To build or buy a new PC? [UK]*


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* The only reason i put UK in the title is because, surprise-surprise, that's where i'm from. So any 'you could buy this' links that are in foreign currency ... i couldn't.

I generally use https://www.ebuyer.com/ and https://www.scan.co.uk/ to source anything PC related. Mainly eBuyer although if any UK people know of other/better sites (no, not eBay) then feel free to suggest.

 

Back in 2010 i was coming off an ancient PC which took about 1 week to boot WinXP so i decided to build my own PC with the view of it lasting 10 years the same way that old slow machine had done. I did this for 3 reasons - 1) No preloaded crap 2) To build it to the spec i wanted, so it'd be as fast as i wanted and 3) the main reason - to simply build. I'd always wanted to have a go at building my own.

 

Now as we come towards 2020 i learn that Windows 7 support is about to end. Whether it's tomorrow or next year, sooner or later i'll end up on Windows 10 so i was thinking it could be time to buy or build a PC that is more powerful than the one i have as for some tasks my PC is actually quite slow.

I'm no hardcore gamer btw and in fact i have little to no time to play games these days, although that's not to rule out the possibility that i may.

 

 

When i built my PC back in 2010 i'm sure i spent somewhere around £1100-£1300. Looking now, you can pick up a pre-built thing for pretty cheap. https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Desktop-PC and for a bit more you can get something under their gaming heading https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Desktop-PC/subcat/Gaming-PC. So for anyone who's averse to clicking links - for no more than £400 you can pick up something already more powerful than what i have.

 

Speaking of which. Current specs:

 

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.80GHz

RAM: 16GB Corsair

Drives: Samsung SSD 830 (primary) 256GB with Windows 7 64bit Pro on as primary. A number of other HDDs as well as a 2TB Seagate SSHD.

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 1GB

PSU: BeQuiet 530W, Model No: BQT L7-530W

 

If i build then i'll end up spending more than this £300-£500 area, even to build the same spec of what is in the £300-£500 zone really which makes me wonder - is it worth me building or just buying?

 

If you need more info from me to give feedback then feel free to ask and i'll answer as best i can :)

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What sort of tasks do you use the computer for at the moment? You say you don't want to rule out playing games, but realistically you need to decide, do you want it to be able to play games or not? If yes, what type of games? None of the £400 ones you linked to will be able to run any modern games at playable framerates because they have integrated graphics (or a very poor APU), also these pre-builts will have the absolute cheapest PSUs/Mobos so even if you decided you want to add a dedicated GPU in the future, you might not be able to. The cheapest one with on the pages you listed with a usable GPU (GTX 1650) is the Cyberpower and that's £520. 

 

If you potentially want to play games, I'd build it yourself, then even if you don't add a GPU now, you know you can in the future. If you're not bothered about games at all and just want something a little bit faster than what you currently have going for a cheap pre-built would probably be fine.

Edited by ZakO

I won't go into too much detail but on the matter of building it yourself or buying one that's already built.  Why not go with option 3 and go with a shop that will build what you want for you?   Because my time was limited what I did for my new gaming PC was buy all the parts myself online but then took them to a shop in town and had them put it together for me.  

 

Right now though lots of online tech shops have their own "build it yourself" option, pick the parts you want and they'll do all the work and ship it out to you.  

Well, here is a DIY gaming PC for <£500

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£118.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: *ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£79.85 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Patriot Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£38.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *Toshiba OCZ TR200 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£45.83 @ CCL Computers) 
Video Card: *Sapphire Radeon RX 570 4 GB NITRO+ Video Card  (£129.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: *Aerocool Cylon ATX Mid Tower Case  (£32.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: *Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Total: £499.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-25 13:22 BST+0100

If i'm honest there's a lot of upsides to buying a pre-made PC. I've done it in the past due to lack of time. There are some builders out there like CyberPowerPC, novatech etc where you can select specifically the parts you want, and you'll also get the warranty on it too. Often it doesn't come out massively over what you'd pay for the parts.

 

My recommendation would be to buy one without the OS. You can just purchase a Win10 licence from ebay for £10 or whatever and save yourself a bunch of cash that way too. Get the prebuilt PC and then just load Windows on it yourself when you get it, so you know you'll have a nice clean OS and is sort of a nice middle ground.

 

Obviously from a 'PC Master Race' standpoint people will tell you you're a fool for not building it entirely yourself. If you can get a good deal on a pre-built, do it.  Hotukdeals sometimes has good deals crop up. And often with vendors like CyberPowerPc you can spec your machine up and then call them and fairly easily be offered an extra 5% off.  If you're veering that way anyway and you're happy with the price, do it. What matters at the end of the day is you end up with a machine you're happy with and can play the games you want to play on it.

 

Just a couple of very quick searches shows some good deals for ~500

 

https://www.cclonline.com/pc/specialist-gaming-pcs/pba/ccl-stryker-gaming-pc/0300010105000200050000010203/?siteID=hL3Qp0zRBOc-1X8u53NiLFBdtOL494hT7Q

 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/mid-range-gaming-pc-3277630

4 minutes ago, CronchyNut said:

If i'm honest there's a lot of upsides to buying a pre-made PC. I've done it in the past due to lack of time. There are some builders out there like CyberPowerPC, novatech etc where you can select specifically the parts you want, and you'll also get the warranty on it too. Often it doesn't come out massively over what you'd pay for the parts.

 

My recommendation would be to buy one without the OS. You can just purchase a Win10 licence from ebay for £10 or whatever and save yourself a bunch of cash that way too. Get the prebuilt PC and then just load Windows on it yourself when you get it, so you know you'll have a nice clean OS and is sort of a nice middle ground.

 

Obviously from a 'PC Master Race' standpoint people will tell you you're a fool for not building it entirely yourself. If you can get a good deal on a pre-built, do it.  Hotukdeals sometimes has good deals crop up. And often with vendors like CyberPowerPc you can spec your machine up and then call them and fairly easily be offered an extra 5% off.  If you're veering that way anyway and you're happy with the price, do it. What matters at the end of the day is you end up with a machine you're happy with and can play the games you want to play on it.

CyberPower doesn't sell systems for 500 pounds, though...

24 minutes ago, CronchyNut said:

My recommendation would be to buy one without the OS. You can just purchase a Win10 licence from ebay for £10 or whatever and save yourself a bunch of cash that way too. Get the prebuilt PC and then just load Windows on it yourself when you get it, so you know you'll have a nice clean OS and is sort of a nice middle ground.

lolll

1 hour ago, Mockingbird said:

Well, here is a DIY gaming PC for <£500

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£118.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: *ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£79.85 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Patriot Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£38.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *Toshiba OCZ TR200 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£45.83 @ CCL Computers) 
Video Card: *Sapphire Radeon RX 570 4 GB NITRO+ Video Card  (£129.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: *Aerocool Cylon ATX Mid Tower Case  (£32.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: *Corsair CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Total: £499.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-25 13:22 BST+0100

Unless he wants new .. everything ... he already has the case, PSU and storage.  So you could just buy a new mobo, CPU, memory and GPU.  Not purchasing a new case, PSU or a new SSD could open him up to a 1660ti which would be superior to the 570, 580 or 590.

 

So, something along the lines of what you suggested ... the

Ryzen 2600

ASrock B450

8GB of memory

1660ti

reuse current PSU, Case, Storage ...

... should put him right at or below £500 with the option of updating various components down the line (for example buying a nvme SSD for the OS or whatever).

 

Just my humble suggestion.  :) 

  • Thanks 1
49 minutes ago, Jim K said:

Unless he wants new .. everything ... he already has the case, PSU and storage.  So you could just buy a new mobo, CPU, memory and GPU.  Not purchasing a new case, PSU or a new SSD could open him up to a 1660ti which would be superior to the 570, 580 or 590.

 

So, something along the lines of what you suggested ... the

Ryzen 2600

ASrock B450

8GB of memory

1660ti

reuse current PSU, Case, Storage ...

... should put him right at or below £500 with the option of updating various components down the line (for example buying a nvme SSD for the OS or whatever).

 

Just my humble suggestion.  :) 

Well, I was trying to an apples to apples comparison because he was talking about whether to buy or build a PC.

 

That said, you are absolutely right that he can reuse his storage, PSU, and case.

7 hours ago, Jim K said:

Unless he wants new .. everything ... he already has the case, PSU and storage.  So you could just buy a new mobo, CPU, memory and GPU.  Not purchasing a new case, PSU or a new SSD could open him up to a 1660ti which would be superior to the 570, 580 or 590.

 

First off thanks to everyone for the replies.

 

Secondly, i don't like to answer questions like "what do you use it for". No offence. If i mention what i 99% use it for then you will spec me the most budget machine known to man. It's like my car for example - i use it to get from A to B like most people do, so why don't i own the cheapest most economical thing ever? Because it'd be slow as sh@# and i'm quite happy spending a bit extra for that better acceleration from a standstill and from 40/50 upwards even. I wouldn't be happy with something snail pace even though it'd still get me from A-B.

 

Third - Jim K you raise a very good point and it's not one that i've decided on because this is an early days kind of idea. Before Budman comes and quotes me from a few months back where i can't afford and don't like to spend .... i know i know. But i think a lot. Often my thinking will come to nothing. I've thought about a new car for years but have the same one i bought 10 years ago. I've thought of a new sound system - but haven't spent (yet), so on & so forth. I just think....a lot and like to look at my options. Some times i go ahead, many times i don't :)

But anyway Jim, i don't actually know what i'd do there. On the one hand i'm the type of guy to just say F it and buy everything new. Total new start. Equally you raise a good point - there's nothing wrong with my case. My case cost about £150 originally.

The PSU i wonder - i wonder if it'd be better buying new, whether it'd offer me anything over this one, whether it'd be an idea to renew after 10 years, i don't know.

Regards storage, as far as the SSD goes i'd be buying a new one as main - 512GB likely. The other drives would remain the same...possibly. I'm still building this media library so that one could very well change.

20 minutes ago, Technique said:

No offence. If i mention what i 99% use it for then you will spec me the most budget machine known to man.

Okay. But if the only thing you do is surf the internet, watch some youtube videos, and check emails then you don't need a middle to high end graphics card and a lot of memory or storage space.

 

People ask that question so they can tailor a build to your needs.

 

And also keep in mind that you're wasting peoples time that are trying to help you by sending them out to research a pc that you might not have a use for.

  • Like 1
1 hour ago, trag3dy said:

Okay. But if the only thing you do is surf the internet, watch some youtube videos, and check emails then you don't need a middle to high end graphics card and a lot of memory or storage space.

 

People ask that question so they can tailor a build to your needs.

 

And also keep in mind that you're wasting peoples time that are trying to help you by sending them out to research a pc that you might not have a use for.

I disagree.

 

What i would like and what i need are two completely different things.

Like with the car for example. Nobody 'needs' a fast car, they want it. If you need a car to get from A-B then the cheapest option does the job right because the speed limit is the speed limit right?

My TV for another example. In the end i went for 58". I didn't need a 58" TV that cost me about £1100-£1200 off the top of my head. I could've saved myself close to £1000 and still got a reasonable sized TV which would've still allowed me to watch things on. I went for the one i went for because that was the one i wanted. Would a £300 40" TV have covered what i needed - to watch TV, DVDs, play consoles on etc? Of course it would've. I didn't want that though. Sure i went overkill for my needs but so what? I don't drink, i don't smoke, i can afford to spend it where i want to spend it.

 

Also, i am not 'sending out' anyone. I am grateful for anyone who spends the time doing that of course, but i am sending nobody out. It is a general question. Building and buying a similar spec PC, from peoples experiences, which is better/cheaper/advisable. I'm asking those with years of experience in this to comment on which approach they'd recommend, not to actually build me a PC. That will come later when i get round to it.

 

Most of my use is emails, browsing, YouTube watching sure. So you'll now tell me i don't need a graphics card but like i said i don't need a 58" TV either. I'm also currently using Handbrake to save on storage space with the movies i'm ripping and my current CPU is struggling with it ... that's one task beyond the standard emails and browsing. I also said i wont rule out playing games on the PC. You ask what games, well i don't know. I didn't know when i built my existing PC, i just bought a graphics card that at the time was supposed to handle a good amount of games that were out there at that point, so that if i decided to buy something then my PC could run it.

 

 

10 hours ago, trag3dy said:

Okay. Well. Good luck. Hope you get help with the problem you have without telling anyone what it actually is.

With the problem i have? What problem do i have?

 

I came here to see what is recommended when it comes to replacing this PC with another - build or buy. The first PC i mentioned lasted 10 years before it really did need replacing. The existing one has lasted very nearly 10 years. It doesn't 'need' replacing but i'm considering it. It would therefore make sense that i am looking for another '10 year PC' with an all round reasonable specification. Not to carry out the most demanding tasks ever but something that can handle beyond your standard emails and youtube videos for 'in case....' purposes like i did when i built this PC.

 

I don't know what it is you think i'm looking for. I think you perhaps assume i want someone to go out, spec it, buy it & build it for me which clearly is not the case.

 

Speaking of which i forgot to address that point yesterday .... someone mentioned websites that'll build it for you. I'm not convinced by those. Sounds good but you buy 10 parts for £XYZ. You get them home and build it at no extra cost. Alternatively you buy the same 10 parts for the same £XYZ but now you also pay £ABC on top of that for someone to put it together for you & send it out. If i built my own then i know i'd be asking questions to double check. I remember doing this last time - does this plug go there, do i put that there (ok i didn't ask this for everything but i did for some things) but at least it wouldn't cost me any extra. Basically i'm just saying that if i chose to build then my preference would be for me to build it & not someone else.

When you build you should not build for "today" and by that I mean don't build a system that you are already looking to upgrade give it a X year lifecycle.  When you buy prebuilt look for a deal they are out there, usually around back to school times. Why not consider a 3rd option which is buying a slightly used one that someone built and now needs the cash more than the system.

I'd say at this price bracket, built it as OEMs often cheap out on some really important stuff like the Mobo and PSU.

 

Sure you could pull the PSU and use the same case, but with more modern niceties like dust filters on the case and the fact I wouldn't want to trust a 10 year old PSU with new hardware, might as well start from scratch.

 

You usually have to go higher end to find quality components across the board on a pre-built.

To build or not to build.

 

For most people around here, the enthusiasts, assembling a PC is a passion, a hobby.

 

No body can tell you what to do or what not to do with your life, especially after that Marketing 101 lecture on needs vs wants that you delivered. You seem to have your mind set already.

 

If you want to build a PC yourself, go ahead and do it.

 

If you'd rather someone else does it for you, there you go.

4 hours ago, DoctorD said:

When you build you should not build for "today" and by that I mean don't build a system that you are already looking to upgrade give it a X year lifecycle.  When you buy prebuilt look for a deal they are out there, usually around back to school times. Why not consider a 3rd option which is buying a slightly used one that someone built and now needs the cash more than the system.

I think a 10 year timeframe is reasonable but i also appreciate what you're saying. Reasonable to who and for what?

For someone who has high demands from a PC who actually does need the highest of high specs from what is available this year is unlikely to be looking at a 10 year cycle the way that i am.

 

You do raise a very good point and it's one that i've been seriously considering - the part i put in bold. I've been looking on Facebook Marketplace and providing nobody is trying to con anyone (always a risk in the 2nd hand market) then there are some awesome bargains to be had. Some seriously spec'd machines for good money. I don't have a burning desire to build the next PC as i've already ticked that off my to-do list. Not that i'd never do it again but last time round i wanted to do it just to say i'd done it, just to experience it.

So yeah, providing there's nothing wrong with these machines and nobody is trying to swindle me then there's some good deals on Marketplace.

2 hours ago, Peresvet said:

 

No body can tell you what to do or what not to do with your life,

Agreed, just the way nobody is here asking for people to tell me what to do with my life either. This is why the thread is coming from the angle of i'd go the buy it route because of ABC and someone else says well i'd go the build it route because of XYZ. You as an individual then look at the points put across and go yeah that guy has a point so does that guy, i hadn't thought of that so you know what i'm going to opt for that option.

 

 

 

EDIT: Damn, that's my 2,346th post. I didn't notice i was on 2,345 posts 😅

18 hours ago, Technique said:

Before Budman comes and quotes me from a few months back where i can't afford and don't like to spend

heheehe - dude made me laugh... But atleast you know it ;)  You have to be one of the most cheap SOBs around here ;)  You dream of champagne, but don't want to even spend the money on champagne of beer (miller high life)...

 

The overall topic to build or buy off the shelf can be a difficult one to be sure... Back in the day it was easier, you could actually build something better for same or cheaper cost.. But to be honest I just went recently looked into this a bit for my own needs.  And to be honest you as long as your not too picky you can for sure find something online that you can customize a bit that is cheaper then buying everything yourself, then putting it together and or having someone do it for you that will most likely do everything you want and more.

 

Where you run into problem is you want this specific "thing" then this "specific" feature then yeah that can get difficult finding off the shelf type of box that meets your price and your needs.. Like when you buy a car, maybe you only want X, but X only comes when you get option package ABC... so it also comes with Y and Z... Which you do not want really - but if you want X its going to cost you more then just X, etc.

 

Upgrading your rig, ie reuse case, reuse power supply - sure can save you money.. But if its too long in the tooth, prob not going to work anyway, etc.  A new case and or power supply are normally not the big ticket items anyway.. And really not going to change the price all that much in the big picture.

 

What I would suggest is list the things that you MUST have!  Then try and find a prebuilt system that has that.. If you can not find it - or at a price point your happy with... Then price out the parts to build your rig.. Is it still in your budget - then you have your answer.  Is it cheaper then the prebuilt?  Etc.. nobody can really tell you build is better than built since everyone has different needs and wants in their pc... There is no right or wrong answer to this question...

 

My main box is getting pretty long in the tooth, and my video card died on me... Was stuck using the built in video (single monitor)... It was a few days of HELL ;)  went back and forth - just get a new freaking rig or get replacement video card.. In the end just went with a 45$ video card that will allow me to use my existing monitors... And put off the new rig for a bit.. Not like it doesn't do what I want it to do.. And does it very quickly, etc.   But really if going to build a new rig with video card better suited for transcoding - bit pricey ;)  All the new video cards use display port, etc.  Which would mean I would get new monitors ;)  heheh  Sure I could get adapters - but hey if the new video card can do 4k.. Why not get couple of new monitors as well, etc.

 

So yeah your question can be difficult..  Good luck on your search.  But dude in the end your going to have to spend some money ;)

 

edit:  While your searching for the new perfect rig... Make sure to research how the video card does with transcoding via the gpu, etc. Since your also playing with plex - your going to want a video card that can transcode FAST.. especially if you want to do x265 at some point to save space, etc... I ended up being pretty happy with my $45 video card since it can transcode to 264 way faster then my cpu, and my old video card didn't support any gpu transcoding.  Can't do 265 - but what do you want for $45 ;)

1 hour ago, BudMan said:

My main box is getting pretty long in the tooth, and my video card died on me... Was stuck using the built in video (single monitor)... It was a few days of HELL ;)  went back and forth - just get a new freaking rig or get replacement video card.. In the end just went with a 45$ video card that will allow me to use my existing monitors... And put off the new rig for a bit.. Not like it doesn't do what I want it to do.. And does it very quickly, etc.   But really if going to build a new rig with video card better suited for transcoding - bit pricey ;)  All the new video cards use display port, etc.  Which would mean I would get new monitors ;)  heheh  Sure I could get adapters - but hey if the new video card can do 4k.. Why not get couple of new monitors as well, etc.

And your wife would kill you... :laugh:

Yeah would of gotten the crazy long eye roll for sure... But I did plant the seed that its not going to be long.. When I told here how old the machine was..  Hey let me try this card to see if it fixes it, but if not - prob just best to buy a new one with old it is, etc ;)  Might be the mother board that is bad, if the video card doesn't work - hehehe

 

Maybe a xmas gift for myself?  Would be slick to say transcode a 2 hour movie to x265 in less than 15 minutes ;)

5 hours ago, BudMan said:

So yeah your question can be difficult..  Good luck on your search.  But dude in the end your going to have to spend some money ;)

 

I'm strange, i know. I know i'm as tight as a ducks arse but then one day i'll blow a load on nothing. Crazy, stupid, whatever.

I have an interest in cars but that's an area i'm not comfortable spending in too much - simply because with a car, any d'head out there can ruin what you worked hard for. They can ram you from behind, hit you head on, smash the crap out of your wing mirror (as happened to me a few weeks ago) or you can come back to your car after having parked in a car park & best case scenario is you have a scrape, worst case is your door/bonnet/bumper etc is totally folded in. I see it on a local FB group i'm on - "any witnesses at such & such a location on such & such a date/time .... someone has hit my car and not left their details".

 

On the one hand you have the argument of don't let others dictate to you, if you want it then have it.

Personally i don't like to spend too much in areas where outsiders can ruin what i worked for ... because i have a very short fuse.

 

Instead i prefer to spend where the only person who can F-up the goods is myself (or my wife). That's why i spent more than i needed to on the TV. It's why i went overkill with the PC i built at the time. It's why i get a market leading mobile phone (& then keep it until it dies - still on my iPhone 6S which i bought on its release date).

 

So i do spend, just in certain areas and at certain times after much weighing up the +/-. I'm not an impulsive purchaser. If i'm still thinking about it months down the line then i tend to buy it but i give myself the time to discuss with myself do i need/want it bad enough, whatever 'it' is because, and drifting slightly off topic here, my main priority is double headed - building a regular savings pot and also since i started late, ploughing as much as i can in to my retirement pot so that i don't have to work until i die. Boring i know, but hey ho.

 

 

 

EDIT: On a side note and back on topic, i had a look at Marketplace just now. I've selected the first "gaming pc" spec that showed up - that's the term i used (gaming PC), not that i'm specifically looking for a gaming PC but whatever...

 

Quote

Windows 10 home fully activated

Ryzen 3 2200g processor

8GB DDR4 Ram dual channel @2400mhz

GTX EVGA 970 4GB Graphic Card VR Ready

500GB Solid State Drive so super fast

3x 120mm Blue LED Fans keeping things cool

550w Thermaltake Power Supply

Time Spy score of 3562

£480. Not sure if that's good or bad. I wont be buying it, i'm just posting it as an indication of what is being sold locally and for what price.

What does the mother board have for other stuff?  How many sata ports, does it have usb 3.1, how many slots, how many bays, etc. how many nics?  How much ram can you put in?  Stuff like that can be a big factor.

 

Have you done any research on that video card when it comes to transcoding, to support your new plex habit ;)  Quick google that gtx 970 might be only to do hevc 8 bit..  And does some sort of cpu+gpu hybrid transcoding?

 

I know you just put that up as an example... But its missing a lot of info that would help you decide to be honest.  Is that 500GB drive nvme m.2?  Or normal sata interface?

To be honest, you're asking questions that don't surprise me that YOU are asking them. That's not to say i know what you're talking about because i absolutely do not. nvme2whatchusay? The point i'm making is yeah perhaps the regulars on this forum would put their serial numbers on their 10 page sales advert but your average Joe wouldn't even think of it.

 

I did actually buy a new video card that was recommended to me on here. The shyster was selling a card with a bent backing plate that wouldn't fit though. Got my money back on that one even after his kicking and screaming. Thank you eBay dispute :)

So it's as you were - still the same card i had from day 1.

 

On the topic of Plex, i watched a movie for the first time in a long time without any buffering whatsoever at the weekend. Not a single bit. Most seem to have even just a little at some point during the movie but not this weekend.

 

Pitch Perfect 3 😆 blame the wife.

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    • Uninstalr 3.1 by Razvan Serea Introducing Uninstalr: Easy to use and very accurate software uninstaller for Windows. It can uninstall multiple apps at the same time and we think it’s pretty cool. Developed with expertise by Macecraft Software - the minds behind jv16 PowerTools. Key Features Batch uninstall many apps at the same time. Supports unattended uninstallation of apps. Supports monitoring of new software installations. Also detects portable apps and previously uninstalled software leftovers. Shows all the data added to your system by installed software on a file by file basis. Shows all the data it will remove before starting the uninstallation. Filter and search the list of installed software. According to our benchmark, Uninstalr is the most accurate software uninstaller by leaving the least amount of leftovers when uninstalling apps. Supports detection and uninstallation of Microsoft Store, Steam, Big Fish Game System, Chocolatey, NuGet and Ninite installed software. Supports Windows Dark Mode. Supports Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7. Comes with these translations builtin: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, English, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Has a single executable file portable version and a normal setup version. Uninstalr is freeware, lightweight and easy to use. No bells and whistles, no nonsense. Uninstalr’s custom uninstallation engine has a dedicated support for the detection and uninstallation of 15 types of apps: Normal Windows apps Microsoft Store apps Portable apps Chocolatey apps Ninite apps PortableApps.com apps Steam games EA App games Epic Games Store games Riot platform games GOG Galaxy games WarGaming.net games Battle.net games itch.io games Big Fish platform games Uninstalr 3.1 changelog: Key Changes Uninstalr now starts and shows the list of installed apps faster after the initial scan has been completed, and with much smaller memory usage. Uninstalr now detects and highlights apps that automatically start with Windows. Greatly improved the detection of portable apps. Improvements New feature: Uninstalr now detects and highlights apps that automatically start with Windows. New feature: Uninstalr now highlights possible leftovers and apps from Russia and China. This can be disabled from the Settings. New feature: A new filter that allows you to show only software that is installed to other than the system drive. New feature: Users can now select to always do the deepest and the most accurate scan for installed apps, at the cost of the analysis taking a longer time. Greatly improved the detection of portable apps, such as added dedicated support for MiTeC, EZ Tools and SysInternals tools. Improved support for portable apps installed via Windows System Control Center (WSCC). NirSoft portable apps are now listed with "NirSoft" prefix for easier identification. Improved the speed of uninstalling apps. The main installed software listing search will now find "Xbox GameBar" if you search for "Game bar" and vice versa. The tooltip now displays more detailed information of the installed apps, such as its registry key and uninstaller path. The links in the About section now look more like clickable links. The main menu is now more clearly indicated in the main user interface. Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office ships with some Windows 11 installations and is now considered a builtin Windows app and only listed if builtin Windows apps filter is enabled. Added a Help button to the main user interface that opens the help section of the website. Added an option not to close Uninstalr after uninstallation. If you open the Uninstalr website from the app, the website now receives the version number of your current Uninstalr version and warns you if you are using anything but the latest version. Improved the accuracy of the New Software Monitor. Improved confirmation messages for Steam and other platform related uninstalls. Improved the uninstallation performance of Steam games. Fixes: Known bug fixed: Some installed app names are capitalized incorrectly, such as "CCleaner Portable" is listed as "ccleaner portable". Known bug fixed: Some apps can be listed twice, for example, Smart Defrag can be listed once as Smart Defrag and then Smart Defrag Home. Known bug fixed: On the pre-uninstallation screen, the Scripts checkbox can be checked by default on Dark Mode but not on the normal mode. Known bug fixed: Perform Deep Analysis can be started only by clicking the button, not via the Right Click menu, main menu or F4 keyboard shortcut. Muse Hub could be incorrectly listed as Adobe Muse. SyncTrayzor was incorrectly detected as two unrelated software, SyncTrayzor and Syncthing. Smart Defrag was incorrectly listed twice as Smart Defrag 11 and Smart Defrag Home. It was possible to enter non-printable characters to the search input boxes of the main screen, and the path listing screen, which caused the UI to look funny. Changing the translation from Settings, especially many times in a row, caused the UI to distort. If you had multiple instances of portable apps on your system, such as the 64b and 32b versions of the same portable app, typically only one of them was detected, not both. In some very rare cases, Uninstalr UI could start with random characters in its search input boxes, which could make the UI look rather confusing. This was a rare issue, only reported by two users. The pre-uninstallation screen could display non-existing paths for example as the software's installation directory or main exe file. This was a cosmetic issue. New Software Monitor cannot detect the installation of Claude. Selecting all the found software made the UI look funny with the top panel covering everything else (because the names of all the selected software were listed there). Sometimes a Steam game could be listed a normal app instead of a Steam game. If the system restart after an uninstallation is delayed, e.g. because of Windows Updates being installed, this additional delay is incorrectly added to the time how long the uninstallation process took. This cosmetic bug could cause the program incorrectly report an uninstallation time longer than the actual uninstallation time. Uninstalling Minecraft could simply fail. The Only scan the system drive for installed apps setting does not fully work. If some apps are installed to a non system drive and this setting is enabled, the app could still be detected and listed on the main user interface. Changing any settings could also incorrectly alter the Only Scan The System Drive For Installed Apps setting. Microsoft OneDrive and Copilot are not always detected. If you enter something to the search filter field, then select the text and press the Delete key, this triggers the Uninstall button click even if your intent was to delete the text input. If you press the F5 key to refresh the screen during the uninstallation loading screen, the program will crash. If you enabled some setting, such as "Do not analyze installed app installation sizes", it could automatically be unchecked later. Uninstalr doesn't warn you if you try to remove Fortec antivirus. There should be a warning if user attempts to remove any antivirus or antimalware type program. Such programs should not be uninstalled using a third party uninstaller, as they are typically protected against automated uninstallation, for security reasons. With "Do not analyze installed app installation sizes" option checked from the Settings, Uninstalr could still display some installation size related elements in the UI which was confusing. The "Only scan the system drive" option moved under Improve Scan Speed from the General settings. If two software have the exact same name and version number, selecting both of them for uninstallation fails because only one is actually selected. Sorting the installed apps by size sometimes fails and the order is incorrect. The "Don't show which paths are currently analyzed" did not work correctly - some parts of the UI still show the currently analyzed path with this setting checked. The "Don't list software less than 10 MB" filter did not work correctly - some apps smaller than 10 MB could still be listed. Uninstalr could start very quickly and display an empty list of detected apps. Restarting the app usually fixed the issue and the list of installed apps was properly displayed. If you placed portable Uninstalr to a same folder with other portable apps, those were not detected because Uninstalr automatically added its installation folder to the ignore list. When trying to uninstall some specific software, Uninstalr could get stuck on the Searching for more data relating to the app phase. Uninstalr could sometimes do a silent uninstallation even if user had unchecked the Perform a silent uninstallation option. Known issues: Uninstalr can fail to run with an Out Of Memory error in systems that have a lot of installed apps. Using the New Software Monitor tool multiple times during one session can cause the program to get stuck on the Scanning stage. The "uninstallation completed" message box sometimes closes when the user moves the mouse cursor over the button before user clicks it. There is no feedback for the user after Fix Information feature has been used. The Right Click menu's Select by publisher option can display the number of apps per each publisher without correct vertical alignment. The default user interface might not display all of the found installed apps if you have over 600 installed apps. If you do, using the Screen Reader Compatible Interface solves the issue. Leftover apptype filter checkbox is shown in red font only in Dark Mode. Clicking the app's icon from the Windows Taskbar doesn't minimize/restore the app like other apps. The warning about an app that user wishes to uninstall being related to some other app user did not select can sometimes be inaccurate. If app's language is changed without restarting Uninstalr, the list of installed software might not automatically refresh. When software is being uninstalled, the UI can say it is processing paths unrelating to the uninstalled app. This is purely cosmetic and does not mean these paths are removed. Uninstalr might not properly detect and/or uninstall Steam games if they are installed to a drive different than Steam's default location in C:\. You might see "This action is only valid for products that are currently installed" error message from Windows Installer during uninstallation. This is a cosmetic issue. Download: Uninstalr 3.1 | 7.1 MB (Free, paid version available) Download: Uninstalr Setup 3.1 View: Uninstalr Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • I and many others did not vote to get out of the E.u because of Putin or Farage, we did so for our own reasons. You don't have to tel me what my own did or did not do when it comes to the E.U. The EEC is or was the European Economic Community, a different beast to what the E.U is now.The EEC was a mainly about trading, the E.U have gone far beyond that and as I have said before, is now more of a United States of Europe. The U.K did not vote to join a United States of Europe. Anyway, they did not want us in there in the first place, Charles de Gaulle stopped us joining as he claimed we didn’t agree with the core ideas of integration. He was not wrong and that is why we voted out of the E.U when the time came. I was not old enough to vote the first time. My only regret is that we did not have the referendum years ago and got out years ago. If we rejoined, we would have to agree to join the Euro and no doubt Schengen, agree with freedom of movement, we have enough problem with people coming over here as it is. i have no problem with people coming over here if they work and don't try to push their way of life onto us. The E.U has a currency, freedom of movement, an anthem a flag, a parliament, well they are there, not sure if they do anything. Don't sound like something that is just for trading. Oh yeah, also wanted a euro Army. How many stupid rules have the E.U made that we had to follow? I doubt I will see the Uk rejoin the E.U, which suits me. Oh yeah, my partner is Polish, she came over here before Poland joined the E.U and she got fed up of people just coming over here with ease, while she had to struggle. She is now a British citizen and have been for a fair few years
    • Hello, Paul. Thanks for the editorial. It was interesting. I'm going research more into the app and its concept. Of course, if you know me at all, you know that I'd say your articles needs some editing! I always do, don't I? For instance, the article occasionally mentions relays before defining it.
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