper

[somebody]

Worth upgrading its amazing has you say as Win xp increases in code (extra updates and what not) along with applications being updated and new versions how what seemed whizzy 5 years ago is now struggling.

For me a new HDD can make a big difference expecially if a new technology so the thoughput is increased and of course extra space Also worth getting a new HDD every now and then as they are mechanical so have a tendency to flake out.
Even if your only copying DVDs a faster HDD data transfer will make a difference to buffering them etc.

2 gig of ram is not much now but if want to spread the cost make sure it can be expanded on nice and easily with spare slots so your not taking out old ram and paying for new!!

Although Win 7 is not so memory hungry its worth having as much as you can afford as what we expect to be running on a pc keep increasing. Plus of course the old future proofing as long as possible.

As Les points out well worth getting a separate video card even Windows and office seem to be at times a little graphic heavy plus worth looking at if you use more than one screen which if working on excel and documents changes the way you work for the better by far

But you can always hold fire on the Video card for a few months until they are likely to be a tad cheaper as is often the case with PC equipment.

[bornatbirth]

isnt it easier to just new a new pc than up grade any of it, as the software improves your pc gets dated and all of a sudden after a few years your pc is crap.

[les_taxi]

isnt it easier to just new a new pc than up grade any of it, as the software improves your pc gets dated and all of a sudden after a few years your pc is crap.

I think if 5 years old then start with new one,I used to upgrade my old one but in the end it was cheaper option and better to buy new one

[bornatbirth]

i would say anything more than 2 years old just buy a new one and make sure its good enough for your needs

[les_taxi]

i would say anything more than 2 years old just buy a new one and make sure its good enough for your needs

2 years old your kidding
mine is about a year old and will last a while yet,there is little I can't do on it at speed,3ghz cpu,4gb ram,gts250 card,3 hdd total 1.60tb,2optical dives plus blu- ray writerThis all is displayed on an asus 1980x1020 hd monitor.

I play games,burn blu-rays etc and my basic units were under £400 ie mb/cpu,ram,g/card,case and fans

There will be no reson to do any major upgrades for a couple of years,I can play all the latest games on max most times and have no probs running video editing progs or any power hungry apps at all.

[bornatbirth]

i kid you not, i cant see the point in upgrading anything more than 2 years old, 4 years old you might as well throw it away and anything older its junk and just think you will have to replace it in a few years, isnt it easier just to buy new every 4 years

[les_taxi]

i kid you not, i cant see the point in upgrading anything more than 2 years old, 4 years old you might as well throw it away and anything older its junk and just think you will have to replace it in a few years, isnt it easier just to buy new every 4 years

Ok I will tell you why I disagree with you

I fix peoples pc-s as a secondary job,A few years ago I was finding due to small memory and power of these pc-s even after formatting and optomising them they struggled with the newer software available

They would often have only 1/2 gig of ram and a very poor by today's standards graphic card.

Things have changed now most modern pc-s (unless you only spending £200) have plenty of memory,decent cpu and graphics card,Pc-s have caught up and actually overtaken the requirements for most everyday applications.

I'm trying to think what can't I do on my pc relatively quickly,What game cant I play at top speed (ok crysis but badly optomised)

So unless as a home user you want to spend all day encoding hd movies then you recent pc will last a lot longer than the pc-s of old.

[KeithD]

I had my 4 Core for 3 years, and just upgraded to a 6 Core, one to get to these levels you won't need to upgrade as often, during the one core era I'd upgrade every year.

[bornatbirth]

then surely you need to make sure the pc you buy as the ability to be upgraded because a lot of modern pc's ie the cheaper ones have limited upgrading ability and with buying on the internet you can stuff really cheap, so why not upgrade it all at once

[KeithD]

then surely you need to make sure the pc you buy as the ability to be upgraded because a lot of modern pc's ie the cheaper ones have limited upgrading ability and with buying on the internet you can stuff really cheap, so why not upgrade it all at once

I'm amazed..... you managed to put so many words together to make a coherent sentence this early in the morning

[bornatbirth]

I'm amazed..... you managed to put so many words together to make a coherent sentence this early in the morning

i just drank a can of redbull

[les_taxi]

then surely you need to make sure the pc you buy as the ability to be upgraded because a lot of modern pc's ie the cheaper ones have limited upgrading ability and with buying on the internet you can stuff really cheap, so why not upgrade it all at once

Well thats basically what I said dont buy one for £200
Spend a bit more and you will be fine,In a couple of years I want to upgrade mine a new cpu will prob be all I need.

[KeithD]

..... I want to upgrade mine a new cpu will prob be all I need.

As long as it's AMD..... Intel keep changing the bloody m/b design for new chips

[bornatbirth]

so what mother board should we be looking to buy and be able to upgrade

[KeithD]

AMD boards run their chips from single core to 6 Core and upwards when they come out.

[les_taxi]

Mine is amd athlon II x2 245cpu2.90ghz