Home PC - £400

TheSkateyBird

TheSkateyBird

TheSkateyBird

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4 Apr 2011
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Kent
Hello All,

Computer building assistance is require by a good friend of mine for her family and I need some input. So their current PC is a dying shop bought Vista beast that is bogged down with hardly any ram, a slow CPU and an upgrade is required.

This system will be used for web browsing, e-mails, documents, Skype (all at once on occasions) along with playing the Sims 3. As mentioned in the title we're looking at a build for around £400, an OS is required however other peripherals are not. As the Sims 3 is not a demanding game I have been looking into the possibility of adding an i3 to the build and using onboard HD 2000 graphics.

Thoughs?
 
Not entirely sure but what I do know is that it's socket 775 celeron single core 2GB ddr2 and low profile graphics cards (in one of those slimline cases) and Vista 32-Bit Home.
 
It's a good idea although the motherboard is now around 4 years old it's not exactly a quiet PC (I can hear it while Skype chatting to her) So a whole new build is the idea and selling the old one on the bay.
 
TheSkateyBird said:
It's a good idea although the motherboard is now around 4 years old it's not exactly a quiet PC (I can hear it while Skype chatting to her) So a whole new build is the idea and selling the old one on the bay.
Click to expand...

Well it likley could do with a internal clean if it's 4 years old.

It would be fine for what they want and would cost a 3rd of the price.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Samsung 64GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC064D/EU) £55.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £53.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £31.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222BB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £442.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



I used the G840 (comparison). To save some cash. Yes I went over budget but I did include a good budget gaming GPU. There is a growing trend for A+ quality free to play titles, so it doesn't hurt to have a capable GPU.

The mobo supports sataIII (the primo plus 510i doesn't). I also used a sataIII SSD to get much quicker load times for the OS and software installed to it. Im not 100% sure but i think prebuilds only come with a 1 year warranty by buying the components seperately you should be covered for atleast 3 years on pretty much all the kit, maybe that helps justify going over £400

Let me hear your thoughts and I'm sure we can all together find something suitable for their needs :)
 
Thanks for the spec there. SSD is probably not going to cut it due to a large amount of pictures, music and video so a mechanical drive is going to have to be in there.

As for the GPU I can see what your saying I'll see if she'll be able to squeeze a little more out of her father. HD 6850 is the definition of bang for buck at the moment so that would be the one if the option for a higher budget is there. Just keeping the price down for basic gaming would the GT 600 series (610, 620, 830) be an option for playing the Sims 3 as that is the most demanding game she plays.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £65.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £53.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £41.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £33.59
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £454.49 (includes shipping : FREE).



Offers have changed bud, that's the best I could do. The other 6850 is on offer now (i spoke about this earlier), the CM modular PSU is back up in price so I had to make changes. 450W is enough and it's a quality unit with a 5 year warranty :)
 
Offers may of changed but your still able to come up with a respectable rig! Thanks for the spec up and for the money her father would be silly to turn his nose up at it.
Edit: Just noticed there are no VGA outputs on the graphics card, will an OCUK adapter be the best option instead of downspecing the card?
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x **B Grade** OcUK GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £69.95
1 x **B Grade** MSI B75A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £65
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £55
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £41.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £397.88 (includes shipping : FREE).




1) 2100 is better than G840
2) Z77 motherboard will provide latest features and will provide good upgrade base for later
3) Samsung green is excellent overclocking ram
4) 560 is faster than 6850 on the benchmarks that I checked, but check yourself to be sure

B-Grade parts from ocUK are usually very good and if something goes wrong they will sort you out quickly.
 
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TheSkateyBird said:
Offers may of changed but your still able to come up with a respectable rig! Thanks for the spec up and for the money her father would be silly to turn his nose up at it.
Edit: Just noticed there are no VGA outputs on the graphics card, will an OCUK adapter be the best option instead of downspecing the card?
Click to expand...

Thanks bud :D

I've used the Bitfenix Merc case in budget builds, its a good "no thrills" case for the cash :)

I would bet the GPU comes with an adpater to change the DVI to VGA (my 460 did). Be warned one of the DVI ports is dual link, so it's digital only and the adapter won't work on it ;)

Maybe look for an unboxing on youtube to see what comes in the 6850 dual fan box?
 
Hmm, B-grade is looking tempting although isn't a GTX 560 a bit overkill for a family pc with some light gaming? I'll have a poke around and see what I can find accessories wise on the card.
 
TheSkateyBird said:
Hmm, B-grade is looking tempting although isn't a GTX 560 a bit overkill for a family pc with some light gaming? I'll have a poke around and see what I can find accessories wise on the card.
Click to expand...

Well it is cheaper than 6850.. I mean if someone offered you GTX 690 for the price of radeon 6850 would you say it is an overkill and refuse ? :D
 
Lazder said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x **B Grade** OcUK GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £69.95
1 x **B Grade** MSI B75A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £65
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM £55
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £41.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.98
Total : £397.88 (includes shipping : FREE).




1) 2100 is better than G840
2) Z77 motherboard will provide latest features and will provide good upgrade base for later
3) Samsung green is excellent overclocking ram
4) 560 is faster than 6850 on the benchmarks that I checked, but check yourself to be sure

B-Grade parts from ocUK are usually very good and if something goes wrong they will sort you out quickly.
Click to expand...

The warranty on B grade items is much much shorter (only 90 days). I do occasionally use a B grade part or two (usually a HDD) in budget builds but you are leaning real heavy on it.

Problem with B grade is that it can be missing parts. So the mobo might have no sata cables, driver disk or manual. The GPU could be missing the DVI-VGA or similar adapters. By the time you buy these bits and bobs the saving isn't great for such a short warranty.

The samsung RAM (is a today only price) is good but no need for overclocking it, certainly on this socket even with an i5K. The Geil RAM is cheaper so i'd use that, the 560 isn't very good really i'd stick with the AMD 6850 with the longer warranty and all the accessories.

Yes the i3 is better but it compromises the spec using it. The 6850 allows more than enough gaming performance, whilst the i3 can use quicksync the G840 can be assisted by the GPU (6850) to do video encoding. Yes quicksync is better but it's trying to balance everything out for the price that's key. I've used the G840 it's the minimum I would suggest, it does have a fair bit of poke and I was impressed for the price :)
 
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Hmm, true. However what is the true definition of the B-grade line? Have the items been used? Or just returned due to an error with someones order? I'd rather have lower end parts and have a longer warranty and actually know what is coming along with the components. And the GTX 690 is a silly example ;)
 
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honosuseri said:
The warranty on B grade items is much much shorter (only 90 days). I do occasionally use a B grade part or two (usually a HDD) in budget builds but you are leaning real heavy on it.

Problem with B grade is that it can be missing parts. So the mobo might have no sata cables, driver disk or manual. The GPU could be missing the DVI-VGA or similar adapters. By the time you buy these bits and bobs the saving isn't great for such a short warranty.
Click to expand...

Surely it is 90 days + what ever is left on the parts themselves??

But your point is valid
 
honosuseri said:
The warranty on B grade items is much much shorter (only 90 days). I do occasionally use a B grade part or two (usually a HDD) in budget builds but you are leaning real heavy on it.

Problem with B grade is that it can be missing parts. So the mobo might have no sata cables, driver disk or manual. The GPU could be missing the DVI-VGA or similar adapters. By the time you buy these bits and bobs the saving isn't great for such a short warranty.

The samsung RAM is good but no need for overclocking certainly on this socket even with an i5K. The Geil RAM is cheaper so i'd use that, the 560 isn't very good really i'd stick with the AMD 6850. Yes the i3 is better but it compromises the spec using it. The 6850 allows gaming, whilst the i3 can use quicksync the G840 can be assisted by the GPU to do video encoding. Yes quicksync is better but it's trying to balance everything out for the price that's key. I've used the G840 it's the minimum I would suggest, it does have a fair bit of poke and I was impressed for the price :)
Click to expand...

Problem I have with G840 is that it is pretty much over-clocked G530...
 
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