£400 student rig challange....

bfar

bfar

bfar

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14 Jul 2004
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My little sister is looking into a new PC. She's doing her Masters next year. We need a solid quality rig for ~£400. She already has a great monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers :) I build PC's with my eyes closed, so I can sort that for her. Best I've come up with is £425 with a competitor.

A PC for College work, basic media, internet surfing, photographs & fun but she doesn't bother with games (Aero would be nice tho - she likes pretty new things)

Rules:

1) Floppy drive and Vista HP must be included & I feel a gig of RAM is needed for Vista.

2)£450 absolute tops or she might as well get a Laptop.

3)She likes to play music/movies/basic media while she works, so Dual Core would be nice but not required. We will NOT go over budget just to "go Conroe", but if it fits in the budget, well and good.

4)Needs to look tasteful in her bedroom, so no whacky cases.

5)No old 939 stuff - needs to be scalable in the future.

Whadya think?
 
Even if it's like £30 over budget? Pay more, get more ;)

Do you need a DVDRW drive and powersupply, or are they coming from the old PC?


I did try and get a conroe in for £450, but failed misearbly (see below)... :p
I don't know much about AMD so I won't spec one of those out :(

Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£72.84)
Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail
(£112.79)
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC)
(£58.74)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788)
(£72.84)
AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver)
(£19.96)
Sony Floppy Drive - Beige
(£5.86)
Asus TA-212 Series Midi Tower (Silver) - No PSU
(£25.84)
Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply
(£49.34)
Sapphire X1600 Pro 256MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£61.09)

£479 inc vat exc p&p
Click to expand...
 
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here, its conore and vista
Edit- Had Forgetten Floppy :D

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £25.99
(£30.54) £25.99
(£30.54)
Sony Floppy Drive - Silver £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99
(£7.04)
Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £95.99
(£112.79) £95.99
(£112.79)
Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £35.99
(£42.29) £35.99
(£42.29)
Asus DRW-1608P3S 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - Retail £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00715) £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400DC) £47.99
(£56.39) £47.99
(£56.39)
Leadtek GeForce 7100 GS Turbo Cache 512MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £24.99
(£29.36) £24.99
(£29.36)
Sub Total : £357.91
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 : £64.55
Total : £433.41

You dont even need the 7100gs as the mb has internal graphics, though the int stuff cant do aero i dont think, but the 7100gs can.

Furance youve forgetten HD ;)
 
Last edited:
I feel that your sister might be better off with a laptop so she can do her work anywhere.

just a personal opinion from an undergraduate point of view.
 
This is a dual core setup, its almost the same price as the one above but not conroe. The case is a bit Sexier IMO, plus it has double the HD space and a slighty better graphics card, so If your lil sister wanted to light game this will be a lot better for the difference in price. I have 6200 its so hard to get it to run anything at a reasonable frame rate unless its pretty old.


So if no gaming will be happening whatsoever, you can save 15 pounds off by changing to a 6200.


If i had 450 for my personal usage then i would get the above and spend the lil etc for the 7300... but of course its not :)





Sony AW-G170AB2 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer - (Black) OEM £16.99
(£19.96)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £61.99
(£72.84)

Titan Tower TTC-NK32TZ Heatpipe Cooling Fan (Socket 754/939/940/AM2) £8.99
(£10.56)

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400DC) £47.99
(£56.39)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM £54.99
(£64.61)

Enermax EG285-SX-VB(G) 285W Micro ATX Power Supply £24.99
(£29.36)

Akasa AK-ZEN-01-WH Zen White Case - No PSU £25.99
(£30.54)

Asus GeForce EN7300GS-HTD 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £39.99
(£46.99)
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 160GB 1600AAJS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £35.99
(£42.29)

Sony Floppy Drive - Beige £4.99
(£5.86)

Total 431 inc VAT
 
Or not.




Don't buy out of date, slow, crap, hot, inefficient, power sucking tech when you can get something considerably faster, more future proof and in every way better for little more.

Vista on my p4ht 3.2 is noway near as responsive as it is on my t2600 or x2

AM2 and the x2 are slower the the c2d equv. anyway
 
Yes they are, but whats wrong with an AMD setup when wanting to hit a budget AND meeting the requirements of the poster?

I wouldn't buy anything but c2d.. but thats my choice. It suited my needs
 
mattpj said:
Yes they are, but whats wrong with an AMD setup when wanting to hit a budget AND meeting the requirements of the poster?

I wouldn't buy anything but c2d.. but thats my choice. It suited my needs
Click to expand...

I hit the targets and ended up with a c2d, another user ended up with a very similar setup, why go for something slower?

Yours costs more than mine, is slower for vista, has an ott gpu and the biggest of them all.

Isnt even compatable.

Akasa zen = atx. the psu you spec'd

a)is m-atx so it wont fit
b)underpowered - the antec psu isnt
c)old as hell

Not to mention you smell of fanboy.
 
I'm a fanboy?

Did you even bother to check my sig? Get a grip....

I concede the PSU doesn't fit either oh well I mis-step. Still think she is better of with a laptop

Cut your attitude out now please, I don't understand your problem

That is all
 
From your other posts, it seems you're the one with the attitude ;) The other specs posted look fine- theres no point going for AMD if you can get a C2D in the budget. Admittedly AMD are good if C2D won't fit into the budget however, if it does then it just doesn't compare :)
 
mattpj said:
I'm a fanboy?

Did you even bother to check my sig? Get a grip....

I concede the PSU doesn't fit either oh well I mis-step. Still think she is better of with a laptop

Cut your attitude out now please, I don't understand your problem

That is all
Click to expand...

I'm not the one with the attitude, what would have happened if he had got his sis your spec?

I am well aware of you owning a c2d system, i was hinting that your statement on processors was so vague that it made you look like a fanboy

With the new pricing, x2's are very good, cheap dual core's but only for budgets that are lower than ones capable of a c2d rig.

Lets not push this any further, please. :)
 
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 1 £16.99
Titan Tower TTC-NK32TZ Heatpipe Cooling Fan (Socket 754/939/940/AM2) £8.99 1 £8.99
Abit NF-M2S Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £34.99 1 £34.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £56.99 1 £56.99
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £94.99 1 £94.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM £54.99 1 £54.99
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £35.99 1 £35.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £61.99 1 £61.99
Sub Total : £365.92
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri) Shipping : £16.95
Vat : £67.00
Total : £449.87
I'd go for the above spec as opposed to c2d because vista will run much smother with 2gigs of ram and non of the tasks this computer will be used for are cpu intense.Much better to put the money into the ram and harddisk.This also gives a good upgrade path with KL8 quad core for the next few years.
 
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lay-z-boy said:
{snip}Akasa zen = atx. the psu you spec'd

a)is m-atx so it wont fit
b)underpowered - the antec psu isnt
c)old as hell{snip}
Click to expand...
That PSU would fit an ATX case, hence the ATX suffix! Being Micro its just shorter. That said, its old technology (i.e. ATX 1.x), causing a problem on its-own.

& C2D @ Stock is not 'biblically' faster/better than AMD as some of you would have you believe. Well at least nothing the OP's sister will notice. & it will not play movies nor surf nor type faster as per her needs/uses!

& 'future-proof' in PCs is a myth. Anyone, got Intel's road map?

OP I feel that your sister is better of with a PC from a well known e-tailer. If you were planning to build it for her, getting a ready-made machine saves you the trouble of being 'technical-support'. & believe me, I have had nasty experiences from being the latter to friends & family.
 
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hp7909 said:
OP I feel that your sister is better of with a PC from a well known e-tailer. If you were planning to build it for her, getting a ready-made machine saves you the trouble of being 'technical-support'. & believe me, I have had nasty experiences from being the latter to friends & family.
Click to expand...

When I see a tread title stating pc for £400 pounds I think e-tailer :).
 
hp7909 said:
OP I feel that your sister is better of with a PC from a well known e-tailer. If you were planning to build it for her, getting a ready-made machine saves you the trouble of being 'technical-support'. & believe me, I have had nasty experiences from being the latter to friends & family.
Click to expand...

Amen brother, why I recommended a laptop as you have to buy it from a retailer and if any bother you aint the one to put it right.
 
Arctic Cooling T1 Pro Case
Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM
BFG GeForce 7300 GT OC 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Sony Floppy Drive - Black

£445.23 inc VAT

Although to save money, get a 7100 or 6200. Or change the S3.

This should be a solid set up aswell.
 
hp7909 said:
That PSU would fit an ATX case, hence the ATX suffix! Being Micro its just shorter. That said, its old technology (i.e. ATX 1.x), causing a problem on its-own.

& C2D @ Stock is not 'biblically' faster/better than AMD as some of you would have you believe. Well at least nothing the OP's sister will notice. & it will not play movies nor surf nor type faster as per her needs/uses!

& 'future-proof' in PCs is a myth. Anyone, got Intel's road map?

OP I feel that your sister is better of with a PC from a well known e-tailer. If you were planning to build it for her, getting a ready-made machine saves you the trouble of being 'technical-support'. & believe me, I have had nasty experiences from being the latter to friends & family.
Click to expand...
/Clarkson : no, no, no, no, no, NO!!

m-atx hole


atx psu


whadya know? it doesn't fit!


another shot


my point = made

also this build will be fast and stable, all the parts are compatible. :)

It would whip most if not all off the shelf systems which would probably come with 8 tonnes of bloat anywhay
 
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