Where to buy decent PC in Sydney?

bingsta on 14/04/2014 - 21:15

Hi guys

Have been using a notebook: Sony Vaio VPCS117GG and am getting to the stage where everything is slowing down and giving me the sh*ts. I am looking at a new desktop PC for purposes of work (medical imaging), video editing and a bit of gaming (i.e. I only really play a bit of dota 2 when bored). Where is a good place to buy a PC in the eastern suburbs or inner west of Sydney with reasonable prices, good service (i.e. warranty service) and reputable quality (i.e. no dodgy refurbished parts).

I have no idea about computer components these days so any tips on what to look for in a CPU, motherboard and graphics card would be appreciated. Also I'd like to run at least 2 monitors if not 3 off the graphics card.

Thanks in advance guys!

Computing

Comments

  • uraha on 14/04/2014 - 22:02
    +1

    get a SSD for the laptop

  • scrimshaw on 14/04/2014 - 22:29
    +1

    Parts from MSY.

    http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

    CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 $230 / or i7 4770 (Optional $348)
    Mobo: ASRock B85M-PRO4 $87 / Gigabyte H87M-D3H optional $109
    RAM: Patriot Viper Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1866 $99
    SSD: Samsung 840 EVO Series 250GB $189
    HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB $97
    GPU: (2G R7 260X $155 or 2GB GIGABYTE Nvidia 750 Ti $189
    Case: Coolermaster USB3.0 NSE N200 $49 Fractal Design Define USB3 Optional $148
    PSU: Antec Neo Eco 450C Bronze $73
    ODD: Pioneer DVD-RW $20
    Windows 8.1 OEM $109

    System build fee
    $70

    • humdingaling on 14/04/2014 - 22:59

      not sure the b85 or the h87 can take advantage of the 1866

    • bingsta on 15/04/2014 - 09:10

      thx buddy. some people suggest getting k variant cpu for "overclocking" ability. is this some worthy to consider?

      • scrimshaw on 15/04/2014 - 13:44

        If you're getting a K variant CPU for overclocking purposes, you'd also have to invest in a 3rd party CPU cooling as the stock cooler isn't all that great, plus also a higher end (more expensive) motherboard, e.g Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H @ $130.

        So there is a bit of extra costs invovled in overclocking — it's not 'free' performance as one would expect because you have to spend more on cooling and on a better motherboard.

        Sometimes that extra money is better put towards getting a higher end CPU, like the Core i7 (if your target is the i5-K, then perhaps look towards an i7 instead).

      • Gina Rinehart on 16/04/2014 - 03:02

        The vast majority of people won't be worrying about needing to overclock. If you have to ask these questions, maybe you just don't need to :)

        I got the 'k' variant of an older i7, I still haven't overclocked it because the performance benefit is so minimal, you'd only notice in benchmarks.

  • humdingaling on 14/04/2014 - 23:01

    if your doing video editing the i7 could be advantageous

    depends on your budget really
    recommend umart - west ryde
    prices aren't too far off MSY on most parts plus system build for free (believe the promo is still running, i just got a computer build fortnight ago for free)

    so save 70 bucks there

    • bingsta on 15/04/2014 - 09:07

      thx. can you give me details of your system. what do you use it most for? budget is 1500 or less not including peripherals.

      • humdingaling on 15/04/2014 - 21:55

        1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM @$110.00
        1 G Skill 8G(2x4G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 RL 9-9-9-24(CL9D-8GBRL) @$99.00
        1 Fractal Design Silent Series Case Fan 120mm @$9.00
        1 Antec EA-550 Platinum Power Supply, 80PLUS Platinum @$129.00
        1 Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA3 HDD 64M Caviar Blue WD10EZEX @$66.00
        1 Fractal Design Define R4 USB3.0 Mid Tower Case Black @$148.00
        1 Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU Cooler @$44.00
        1 Intel Core i5 4570 LGA1150 CPU 3.2Ghz 6Mb Cache Haswell @$229.00
        1 Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA III 6Gbs 2.5 7mm 540MB/s/520MB/s @$185.00
        1 MSI B85-G43-GAMING B85, 4DDR3, RAID, PCIE3.0, 2SATA3, 2USB3, DVI, HDMI, ATX @$125.00
        1 Gigabyte GV-R927OC-2GD 2G DDR5 PCIE-3.0 HDMI @$209.00
        Total$1353.00

        i spent extra money on things that people you can go without

        Define R4 case - i had a very loud and blingy case previously so i wanted to go ninja for this build. one of the best silent cases in the market at the moment.
        mid tower so plenty of room for the extra hard drives i had (going to add)

        80+ plat PSU - initially i just wanted a modular gold rating but found Platinum rating one for the same price and given that my case has ample room for non modular PSU i just went with one.

        MB - could definitely go cheaper but this has a view extras which i like.
        4 slots ram, sufficient SATA Ports (i needed at least 2 extra for HDD's from my previous system)

        CPU cooler - because i can, just want my CPU to run cooler. didnt buy K model cpu so dont plan on doing any o/c
        idles around 28-30c. around 40c normal load. havent done any benchmarking yet

        GPU - golden rule applies. buy the best card you can afford with your budget
        the r9 270 is essentially an underclocked 270x - i could OC the 270 to be on par of the 270x so decided to save the extra 30-50 odd bucks in this case
        the next step up would be the GTX760 but at 300 odd bucks…that jump was just too big for me.

        use the rig for moderate gaming @ 1080p single monitor

        For you
        since you are going to be doing CPU intensive tasks than myself
        suggesting getting cheaper case/psu/mb and use stock cpu cooler

        get an i7 (or maybe even look into getting xeon) and fork out a little more on a better GPU (if you can squeeze into budget)

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