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Moving to the UK; need some computer advice.
StormwindX
Member Posts: 168
Hey y'all.
This coming Friday (13th Sept) I'll be moving to the UK to study for my M.A.. Since it's game-related, this means I'll obviously need a computer powerful enough to run most/all games decently, which means I'll have to build one over there, as I don't really think traveling with a desktop in my luggage would be a very smart thing to do. Also, I'm from Brazil, so bringing parts over would not be an exactly smart thing to do, as hardware prices here are more abusive than anywhere else in the world.
With that in mind, do any of you know of any good Newegg-ish computer part stores over there? Also, would it be possible to build a powerful gaming machine (monitor included) with just £800? That's keeping in mind that I'll also need a wireless receiver of some sort - either a USB dongle or a PCI card. And peripherals are not included in that budget (got a separate-ish budget for them), though some good monitor suggestions would also be cool.
Thanks in advance for any info you guys may provide.
Comments
I always check:
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk(great specials)
www.novatech.co.uk (especially if there is a store near you - no delivery cost)
www.aria.co.uk
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
I'd do that if I were from the US... which I'm not, unfortunately.
Brazil tends to get screwed royally in terms of prices, so even though parts in the UK might be more expensive than in the US, I think they'll still be a lot cheaper than over here. Unfortunately.
Have you considered buying a laptop in the US before moving to EU? Converting dollars to the Euro probably wont be an economical way to build.
You may consider a Laptop that will suit your needs, at least for a year or two, depending on how long you will be there.
Or building a small form factor PC that you actually can pack & transport easily. In a backpack if needed.
Either way there are several sites & businesses in EU that you can buy and build from.
Have fun over there, my brother spent a year in London during his college years. Was a fun experience for him.
Edit: you posted you were from Brazil while I was typing. In that case just build one over there.
The UK does not use the Euro, we use British Pounds.
@OP - Not used them for a while (bought Pre-made recently) but microdirect.co.uk used to be good value for components.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
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Hey, guys. Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'll take a look at those websites sometime, when I have a shred of patience left in me (not having a terribly good day) , and try to get a good setup at a decent price.
Any suggestions, though? I know Intel > AMD (except when it comes to prices) and so forth, but I fear I may be a bit uninformed on some of the latest hardware trends.
visit http://www.cougar-extreme.co.uk/
All my PC's ive had there are great, reasonably priced quick dispatch ( only a few weeks including building )
Very reliable company with great customer support, best in UK
I also recommend novatech Ive always had good honest advice from them not just a sales pitch. They are interested in customers for the long term not the quick sale.
(hope that lasts)
You're looking at midrange spec for that price if it includes a monitor. Mine was custom built from a wholesaler (a friend works for them so I got a good deal) for around £550. This was beginning of last year. 3.2GHz i5, ATI 6850, 8GB RAM, 500GB hdd, case included, pre-built, no monitor or other hardware. Monitors easily add £150-200 to the price.
Ah gotcha.
It's not just where you buy it. It's what you buy. Come back and ask again when you're ready to make a purchase.
Though on a 600 pound budget, if you need to fit peripherals into that budget, you'll likely be looking at integrated graphics.
The £600 figure is more of a hopeful estimate. I could spend more money than that, but I'd really prefer not to go too much over it.
As far as peripherals go, I do have a Razer DeathAdder 3.5G I intend to bring along, and I can make do with a cheap keyboard, though I'm kind of likely to also take one with me, as I may be a tad too accustommed to the Brazilian-standard ABNT-2 layout. So the only peripheral I'd really need is the monitor.
That reminds me of two other complications with taking a computer around the world like that.
First, the OS license will be for one particular language. If you want English, buying it in Britain will work fine. If you want Portuguese, you may not be able to get it in Britain, outside of the "ultimate" edition that costs twice as much.
Second, different places in the world have different electricity standards. Power supplies can often detect a wide range of input voltages and then convert whatever is coming in to what the rest of the components need. Here's a site that claims to list them:
http://kropla.com/electric2.htm
Britain uses 230 V and 50 Hz, while Brazil uses 60 Hz and widely varying voltages. Make sure that you get a power supply that can handle both 50 Hz and 60 Hz inputs, and also one that can handle whatever voltage you need at home. I don't think that the differing frequences would be a problem, but it's something that you should make sure that you check.
Some power supplies sold in Britain can only handle voltages around 230 V, so if you need around 120 V, that would force you to replace the power supply when you got home. Some power supplies can handle everything from about 100-240 V, so that would work in both countries.
Different countries also use different electrical socket shapes, so that may force you to buy adapters or possibly two power cords. I'm not sure of the exact details, but you should look into it.
Another issue with moving computers across the world are region codes for Optical drives and the software on the Discs. While the drives can have their region codes changed within thier firmware, you can only do it 3 or 4 times before the drive becomes permanently locked into the last region code you assign it.
Also any time you change the region code any disc you have from another region will become unreadable by that drive. The U.S. and Canada are Region 1. The U.K. is in Region 2 and Brazil is in Region 4.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code
With portable PCs you can get around this by carrying more optical drives for each region you travel to.
Thanks for all the advice so far, folks. I'll try to keep it all in mind, and take an occasional look at those websites on the meantime.
I will, however, follow Quizz's advice and wait until I'm some 2-3 weeks away from traveling in order to actually looking hard at prices and asking for build suggestions. By then I should have a better idea of how much/little I'm really willing to spend, and prices shouldn't vary as much as they probably will in these next 4-5 months.
Buy it in the US all but the case and PSU and bring it to the UK, the hardware prices here are insane.
Hurray for necroing my ancient thread. I am now less than a week away from moving to London (going on Friday), and have sort of decided on a budget.
Methinks about £800 for the CPU, plus a bunch more for peripherals (monitor, mouse, keyboard, headset, etc).
Also, I won't have access to an ethernet connection, so I'll also need a wireless adapter. Do you guys think a simple USB-receiver-dongle thingie is better, or a PCI card?
Will update the OP with some of the new details so to avoid any possible confusion.
You should have bought components before you moved. Most of Europe suffers in getting computer components and its mostly self inflicted. VAT raises prices on computer peripherals dramatically, and a lot of companies don't want to do business in Europe for fear they will levy some unreasonable fine for doing business in Europe.
You won't have the robustness of selection in England as you would in Asia or the United States, but you can get some higher end components. The components will typically run 50~100% higher than they would in the United States.
If you buy in the US and bring it with you to the UK remember that UK uses a different electrical system. They are on 220V outlets and a different amp. So you would probably need to get your PSU in the UK.