Getting a computer built, is the spec good enough?

kc_kyle

kc_kyle

kc_kyle

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I live in Germany, and found this website where you select all your components and they put it together for you. I've picked out what I see to be a sufficient spec for my budget, but am in need of some reassurance, as my computer knowledge is very limited. Basically, the computer would be used for general tasks such as internet, word processing, listening to music, as well as watching videos/films, downloading/streaming and playing games (e.g. Call of Duty, Football Manager 2011). I want to get a computer that will last for some time though, and therefore one that's able to support advances in computer technology and/or at least to be improved sufficiently to cater for them. Anyway, here's the spec translated into English from German:

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box, Socket AM3 128,39 €
Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H, AMD 880G, AM3 mATX 73,21 €
Processor cooler:
Scythe Samurai ZZ, suitable for all sockets 19,83 €
RAM:
4GB OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum AMD Edition 57,84 €
Casing:
3R Systems Design Casing R340 Black, mATX 22,01 €
Power Supply Unit:
Corsair TX650W 650 Watt 74,52 €
Card Reader:
Ultron Cardreader 75-in-1, intern, black 8,31 €
Graphics Processing Unit:
XFX RADEON HD 6850 775M 1GB DDR5 DP HDMI DUAL DVI PCI-E 163,89 €
Hard drive:
Seagate Barracuda LP 5900.12 1TB, 32MB, SATA II 51,35 €
DVD drive:
Samsung SH-223L Lightscribe Retail 27,26 €
Sound card:
Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio (bulk) - 30SB079200000 35,52 €
PCI:
Netgear Gigabit PCI-Adapter GA311-100pes 13,63 €
Monitor:
Samsung SyncMaster 2333T (PVA) 150,96 €
Operating System:
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version English 86,35 €

Apart from the general question, is this good enough, I have a few more specific queries: With the DVD drive, it says it's a DVD writer, but am I right in assuming it will play DVDs and PC games without problems? I've gone for an LCD monitor with LED backlight. I tried to find out what was better between LED and LCD and came to the conclusion that LED was the best, but there weren't any 'pure' LED monitors available. I imagine though with this set-up I'd perhaps be getting the best of both worlds? Finally, I'm not sure at all about the RAM I've chosen (in terms of model, not size) or the PCI, so any info on them would be very welcome.

Cheers.
 
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That sounds like a pretty good rig for what you need. I don't know enough about the exchange rate to know if it's good value though.

DVD burners play and burn CDs and DVDs so no problems there. Do you need the card reader?
 
I ordered from that company before, several times in fact. Shipping internationally they require payment up front which can be a negative for some people.

I was happy with them until my most recent purchase where the PC was damaged in-transit due to how they had installed/bound components in the case. I contacted them to explain the damage but I never received any acknowledgement from them despite repeated attempts via email. I also tried to contact them by phone but was never able to speak with anyone there during their advertised opening hours.

That last experience left a sour taste and I wouldn't order from them again. IF you want to chance it, go ahead, but I would encourage you to think about having them ship larger/heavier components separately and fitting them yourself.
 
I would lose the gigabit network card unless you have a specific reason for it.

Also lose the extreme audio card and use the motherboard built in sound. If you find you have an issue with sound quality, you can always buy one later, and that particular sound card is not very good to be honest.

You are right about the dvd drive.

The case is very cheap, I've not looked it up but you might want to consider something a bit better.

Card readers are generally a waste of time unless you really will use them.

Led monitors are still lcd screens, led just refers to the light which lights the screen up, led is generally considered a bit better than standard screens which are lit by fluorescent lights.
 
Well that comes to about 910 EUR, which is about 770 quid. I generally prefer to upload photos from my camera using the SD card, plus it can be used as a storage device, so 8 EUR is a worthwhile investment.

Given that I live in Germany, I hope that the delivery quality will be somewhat better. Plus I can pay for it by bank transfer, which is fine. I had originally gone for a different PSU until they said that they would have to deliver it separately due to the weight. I've not had any experience whatsoever with computer entrails and wouldn't feel confident adding the PSU manually.
 
mattyfez said:
I would lose the gigabit network card unless you have a specific reason for it.

Also lose the extreme audio card and use the motherboard built in sound. If you find you have an issue with sound quality, you can always buy one later, and that particular sound card is not very good to be honest.

You are right about the dvd drive.

The case is very cheap, I've not looked it up but you might want to consider something a bit better.

Card readers are generally a waste of time unless you really will use them.

Led monitors are still lcd screens, led just refers to the light which lights the screen up, led is generally considered a bit better than standard screens which are lit by fluorescent lights.
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I thought I wouldn't be able to receive wireless unless I had a PCI.
 
Pci is the name of the socket on the motherboard that you plug the card into.

A gigabit LAN card is still a card that takes a cable, what you need, if the motherboard does not already have it, is a wi-fi pci card.

Paying by bank transfer sounds very strange, especially as one of the guys above has had problems with this company - do they not take debit/credit cards?

Maybe ocuk would ship you a similar system, the whole bank transfer thing sounds very suspicious to me.
 
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Also, what is very strange, is the thing about the psu shipping separately, psu's all weigh similar, in terms of postal weight, even an extra kilo when buying a full system, is not going to affect postage costs to the point where they would ship it separately.

That's just weird. I would probably steer clear of this company, in light of all the above.
 
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mattyfez said:
Also, what is very strange, is the thing about the psu shipping separately, psu's all weigh similar, in terms of postal weight, even an extra kilo when buying a full system, is not going to affect postage costs to the point where they would ship it separately.

That's just weird. I would probably steer clear of this company, in light of all the above.
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The point isn't the weight in general, but the weight on it in built in the desktop. They say that it could damage other parts of the configuration when in transit. It's not delivered in a serparate shipment, just separate to the rest of the desktop.

As for the bank transfer thing, that's relatively common here in Germany, as we don't have 'debit cards' per say. I've bought concert tickets this way and therefore am not suspicious of it.
 
Okay so I've made the following changes:

Processor cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 - Pro PWM Rev.2
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower - black/orange
DVD-Burner: Samsung SH-223C bare black SATA
Monitor: LG E2240T 21,5"

Thoughts?
 
Well, a psu is usually screwed into a cradle, but I guess with a really cheap case, its just screwed to the rear of the case... you should look at a better case to be honest, the money you will save from not buying a sound card can be put toward a much better case.
 
mattyfez said:
Well, a psu is usually screwed into a cradle, but I guess with a really cheap case, its just screwed to the rear of the case... you should look at a better case to be honest, the money you will save from not buying a sound card can be put toward a much better case.
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So the Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower isn't good enough?
 
 
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stulid said:
Its a bit like tin foil, with the money saved from the sound card, you could get one of these - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-212-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29 or from wherever your buying from.

These two are much better,

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?agid=631&aid=38379&lid=1

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?agid=631&aid=28132&lid=1

Or these two are really good,

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?agid=631&aid=40666&lid=1

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28131&agid=631
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Maybe I'm being an idiot, but do these have USB/headphone ports on the front, because I can't see any...
 
kc_kyle said:
Maybe I'm being an idiot, but do these have USB/headphone ports on the front, because I can't see any...
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Coolermaster case - http://www.coolermaster.co.uk/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=6644

I/O Panel USB 2.0 x 2 , eSATA x 1 , MIC x 1 , Audio x 1 (supports HD / AC97 audio)
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Lancool - http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product...=14&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62&g=spec

USB2.0 x 2 / HD+AC97 Audio
Click to expand...

All the cases will have USB and headphone inputs etc etc.
 
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