£300 for a new PC - all help much appreciated

Astraeus

Astraeus

Astraeus

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18 Jun 2008
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I am currently running a Dell Dimension 2350 2.6GHz with 768MB of DDR RAM and, after four/five years of working to a satisfactory level, it is now showing its age and in dire need of replacement. Unfortunately, I’m not flush enough to be able to splash out on a top-of-the-range unit and so I’m looking to build one to a specification barely sufficient to cover my needs.

To this end, the programs I need to run are: Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk 3ds Max, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Lightroom. I don’t really play games but I’d like a machine which can admirably handle Football Manager and The Sims series. I don’t play Call of Duty or any majorly graphics-intensive games so there is no need for the latest-and-greatest graphics card. I will be using Windows 7 when it arrives and, until then, will be sitting on XP.

I will be starting from scratch. Components like the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse can come across from my old PC but I need a tower and everything that goes into it. As I’m a complete amateur with computers, you can imagine the trouble this poses for me. This is even more so given my budget.

So far, the setup I'm looking at is:

Asus P5Q MoBo £85
Intel Dual Core E5300 £50
Corsair TwinX 4GB RAM £50
Corsair CX400W PSU £40 (concerned that this may be loud?)

I'm undecided on the GPU as I need dual output but the Radeon HD4670 doesn't seem to feature this. Also, what difference does it make getting a Sapphire or Asus GPU? And if a 1GB GPU is the same price as a 512MB, why not get the 1GB?

My next query is in relation to the HDD. I'm going to run a massive 1TB storage drive and then have a smaller OS drive. The HDDs I can't choose between are below - they all come within £5 of one another:

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB
- Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1TB
- Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
- Maxtor DiamondMax 22 1TB

I'll decide on a case at a later date but I won't be spending much on these - I just want a plain, decent-looking black one without flashing LEDs.

Can you offer me any feedback/recommendations please? I'm lost in all of this technical detail!

Thanks! :confused:
 
re HDD, the samsung pref or seagate, stay away from other 2
save cash on mobo, get this one, gigabyte P43 £68
RAM £30, thats freed up £37 already
that psu should be fine, and look at the coolermaster elite cases
 
This is what I come up with in using your specs above, assuming you use your current dvd/cd drive:

MB-125-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3 Intel P43 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
HD-053-SA_60.jpg
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £64.99
(£56.51) £64.99
(£56.51)
CP-273-IN_60.jpg
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £52.99
(£46.08) £52.99
(£46.08)
GX-138-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB TV-Out/HDTV/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £47.99
(£41.73) £47.99
(£41.73)
CA-017-CS_60.jpg
Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-400CXUK) £38.99
(£33.90) £38.99
(£33.90)
CA-155-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster Elite 330 Midi Tower Case - Black (No PSU) £34.99
(£30.43) £34.99
(£30.43)
MY-190-CS_60.jpg
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-6400C5C) £33.99
(£29.56) £33.99
(£29.56) Sub Total : £297.33 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £46.36 Total : £355.44
 
Regarding the MoBo, I've come across some less-than-flattering reviews of the EP43, instead suggesting getting the EP45. In a shootout between the EP45-DS3L and the P5Q, which comes out on top? I'll be doing some moderate overclocking but nothing major.

I'll go for the branded RAM as I've heard horror stories about generic, unbranded RAM like the Overclockers stuff recommended above.

As for the HDD, I'm now thinking I go for the Samsung F1 as the newer Seagate .12 only just pips it speed-wise but comes in at £20 more. The WD Black is more expensive and doesn't appear to have a significant benefit. If I were to put a small HD alongside it for installations and the OS, what would you recommend? A reasonably cheap but quick one would be ideal.
 
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re the RAM, afaik OCers use branded RAM as their own stuff, its whatever they have surplus stock of or cheap deals from suppliers at the time, they dont actually make their own.
Re the HDD, the F1 is still a good choice for boot drive
 
This is where I'm at so far. I think it's all decided with the exception of the graphics card. I need the dual DVI output but also want a good performing one - the MSI seems to be the best toss-up although I'd prefer a higher bus and lower RAM as this'd affect my day-to-day use more positively.

MoBo: Asus P5Q
CPU: Intel Dual Core E5300
GPU: MSI HD 4670 1GB
RAM: Corsair TwinX 4GB
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
2nd HDD: Samsung Spinpoint M7 500GB (later addition)
PSU: Corsair CX400W
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Case: Antec 300 or Casecom KB-5510

What are your thoughts on that setup? Slightly over budget I know but it seems to be the best bang-for-your-buck setup I can find!
 
I'm now being told by others that I ought to plump for a P43 MoBo and save myself a few pounds. It would hinder my OCing ability so is it really worth it? If I can afford the P45, should I just opt for it?

Also, I could grab a HD 4770 or a HD 4850 for under £80. Is the £25+ premium worth it to upgrade from the HD 4670?

Also, regarding the RAM - is there a difference between the XMS2 (£37) or the TwinX (http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-184-CS) RAM?
 
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Bumping this...and adding a new question.

I just found this (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-184-SP) Sapphire HD 4670 on OC. From the picture, it appears to have Dual DVI but the description doesn't say this - anyone know what the case is? Some reviews of the card have it with dual DVI, others with a D-Sub and an HDMI. It's only 512mb compared to a similar-priced MSI 1GB but I hear that doesn't make a difference at the low-resolutions I'll be gaming at.

In which case, what's better - the MSI or Sapphire?
 
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Hi
Mobo, the P43 should clock just as well, the main difference is the P45 supprts vfire, so you could add a 2nd card later if you wanted where as the P43 doesnt
Either the 4770 or 4850 would be a good step up gfx card wise, the 4850 is slightly better but the 4770 is newer, uses less power and is reported to OC quite well
RAM just stick to the cheaper stuff
Noy sure about the connecitons on the card, if you need it one or the other prob best to phone the shop to check
Youre right that at lower res half a gig performs just as well, so go for whichever card is either clocked faster or cheaper
 
Okay, here's where I am now.

Asus P5QL-E mobo
Intel Dual Core E5300 CPU
XFX HD 4850 GPU

How does that setup sound? It's the same price as the P45 chipset with the 4670 GPU.
 
It does sound good, however I would like to point out that Asus has a ridiculous service. My mobo snapped last summer and it was a bit more than one year after I purchased it so the reseller didn't want to deal with it. So I tried to deal with Asus : I had to pay the shipment and insurance to send them the mobo, including a cheque of 12 euros (that happened in France) so that they take it into account.

Even with all this money I'd have spent, they might not be able to repair or exchange it bla bla bla...

Then I turned to a Gigabyte EP45-DS3R. It was brand new but no BIOS. I browsed the internet and found out that all Gigabyte mobo's based on Intel chipsets had that weird death from one day to another, just no display at all and that was it fried. I was bluffed by the Gigabyte connectors though, a killer mobo if it only had worked!

I'm not familiar with the E5300 but my sister runs a [email protected], I guess the E5300 oc's just as fine :)
 
I seem to recall that JonJ678 has made a thread which may have some very useful info for you: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17995195

It involves flashing an 8800GT into quadro fx 3700 which should be excellent for AutoCAD and 3DS Max. Might be worth taking a look. Its performance should be significantly higher than a gaming card and is a much cheaper option than buying the specialist Quadro card off-the-shelf (as it will cost your entire budget just for the card).
 
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