Advice for building a cost-effective PC

mrblack71

mrblack71

mrblack71

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1 Jun 2007
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13
Hi,

Could you please help me with choosing a configuration build for a PC around the 400 GBP mark?

I was thinking about the E4300 or the E6420 processor, what's best?

I mostly need it for running applications and not for gaming, but need HDMI and DVI output on the VGA.

Thanks
Al
 
A few questions:

* Will you be looking to overclock that?
* And what sort of applications?
* What's the HDMI and DVI needed for?
 
A few questions:

* Will you be looking to overclock that?

Yes, if it's convenient to do and doesn't involve any risk.

* And what sort of applications?

Oracle 10g, everyday apps like Office and Iexplorer.

* What's the HDMI and DVI needed for

For connecting it to a plasma screen and to my LCD monitor, in order to play movies sometimes and some gaming, so a cost-effective 3D graphic card will do.
 
^ hp7909 has a very nice one there - similar to what I was looking at. I was thinking Oracle might benefit from the extra cache on the E6320, but you'll be hard pressed to fit in the £400 budget then. Not sure how much difference it would make anyway.
 
Last req...

Sorry, I forgot another requirement, I'd like to have a Small form factor case, like the Mini box ones or the Media ones as I don't have much room on my desk.

In this case I should consider 50 pound extra.

Could you please advice a configuration using the Antec NSK1300 ATX Cube Case - 300W PSU?

Thanks
Al
 
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I think you'll have a fairly tough time getting a decent SFF system with that budget. Not only do you pay a price premium for the SFF cases\mobos, they also aren't generally as good for cooling and so your overclocking potential is reduced. Don't get me wrong, I spent the last 2 years with a Shuttle Reflexion and loved it, but I paid a lot more than my current case and it wasn't as good for overclocking or expansion.
 
but I heard that the new chip E4300 is much more energy efficient and doesn't need great requirements to be overclocked, is that true?

if I take the budget to 500, do you reckon I can build a decent one?

How much the overclocking potential would be reduced?

Al
 
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mrblack71 said:
but I heard that the new chip E4300 is much more energy efficient and doesn't need great requirements to be overclocked, is that true?
Click to expand...

Yeah - you should still be able to OC it. They are very easy to overclock.

How much the overclocking potential would be reduced?
Click to expand...

Really depend on the case I think, and how much airflow you can get through it. Another consideration here is that the SFF cases usually have smaller fans so you may be looking at a bit more noise.


Might be worth looking at something like this: Take the spec hp7909 put up there and remove the mobo and case. That'll save you £140. Then see if you can find somewhere to get a Shuttle SD32G5 - they're around £220 but unfortunately OcUK don't sell them. I've seen people getting overclocks of 3.0GHz with an E6600 in them. Don't worry too much about the 250W power supply - the SilentX power supplies are beasts.


EDIT: Ah, actually they do sell the shuttles. Good god, I must be blind. They don't have the SD32D5, but the SD32D2 is quite similar:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-075-SH


also, the SD37P2 looks interesting, now sure about the size though, and it's getting up there on the price:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-073-SH
 
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I was thinking at something cheaper like the following:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-059-AN

but what can I fit in there?

Do you think that the followint configuration is ok?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Belkin F5D7000UK 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter £15.99
(£18.79) £15.99
(£18.79)
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
OcUK GeForce 8500 GT 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £58.99
(£69.31) £58.99
(£69.31)
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT12864AA667) £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Antec NSK1300 ATX Cube Case - 300W PSU £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £66.99
(£78.71) £66.99
(£78.71)
Sub Total : £334.92
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 : £60.35
Total : £405.22
 
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Don't know too much about that one. You'd need to find a microATX mobo for it. The Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD looks like it would fit the bill, though again I don't know too much about it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-125-AB&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326


I like Shuttle cause I did a fair bit of research on them when I bought mine, and owning it was a real pleasure. The mobo that comes with them is usually pretty good, their PSUs are awesome, and they put a lot of thought into getting their cooling, layout, etc just right for SFF.

EDIT: Oops, sat with the reply in my browser for a bit long. That spec looks good. I'd do a bit of research on that case and mobo though - see what you can find.
 
what difference can make a 667 and 800 Mhz RAM on sys performance?

Thanks for your configurations HP79, although I believe that the case you chose is a bit expensive, don't you reckon?

Also I think it's only got 2 banks of memory...

AL
 
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