UK Computer buying question

[Calum]

hello. i'm selling all my computer gear (2 laptops and a usb cdrw) and getting a desktop machine. my question is, which one?
i am looking on www.maplin.co.uk who are an electronics retailer, and i want to get all the bits i will need for a computer in one fell go and then assemble it in a day or a weekend. it will want to run linux perfectly, and possibly windows 98 (doesn't have to be perfectly, how likely is that anyway?) too, and it will want to burn CDs and connect to the internet using a ppp dialup connection.

The thing is that never having done such a thing before, i am a trifle baffled in case i miss a bit out or buy one of the wrong thing. how do i know the board will fit the case for instance, how do i know the CPU will fit the board? what RAM will fit my board? what pitfalls and limitations do things have? how many ISA/PCI slots should the board have?
Basically i just want to buy the right kit. a middle range (1Ghz/20GB) type system, with the option to upgrade the sound and video at a later time would be ideal, i don't really want to become a hardware freak, peering at the spec of everything like a trainspotter.

I am perfectly happy to buy from somebody that isn't maplins, especially if they can provide a box that doesn't contain a lot of crap i'll never use (like a software modem, or an ethernet card, or some gaming enhancement that i will pay through the nose for), and most importantly IT SHOULD HAVE NO PREINSTALLED SOFTWARE! I own all the software i will use, so i am loath to pay for anything else, because i would not use it anyway.

I live in London and am very keen on buying a PC in london and taking it home. anybody got any suggestions? i know it's a very specific one but if i don't ask, nobody will answer, and people are more than welcome to offer their opinions on general PC buying strategy also! i'll listen!  

thanks, as always, in advance...

[KernelPanic]

I would not recommend Maplin, I have always found them to be too expensive. Try an independant retailer close to you. Hell, you live in London -- Shop around!
dabs.com have reasonable prices and they are a large, reliable company. ebuyer.com/co.uk doesn't have too bad prices either.

[jtpenrod]

Tom's HardwareMost helpful site for choosing all the hard you'll need to build your own system. Highly recommended.
________________________________________
Live Free or Die: Linux

Their fundamental design flaws are completely concealed by their superficial design flaws.

[Kintaro]

Well if you want no installed software (except for a BIOS) then why not build your own...

Q: how do i know the CPU will fit the board?
A: Just make sure you get AMD stuff, they dont change the socket every month. But if its a PIII then get a P-III motherboard.

Q: what RAM will fit my board?
A: If its brand new, then DDR most likly. But your looking at more of a late model P-III, so SDRAM in your case.

Q: what pitfalls and limitations do things have?
A: Lots if its intel (im never buying it again) make sure you dont get an onboard video card.

Q: how many ISA/PCI slots should the board have?
A: If your looking at a late model PIII then it wont have ISA slots! But 6 is enough, maybe 5, my system has onbored Video and sound, so it has 4.


But by the looks of the system your looking for, you could just buy mine...
PIII-850mhz (does seti units in 9 hours), 20gb of hard disk drive, Intel 810 onbored video, AC 97 onboard sound, Advansys SCSI controller, 2 network adapters, 1 IDE CDROM 32x, 1 SCSI Burner 4x, 4 usb, 2 serial, 1 parport, 1 Panasonic 1.44mb FDD, 1 good looking case, 192mb of PC100 SDRAM.

[Calum]

i wouldn't mind buying yours!    are you prepared to pay courier charges across the 13000 miles of distance between us!?  

ok, i think i found a place that assembles PCs and will do me a good deal, with nice no-bullshit insides, now the final thing might be the video and sound card. i haven't had more than a cursory look at their list, but what if the video and sound did turn out to be integrated? any chance i could easily upgrade by shoving a real video or sound card in there? or will that confuse it since it'll think it has two et c...?
it will be an AMD 1100+ or somesuch by the way...

[Ice-9]

Just watch out that it hasn't an integrated AGP video chip, chances are that there's no AGP slot then, and a PCI Geforce or Radeon .... well just the thought of it disturbs me  
A lot of the newer entry-level boards have Intel Xtreme Graphics integrated, and there's no AGP slot for you to add a new card if you're not entirely satisfied with the chip.

Integrated sound is no problem, you can easily disable that in your bios should you want that.

[Calum]

well, all the CPUs offered are AMDs at this shop, and i presume that means no intel integrated crap, yes?

will look into it though, i am just trying to find their website! i know they have one as it says so on the shop sign! can't remember the url though and they aren't on google!   :mad: