Please spec my colleague a new PC

MarcLister

MarcLister

MarcLister

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A mate of mine from work is looking to build a new PC. He doesn't want to use any parts of his old computer in the new build. He's got a monitor, keyboard and mouse so he only needs a case and its innards.

The budget is £500 but could perhaps be bumped to £600 if its worth it. I spoke to him about storage and he says he's got himself an external hard drive so he doesn't really need anything inside storage wise apart from a small disk to run Windows and his programs. I suggested a small SSD to run Windows from with him using the external hard drive to store his files on.

The cost of Windows 7 x64 HP needs to be included in the spec and he'd like lots of USB ports so he can plug stuff in. Ideally he'd like 4GB+ of RAM but he doesn't care about gaming so the graphics card doesn't need to be advanced and costalotta! :p Unless the motherboard you lovely, kind people recommend has extremely good onboard sound quality it'd be nice, I think, for him to have a separate sound card.

I will have a look at prices for what he needs and see what I can come up with. I would appreciate it if you OcUK folk could also have a go for £500-600 and see what prices you can come back with.

I've had a look at OcUK's pre-built machines but they look a bit too gaming oriented to me and I think that we'd be wasting money on them and that a self-build is the best option. A quad-core CPU would be a nice thing for him to have if that's possible within the budget. :) He did mention that he'd like a TV card but he was vague as to what he'd need that for and that a TV card wasn't an essential part of the build and could be bought later. Do any of the cheaper graphics cards have TV functionality or are we looking at getting a TV card later on?

Cheers all. :)
 
So what will the main use of the PC be? Just normal everyday web browsing, watching videos, listening to music, etc?

Also will he be interested in overclocking at all?
 

Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £149.99

Gigabyte H67M-UD2H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £84.98

OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G) £71.99

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98

Belkin 5-Port USB 2.0 PCI-Express Card (F5U252EA) £40.84

Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98

G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL) £35.99

Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail £22.45

Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash SATA Retail £17.99

Total : £522.19 (includes shipping : £12.50).




How about something like this?

Quad core CPU

Using on board graphics (These benchmarks show it at a similar performance to an ATI 5450)

I didn't include a sound card because the onboard sound is very good and unless he has real high quality speakers/headphones then I think the onboard sound should be fine

I don't really know anything about TV cards but I chucked one in that had some good reviews

As for USB ports - there are 6 on the backwith the board, 4 on the front with the case and I included an extra 5 (1 internal) with a PCI express card but they were quite expensive (maybe they could be found cheaper elsewhere, I don't know)

Didn't include an OS but if he's a student then you can get it at student rates elsewhere, if not its an extra £79.99 taking the overall price upto £602.18 (including shipping)

Would that suffice :D lol
 
Haven't done a spec me in a while, so bear with me but...

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case - Black £73.98
(£61.65) £73.98
(£61.65)
OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G) £71.99
(£59.99) £71.99
(£59.99)
MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
(£58.32) £69.98
(£58.32)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB SILENT GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £25.19
(£20.99) £25.19
(£20.99)
Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp - OEM £20.99
(£17.49) £20.99
(£17.49)
Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash SATA Retail £17.99
(£14.99) £17.99
(£14.99)
Sub Total : £390.89
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £80.68
Total : £484.07
 
Thank you both. :) I'll have a look at both your specs and see what you've chosen. :)

I see you've both specced the same PSU. I've not heard of the make before, is it a reputable brand?

Oh and sk82jack, he's not a student. We both work in a high school in London. :) Considering the low cost of Windows and the fact it can be used for several years I think I can persuade him to actually buy Windows this time. :p
 
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Another option:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £161.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive **INTRODUCTORY ONLY PRICE** £89.99
1 x Gigabyte H67M-UD2H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £84.98
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL) £35.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUK) £35.99
1 x Compro VideoMate S350 Digital Satellite TV Card - Retail £22.45
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash SATA Retail £17.99
Total : £504.36 (includes shipping : £12.50).

I don't think he'll manage to use 8 USBs - but with expansions cards like this it shouldn't be a problem.

You can also get expansion cables that utilise the onboard headers (OcUK doesn't stock them :confused:) but they'll let you use all 14USB port the motherboard can support.

i5 2500k has better onboard graphics (HD3000 compared to the HD2000 in the rest of the i5 range).
 
You both work in a high school? Teachers are also eligible for the education discount. If you can get a colleague to let you place an order in their name, you will literally save £100's. MS office professional plus is £35, as opposed to £429.
 
Cookeh said:
I don't think he'll manage to use 8 USBs - but with expansions cards like this it shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
I'd be surprised if he used 8 but seeing as we can have 6 on the back of the motherboard and use the case front 4x USB to give him 10 I think that's more than enough. We can probably forget the USB extension card. :)

Cookeh said:
You can also get expansion cables that utilise the onboard headers (OcUK doesn't stock them :confused:) but they'll let you use all 14USB port the motherboard can support.
Click to expand...
Nice one. I'll look for those. Would the case come with some?

Cookeh said:
i5 2500k has better onboard graphics (HD3000 compared to the HD2000 in the rest of the i5 range).
Click to expand...
Sweet. :) As I said he's not interested in gaming but for the sake of what £15 we might as well get him as good a system as we can. :p

EdwardTeach said:
An external hard drive will be very slow (particularly if it running via usb?)

I would suggest he gets a hard drive as they are fairly cheap these days.
Click to expand...
Yeah that does make sense. Even a 1GB is about £50 or just under aren't they?

EdwardTeach said:
You both work in a high school? Teachers are also eligible for the education discount. If you can get a colleague to let you place an order in their name, you will literally save £100's. MS office professional plus is £35, as opposed to £429.
Click to expand...
He's got OpenOffice on his current computer, or maybe LibreOffice since I got him to try it out. He doesn't like either and he'd like MS Office. I have found a scheme that we could sign up to at work that would get us Office for £10 or so but it seems such a complicated scheme to sign up to. The emails I got from Microsoft weren't very helpful. :rolleyes: I was thinking he could get Office from Software4Students?
 
pcAnywhere said:
Why has everyone included a free-sat tv card??
Click to expand...


MarcLister said:
He did mention that he'd like a TV card but he was vague as to what he'd need that for and that a TV card wasn't an essential part of the build and could be bought later. Do any of the cheaper graphics cards have TV functionality or are we looking at getting a TV card later on?

Cheers all. :)
Click to expand...
 
pcAnywhere said:
Why has everyone included a free-sat tv card??
Click to expand...

Can you suggest a better one then?

If you read my post you'll see I said I have no idea about TV Cards and that I just included one that had some good reviews.

Here's a spec revision:



Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £161.99

Gigabyte H67M-UD2H-B3 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £84.98

OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G) £71.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache WD10EALX - OEM £44.99

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98

Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98

Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter including Labelflash SATA Retail £17.99

Total : £519.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).





Didn't include a TV Card though, as maybe your better off talking to him about what his needs are and then researching it a bit first (plus I have no clue:rolleyes:lol)

The case includes the front USB ports which will take up one or 2 of the USB headers, but if you go onto google and search for 'USB 2.0 Expansion Bracket Header' you should find some :) max you'll be able to fit is four more though I think.
 
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or barracuda 7200.11/12, which ever is cheapest at the time.

And make sure its not the F3 eco with 5400rpm spindle speed.

The WD black is too much money and others nothing over a F3 or 7200.11/12
 
sk82jack said:
Didn't include a TV Card though, as maybe your better off talking to him about what his needs are and then researching it a bit first (plus I have no clue:rolleyes:lol)
Click to expand...
I will get him to tell me what he wants/needs a TV card for. He did mention using Media Center on Windows 7 but he said he can get TV through his TV box. :p

sk82jack said:
The case includes the front USB ports which will take up one or 2 of the USB headers, but if you go onto google and search for 'USB 2.0 Expansion Bracket Header' you should find some :) max you'll be able to fit is four more though I think.
Click to expand...
OK, will do. I would have thought 6 on the back of the motherboard and 4 on the front of the case would do.
 
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