Help selecting parts <£300

krugger

krugger

krugger

Associate
Joined
24 Feb 2004
Posts
114
Hi all,
I havent really got a clue whats what any more.
i need to re-build my PC i use my PS3 for gaming so it doesnt need to be any thing fancy.
My current PC is now slow and keeps freezing and giving me the blue screen.

I need most parts
CPU+ cooler
Mother board
Memory
PSU
Hard disk

Any help is much appriciated i'm thinking 250 -300 but open to suggestions.

I've got a licence for windows 7 on this computer which i'll bin once i've replaced it but its running windows 32bit is it posible to upgrade the licence to 64 bit or do i have to buy again?

Thanks
Chris
 
what will you be doing with the PC?

i see your not doing any gaming, but will this just be a web surfer, or will you be doing something else thats processor or graphically intensive, such as major photoshop work, video editing, and graphical design?
 
in that case the PC tibbsey has suggested will be more than enough. the on board graphics card will be plenty for your needs, so you wont want the additional graphics card
 
How's this?

Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 Zacate with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX)
(£108.32) £129.98

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)
(£66.66) £79.99

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333C9ELV4GK)
(£26.66) £31.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS)
(£23.32) £27.98

OCUK EZCool NA-705 Case - Black (500w PSU)
(£19.15) £22.98

Sub Total : £244.11
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £50.97
Total : £305.83

Much newer tech, will run cooler and more quietly. Also it barely even draws 100W - so very little 'leccy cost :)
 
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333C9ELV4GK) £31.99
(£26.66) £31.99
(£26.66)
Sub Total : £262.74
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £54.55
Total : £327.29

Here you go , it should give some great performance for the money .
 
Don't pay ocuk prices for windows if you look about you can easily find win7 64 bit for £45 infact I have seen ultimate cheaper then ocuk prices for premium.
 
Are windows 7 key codes the same for 32 bit and 64 bit?

i have a 64 bit disk for another computer and have a licence for this computer for 32bit which i will stop using. Can I install the 64 bit version and then use the 32bit key code??
 
krugger said:
Are windows 7 key codes the same for 32 bit and 64 bit?

i have a 64 bit disk for another computer and have a licence for this computer for 32bit which i will stop using. Can I install the 64 bit version and then use the 32bit key code??
Click to expand...

Yep, codes can't distinguish between 32 and 64bit :p
 
Cookeh said:
Yep, codes can't distinguish between 32 and 64bit :p
Click to expand...

That’s good so I don’t need another copy of windows. So £300 to go on parts. I think I’ll also need a new PSU in case that’s causing the current blue screens.

I’ve got a couple of cases so don't need that unless its best to get a new case with PSU fitted.

One thing I would like is that it boots quickly so a quick hard disk would be advantageous. But I guess it will be a lot quicker than the one I’ve got.
Cheers
 
In that case, my original recommendation but instead of Win7 spend that £70-80 on a SSD for Windows, then use the included 500GB for Data. :)

Or...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-270-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=
If you want a CPU upgrade.


For your purposes my first option with the addition of a SSD would be awesome.



Edit: You certainly don't need a new case with the new PSU, so you could go for individual components and build it yourself which would likely result in a higher spec machine for the money, but personally I very much like the idea of a 12month warranty from the pre-built systems. :)
 
Last edited:
Hi all,
I've listed the parts of the prebuilt bundle. The PSU and case is cheep, to get a PSU on its own will cost me more but would it be a better PSU or is the case and PSU together the best option and just discard the cases i currrently have?
Sould I buy the parts seperatly and adjust the specifiaction? the year warranty does sound good.
my buget is still ~300 so still some changes could be made
SSD does sound a good idea but what sort of speed increase are you looking at in real terms? Say it normally takes a minute to boot how long would it take with a SSD?
If I do go along the lines of SSD which one should I go for? from what I see they come in 2 1/2 inch so i'll need a caddy to fit or do new cases have a 2 1/2 inch bay.

Is there still the free shipping dependant on the number of posts / time as memeber/ if so thats another 10er spare.
Thanks,
Chris.

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6500 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £61.99
MSI G41M-P25 Intel G41 (Socket 775) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £39.98
OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low-Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1333LV4GK) £39.98
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
OCUK EZCool NA-705 Case - Black (500w PSU) £24.98
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Sub Total : £175.77
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £37.30
Total : £223.82
 
Personally I would rather go down the route of an AMD Athlon II X2 rather than socket 775, particularly if buying new. In a year or two you could pop in a tri-core or even a quad core to speed things up. As for SSD may be worth waiting for new generation 25nm SSDs which are expected soon.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 255 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 255 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £47.99
(£39.99) £47.99
(£39.99)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Sub Total : £194.11
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £40.82
Total : £244.93

As mentioned above, shop around and get a feel for prices from elsewhere too. ;)
 
I'm with shadow boxer on this one. AM3 offers more upgrade routes, and is much newer tech. It also out-performs the LGA775 dual core - yes, I mean clock-clock comparison.

Also has the fastest mechanical HDD around and some RAM that hasn't had **** reviews from everywhere and won't fail constantly :p
 
Thanks for the advice i'll hold off on the SSD.

Whats the best option for PSU then go with shadow_boxer recommendation and get a new case which includes a PSU or to get a new PSU and fit it to an existing case?

with the recommended case i'm £60 under my budget if i don't get the case and get a PSU i'll be even more under.
is there any changes you'd make before i order the bits?

thanks
 
Well if you've already got a decent/reasonable case then you may as well recycle and reuse it. Again, same goes for optical drive, if you already have one, even if its an IDE one there's very little point getting a new one assuming its all working OK.

If your only after a PSU then I'd go for something along the lines of the Corair CX430W, BeQuiet L7 530W or the OCZ Stealth 500W.

I've got CX430 in a HTPC and the only issue I could invisage is the length of the cable which are pretty short.

How about this then; recycle your case & dvd drive

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
(£60.82) £72.98
(£60.82)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £38.99
(£32.49) £38.99
(£32.49)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sub Total : £194.11
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £40.82
Total : £244.93

£234.93 with FREE SHIPPING!! :D

Tri-core which a real sweet spot in terms of value for money in the Athlon II range and motherboard which has SATA 6G/S and USB 3.0.

Put the savings towards a nice new SSD in a month or two.

Again in a year or so whack in a Phenom II X4 or Hex-Core.

Plus you can save a tenner as your entitled to free delivery, link your shop account to your forum name.

OcUK Forums members who have 250 or more posts and have been registered for over 90 days, or
OcUK Forums members who have been registered for over 12 months and made at least 100 posts
Click to expand...

Would consider getting a 1TB drive if you need that much storage.
 
Hi all,
just about to order is this right?
i've added arctic silver or should i just use what comes wit the CPU?
Any last minute changes before i hit buy??

cheers,
Chris.

MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £56.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000528AS) £43.99
OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply £38.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £6.73
 
Why you spending so much on a motherboard? Do you need the features it provides? If not just get the 760G one and save some money, no need for AS5 either really
Do you need RAM?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom