£400 future upgradeable PC

andymac

andymac

andymac

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17 Oct 2004
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347
I'm looking into building a new PC on a minimal budget. I want an Intel based PC on personal preference. I have fixed a budget of around £400 to include case, PSU, Vista 64, a DVD RW and a 160Gb ish HDD.

So far I've come up with the list below.

Any chance of a spec check, I haven't included a Graphics card, or sound as both are onboard. The PC will be used for day to day spreadsheeting calcs, and complex mathematics also. Not really for games. It will be used on the internet and for designing and running presentations. I assume onboard graphics can do this well.
Also I have not included an aftermarket cooler for the CPU, I want this PC to be quiet and reliable. Would a non-overclocked Q6600 be okay in this case with a retail cooler?



Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black/Silver) - Retail Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black/Silver) - Retail £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Maxtor Diamondmax 20 160GB SATA-II 2MB Cache - OEM (STM3160215AS) Maxtor Diamondmax 20 160GB SATA-II 2MB Cache - OEM (STM3160215AS) £26.99
(£31.71) £26.99
(£31.71)
Asus Vintage V3-P5G33 Barebones System - Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad (LGA775) Asus Vintage V3-P5G33 Barebones System - Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad (LGA775) £90.99
(£106.91) £90.99
(£106.91)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
Sub Total : £369.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £66.48
Total : £446.37
 
This gets you a bit closer to the budget but offers you a better case and PSU for future upgrades. Arguably the hard drive should be more reliable too.

Samsung SH-S202HBEBN 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
OcUK Value IG31A-CFS Intel G31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £40.99
(£48.16) £40.99
(£48.16)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £23.99
(£28.19) £23.99
(£28.19)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Antec NSK 4480B Mini Tower Case (Black) - 380W Earth Watts PSU £45.99
(£54.04) £45.99
(£54.04)
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £26.99
(£31.71) £26.99
(£31.71)
Sub Total : £356.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £64.38
Total : £432.26
 
Many Thanks, I've had a tinker and have now got down to the list below, only changes I have made are from IDE to SATA drives, again personal preference.

Are the P31 boards any good or would I be better off pushing to the value P35 boards available?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
LiteON DH-20A1S-18C 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM LiteON DH-20A1S-18C 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
OcUK Value IG31A-CFS Intel G31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard OcUK Value IG31A-CFS Intel G31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £40.99
(£48.16) £40.99
(£48.16)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £23.99
(£28.19) £23.99
(£28.19)
Antec NSK 4480 Mini Tower Case (Silver) - 380W Earth Watts PSU Antec NSK 4480 Mini Tower Case (Silver) - 380W Earth Watts PSU £45.99
(£54.04) £45.99
(£54.04)
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £26.99
(£31.71) £26.99
(£31.71)
Sub Total : £357.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £64.55
Total : £433.43
 
andymac said:
Also I have not included an aftermarket cooler for the CPU, I want this PC to be quiet and reliable. Would a non-overclocked Q6600 be okay in this case with a retail cooler?
Click to expand...

Yes it will be stable, even on the Stock Cooler my machine runs at 3Ghz and is 8hrs+ Prime Stable and quiet.

(I know you dont plan on overclocking, but the option is there if you want to.)
 
I picked that P31 based motherboard for the onboard graphics and because there should be some overclocking potential, the P35s are a bit more fully featured but they don't have onboard graphics unfortunately.

Hope the build goes well. :)
 
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