Cheap Spec Challenge

[Ekim]

Hi,

Could people help my spec a pc for my mate, he has around £350 to spend at most.

Needs the computer for (in his words):

"maybe some music stuff, mixing and things"

"nothing big though, and not too video-orientated"

"sports stuff, mostly, I'm an EA Whore

Just needs a base unit, already has XP from his previous system so no need for operating system either.

Thanks for the help

 

[HicRic]

Difficult!

CP-117-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3000BPBOX) (CP-117-AM)
£49.95 £49.95
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA)
£25.95 £25.95
MB-134-AS Asus A8N-VM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-134-AS)
£41.95 £41.95
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£43.95 £43.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£21.95 £21.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£56.95 £56.95
GX-026-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-026-BG)
£62.95 £62.95
Subtotal £303.65
VAT £53.14
Total £356.79

To pre-empt any doubts, that 380w PSU is fine. OcUK sell a preoverclocked system with a power-hungry X1800XT and that has the same PSU. The graphics card isn't fantastic I'm afraid but hopefully it'll be okay for EA sports games. Not a very upgradable system as s939 is now End Of Life and the RAM would not be able to be used again as both Intel and AMD have moved on to DDR2. however I do believe it is a reasonably solid system and not bad for a tight budget.

The motherboard has built-in sound but I don't know if it's good enough quality/features/etc for your mate's music stuff.

 

[Tetras]

Best I can do for an AM2 alternative and with an option to upgrade sound card:

Shopping Cart (Prices in British Pounds)
MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£46.95
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU
£54.95
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1300 256MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-108-SP)
£38.95
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
£89.95
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
£49.95
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB ST3808110AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
£29.50
Liteon DRW-6S160P-05C 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£18.25
Subtotal £328.50
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £9.95
VAT £59.23
Total £397.68

£50 over budget and the graphics card really isn't great but least he would have a dual core, DDR2 memory (for foundation of something faster), a DVD-RW writer, space for adding new hard disks and a better sound card and hopefully power in reserve with the PSU and a suitable mobo for an upgrade to a better GPU and CPU later.

 

[Jonners]

REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST
GX-087-LT Leadtek GeForce 7300 GT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-087-LT) 1
£49.95 £49.95
HD-111-MD Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 17 160GB 6G160E0 SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-111-MD) 1
£36.50 £36.50
CA-004-AS Asus TA-210 Series Midi Tower (Black) - 360W PSU (CA-004-AS) 1
£32.00 £32.00
CP-164-AM AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM) 1
£54.95 £54.95
CD-076-SA Samsung SH-W163 16x16 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-076-SA) 1
£23.95 £23.95
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) 1
£49.95 £49.95
MB-071-MS MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-071-MS) 1
£46.95 £46.95
Subtotal £294.25
VAT £51.50
Total £345.75

More up to date equipment aswell.