Planetarion Forums

Boogster · 8 Aug 2004, 03:37

Cheapness.

Any good? (In terms of price, quality etc...)

I've almost bought it, so I'm hoping it is.

PS. Yes, it could do with a better graphics card. Fortunately, I plan on stealing my flatmate's spare, which should do fine for the moment.

PPS. If you think this is poor value for money, please include details of cheaper with similar specs in post. Thankyou.

Sunday8pm · 8 Aug 2004, 06:16

Don't touch it with a barge pole, it has an integrated gfx card thingie, total nightmare.

Vaio · 8 Aug 2004, 07:49

If it's a NForce 3 motherboard, the graphics will be ok, not great, just ok. If you add the cost of a superdogsbollocks graphics card however, then it doesn't quite look the bargain.

~Vaio~

Boogster · 8 Aug 2004, 13:16

Neither of you read my PSs - how disappointing.

Luckeh!!!! · 9 Aug 2004, 00:20

looks ok, if yo ucan get a better GFX card it'll do you good.

keep in mind, the RAM is going to have the highest/loosest timings and the TFT is likely to be low spec.

I challenge anyone to price a similar system including the software and OEM WinXP though.

In the end even if you could save £50 or so making it yourself, the Mesh would come with guarantee for the system as a whole, generally their customer service is ver ygood too... I have 3 Mesh computers in my house, 1 super old one that originally had a P133 in it, a semi old one that now only consists of the case, monitor and mouse/keyb. And a recent one from new years period

Sunday8pm · 9 Aug 2004, 00:52

I loathe systems with intergrated gfx cards, you want to know why?

More often than not they'll make it very difficult or not even have the slots open for you to upgrade your gfx card (cause they want you to buy a new system) if that is integrated it's more then LIKELY they are using specific ram for it which won't be usable in other towers and per chance might not accept certain non branded ram.

It just screams nightmare to me when any offer that looks to good to be true has the words integrated and branding all over it. They are usually designed to be bitches in hell to in any tweak up or upgrade cause they'd rather you buy a new system.

Luckeh!!!! · 10 Aug 2004, 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

I loathe systems with intergrated gfx cards, you want to know why?

More often than not they'll make it very difficult or not even have the slots open for you to upgrade your gfx card (cause they want you to buy a new system) if that is integrated it's more then LIKELY they are using specific ram for it which won't be usable in other towers and per chance might not accept certain non branded ram.

It just screams nightmare to me when any offer that looks to good to be true has the words integrated and branding all over it. They are usually designed to be bitches in hell to in any tweak up or upgrade cause they'd rather you buy a new system.

if you were talking about Dell, Time or Tiny then yes you're probably right, but from what I've seen myself, Mesh systems are upgradeable either through them, or purchasing and fitting yourself, they don't cripple the machine so that you can't upgrade stuff or have limited options.

Mesh have never used propriety components and all the hardware they use is available from most Etailers, I've mixed and matched without problems

meglamaniac · 10 Aug 2004, 14:47

Most integrated graphics systems these days also include an AGP slot and a switch in the BIOS to choose which one you want.

However:
EEEK! SHARED MEMORY! EEEK!
This is bad, as the latency from the graphics system to your system ram is HUGE compared to a graphics card with onboard ram (thus making it slow), and obviously it's also using your valueable system ram for graphics.

I can't immediately think of better for cheaper, but what I would suggest is going to the Dell website and playing with the config options on their lower spec machines (you can still request decent graphics cards as an option) until you find something you're happy with.
I would say be willing to:
* Compromise on storage space. It's dirt cheap these days (about 50p per GB) and you can always get more later.
* Ditch any ideas of getting a TFT for that price. If you did, it'd be of a low quality. They're overrated until you pay £300+ for a decent one anyway, and the money wasted on one is money being taken away from the PC.

Smudge · 10 Aug 2004, 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunday8pm

I loathe systems with intergrated gfx cards, you want to know why?

More often than not they'll make it very difficult or not even have the slots open for you to upgrade your gfx card (cause they want you to buy a new system) if that is integrated it's more then LIKELY they are using specific ram for it which won't be usable in other towers and per chance might not accept certain non branded ram.

It just screams nightmare to me when any offer that looks to good to be true has the words integrated and branding all over it. They are usually designed to be bitches in hell to in any tweak up or upgrade cause they'd rather you buy a new system.

Ive had 4 - 5 PC's, all with intergrated gfx cards, never had a problem with them. Upgrading them isnt that hard either, you just need to know what your doing

Superpig #1 · 11 Aug 2004, 15:23

Looks like a good PC for the price!!

NEWSBOT3 · 11 Aug 2004, 15:27

most integrated boards are cack

those of you criticising in this case have displayed just how little you know, since nforces are far from being the same as other motherboards.

meglamaniac · 11 Aug 2004, 16:45

I'm aware nForce boards are way above the average. Hell, the board I'm ordering for my new A64 machine is an nForce based one.
However, integrated graphics are always (with the exception of laptops) designed for "workstation" type roles so if you're serious about playing games its not a choice you want to make. It's money wasted, because even if it does play current games ok it'll be a matter of months before it stuggles to play new releases, whereas if you saved some money on a board without graphics and invested that and more into a seperate graphics card you'll have a system that's good for a lot longer.

Or so I think anyway.

NEWSBOT3 · 11 Aug 2004, 17:23

yes, but it also gives you a backup card if yours goes tits up, and and the difference between boards without graphics cards on isnt that big anyway.

Boogster · 11 Aug 2004, 17:23

Thanks for the input guys.

I realise the problem with low-spec TFT monitors, but the problem is that I am primarily looking to save space (room next year is barely big enough to sleep in) - and laptops are un-upgradable, easy to nick, and more expensive.
In actual fact, I believe that the monitor Mesh are offering with this computer is quite good.

I will have a look at configuring a lower-spec computer on the Dell website. That is a good idea.
I am also looking at building my own computer atm, though I'm not sure it could be done for much cheaper to be honest.