Challenge: Possible to build a system for ~ £200?

keymoo · 27 Aug 2012 at 21:20

Hi,

My 10yo son has my old work PC - it's an old Dell Optiplex with 2 GB RAM. It's really showing its age now and can't even run minecraft. I want to get him a system for his birthday and wondered if it was possible for £200? It doesn't need to play the latest games.

His screen res is 1280x1024. Already have: mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers. I just need a new base unit, so am looking for:

Case
mobo
CPU (prefer Intel)
4GB RAM
Graphics (possibly integrated)?
Cheap HD - we could recycle the HD from his old machine, but I need to check if it's SATA or not.

I was wondering if some kind of bare bones, integrated system was available at this price point? I mgiht be able to stretch to £250 if really needed.

RJC · 27 Aug 2012 at 21:34

Well, a bit over:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x Asus P8H61-MX Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - OEM ** £39.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £17.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x OcUK Value SATA-II 45cm Red Data Cable (NLRB-302LOCK) £2.59
Total : £261.60 (includes shipping : £11.75).

AMD

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A4-3400 2.70GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3400OJGXBOX) £46.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x MSI A75MA-P35 AMD A75 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £43.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x OcUK Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £17.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x OcUK Value SATA-II 45cm Red Data Cable (NLRB-302LOCK) £2.59
Total : £255.61 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Fire_fly · 27 Aug 2012 at 23:26

Closer to £200, but scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as new components go.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x Intel Celeron G540 2.50GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £39.95
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £36.98
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte H61M-S2PV Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £29
1 x OcUK Flamingo FM-12A Midi Tower Case - Black/Red £21.98
1 x OcUK Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £17.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
1 x Arctic F8 PWM Case Fan - 80mm £2.99
Total : £222.97 (includes shipping : £11.75).

passey89 · 28 Aug 2012 at 06:28

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A4-3400 2.70GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3400OJGXBOX) £46.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x Asus F1A55-M LK AMD A55 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard ** WINDOWS 8 READY ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £41.99
1 x OcUK Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £29.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38192M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £208.93 (includes shipping : FREE).

Doomedspeed · 28 Aug 2012 at 07:43

YOUR BASKET
1 x "Primo 510i" Intel H61 DDR3 Ready Barebones (Socket 1155) £60.38
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £44.99
1 x OcUK Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit £19.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £208.94 (includes shipping : £15.50).

keymoo · 8 Sep 2012 at 01:13

Sorry for late reply. Thanks for the build suggestions, appreciated. Will be putting one together towards the end of September.

Orcvader · 8 Sep 2012 at 01:23

AMD Trinity is coming soon. If your son wants to play Minecraft I would wait for that.

keymoo · 8 Sep 2012 at 02:20

Orcvader said:
AMD Trinity is coming soon. If your son wants to play Minecraft I would wait for that.

What is Trinity? Is it a GPU?

Orcvader · 8 Sep 2012 at 02:35

Trinity is AMD's next CPU/GPU hybrid, and it's a pretty good chip for low end gaming as the onboard GPU is near discrete level and much better than Intel's onboard. The first gen Llano does a pretty good job in HTPCs, they're the A4/6/8s on sale at the moment.