I'm in the US helping someone on another forum from the UK. I've checked the sites you all suggested and will forward those to the person and see what he thinks. Thanks! =)
nightcraw1er.488: Confused. Are you UK or US as your location is US, but you asked in pounds (and post time would indicate US).
Anyways, if its UK I can say I definately had a very good experience of PCSpecialist recently. I paid up (a lot, 1080ftw card for instance) and got all the bits I want and I would say for the price its a very good system, have had no issues with it, it looks the business, customer support has been great making sure I had important graphics chip updates etc. Obviously if you go for custom built machines then its a bit more pricey then off the shelf, and again more expensive than if you did it yourself. I will be going back to them again in the next month to buy a media computer to go next to the TV.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/
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UhuruNUru, I think the one you found linked on Scan should work for him. He hasn't said exactly what he's looking for, but it will definitely The Sims 3 plus some of the more modern games. I'm also waiting on a reply for more information from him on what he's looking for. Thanks for the tips! =)
UhuruNUru: I found, Scan Computers to be very good, they are an online store, and their 3XS Systems, are pretty much made up of components sold on the site, and for the same price, with a small overclocking cost added.
I was planninig to build my own system. but when I saw they also offered a 3 year warranty on a large Overclock, for £100, I went for it.
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz Quad CPU, Overclocked to 4.6Ghz
That System cost, £3,000, so OC cost was small. That was 4 years ago, and I've still got it today.
The downside to such builds, is the component, selection is restricted, there are limited alernative options, to ensure quality
That's the limits of the online selection, but you can get things changed, through negotiation.
In my case, they offered two 256 GB SSD's, and I swapped my games one for a better 512 GB SSD, which wasn't a set choice, I had to ask for that. That was as big as I could get 4 years ago.
They are an online only company, but do have a single showroom/store, in Bolton, Lancashire, if your friend lives near there.
That makes things easier if issues arise, and the only issue I had, was due to tthe GPU manufacturer, statting their outputs wrong.
Not the Scan sites fault, that one, XFX was saying the same on their own site.
Main 3XS link
<span class="bold">UK built Custom PCs, Gaming Computers & Laptops - 3XS - Scan</span> This is their Standard £1,000 System, and many options, are provided, for most components, at a price.
Standard build cost's nothing extra, so this is built for free, the GPU OC costs £30, but they do guarantee it as well.
<span class="bold">3XS Gamer 480 - Custom built gaming PC with an Intel Core i5 7500 and a 8GB Asus Radeon RX 480 DUAL OC</span> Total Price
£973.13 (Including VAT, sold with Tax added in UK)
3 Year Premium 3XS Warranty (Mainland UK) - 1st Year Onsite, 2nd & 3rd Year Return to Base (Parts & Labour) - (Mechanical hard drives only covered for 1st year)
I got an upgrade to the GPU, without issues, I returned the system by choice, due to being able to get to their base, in Bolton.
I could easily take it myself, but never needed to, after GPU change.
To be honest, such questions are better asked on dedicated hardware forums, than here.
If he's looking for a more personal service (brick store), that would depend where he lived.
Ryzen may be an option, but for £1,000 systems, that's likely to need a Ryzen 5, which is 2nd quater (end of June at the latest).
I'm waiting for Vega to decide what I use to upgrade my system, which is coming around June also, but I'll spend more than £1,000 on just the CPU/Mobo/GPU.
Setting a $1,000 price limit means making compromises, just depends what the users needs are, to whether it's best to get better GPU, and worse CPU. Generally for gaming, the best GPU is the way to go, but for specific games, it can change.
I'd suggest GTX1070, or RX480 at that price range, with one SSD for games/programs, one HDD storage, and a PSU/Case, nothing more is absoluely required, better cooling maybe, I'd only use wired internet, so no need for wireless. OS if needed, better to just use the existing one.
Only then look at best CPU/Mobo/memory combo, with remaining cash, and spend it all on that.
Can always add things later, that's the advantage of this 3XS setup, you can add, and remove things.
