BleepingComputer.com: What computer should I buy?

My budget for the new computer is: £500, which is roughly 900$ US dollars (I need the highest performance computer possible, for that bidget)

What are the primary uses for this computer Messenger, internet use.

What do you intend on using on the computer? Messenger (MSN), Google Crome, online games, etc.

Do you tend to have a lot of programs running at the same time, or do you close every program when you are done using it? Lots running at once.

Do you store a lot of pictures or music on the computer? No, that is what my external hard-drive is for.

I will only purchase from the following sites please:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/index.html
http://www.comet.co.uk/

Thanks in advanced,
~Tom.

This post has been edited by theherotom2: 16 May 2011 - 10:26 AM

Do you just want a new tower or do you also need a new monitor, keyboard and mouse?
Can you elaborate on you internet use and online gaming? Are you visiting video sharing websites like youtube? If yes do watch a a lot of videos in the HD or 1080p format? Do the online games you play have very detailed or complex graphics?

This post has been edited by Morgankevinj: 16 May 2011 - 01:21 PM

I need a cheap monitor, and a tower. I use youtube daily, but usually watch videos in 360p. The games I play have hd graphics.

I was only able to access the pcworld website since the comet website is currently down. Since you intend to play games I focused on the graphics card as the highest priority. The built in graphics chip are not as good performance wise in compared to the graphics cards. Nvidia is the best generally the best manufacturer of graphics cards but I could not find any computers with an Nvidia chip. So I narrowed it down to only computers with ATI graphics cards. This gives only two choices:
MEDION Akoya E4325-D:
# Memory: 4GB
# Hard drive: 1.5TB
# 32-bit 3.2 GHz processor

PACKARD BELL iXtreme l6523 Desktop PC
# Memory: 3GB
# Hard drive: 500GB
# 64-bit 3.2 GHz processor

I suggest the MEDION Akoya E4325-D if do not need a 64-bit processor. But keep in mind that the 32-bit processors do not support more than 4GB of RAM if you want to later upgrade.

I would also agree with Morgankevinj because of the larger hard drive and the dedicated graphics card.

Thanks for the help everyone!

No problems