Budget PC - Please Check

Spooter · 2 Aug 2007 at 08:12

Hi all,

Could you check my new PC build or recommend what the best build is for my money. I am on a really tight budget of around 350 pound and require a TFT monitor in the build. I dont play many games maybe counterstrike now and then or some Fear not worried about playing at the highest settings.

Abit IP-95 Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£35.24

Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail
£51.69

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300C4 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC)
£27.01

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO SILENT 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (11109-01-10R)
£35.24

Maxtor Diamondmax 20 80GB STM380211AS SATA-II 2MB Cache - OEM
£25.84

Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU
£46.99

OcUK Value AH191DPB 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
£98.69

NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£17.61

Total £337

Then I need a operationing system so would either wait a month and get Vista Premium or install Ubuntu (Would this run ok on there?)

Let me know your idea's, It will be interesting.

Regards
Spooter

z0mbi3 · 2 Aug 2007 at 08:16

Spec seems good. I'd highly recommend (k)ubuntu although I'm not sure what driver support for that graphics card is like.

Asuming you get 3d acceleration working (very easy if the drivers are in the repository) then CSS will work a treat under Wine. Doubt you'll get much joy with Fear though.

With any Linux ditribution there's a learning curve, you just have to stick at it until it becomes second nature.

edit:

If you do go Vista eventually you'll wish you had a bigger HDD. I'd go for 120-160 gig for the small difference it will make.

mattyrigby00 · 2 Aug 2007 at 11:06

for less than 7 quid more you can get this drive:
Samsung SpinPoint T HD160HJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
4x asmuch cache, 2x asmuch space and a better brand, id say its well worth it, especially if you decide to dual boot windows and linux.

<F0rb> · 2 Aug 2007 at 11:16

Are you overclocking ?

You may get better VFM with AMD with a budget like this.

Spooter · 2 Aug 2007 at 13:01

Hi,

Thanks for your replies I will take note of the disk change and good to know css works under Ubuntu as thats probably the only game I will play. If I decide on ubuntu which is most likely I would probably change the ATI card for a similar price Nvidia card.

I wont be doing any overclocking but happy to see and AMD suggestions for this price range that would possibly be a better performance system.

Cheers
Spooter