Best Base Unit Spec for £300?

Mikesoft

Mikesoft

Mikesoft

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Joined
12 Oct 2005
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Hi,
My friends needs a new computer since his recent one has died. He only uses the computer for work and internet browsing. Please could somebody spec a £300 or lower costing base unit?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Samsung SpinPoint P HD160HJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x512MB)
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7300 LE Turbo Cache 256MB DDR TV-Out/DVI
Asus M2V (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU

Total : £318.28

To make it cheaper, and perhaps get a better PSU, change the 3800 to a Standard Processor thats around £65.

I dont think ive missed anything.
 
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yuo missed ram. But I would have thought thats a bit of an overpowered system for a net browser. Lemme work up some other numbers. Also he could save money cause he already has a case
 
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oxygene said:
yuo missed ram. But I would have thought thats a bit of an overpowered system for a net browser. Lemme work up some other numbers
Click to expand...
Im sure i added RAM, must have deleted it by accident; adding the Gfx :(
 
damn. ocuk dont have any good cheep amd mobos in stock or cheep intel stuff lol. its all gone top price. I dont a recent pricelist for an intel celeron 2.53ghz system that only came to about £150 which would be perfect for browdsing and work.
 
Yeah it seems to be quite a challange to budget computer! Thanks Syk3 but that system does seem a bit overpowered for his uses. Are any of the base units alright to build off from ocuk?

Btw, my mate doesnt have a case. His previous computer was a company build one (hence it only lasted 3 years!).

Mike
 
Pre-built is often the way to go at the lower end of the market, custom building often only makes sense to those who want high end with specific requirements or enthusiasts who wouldn't consider pre-built. I've have a quick look around system builders as there isn't a profit margin built into each individual part in the same way as there has to be for a separate parts reseller. :)

//edit with that said this is a system that should work similar to one I specified the other day. Very basic but it would do the job.

Intel Celeron D 326 2.53GHz (LGA775) - Retail £27.99
(£32.89) £27.99
(£32.89)
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £25.99
(£30.54) £25.99
(£30.54)
Crucial 512MB (2x256MB) DDR2 PC2-4200C4 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT3264AA53E) £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Liteon DVD-8900 16x DVD±RW/RAM (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
Abit IP-95 Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Sub Total : £175.94
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 : £32.53
Total : £218.42
 
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What he could do is skimp on as much as possible and spend money on other things.

Keep from old PC:
Case, Drives (dvd/floppy), PSU (if it's ok for now?), IDE Hard Drive (you dont need sata)

Buy new:
Gigabyte GA_965P_S...
Intel Core 2 DUO E...
Corsair 1GB DDR2 X...
BFG 3DFuzion GeFor...
£308.98 inc VAT

It'd be a bit of a mixmatch of old and new hardware, but this setup would at least have the potential to be upgraded and last a few years IMO :) He could get into some proper PC gaming quite easily - all he'd need is a new PSU, Gfx Card and maybe more RAM. Even a CPU cooler if he decides he wants to overclock. So if he ends up with £300 to spend on a shiny new console, you might be able to persuade him that PC gaming is the way forward for the same price ;) :D

If you don't fancy that idea, then I think the best option is just to get a budget pre-built, like this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-037-OK
 
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Thanks guys for all the help! I also think the pre-built option is a good one. Ill input all of what has been said here so that he can make his mind up. I think he is quite keen on learning how to built a computer with me :P
 
Liteon DVD-8900 16x DVD±RW/RAM (Black) - OEM
(£17.61)
Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU
(£58.74)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM
(£63.44)
Asus M2V (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£46.99)
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC)
(£52.86)
MSI GeForce 6200 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£29.36)
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 NCQ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A32727)
(£30.54)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2)
(£16.44)

Vat : £48.80
Total : £327.67

Gone over, mainly because I'm foolish. Thinking about it, I don't know why I stuck an X2 3800 in there, as posted in a build above, the 3500 which comes with the retail cooler is probably a better choice.
 
Product Name Price Qty Line Total
Abit NFM2-nView nForce 6150 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.99 1 £59.99
Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x512MB) £44.99 1 £44.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM £53.99 1 £53.99
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £42.99 1 £42.99
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 1 £16.99
Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A32728) £32.99 1 £32.99
Akasa AK-862 Low Noise CPU Cooler (Socket 754 & 939) £7.50 1 £7.50

£259.44
£304.84 inc VAT


This is for a dualcore system i u wish you could save about £30 pounds buy using the cheaper Abit NF-M2S mother board but then you lose firewire 2 sata ports 2 ram slots and hardware mpeg2 decoding.
 
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