Advice on a new desktop

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martin

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I've been out of the desktop game for a few years now and only stay semi-current on laptop hardware but I need to buy a new desktop for my wife and would really appreciate your advice.

The main requirements for this desktop:
- Must be able to run Windows 7
- Will mainly be used for running MS Office applications and watching movies and tv episodes
- Will need to write the odd dvd/cd
- Won't be used for gaming
- Needs a decent amount of storage
- Really want a fairly decent, largish screen
- The machine should last a year or three which leads to my next point
- No 'Celeron-type' setups (I have no idea whether those are even made anymore)

So based on those very vague requirements (I apologise) what would you guys recommend I look at. I don't have a set budget yet but probably would not go higher than R6000. I'm not against the idea of buying a pre-packaged deal, so please feel free to post link to any that might exist but please explain to me why you think it's a good deal.

I really have no clue on what AMD and Intel is offering these days and I don't even know whether it's necessary to avoid certain chipsets/brands/models? Help!
 
You can get a lot for R6000. Whatever you do get a Samsung 23"/24" monitor, it makes the biggest difference to your pc as far as I'm concerned.

Where you located more or less?
 
Argh, too sick/tired to go looking for everything. But the main parts -
Get an AMD Athlon quad core, and a motherboard with a 785 chipset (think thats the right one). That will give you decent onboard gfx that should also be able to take some of the load of videos. +- R2000
2, maybe 4gb RAM, choose anything to suit budget. +- R750
+1 to the Samsung 23" suggested +- R1750
1.5tb HDD goes for +- R1000, can always get more later if needed

The athlons are kinda 'celeron' but with some looking you can get a Phenom in your budget. Ok, off to sleep again...zzzz
 
A rough budget might be (ex VAT)...

24" Monitor = R1500 (Samsung 2333)
Case = R500 (Maybe Coolermaster Centurion 5 II)
PSU = R500 (Maybe Coolermaster +/- 500W)
1TB HDD = R800
MB = R1000 (AMD AM3 socket with onboard Gfx (HDMI), Maybe MSI with 790GX chipset)
CPU = R600 (I'd go for an AMD a dual core should be fine - can upgrade to quad later if needed... socket AM3, Maybe Athlon II X2 250. with AM3 socket, you can upgrade to the latest CPU later on..)
RAM = R800 (2 x 1GB DDR3)
 
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ponder said:
You can get a lot for R6000. Whatever you do get a Samsung 23"/24" monitor, it makes the biggest difference to your pc as far as I'm concerned.

Where you located more or less?
Click to expand...

Centurion/Pretoria although I head in the Joburg direction pretty often.

Archer said:
Argh, too sick/tired to go looking for everything. But the main parts -
Get an AMD Athlon quad core, and a motherboard with a 785 chipset (think thats the right one). That will give you decent onboard gfx that should also be able to take some of the load of videos. +- R2000
2, maybe 4gb RAM, choose anything to suit budget. +- R750
+1 to the Samsung 23" suggested +- R1750
1.5tb HDD goes for +- R1000, can always get more later if needed

The athlons are kinda 'celeron' but with some looking you can get a Phenom in your budget. Ok, off to sleep again...zzzz
Click to expand...

Thanks! Any recommendations on stores?

greg_SA said:
A rough budget might be (ex VAT)...

24" Monitor = R1500 (Samsung 2333)
Case = R500 (Maybe Coolermaster Centurion 5 II)
PSU = R500 (Maybe Coolermaster +/- 500W)
1TB HDD = R800
MB = R1000 (AMD AM3 socket with onboard Gfx (HDMI), Maybe MSI with 790GX chipset)
CPU = R600 (I'd go for an AMD a dual core should be fine - can upgrade to quad later if needed... socket AM3, Maybe Athlon II X2 250. with AM3 socket, you can upgrade to the latest CPU later on..)
RAM = R800 (2 x 1GB DDR3)
Click to expand...

Thanks greg! Same question as above, any recommendations on stores?

EDIT: If you run your own shops, please feel free to punt them - I really don't mind.
 
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As for processors get the Athlon II 432. Its a 2.9Ghz tri core.
 
evetech are good, but only use them if you dont have the knowledge to build the pc yourself. You'll get more building it yourself.
 
Qwikslver said:
evetech are good, but only use them if you dont have the knowledge to build the pc yourself. You'll get more building it yourself.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I haven't built a PC in the last 4 - 5 years but there can't be that much that has changed apart from possibly newer looking connectors?
 
Okay folks - what's your opinions on the following setup? This does work out about R1500 more expensive than my budget but my insurance paid out a bit more than I was expecting so I thought I'd up the specs a little in case I wanted to use this for a gaming rig in the future. You'll notice there's no dedicated graphics card in there yet and that's how I want to keep it for the time being. I thought I'd go the AM3 + DDR3 route because that seems the most future proof at the moment.

Coolermaster Ammo 533 Black + Top Handle (love tool-free cases with handles!)
AMD Phenom2 x4 Quad Core 945 3.0GHz
Vantec ioN2+A van-550AS
Asus M4A785TD-M Evo
Kingston Hyper-X with Heatsink 2x2048mb DDR3 1375
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 32MB Cache
Samsung B2330h

The only thing I've sort of made my mind up on is the Samsung monitor. Read a lot of good things about it! The rest is completely flexible.
 
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Archer said:
Everything looks good, for now and the foreseeable future
Click to expand...

I have to say I was expecting the first comment to be about the fact that I could rather spend more money on a better CPU instead of buying that case
 
martin said:
I have to say I was expecting the first comment to be about the fact that I could rather spend more money on a better CPU instead of buying that case
Click to expand...

A case is one of those things that you can rarely comment on since its mostly dependant on what the buyer finds aesthetically pleasing. But as stated, it all looks good :)
 
martin said:
The only thing I've sort of made my mind up on is the Samsung monitor. Read a lot of good things about it! The rest is completely flexible.
Click to expand...

Dont know if u are already aware..
But the Samsung B23330h is goin for R1460 on Kalahari.net
 
Special ended today I believe. Well done on getting it when you did :P
But it was the second time this month they have already had the special. So I think they will again. At least I hope so cause I was planning on buying 2.
 
urgranny said:
Dont know if u are already aware..
But the Samsung B23330h is goin for R1460 on Kalahari.net
Click to expand...

I missed out on it :(. The claim was paid last night while I was asleep. I'm going to wait a week or two to see if it goes on special again.
 
would seriously consider the core-i3

CPU - R1200
Mobo - R1200
2GB RAM - R600
HD - R600 ish
 
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