Best media/work computer for £300-£400?

Mark719 · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:13

I am looking for the best computer for browsing the internet, watching movies and using word/Microsoft office etc.

Budget from £300-400, cheaper the better, case nothing big, small/average size, no graphics card or sound card needed, also already have a copy of Windows 7 so don't need to include that in price either.

stulid · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:16

Hi,

So do you have a GFX card+sound card already, if so which ones?

Or do you mean just spec a system with onboard audio+visual.

If so then an APU sounds ideal,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £73.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Antec ISK600M mATX Cube Case - Black £56.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £46.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £34.99
1 x Samsung SN-208DB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £17.99
Total : £349.03 (includes shipping : £11.75).

A rather nice case too, if you can install the OS from USB then that saves a further £17 as you probably don't need the ODD.

-----------------------------

Or with a cheaper case but SSD added,

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £73.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (SHFS37A/240G) £72.98
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £46.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x Cooler Master N200 NSE-200-KKN1 Midi-Tower - Black £36.95
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £34.99
1 x LG 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM GH24NSC0.AUAA10B £13.99
Total : £397.38 (includes shipping : £11.25).

Mark719 · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:43

Thanks for the reply, so nice builds, also about the graphic card I just don't need one, since no gaming will be done on the computer.

Any thoughts on this?
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £64.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte B85M-D3H Intel B85 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £56.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £34.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £351.53 (includes shipping : £8.00).

stulid · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:44

That will work, but the APUs IGP is much stronger.

The Superflower is a superior unit, plenty of power as you dont have much to run.

Also the RAM will probably downclock or something as the B85 board doesn't support higher than 1600MHz, the APU does and needs fast RAM for the IGP.

Mark719 · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:47

So this be much better?

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £73.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £64.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £46.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020046-UK) £34.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £325.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Edit:
So this?
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £73.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £64.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £46.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £34.99
1 x Zalman T2 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £18.95
Total : £333.40 (includes shipping : £11.25).

stulid · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:48

If you should want to try and play some simple/older games at all, the APU will be better.

2nd spec you just added looks great (apart from the £18 DVD burner), are you sure you like that case? you wouldn't prefer something a bit more "styled/elegant" such as the Antec.

Mark719 · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:54

stulid said:
If you should want to try and play some simple/older games at all, the APU will be better.

So the second one of my last post would be the most recommend?

edit:
Yeah the case can easily change, the case is just a rough idea at the moment.

stulid · 5 Dec 2014 at 18:56

2nd spec will easily run office and play movies (you would obviously expect it to) and will play games such as Hitman/dirt3/showdown etc.

I made a comment also about the £18 dvd burner.

I think all you need to do is pick a case and you can put a fork in it as your done.

Mark719 · 5 Dec 2014 at 19:00

stulid said:
2nd spec will easily run office and play movies (you would obviously expect it to) and will play games such as Hitman/dirt3/showdown etc.

I made a comment also about the £18 dvd burner.

I think all you need to do is pick a case and you can put a fork in it as your done.

Brilliant, thanks for all the help