Advice on a £800.00 system

[conanbob]

Advice needed on a £800.00 system

I'm not altogether savvy with regards to new computer hardware but I,m told that building your own will get you more power for your money.

My budget is £800.00 (wife imposed) and is to include monitor and operating system.

Usage will be general with some multi media functions such as music and photo editing aswell as some FPS gaming (although not extreme).

Any advice is welcome.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums. Here you go, just in under the budget so you can buy your wife a dozen roses for Valentines day to say thanks. I think I've included everything and you should be able to overclock it as well.

Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £95.99
(£112.79) £95.99
(£112.79)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £18.99
(£22.31) £18.99
(£22.31)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £124.99
(£146.86) £124.99
(£146.86)
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99
(£117.49)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £35.99
(£42.29) £35.99
(£42.29)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW191D 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99
(£117.49)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Sub Total : £656.90
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 : £117.22
Total : £787.07

 

[masslac]

Oops, I forgot the OS. Downgrade the RAM to the same 1GB kit, then buy Vista Home Premuim.

 

[conanbob]

Thanks will this run XP media centre?

I'm not too sure of the 'overclocking' term!!!

 

[masslac]

Yes, it will, but Vista is better for not much more money. See above.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Thanks will this run XP media centre?

I'm not too sure of the 'overclocking' term!!!

Either specification would run Media Centre if you wanted or Vista, I chose not to put in Vista as it is pretty new but there is space in the budget and it is supposedly quite stable and pretty.

Overclocking is pretty easy nowadays, it has come a long way from a 'black art' practiced by only a few, there are multiple guides littered about the forums that you can look to if you need help or just ask.

 

[masslac]

Waster, are you sure the PSU you listed will be OK? I've never been able to find much info about them (IE - Amps @ 12V). i realise the 1950 PRO isn't a hungry card, but still...

 

[semi-pro waster]

Waster, are you sure the PSU you listed will be OK? I've never been able to find much info about them (IE - Amps @ 12V). i realise the 1950 PRO isn't a hungry card, but still...

The PSU seems to be one of the Smartpower range although oddly they don't list a 380w version separately, I've therefore taken a look at the 350w and it seems to have 2x12v lines of 10A and 15A so you can assume around 20-21A total which will be absolutely fine. I know of people running 7900GTs with the same PSU and case so I've no reason to doubt that the X1950pro would be equally ok.

 

[masslac]

Sweet, thanks. I still love those lian li cases, though.

 

[melbourne720]

I'd go for semi-pro waster's spec, he knows his stuff and 2GB of RAM is a must. Lian Li case is nice though...

 

[conanbob]

What benefits are there with this spec as opposed to a generic system of the £800.00 region?

The more magazine and web articles i read the more confused i become!!!!!!!!

 

[mattpj]

I would have specced you up like semi pro waster.
Pretty scary.. +1 to wasters spec

Good job sir

 

[hp7909]

semi-pro's spec gets my vote too

The Antec NSK4400's PSU is pretty decent. Got 28A/336W on the +12V Rail & its split, i.e. +12V1 & +12V2

 

[conanbob]

Ok I'll probably go for wasters spec but I'd still like to know if it compares favourably against an 800 quid retail machine.

 

[[TR]SweetSpotOz]

.

 

[syke]

How about this?

Left money for OS of your choice and any other changes:

Arctic Cooling T1 Pro Case
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW191D 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver
Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI
Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail

Total : £710.71 inc shipping.

 

[melbourne720]

The £800 retail one will have, depending on brand:

A crap PSU;
Some crap RAM;
A fairly generic motherboard;
You won't be able to "service" it yourself;
Other non-favourable features, which I could list.

Agreed, plus an X300 for good measure (A very naff graphics card, probably with the word 'turbo' in it somewhere).

 

[conanbob]

Forgive my ignorance but does the Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard have on board sound? and how many USB ports are supported?

 

[jbloggs]

What benefits are there with this spec as opposed to a generic system of the £800.00 region?

A "generic" system will have inferior quality hardware installed in it, as opposed to either of the 2 specs listed above.

I think markyp23 sums it up quite well.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Forgive my ignorance but does the Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard have on board sound? and how many USB ports are supported?

It has onboard sound (6 channel) and up to 8 USB 2 ports, some will be backpanel (probably 4) and the remainder might be in the form of a backplate adapter and some for front panel if the case supports it. Full specification here.