£600-800 Base Unit & More.

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:05

Hello,

We're upgrading all our machines atm, so need some specs:

A Base unit for Gaming/Image Editing - ~£800 (G11/Mouse if possible)
A HTPC (been thinking of - "Verso" AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 Dual Core 2.2GHz DDR2 HTPC System - Black) - £400-600

And also:

Full System for Gaming/Everything else - Monitor included, KB/Mouse - £900-1000

So thats three specs if possible.

The main spec will be the £800 base unit, and also the HTPC.

Just seeing what the difference is between the Full System and the Base.

One PC will be run on a Samsung LE23 HD LCD (base unit), the other on which ever monitor is purchased.

Thanks for any help & specs.

stickroad · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:07

Will you be needing an operating system with all 3 machines syke?

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:09

stickroad said:
Will you be needing an operating system with all 3 machines syke?

Err, the HTPC - will probably be Media Centre.

The others, if it fits in budget, why not?

No worries if not, not all that bothered with Vista just yet.

Not sure what to do about one of the machines atm..the scenario: Keep one PC downstairs (+ HTPC), so this will be a good spec for upto £1000. Or the base unit (mentioned) or a cheaper system for light gaming.

Either way, just them specs for now.

semi-pro waster · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:10

The £800 specification or near enough but if the budget is important you could pick a cheaper case and better cooling for the CPU. The full system wouldn't be too different, I'd just add a decent 22" monitor for ~£200.

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £159.99
(£187.99) £159.99
(£187.99)
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD3200AAKS) £43.99
(£51.69) £43.99
(£51.69)
Logitech G11 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail (967929-0120) £33.99
(£39.94) £33.99
(£39.94)
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2900 Pro SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21119-00-40R) £149.99
(£176.24) £149.99
(£176.24)
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
Sub Total : £674.90
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 is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £120.37
Total : £808.22

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:15

^ Thats a great spec. Would you say the 2900 could handle COD4, Crysis etc?

Another idea is to make the full PC for ~£800-850, as this will be used for light gaming & general use and the Base a bit more.

Actually saying that, how about we go into this range for ideas:

HTPC: Upto £700 - this will go into a 42-50" Plasma - movies & the main PC (500GB+)
Base: £950

And on top, possibly a small system for just storage - perhaps a large External HDD?

Reason is, we're trying to minimalize space, and the base will be upstairs, the HTPC in the Living Room.

Either spec can now go just over if needed.

Sorry for that, just talked it through & he said just two systems, possibly a third later on at some point.

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:21

Heres a spec ive just come up with for the base, what do you think?

Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Logitech G11 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail

Total: £946.87inc.

Is the 8800GTX needed do you think? Same with the Q6600.

stickroad · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:24

Sorry syke, slightly confused now, how many systems do you now need?

HTPC with a budget of £400-600.

Now how many more and what must these include?

semi-pro waster · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:24

The 2900pro should do, it is a relatively minor overclock to get it to 2900XT speeds and there aren't too many cards out there faster than that so it has about as good a chance as any of playing Crysis.

Something like this might do for the HTPC.

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD ATI Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Lian-Li PC-V300 Aluminum Micro ATX Mini Tower Case - Silver £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK) £36.99
(£43.46) £36.99
(£43.46)
NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM £15.99
(£18.79) £15.99
(£18.79)
Sub Total : £399.92
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 : £71.90
Total : £482.77

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:27

stickroad said:
Sorry syke, slightly confused now, how many systems do you now need?

HTPC with a budget of £400-600.

Now how many more and what must these include?

Hehe, yeah sorry.

Two specs:

Upto £950 Base Unit + G11 + Mouse
Upto £550/600 HTPC Unit - will get Wireless/Keyboard Mouse (know nothing about them).

The Base must be for gaming/image processing - so preferably a powerful graphics card.

The HTPC must have a large HDD, power to stream/record (maybe) and to be used as the main PC (bar laptops/base system).

On top of that, need to get a good router & other networking things, as our one is very weak upstairs.

stickroad · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:33

HTPC System:

Right, here's your HTPC system. Vista Home Premium will be fantastic for a HTPC system, since it contains Media Center and Vista's design in general is very good.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB DDR2 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black)
Antec Fusion Black HTPC Case - 430HE Watt PSU

Total : £508.62

Base Unit:

Right the system below will be very fast and should play all the latest games very well.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

Total : £924.56

With both specs, just add your keyboard and mouse on top since they are really personal preference.

syke · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:35

Great specs. They keyboard will be G11 for Base, and the Mouse is just a microsoft one. The HTPC, not sure yet.

Teaf · 6 Oct 2007 at 15:51

Spec'd something for the HTPC. Didn't know exactly what you wanted so included everything, tv tuner / sound card / wireless kb + mouse... whole bang. Also included Vista Home Premium (32bit - get the 64bit if you wanted instead as it's the same price) as it comes with Windows Media Center which is perfect for home entertainment. The TV tuner is phenominal, but if you don't need it them drop that. Same for the sound card, it's a great card for the price and excellent for that better sound but if you don't need it then drop. Likewise for the keyboard and mouse.

If you dropped the TV tuner, mouse, keyboard and sound card as you may not need them then it'll be about £480 for this spec, which I think it seriously good value for money. Quick note on the sound card also - I've spec'd in the PCI-E 1x version but due to the TV card also being PCI-E 1x you'll NEED to change the sound card for the PCI version which is near enough the same price if you wanted both. If you didn't want both and say you didn't want the TV card then I guess you can leave the sound card as PCI-E 1x. Small note on the board also, it's PCI-E 1x lane is quite close to the 16x lane and might give issues with the cooler on the 2400 XT.