First time build - New i5 Media PC

meathman 007

meathman 007

meathman 007

Associate
Joined
11 Jun 2007
Posts
128
Hi, hoping to get some advice. I am putting this PC together for my parents and have managed to get a budget of about £450. I already have a copy of Windows 7 64 bit home premium, a DVD RW drive, monitor and speakers so none of that will be needed. I also have an external 500gb hard drive which will be used to hold all the music files etc for playback.

Spec I put together:

OCUK_basket.png


They would be using the PC for media playback (including HD), web browsing and general Windows work - No gaming would be done. With that in mind, I did not think there would be a need for a dedicated graphics card and the Intel 4000 on board the i5 would be sufficient?

Some of the components there are fairly high end and might seem unnecessary given what they would be used for; however, I would like to build this to give them years of use and don't mind spending a little extra now to get a quality system - Ideally there would be very little upgrades needed for the PC for the next few years, apart from possibly Windows 8 and maybe a dedicated graphics card.

Apart from advice about the general spec, is there anything else I would need to complete the build that is not in my basket - e.g Thermal paste, extra fans etc?

Any advice would be appreciated...
 
Question for mods - Considering I have been a member for over a year and now have over 100 posts on the forum, would it be possible to get discounted delivery to either the Republic Of Ireland or Northern Ireland. (it says free delivery to mainland UK, so I doubt that applies to me...)
 
 
Idleman said:
Got to learn to read better.:D

In that case would this not be more ideal and cheaper.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £89.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £86.39
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Cooler Master Silencio 450 Midi Tower Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £34.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
1 x MSI HD 5450 1024MB GDDR5 Low Profile PCI-Express Graphics Card £19.99
Total : £402.92 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Click to expand...

From personal experience (my own PC), I have found the combination of the 64gb M4, 8gb of ram, external hard drive and Windows 7 64 bit to be ideal. That case looks decent though...

I also think the i5 with onboard Intel 4000 graphics would be a better way to go?
 
The Deuce said:
amd Llano would be better for your needs, i5 is overkill imho
Click to expand...

I looked into the Llano, but I am pretty sure that AMD are releasing significant upgrades to that line in a few months time and I decided it would be best not to buy A CPU/GPU that is just about to be replaced by something a lot better...

As for the i5, the CPU is certainly overkill. I went for it because it includes the Intel 4000 GPU which the lower models in the line do not have - That would mean I do not to buy a dedicated graphics card for the system...
 
Last edited:
meathman 007 said:
They would be using the PC for media playback (including HD), web browsing and general Windows work - No gaming would be done. With that in mind, I did not think there would be a need for a dedicated graphics card and the Intel 4000 on board the i5 would be sufficient?

Some of the components there are fairly high end and might seem unnecessary given what they would be used for; however, I would like to build this to give them years of use and don't mind spending a little extra now to get a quality system - Ideally there would be very little upgrades needed for the PC for the next few years, apart from possibly Windows 8 and maybe a dedicated graphics card.

Apart from advice about the general spec, is there anything else I would need to complete the build that is not in my basket - e.g Thermal paste, extra fans etc?

Any advice would be appreciated...
Click to expand...

meathman 007 said:
I looked into the Llano, but I am pretty sure that AMD are releasing significant upgrades to that line in a few months time and I decided it would be best not to buy A CPU/GPU that is just about to be replaced by something a lot better...

As for the i5, the CPU is certainly overkill. I went for it because it includes the Intel 4000 GPU which the lower models in the line do not have - That would mean I do not to buy a dedicated graphics card for the system...
Click to expand...

After reading your OP and subsequent posts I still think the money would be better spent on the Llano system, this would still be a capable system in years to come and No need for a dedicated GPU, but all the same it's your money and the i5 will be an excellent system. :D
 
The Deuce said:
After reading your OP and subsequent posts I still think the money would be better spent on the Llano system, this would still be a capable system in years to come and No need for a dedicated GPU, but all the same it's your money and the i5 will be an excellent system. :D
Click to expand...

I will definitely keep it in mind, thanks.
 
A k series cpu and ssd for media playback is absurd, a bottom end cpu with integrated graphics is all that's needed.
 
Last edited:
Energize said:
A k series cpu and ssd for media playback is absurd, a bottom end cpu with integrated graphics is all that's needed.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, but given the budget I have, I am trying to put the best possible system together...

I am getting the SSD for general PC performances, fast boot times etc. That is a must-have on any new PC imo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom