Cheap PC for brother

Orcvader · 9 Aug 2012 at 16:37

Couple of months ago, the motherboard on my brother's PC died, so he's been using the parent's PC for a while to do his work. Now his exams are done, he wants a new PC.

He already has a monitor, keyboard + mouse, GPU, PSU and HDD, he just needs everything else. How's this? Anyway to make it cheaper? He wants the CPU cooler as he wants it as quiet as possible, and he really likes the BitFenix case.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £44.99
1 x ASRock H61M-GS Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro Motherboard £38.99
1 x Intel Celeron G540 2.50GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £33.59
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP2G3D1339DS1S00CEU) £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Akasa AK-CC4009EP01 Venom Pico Compact CPU Cooler (Intel LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/AM2/AM2+/AM3/FM1) £16.99
Total : £270.62 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Gav_881 · 9 Aug 2012 at 20:05

I think the only way your going to get cheaper is to go for B grade bits, as for the cooler you could go silent its an extra £10 but its one less fan.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone SST-NT06-E CPU-Cooler £28.99
Total : £34.97 (includes shipping : £4.98).

RJC · 9 Aug 2012 at 20:07

I dont think there is any more you can do to make it cheaper.

muon · 9 Aug 2012 at 20:23

Keep it as upgradeable as possible is my advice. Especially if they are old enough to be interested in PCs.

So leave room for upgrading CPU and/or dropping in a GPU later.

Bacon? · 9 Aug 2012 at 20:27

I would get at least a G840 to be honest, anything lower would be a little slow in my opinion.

Mason- · 9 Aug 2012 at 21:51

Does he really need an optical drive? That's 20 quid extra for the CPU.

TNGL · 9 Aug 2012 at 21:57

You could get more bang for your buck with second hand components, surely?

Orcvader · 9 Aug 2012 at 21:59

He mainly watches Youtube with the PC. He only plays old games, hence why he needs the optical (old PC uses IDE). All his heavy gaming is done on the PS3.

So really the heaviest game he'll be playing is Dawn of War II, which ran perfectly fine on the old Core 2 Duo @ 2.4ghz. It had a 5770 which was handed down from me which he'll be reusing.

MADMAN · 9 Aug 2012 at 22:07

check members market I hear theres sometimes good deals on there, no doubt many people selling 2nd hand parts on there.

ChilledLJ · 9 Aug 2012 at 22:33

don't need the cooler for that anyway i have a computer that I mainly use for Starcraft 2 which is almost same spec Celeron G530 and HD5750 and it does just fine at 1080p decent settings. Maybe you cut cut out Windows 7 and use Windows 8 Release Preview instead then upgrade to full for $40 when the time comes

Number_25 · 9 Aug 2012 at 22:38

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £45.59
1 x ASRock H61M-GS Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro Motherboard £38.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP2G3D1339DS1S00CEU) £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939/AM2/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £15.98
Total : £187.03 (includes shipping : £11.25).

Download Windows 8 Consumers Preview and then purchase it when it comes out.

Orcvader · 10 Aug 2012 at 00:07

That's a good point... I can claim a free copy of Windows 8 since I'm a student

. Thanks everyone, I'll have a poke on the members market as well.