Is this spec any good

renMike

renMike

renMike

Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2013
Posts
22
Hello,

I'm looking to build a replacement PC and haven't built anything for at least five years so am a little unsure what's good these days. I'm aiming for a budget(ish) PC with as much poke as I can squeeze out of the budget (£500).
I have a DVI monitor, SATA II HDDs and optical drives I can reuse but i'm not too sure about the power or case options.
I tend to run Windows 10 on my machines and use them for software development, office packages, VMs, video editing, simple CAD and browsing should that have any bearing on the suitability of the components. I've not had the need for additional graphics cards in the past for my usage but I've also typically stuck to the AMD range and their on-board graphics.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £446.94

​

If you have any advice on the above components e.g. compatibility, cost/performance balance, bundles, alternatives or can recommend a suitable case then I'd welcome your feedback. If you need additional info to make an informed comment then let me know.

Thanks,

renMike
 
 
The cpu bundle looks to be a better spec to my initial basket. Do you recommend a cooler because the bundle doesn't ship with a stock heat sink? I see you've gone for 2x 4GB RAM sticks, is that for performance or price? I've been short of ram in the past with multiple VMs spun up.
The case looks ok, but I'll admit that I don't know much about cases.
 
The K-series CPUs no longer come with a stock heatsink. If you plan on running a number of VMs, then 16GB RAM may be a good idea if you've had issues in the past. Did you previously have 8GB then?
 
The memory controller in the CPU is dual channel, so for max performance fill it with pairs.

2x4gb, 2x8gb etc or even 4x4gb works from a quad channel kit it just runs two ram sticks per channel.
 
Is there any benefit in 4x4GB over 2x8GB? 4x4 will consume all slots and make upgrades more expensive but is it cheaper or faster now?
 
Just before I push the button on the order I checked the case for installation of optical drives. I don't seem to be able to find out how they install. Does this case accept optical drives? I've 2x DVD + 1x BluRay to squeeze in somewhere.
 
Nope, no DVD will fit in that case.

Why 2 DVD drives? one not enough? does the Blu-ray drive not burn DVDs also? so you could in theory just need a case with space for one?
 
I could get away with the Blu-ray drive but as it's not a writer i'd also need at least one DVD as well. The DVD drives were configured for different regions.
Any suggestions for cases with this in mind?
 
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