cheap system for uni work - under £400

Scythe

Scythe

Scythe

Soldato
Joined
23 Jun 2005
Posts
5,455
Hi, my girlfriend's after a new computer for uni, just basic office tasks.

Budget is under £400, maybe £500.

I've specc'ed a i3, H61 motherboard with integrated graphics (I want her to have USB3 so the computer will support devices in the future), 500GB HD, 8GB RAM for around £300 or so.

Any ideas on a better spec? I don't know what AMD is like at the minute. Just the system please!
 
I'm not the best at suggesting a PC, but nobody else has replied, so I might as well. You will want to get a second opinion though.

Not sure about PSU and you may not need dedicated graphics, so you can save yourself a few quid. I doubt your girlfriend will be overclocking?

screenshot20110923at172.png
 
 
R088ieS86 said:
I can't see her ever needing 8GB of RAM unless she is an adobe genius?

I was thinking keep it small, and went for exactly what your first thoughts were:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £94.99
1 x Lian Li PC-Q11B Aluminium Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black £81.98
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 ATX '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £35.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £30.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £26.99
1 x LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £353.92 (includes shipping : FREE).

Click to expand...

That's a good configuration, and because it's under your price range, your girlfriend could always have blu-ray.
 
I'd get a more conventional case really. Plenty of good small cases, from Lian Li and Silverstone. Or just a regular cheapo one.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £94.99
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - OEM £85.99
1 x Silverstone Temjin TJ08B Midi Tower Case - Black £74.99
1 x MSI H61M-E33 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £46.99
1 x Lepa W-Series 500W '80 Plus' Power Supply £46.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £30.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £26.99
1 x LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £440.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).




Selection of small-ish cases that dont look like a complete eye sore. I think she'll appreciate a compact system. the 460 is completely optional, but I'd try to get a good PSU, and if a GPU, a powerful enough PSU.

1 x Silverstone Temjin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case - Black £89.99
1 x Lian Li PC-A05FNB Aluminium Midi Tower Case - Black £79.99
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case £79.99
1 x Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £46.99

 
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I actually like shootersams idea. Although if you've never built a rig before I wouldnt suggest starting on the mini-itx form factor. I've used it for car pcs and the space you have to work with is limited to say the least ;)

i3 (2100) is the way forward. H61 isnt usb3 I dont think and i'd use the IGP rather than add a GPU she can have blu-ray instead and wont notice the difference in GPU power.

Zalman Z9 is a good budget case £45ish is it? Plenty of 120mm fans, digital temp display and 2 fan controllers. If you prefer olivers form factor that is.

Have you considered a tv card? If she isn't studying from home that would be useful. No need to take a tv and a pc then. Plus she can record her shows, pause tv etc like sky plus. Would make sense to get a good sized drive if this appeals obviously the more space the more she can record ;)
 
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Yeah I built myself an i5 system the other week to replace my mac mini. She wanted a mac mini and the plan was to let her use mine, except it has just apparently died. After seeing the cost of mac mini's, she's edging back to a pc for VFM.

The mini itx doesn't bother me, but I haven't built one (a mini) myself. I noticed many of the H61 boards don't have USB3, which I'd like it to have as it's gonna last her a long time. I then realised I'm gonna need a VGA output, some H61's don't have one! Also a PCIe x1 port for a wireless card.

There's only one board which matches, the £80 gigabyte. I've ordered it but just noticed that it's out of stock!
 
Scythe said:
Yeah I built myself an i5 system the other week to replace my mac mini. She wanted a mac mini and the plan was to let her use mine, except it has just apparently died. After seeing the cost of mac mini's, she's edging back to a pc for VFM.

The mini itx doesn't bother me, but I haven't built one (a mini) myself. I noticed many of the H61 boards don't have USB3, which I'd like it to have as it's gonna last her a long time. I then realised I'm gonna need a VGA output, some H61's don't have one! Also a PCIe x1 port for a wireless card.

There's only one board which matches, the £80 gigabyte. I've ordered it but just noticed that it's out of stock!
Click to expand...

erm... the £65 MSI H67MA-E35 has everything you need: USB3, SATA 6GB/s, VGA output, PCIe x1, PCI

its the budget sandybridge motherboard of chice on these forums too :)

shouldnt be too late to change from the gigabyte one if your quick
 
Reaper 392 said:
erm... the £65 MSI H67MA-E35 has everything you need: USB3, SATA 6GB/s, VGA output, PCIe x1, PCI

its the budget sandybridge motherboard of chice on these forums too :)

shouldnt be too late to change from the gigabyte one if your quick
Click to expand...

But H67 doesn't support onboard graphics? She won't be using anything graphics intensive, or overclocking. Just the basics and I don't want to put anything more than is needed in the system, keeping it simple.
 
No problem, well since i was bored i did a little speccing.
i went for a budget case though unlike the ones that have been suggested.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £149.99
1 x MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £64.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 ATX '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £35.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £30.98
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664BA1339) £24.98
Total : £410.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).



i5 2400 with a blu-ray player, should come just below £400 with your free delivery.
 
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