£500 PC Spec? Non-Gaming PC

kbc

kbc

kbc

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Hi, I'm just wondering how does this spec compare?

Basically it's for my cousin. And they were going to go ahead and buy a pre-built package PC for £348 inc VAT and delivery with the following:

Intel Pentium D 915 Dual Core Processor (2.80GHz, 800MHz, 2x2MB)
1024MB PC4200 RAM
160GB SATA 7200RPM Drive
256MB nVidia GeForce 7300 Turbocache graphics card
17" Flat Panel
+ case, monitor, peripherals and the usual stuff. (Goes by the name of Dimension E520).

It's for things like school homework, listening to music, films, downloading and general teenage stuff, as she grows older - she'll probably demand more from her PC.

I don't see any point in skimping on a PC which will only last for a few months... So I came up with something better (whether or not they'll justify the £220 increase is another matter =/).
  • Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz - Retail
  • Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
  • GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
  • BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7300 LE Turbo Cache 256MB DDR TV-Out/DVI
  • Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
  • LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter
  • Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU
  • Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor
  • Logitech Deluxe Keyboard
  • Logitech B58 Optical Wheel Mouse

It comes to £570.87 inc VAT+Delivery. Anyway to make it reliably cheaper - would say... opting for AM2 dual cores be a sensible choice to reduce the price? Would the PSU that comes with the case be adequate?
 
This saves about £45 and nothing is functionally affected, the PSU that comes with the case if more than sufficient for your requirements. The graphics card with Turbocache isn't very good, you might be as well with onboard graphics and a Core 2 Duo might even be a bit of a waste overall when you could get away with a cheaper CPU. :)

Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM £5.49
(£6.45) £5.49
(£6.45)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £101.99
(£119.84) £101.99
(£119.84)
OcUK 1GB (2x512MB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £47.99
(£56.39) £47.99
(£56.39)
Liteon DVD-8900 16x DVD±RW/RAM (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7300 LE Turbo Cache 256MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A32728) £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW191D 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver £104.99
(£123.36) £104.99
(£123.36)
Logitech B58 Optical Wheel Mouse (Black) - OEM £5.49
(£6.45) £5.49
(£6.45)
Sub Total : £441.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
Vat : £79.60
Total : £534.45
 
Thanks semi-pro waster. I took your advice... kind of... :p Kept with my LG DVD-Drive and Belinea 19" (personal choice and brand loyalty ;) ) and downgraded to the same case+PSU+RAM and it's come to £540.32 in total. :)

So a 380w PSU is adequate for this lot? Also, you were saying the turbocache is crap... that's what I thought, but is there a decent mainboard with onboard graphics capable of running Vista. I intend to put Vista on it in the next few months. In fact I am now having doubts as to whether the 7300 is capable? :confused:
 
380W is more than fine.

There was a 6800GS for under £30 in the clearance section a couple of days ago. Might wanna look at that.
 
masslac said:
380W is more than fine.

There was a 6800GS for under £30 in the clearance section a couple of days ago. Might wanna look at that.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it seems I have missed the opportunity. :(
 
Something like the X700pro in the Clearance section might be worthwhile, it is about equivalent to a 9800pro if memory serves but that is significantly better than onboard graphics plus it won't steal system Ram. :)
 
How about...



Aesthetically will be better especially the TFT & you can use that to argue why its better than the pre-built one ;)

OS?
 
I was thinking, which route is the better choice?

2GB RAM + AM2 X2 3800 + MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 = £546
1GB RAM + Intel Core2Duo 6300 + Gigabyte 965P S3 = £563

... :confused:
 
masslac said:
C2D, then another gig of RAM when you can afford it.
Click to expand...

By opting this route... the above system uses "OcUK 1GB (2x512MB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit"... if a RAM upgrade is required, I'd assume it would be ok to run 4x 512MB, would this hinder performance?
 
For what they want i would get the prebuilt machine. More than adequate for several years. Just think why would they get a C2D when i doubt they would ever run a Pentium D at full load.
 
wylde said:
For what they want i would get the prebuilt machine. More than adequate for several years. Just think why would they get a C2D when i doubt they would ever run a Pentium D at full load.
Click to expand...

The Dimension 520 is cheap but the components you get with it are pretty crap in my opinion. It's also bundled with Vista Home Basic which is naff. The reason why I suggest building one is because you get exactly the components you want. My cousin is going into college next year and will probably demand more from the machine doing all sorts of multimedia work. Better off going for newer technology which is more future-proof.

I'll be recommending this spec:

  • Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz CPU
  • Gigabyte 965P S3 PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
  • OcUK 1GB (2x 512MB PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
  • Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache
  • Asus GeForce EN7300GS-HTD 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express)
  • LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x18 DVD-RW
  • Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU
  • Logitech B58 Optical Wheel Mouse Black
  • Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor
£552.67 inc VAT+Delivery

For an extra £6 - I upped the hard drive from the Hitachi 160GB to the 250GB - pretty good deal. :)

Hope I'm not missing anything... and I've minussed the keyboard since I'm sure the existing one is fine.
 
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