Budget Spec

simonmc7 · 29 Aug 2006 at 17:58

Hi guys, I am speccing and building a computer for my mate, who is on a budget of less than £500 (I'm looking at bringing my spec below this price point while maintaining conroe). He already has a (fairly pants) LCD TV which he can use as a monitor, but everything else is required. He basically just wants a computer which is faster than his laptop (not difficult) for general multimedia and student use (MS office), although he said the ability to play a few games would also be great. However I am quite sure that price is more important than eye candy in this case.

This was the system I was considering, although I am unsure about the graphics card, case and DVD writer. Anyone have a better solution?

CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£116.99 £116.99
MB-003-AK Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-003-AK)
£53.99 £53.99
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£59.95 £59.95
GX-025-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG)
£74.95 £74.95
HD-089-MD Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 300GB 6V300F0 SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-089-MD)
£56.95 £56.95
CD-033-NE NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-NE)
£22.95 £22.95
CA-004-AS Asus TA-210 Series Midi Tower (Black) - 360W PSU (CA-004-AS)
£32.00 £32.00
KB-065-LG Logitech UltraX™ Media Desktop - OEM (KB-065-LG)
£29.99 £29.99
NW-007-BE Belkin F5D7000UK 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter (NW-007-BE)
£16.95 £16.95

Subtotal £464.72
VAT £81.33
Total £546.05

Thanks, Simon

semi-pro waster · 29 Aug 2006 at 19:07

I'd change the hard drive, the Seagate 7200.10 range is faster plus if you are trying to hit a budget a 300gb hard drive is excessive. The motherboard isn't supposed to be much good for overclocking. I'm not too sure how good the Asus PSU is or if it is even ATX 2.0 compliant. You could also get a cheaper keyboard/mouse combination.

simonmc7 · 2 Sep 2006 at 15:00

OK, how does this spec sound? I have never used micro ATX before, and I understand its not great for upgradability etc., but for the price I think its ideal. The mobo review on anandtech is very good too.

Shopping Cart (Prices in British Pounds) REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£116.99 £116.99
MB-004-AK Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-004-AK)
£45.99 £45.99
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£64.99 £64.99
GX-026-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-026-BG)
£61.99 £61.99
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£42.95 £42.95
CD-033-NE NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-NE)
£22.95 £22.95
CA-059-AN Antec NSK1300 ATX Cube Case - 300W PSU (CA-059-AN)
£49.99 £49.99
KB-072-LG Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail (KB-072-LG)
£17.99 £17.99
SP-038-LG Logitech S200 2.1 Black/Silver Stereo Speakers - OEM (SP-038-LG)
£11.95 £11.95
Subtotal £435.79
VAT £76.27
Total £512.06

Opinions please?

Simon

leonzwl · 2 Sep 2006 at 15:08

300w psu is not going to work or at least not enough

for a new system, i'd prefer proper (1) motherboard (2) PSU

Ender · 2 Sep 2006 at 15:15

That motherboard is pretty good, as for the psu i cant say for sure, but generally antec truepower psu's are pretty good compared to most other 'inbuilt' cases psu's.

simonmc7 · 2 Sep 2006 at 15:22

If you actually check out the mobo, it is very impressive. This is a budget system dont forget. Antec produce very reliable PSUs, and I am fairly sure it will be able to handle the juice needed for 7600 and E6300.

semi-pro waster · 2 Sep 2006 at 16:33

The Antec will be fine, the included PSU is good and it is far from the most demanding system in the world. The graphics card isn't fantastic but should cope at lower detail settings at least

Tetras · 2 Sep 2006 at 16:37

Are you sure he couldn't manage without something there for a little while, cos the 7600 GT is only £20 more and he could say, use headphones instead of speakers, an old keyboard/mouse, an old DVD drive.. just till he has the cash

Does he really need a cube case too? Just seems a bit unnecessary to be stuck with that kinda size case if it isn't something he really wants. The Antec NSK4400 would be a good alternative for the same money.