Check my SFF spec please

WantoN

WantoN

WantoN

Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2003
Posts
10,795
Location
Hampshire
Hey fellas,
The little woman is after a new pc, and apparently she fancies the idea of a shuttle-esque rig. She's not mad on gaming but will be playing them now and again, incredible performance for games isn't what she's after. She'll be doing a lot of browsing, office work, and general desktop stuff, so I thought a pentium would probably be the better option. She LOVES her music, so she'll want a decent set of speakers would be dandy indeed. She'll also need a keyboard and mouse, and a tft monitor (19" if possible). She'll also be watching DVDs, though not writing them.

The absolute budget maximum she's set is £1000, but £750 or less would be superb.

I've specced the following rig, but to be honest I'm not too hot on current budget stuff at the minute. I'd really like to shave quite a bit off cash off if I can, and of course, I'm sure I've picked completely the wrong components :D

Shuttle XPC SD31P Aluminium Barebones System - Intel P4 £269.95
Intel Celeron D 355 3.33GHz (LGA775) - Retail £49.95
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 £49.95
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £50.95
Samsung SH-D162 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £10.95
Logitech Ultra-X Keyboard - OEM £14.95
Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Sea Grey - OEM £5.50
Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black £154.95
Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers (White) - Retail £79.95
Asus GeForce EN6600-TOP-TD Silent 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £59.95

Subtotal : £747.05
VAT : £130.74
Total : £877.79

All advice welcome, cheers fellas!
Ant :cool:
 
Ram wont work in the shuttle, as its ddr, the SD31P needs ddr2. If you want to save money, then its probably cheaper going the Amd route.
 
Ant's ineptitude strikes again :D

Ok, I shall have a look and respec as needed, thanks bud :)

EDIT: Ok, new spec:

Shuttle XPC SK21G Aluminium Barebones System - AMD 64 £114.40
AMD Sempron 64 3400+ 2.0GHz - Retail £67.95
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 £49.95
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £50.95
Samsung SH-D162 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM £10.95
Logitech Ultra-X Keyboard - OEM £14.95
Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Sea Grey - OEM £5.50
Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black £154.95
Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers (White) - Retail £79.95
Sapphire X1600 Pro 512MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail £84.95

Subtotal - £634.50
VAT - £111.04
Total - £745.54

What do you fellas think then, any way I can shave off a little more cash? Am I speccing something completely ridiculous? :p

Ant :cool:
 
Last edited:
It is all compatible this time for a start :) I'd change the DVD drive for one that colour matches at least but I'd also make it into a DVDRW as it will only cost about £10 more but offers way more options, if your girlfriend likes music that much she might want to burn off her (legal) compilations(edit having re-read I'm talking about CDs which the DVD-ROM won't do).

The only real area where much money can be saved is in the speakers but maybe you/she are unwilling to compromise there. I always run my hifi through my PC as it gives a much better quality of sound I reckon and the cost of the wires to do it is less than £5. You might be able to find a decent secondhand graphics card in the Members Market as people upgrade to PCI-E.
 
How about:
  • Shuttle XPC SB83G5 Aluminium Barebones System - Intel P4 (LGA775) (FS-052-SH) £204.95
  • GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL) £49.95
  • XFX GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT73P-UDL3) (GX-080-XF) £74.95
  • Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 160GB 1600JS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-047-WD) £44.95
  • Intel Celeron D 355 3.33GHz (LGA775) - Retail (CP-120-IN) £49.95
  • NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-031-NE) £22.95
  • Logitech Cordless Optical Desktop Rechargeable Black/Silver - OEM (KB-058-LG) £24.95
  • Creative Inspire 5.1 P5800 Speakers - OEM (SP-043-CL) £34.95
  • Samsung SM-940BF 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-041-SA) £214.95
  • Subtotal £722.55
  • Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
  • VAT £129.07
  • Total £866.57

& whateva you decide on, please include some form of CD/DVD writer! Believe me it will be needed for backups to anything you can't think of now :D
 
semi-pro waster said:
I'd change the DVD drive for one that colour matches at least but I'd also make it into a DVDRW as it will only cost about £10 more but offers way more options, if your girlfriend likes music that much she might want to burn off her (legal) compilations(edit having re-read I'm talking about CDs which the DVD-ROM won't do).
Click to expand...

I shall have to teach her how to download legal music and how to burn, but yeah I see where you're coming from :) Oh, and the mis-matched bezel was from the previous spec, sorry ;)

semi-pro waster said:
The only real area where much money can be saved is in the speakers but maybe you/she are unwilling to compromise there. I always run my hifi through my PC as it gives a much better quality of sound I reckon and the cost of the wires to do it is less than £5.
Click to expand...

That's what I do bud, but she doesn't have a stereo, she's just moving into a new place and for the minute the PC will do her just fine as a means of playing music. I've heard very good things about the speakers I've chosen, and I should think she'd be happy spending a little extra to play her tunes.

semi-pro waster said:
You might be able to find a decent secondhand graphics card in the Members Market as people upgrade to PCI-E.
Click to expand...

Is the graphics card very pap then? Until I upgraded to my x1900 my last graphics card was a 9700pro ;)

Oh, and should I consider a seperate SoundCard for her, or should the onboard be fine?

Does anyone have opinions on the monitor selected?

EDIT: Oh, and hp, thanks for the spec mate, but I'm trying to cut costs at the minute ;) We'll see if she's willing to spend a little more...

Cheers,
Ant :cool:
 
WantoN said:
Is the graphics card very pap then? Until I upgraded to my x1900 my last graphics card was a 9700pro ;)

Oh, and should I consider a seperate SoundCard for her, or should the onboard be fine?
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't mean to give you the impression that the graphics card was hopeless, it isn't poor, it is a reasonable graphics card. You can probably get a secondhand 6800gt or X800Pro for about the same price though which are far better cards just as an idea.

Onboard is pretty good now, not quite on a par with a good separate soundcard but then you would be talking about getting on for maybe £70-100 extra for something most people won't be able to notice so I'd say onboard is perfectly fine.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Sorry I didn't mean to give you the impression that the graphics card was hopeless, it isn't poor, it is a reasonable graphics card. You can probably get a secondhand 6800gt or X800Pro for about the same price though which are far better cards just as an idea.

Onboard is pretty good now, not quite on a par with a good separate soundcard but then you would be talking about getting on for maybe £70-100 extra for something most people won't be able to notice so I'd say onboard is perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

Just the response I was looking for, cheers mate!

I'll throw the second-hand idea her way, but I doubt she'd bite, and as I say, she's not after high-performance gaming in the slightest :) Just for a comparison, is the graphics card I've specced better than say, a 9800pro?

Cheers,
Ant :cool:
 
It has better specifications but only 128bit memory bandwidth which limits it greatly, having just checked it out a bit more you may be as well going for the 9800pro almost which will save you a fair chunk of money. If definitely going new then a 6600gt as the same sort of price is better, it has 128mb Ram but will outperform the X1600pro.
 
I don't think the 9800pro's such a good option/idea. I mean its old (AGP + other old features) and the power consumption's not that good compared to some new graphics card. Besides, you'll most likely pick-up a second hand one which might be on its last lap :eek:

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, build her something that:
  • it will last a couple of years (ever tried convincing any 'lady' to upgrade after spending a fortune, even 6 months ago???)
  • she'll be happy with, especially in the looks department
  • make sure she doesn't end it soon*

* ignore that last one (at your own peril) :D
 
I'm going have a word with her in bit and see if she's willing to pony up a little more doh.

At the end of the day I want her to get something that'll run nice and nippy, that'll keep for a long time, if that means she has to spend a little more I'm sure I can bring her round.

Could you fellas offer some honest opinions on the rest of the rig? Is she going to get something far better if she spends a little more? Should I be going the pentium route? Should I be getting a higher-specced shuttle?

As a matter of interest, I have a 9700pro from my old rig, I could always whack that in there, and if she needs a newer graphics card, she can get one... Although, perhaps you fellas think I should sort her out a PCI-E rig instead?

Also, any opinions on the selected monitor? I selected it primarily because I absolutely love my SyncMaster 913n...

Cheers,
Ant :cool:
 
no reason to stick with old tech just cos you're on a buget, here is my spec

REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
FS-065-SH Shuttle XPC SN21G5 Aluminium Barebones System - AMD 64 (Socket 939) (FS-065-SH)
£184.90 £184.90
CP-118-AM AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM)
£83.95 £83.95
MY-005-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL)
£49.95 £49.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£41.95 £41.95
GX-080-XF XFX GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT73P-UDL3) (GX-080-XF)
£74.95 £74.95
CD-035-NE NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-035-NE)
£19.95 £19.95
MO-012-AC Acer AL1916WS 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-012-AC)
£154.95 £154.95
Subtotal £610.60
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £12.95
VAT £109.13
Total £732.68


I've gone for the AMD cos the 939s are the best chips around at the moment, graphic card should keep you going for a while, and a widescreen monitor cos its better for watching DVDs, in budget aswell :)

edit : oops forgot speakers, still not far from the budget
 
Last edited:
Ok I took a slightly different line, went for about the smallest ATX case ( which sadly doesn't appear on the OCUK shopping list yet :( ) in the form of a Lian Li V600. It's not shuttle sized but is small, little taller than a ATX motherboard ( about 4" smaller than your average tower ) and has the benefit of being able to put ATX components in. This allows me to spec the A8R-MVP which is the perfect Mobo for your Lady as she likes her music and the MVP's sound is SUPERB. Not sure what other small ATX cases there are.

MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-129-AS)
£59.95 £59.95
MY-005-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL)
£49.95 £49.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£41.95 £41.95
CD-033-NE NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-NE)
£24.95 £24.95
CA-007-TG Tagan TG430-U15 430W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-007-TG)
£46.95 £46.95
KB-015-SK Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard (KB-015-SK)
£24.95 £24.95
KB-047-LG Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Sea Grey - OEM (KB-047-LG)
£5.50 £5.50
SP-000-AE Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers (Black) - Retail (SP-000-AE)
£79.95 £79.95
GX-097-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-097-SP)
£79.95 £79.95
MO-043-SA Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-043-SA)
£154.95 £154.95
CP-117-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3000BPBOX) (CP-117-AM)
£65.95 £65.95
Subtotal £635.00
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
VAT £113.75
Sub Sub Total £763.70
Lian Li V600 about £90.
Total - £855
 
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