Looking for a low budget PC?

jameshunt614

Prominent
Oct 20, 2018
29
0
530
So I am looking for a new desktop pc after I broke it by installing a program to update drivers. After running the program, I turned off the PC and when I turned it on the next day, my keyboard and mouse wouldn't work.

Long story short, my brother went round to have a look at it, took it away and went to fix it. Needless to say, it still hasn't been fixed and I don't think it will be...


Anyway, so at my college they use these Zoostorm Desktop PC's.

They are like a mini desktop tower thingy attached to the back of the monitor. They are pretty fast and they just get the job done.

Anyway, today, while at college, just out of curiosity, I searched for Zoostorm PC on eBay and clicked on the first result which was a budget PC with an i5 processor, 4gb ram and a 500gb hard drive.

2efqe6p.jpg


So pretty bog standard specs really. Similar to what I had before in my old PC before my brother upgraded it to 16gb ram with an SSD just before I (ironically) broke it.

Anyway, the PC also comes with Zoostorm mouse and keyboard all for just £89! And I've checked the seller satisfaction rating and it was 99%.

Link here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fast-ZOOSTORM-Dual-Core-4GB-Ram-500GB-Win10-WIFI-KEYBOARD-AND-MOUSE/292535283683?hash=item441c762fe3:g:xrwAAOSwT7Va3gv8



It doesn't mention what graphics the computer has so I'm assuming it's just using the integrated graphics - which on the i5 I've heard are fairly good and are capable of playing some modern games as long as you reduce the settings.

In fact, there is even a channel on YouTube called "HD 4600 graphics gaming" or something like that where this guy plays modern games on an integrated gpu.

My old PC did have a dedicated graphics card, an Nvidia 750 GT, and my old PC was capable of playing games such as: OMSI 2, Train Simulator 2014, Minecraft and Cities Skylines.

I'm not a big gamer so I don't need insane specs - I didn't really play many other games apart from those mentioned above.


Anyway, I'm wondering, does anyone know anything about Zoostorm and whether it is a good brand or not?


Do you think a PC like this would be a good budget PC for a student like me who is liable to breaking PC's (I could afford a higher spec PC but I would be too scared of breaking it and I tend to mostly just do low end stuff these days like use Microsoft Office and watch YouTube videos etc).


BTW, I also found this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZOOSTORM-ELITE-TOWER-PC-CORE-i7-2600-3-4ghz-31r/401631346829?hash=item5d8318008d:g:8vQAAOSwt~1b5Fac


Also, does anyone know if this PC is upgradable? - would I be able to add more ram or upgrade/add a graphics card?
 


Zoostorm seems to just be a large scale pc builder and nothing special. Similar to ibuypower and such. The first one you linked has no info on specs so it can literally be an ancient celeron for all we know so don't get it.

The second one is just running a good old i7 2600 but it's bidding so that thing is most likely going to go for over what it is worth.

Why are you scared of breaking your system? Just put it on a table and don't put any open drinks near it and it should be fine.

What's your budget? That way we can stear you into the right direction.
 

jameshunt614

Prominent
Oct 20, 2018
29
0
530
UPDATE:

I'm scared of breaking it again because I have a tendency to download lots of junk and mess up my PC.

Obviously, I have learned my lesson not to update drivers through a program but to update them from the manufacturers website or through the control panel.

I just want a simple PC that just works that doesn't cost too much so that if it does break down I won't be too dismayed.

I would put my budget at £250 or under.



 


So you just messed up your os? A quick reinstall of windows can fix any damage done software wise. If you still have that system why not do that?
 

jameshunt614

Prominent
Oct 20, 2018
29
0
530
UPDATE 2:

Won't go into too much detail on an open forum but the situation is more complex than you realise...

You see, like you, I thought that a simple re-install would fix everything but it isn't according to my brother.

He told me that I had downloaded a very nasty peice of Japanese software (don't know how that's happened but I have according to him) that has not only Corrupted my PC but also somehow corrupted his PC (worth £2k as well) when he took my PC to his house to fix it.

Needless to say, he is very angry and we haven't been in contact since. My PC has been at his house for many months and I don't think it will be fixed anytime soon.

So I'd rather just buy a new PC off eBay and start over.

It's a complex situation and I still don't really understand how I have caused so much damage.
 


Firmware viruses are a thing these days and once you have those it's best to just destroy your hardware to prevent further infection.

I'll look around for a good system combi on ebay to play the games listed above as nothing new will fit inside that budget.
 

jameshunt614

Prominent
Oct 20, 2018
29
0
530
Thanks for that. I wasn't aware that viruses could actually affect hardware, I thought they could only affect your files or software (crypto locker comes to mind).

Lesson learnt and I will be much more careful with what I download in future.
 


At this point in time nothing is safe from infection anymore so your best bet is to be smart about what you do on the internet.
 

racksmith101

Respectable
Sorry but some of the above is absolute rot! Most nasty virus/ malware will infect your hard drives, you can always just reformat your hard drives to nuke them all (during Windows pre-install) and do a clean install of Windows, no need to trash your hardware.
 


If what he says is true. That after a format the virus still returned it would not be too uncommon for it to have slipped in firmware or other parts. These virusses are becoming more popular nowadays and are a serious threat I have had the unfortunate experiece of having to deal with these before.
 


My bad forgot to post

This system

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7010-Desktop-PC-Core-i5-3470-3-20GHz-2x4GB-8GB-DDR3-500GB-HDD/123477470705?epid=2216453072&hash=item1cbfd4adf1:g:eek:2UAAOSwhJNb4~xe:rk:23:pf:0

This psu
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/nB3RsY/seasonic-power-supply-s12ii620bronze

And something like this gpu
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-GeForce-GTX-780-Twin-Frozr-OC-Gaming-3GB-Graphics-Card-GPU/153237998027?hash=item23adb249cb:g:bJIAAOSw5Xpb5Hwh:rk:23:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

Will be the best you'll get for the money. Quite a good system for the money. Went a bit over budget but trying to go cheaper would result in quite majore performance losses just to save a little bit of money.

Links might be invisible but they are there just hover around a bit.