1k for PC & Monitor

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 17:39

Need a new pc and monitor, I have no idea what's what so need to be guided you guys please.

Thinking of a 24" monitor.

As for PC, tbh its only used for surfing the web, email, occasional word document. However just like this pc were using now which is about 9 years old, we would like to keep the new pc for the same amount of time, hopefully.

So we would rather a slightly ott pc that will still be a good runner in years to comes, plus having the new pc it maybe used for some video encoding, video streaming etc.

I've been told something like 6GB memory, blueray player, although we don't own any blueray discs yet, at least we will be able to play them in the future if needs be.
Don't do any gaming and have no plan on gaming on a pc, but would need a semi decent card for playing blueray?

The only thing we need is a dial up modem lol, to keep an email account active and a case/mobo to add additional cards down the line.

So confuse me.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 9 May 2010 at 18:11

I would look at the following build:

Phenom II X6 1055T ~ £167

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-267-AM

Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H ~ £110

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-251-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1782

This motherboard has the HD4290 IGP with 128MB of dedicated DDR3 and UVD2 meaning it can decode HD media fine. The motherboard also has USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 too.

2XOCZ Obsidian 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 Dual Channel ~ £188

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-181-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP 8x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive ~ £81

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-131-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=314

Zalman Z7 Plus Midi Tower Case ~ £43

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-033-ZA

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache ~ £90

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-336-WD

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W ~ £86

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088

This is made by Seasonic.

Windows 7 Retail ~ £95

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-124-MS

Hyundai H245W 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor ~ £155

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-068-HY&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=

The total comes to around £1015 excluding delivery.

I have not included speakers and a keyboard and mouse.

TBH, this build is OTT!

More and more HD media will be streamed off the internet or downloaded off the internet(legally) though. Hence Blu-Ray many not be really needed in the build.

XP had an unusually long lifespan for a Microsoft OS and this is unlikely to be repeated for a while IMHO. This means newer Microsoft operating systems will probably not be supported for as long.

It probably would make more sense to get a £600 build now and spend £400 on upgrades in 4 to 5 years.

Cookeh · 9 May 2010 at 18:47

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
It probably would make more sense to get a £600 build now and spend £400 on upgrades in 4 to 5 years.

This.

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 19:01

Ok, yer it doesn't have to be a 1k build straight away, as you've both said a £600 build now then upgrade in the future as and when its needed is a good idea.

So what would I need for a £600 build, including keyboard, which I forgot to put?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 9 May 2010 at 19:02

Do you need to include the cost of an OS??

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 19:25

Yer need OS, with a retail version can that be installed on more than one computer?

gamesaregood · 9 May 2010 at 19:31

SimonC said:
Yer need OS, with a retail version can that be installed on more than one computer?

No, just means you can move it from one computer to another, requires of course for it to be removed from the original before being installed and activated on another.

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 19:34

Ah ok, wouldn't oem be better for me then? By the time we get a new pc after this one, there probably be windows 9 out lol

gamesaregood · 9 May 2010 at 19:45

SimonC said:
Ah ok, wouldn't oem be better for me then? By the time we get a new pc after this one, there probably be windows 9 out lol

Depends, OEM are tired to the motherboard, so as long as you have no plans to upgrade that then you should be able to get away with it..... I personally prefer the flexibility that Retail offers.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 9 May 2010 at 19:47

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 19:48

Yer ok, so if the motherboard gets changed in the future then the oem os will be useless and will have to by another version for the new motherboard.

What happens if your replacing the motherboard with exactly the same one, do you still have to get another copy of the os?

gamesaregood · 9 May 2010 at 19:51

SimonC said:
Yer ok, so if the motherboard gets changed in the future then the oem os will be useless and will have to by another version for the new motherboard.

What happens if your replacing the motherboard with exactly the same one, do you still have to get another copy of the os?

To keep within in MS OEM Licensing conditions my understanding is any change even if its a RMA replacement requires a new license.

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 20:02

CAT-THE-FIFTH, that looks good to me, silly questions, I presume you could add an graphics card with the case/mobo you've posted, and if I did start adding stuff at a later date, I'd need a more powerfull psu?
I guess the smaller pci slots, I could use the dialup modem we have or just get one to fit.
Can you also use ide hard drives with these motherboards?
We've just gotten a new 500gb western digital blue one, I could possible use that, although its not essential to.

gamesaregood said:
To keep within in MS OEM Licensing conditions my understanding is any change even if its a RMA replacement requires a new license.

Ok, so yer retail then for the little bit more you pay buying it over oem its worth it really in the long run in case something happens.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 9 May 2010 at 20:10

If you want a motherboard with more PCI slots then I would consider the following one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-402-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1782

If you don't have any need for SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 then look at the following motherboard which has a slightly older chipset:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

All the motherboards I have mentioned have a PCI Express 2.0 16X slot for a graphics card if required. The PSU will be sufficient for a graphics card upto the level of an HD5770 1GB. As long as the card has one PCI-E power connector you should be fine.
The motherboards I have mentioned all have an HD4200 series integrated graphics card which will enable playback of HD media, 3D effects in the OS and running of old games.

The motherboards also have a single IDE connector so you can use this too.

SimonC · 9 May 2010 at 20:19

Yer I think a motherboard with both sata and usb 3.0 is a good idea for the sake of 25 odd quid.

I'll speak to my folks show them what you have suggested and see what they say.
Cheers for you help.

SimonC · 10 May 2010 at 14:21

CAT-THE-FIFTH, another question if you don't mind.
Why have you choosen AMD over Intel, is that just personal preference or is more bang for the buck?

Not questioning your decision, just curious sir.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 10 May 2010 at 16:58

SimonC said:
CAT-THE-FIFTH, another question if you don't mind.
Why have you choosen AMD over Intel, is that just personal preference or is more bang for the buck?

Not questioning your decision, just curious sir.

The Phenom II X6 processors are quite good for video encoding and also since you are not gaming you can get one of the AM3 motherboards which have integrated graphics. A Core i7 920 based system would cost more as the motherboards start at a higher price point and no socket 1366 motherboards have integrated graphics. Modern IGPs can decode HD video quite well and hence in many cases a dedicated graphics card is not needed.

Regarding the Athlon II X4 630 it is even faster for video editing than the much more expensive Core i3 530:

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/105?vs=118

Also the cheapest H55 motherboard with USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 is around £8 more expensive than the Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-239-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1124

You are looking at around a £25 saving over a Core i3 530 system with USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 and the AMD system will be faster for video encoding.

SimonC · 16 May 2010 at 17:46

Comparing the athlon x4 630 and the i3 530, the i3 in overall performance has a slight edge in performance, so tbh that would probably be the way to go. Video encoding isn't going to be an everyday thing so the time taken for encoding isn't essential.

I've just been looking at what I would need for an intel build, but I've no idea. :rolleyes:

stulid · 16 May 2010 at 18:00

maybe you use programs which support CUDA, thats why theres a nvidia card there, will even play some games.

or you switch the motherboard for something like this,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-381-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1124

and ditch the graphics card and use the onboard/on chip IGP.

and then in the future you could add one of these for a huge jump in performance

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-298-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272

but it will require a separate graphics card as it doesn't include a onchip graphics processor like the i3, but will keep you going for many years and there will be a few more cpus released on the socket to come, that will be faster still.

Here is a comparison of the AthlonII 630 vs i3 530

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/105?vs=118

the i3 wins much more than the AthlonII and I would recommended it over an old tech Athlon anyday, it would also be a lot quieter as the stock AMD heatsinks are known to be loud, mine certainly is.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 16 May 2010 at 18:05

SimonC said:
Comparing the athlon x4 630 and the i3 530, the i3 in overall performance has a slight edge in performance, so tbh that would probably be the way to go. Video encoding isn't going to be an everyday thing so the time taken for encoding isn't essential.

I've just been looking at what I would need for an intel build, but I've no idea.

The Core i3 530 should be faster in games but it costs around 25% more for the processor and the socket is EOL in Q1 2011. Any more new releases on socket 1156 are likely to be speed bumps. The new socket will be called socket 1155 and this is where one of the iterations of Intel Sandy Bridge will be on. Anyway I recommended the Athlon II since I got the impression that video encoding was the most CPU intensive operation the computer would do and it was both the better performing and cheaper CPU for the task at hand. At least it seems that socket AM3 will support two generations of processors (the Athlon II/Phenom II and AMD Bulldozer next year).