Critique my spec.

sideBP

sideBP

sideBP

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Joined
26 Sep 2005
Posts
31
Hi,

I am looking to purchase a new custom PC, and think I have settled on the spec. below, can someone critique it as it's been a while since I've bought new hardware!

* Will be used mainly for Visual Studio 2010 development (+ local SQL server), maybe the odd older game (FSX) but this is not a big concern.
* No need for monitors, keyboard or mouse.
* Main concern is speed under Win 7 and it being relatively quiet

  • INTEL CORE I5 2500k - 3.30GHz - 6MB
  • XIGMATEK SCORPION HDT-S1283 COOLER
  • 4GB Corsair Memory DDR3 1600 (2 x 2GB)
  • 1000GB SATA Hard Drive
  • ASUS P8P67 LE REV3, P67(B3) - 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB, DDR3 1866(O.C.) - SATA6
  • ATI HD 5450 1024MB PCI Express DDR DVI
  • 2206 Black Midi Case with 500W PSU
  • DVD+/- RW - 20X Samsung Lightscribe
  • Integrated Sound Card


Total £498.44

I am toying with sticking in a 60Gb SSD for the primary HDD but not sure if its worth the additional £101. I've also considered the AMD Phenom II 1100T Black Edition which is slightly cheaper but is reputably a little slower.

Many thanks
 
Thanks for the replies.

I think I've decided to make the following changes:

  • Stick with the onboard gfx and then get a decent card at a later date (I mainly need it for development initially anyway), the only thing I'll miss is dual monitor support.
  • Put in a 60Gb SSD as primary (colleagues report that this really helps when working with lots of files in a VS solution).
  • Put in a better PSU (like the one suggested)

Cheers
 
Ok, so I was planning on buying a pre-built custom spec PC but have been bitten by the self build bug so have changed my spec a bit (combining the feedback thus far):

  • Radon Torosaur" Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Overclocked Bundle - Gigabyte (£390.78)
  • Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) (£62.99)
  • Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) [CMX8GX3M2A1600C9] (£59.99)
  • OCZ Agility Series 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT60G) (£71.99)
  • LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM [GH22NS50] (£16.99)
  • Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black [RC-335] (£26.99)
  • OcUK Crusade 650W Dual-Rail High Efficiency Power Supply (£44.99)

Total: £614.73

This would give me 12Gb RAM (bit excessive perhaps!), 2Gb storage, a 4.4Ghz CPU (save me the bother of O/C) and a 60Gb SSD.

Any comments? My only concern is that apparently increasing the RAM requires a BIOS upgrade and therefore I will lose the overclocking; I guess this can be setup again but this may defeat paying extra for a pre-overclocked system?

Thanks again.
 
That i7 bundle is tempting but then with a better quality PSU and case I'm going to blow my budget pretty quickly.

I'll take your advice and hang on to see what bundles come out on the new board.

Cheers
 
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