Best PC for £500

[Sputnik]

Is it possible to build anything better than the Medion Akoya P7300 D for £500? Does anyone know what brand and chipset the motherboard has ?

[staffsMike]

I suppose it depends what you mean by better but yes I should think you can.

[whoopwhoop]

What purpose do you want to build it? for gaming or just for normal operation?

[kalniel]

Depends if you need monitor etc. as well.

Assuming just base unit and gaming use etc., this was an ebuyer spec up I did for someone else - could be brought in under budget by looking for deals elsewhere or dropping hdd size for example:

[UseItNow]

Ouch, it seems the cost of Vista has gone up by that screenshot Kalniel.

[staffsMike]

An E5200 saves about £50 on that build.

[Sputnik]

is there any point in going to Quad core at the moment? I've read several threads where people have reverted to Dual core.

I don't need an OS as have a retail version of Vista.

What is the best 'bang for buck' processor and chipset at the moment ?

[staffsMike]

E5200 + anything that will run it. I would get a P45 these days. Biostars is less than £80 on scan today only

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You can get the following off Ebuyer for under £500 using their free Supersaver postage:



The motherboard has got good review:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/575

Going for a iP45 motherboard and a better CPU cooler would cost another £40 to £50 though.

[kalniel]

You can get the following off Ebuyer for under £500 using their free Supersaver postage:

Only if you're a linux geek

[Pob255]

Only if you're a linux geek

I don't need an OS as have a retail version of Vista.

Keep up

Depends on usage, if just for an every day internet/office use then a cheap pre-built system is probably the best cost option.
eg NEC powermate VL260 (pentium dual core, 2gb ram, 160gb hd, vista/xp pro) for £300 without monitor.
Also look at acer, dell, hp, Fujitsu, just don't bother looking at expensive brands like sony

For a gaming PC, building it yourself is better as you can select all the components for optimal needs, the big three here being graphics card, overclocking motherboard and psu to handle graphics card+overclock.