Need New Machine Advice...

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 11:43

Looking at buying a top spec machine, something quick and reliable.
Going to give my current PC to my kids but need EVERYTHING, monitors (2-3 of them), keyboard, mouse, the lot. Starting from scratch.

I will be saving about £600 and going to spread it over 1 - 2 months so can anyone spec me a good set up to buy in 1 go when I have the money to 1 side?
Will be buying EVERYTHING from OcUK

Case - Needs to look good
Keyboard
Mouse
2 Monitors...3 would be cool
HDD (500gb - 1TB)
Motherboard
Etc, Etc, Etc...

I have always wanted a machine that I can be proud of, seeing as I spend a lot of time infront of my PC, oh, would need to have good graphics for doing my graphic designs etc.

Thanks in advance

Oh, and OS needed too

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 11:45

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Xenon AMD Athlon X2 255 3.10GHz Bundle - Dual Core £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £102.12
(£85.10) £204.24
(£170.20)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Kworld Dark Pyramid D8 2.1 Speaker £23.59
(£19.66) £23.59
(£19.66)
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £21.98
(£18.32) £21.98
(£18.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Logitech Deluxe USB Keyboard (Black) - OEM (967738-0120) £7.99
(£6.66) £7.99
(£6.66)
Sub Total : £535.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £22.20
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £111.63
Total : £669.79

included 2 monitors, but you are seriously hampering the build by wasting money on try to include two.

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 11:52

Heres the same spec, with a single monitor, but importantly a quad core bundle.

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 12:21

stulid said:
but you are seriously hampering the build by wasting money on try to include two.

Thanks for the spec.

What do you mean by im seriously hampering the build though?

Waza · 8 May 2011 at 12:29

Well you could get a faster computer if you take out the second monitor that's what stulid is saying.

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 12:31

Waza said:
Well you could get a faster computer if you take out the second monitor that's what stulid is saying.

Oh right lol

Cheers

Surveyor · 8 May 2011 at 12:32

The OP will get free delivery which will reduce the cost a bit.

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 12:47

Thats £605 with free delivery.

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 12:55

How about if I went for:

A cool looking case
500GB HDD
4GB RAM
Graphics Card which can handle up to 3 monitors
a good monitor
DVD-RW
MoBo
Decent Processor - Doesnt have to be quick as **** just decent

I have a spare KB, Mouse and Speakers, and can load Linux on to it of get XP or something once I have built it.

What spec / price would you recommend?

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 12:59

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £137.99
(£114.99) £137.99
(£114.99)
BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £102.12
(£85.10) £102.12
(£85.10)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £61.99
(£51.66) £61.99
(£51.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £517.02
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £20.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £107.42
Total : £644.54

£620 with free delivery.

The i5 2300 cpu is really fast - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300.html

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 13:19

Liking the spec above

This is what I am now planning on doing, makes more sense.
UPGRADE my current machine, buy a better monitor / graphics card and just update it, and build a machine for my kids, will work out a lot cheaper for me.

I'm guessing I dont need a high end spec machine.

My son who is 7 will use it for going on the internet (like his game web-sites) and general game playing for 7 year olds.

What is the CHEAPEST I can do a full system for for him?

I have used some of the specs from above to upgrade my current machine, so it hasnt been a complete waste of time

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 13:24

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Xenon AMD Athlon X2 255 3.10GHz Bundle - Dual Core £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £321.12
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £66.72
Total : £400.34

thats a complete base unit with Win7

.Kencs · 8 May 2011 at 13:32

stulid said:
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Xenon AMD Athlon X2 255 3.10GHz Bundle - Dual Core £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5830 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £321.12
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £66.72
Total : £400.34

thats a complete base unit with Win7

Is that a low end spec as it will only be for my son so dont need anything fancy, just the basics, so a small hard drive size too

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 13:34

.Kencs said:
Is that a low end spec as it will only be for my son so dont need anything fancy, just the basics, so a small hard drive size too

The HDD thats part of the Win7 bundle is 500GB.

Theres not much point saving money by using a worse GPU than a 5830, your only saving £10 for a 5750 etc.

The case and PSU bundle is about as cheap as it gets, skimping anymore on the PSU is asking for trouble.

Disco Boy · 8 May 2011 at 13:46

Stulid, could more money not be saved by using a mobo with on-board graphics?

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 13:52

Disco Boy said:
Stulid, could more money not be saved by using a mobo with on-board graphics?

The motherboard does have a onboard gpu, or look through the members amrket for a GTX260/ ATI 4870 for around £45

Such as - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18272570

Disco Boy · 8 May 2011 at 13:56

stulid said:
The motherboard does have a onboard gpu, or look through the members amrket for a GTX260/ ATI 4870 for around £45

Such as - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18272570

Well, being as his son is 7, I think that he could just use onboard and not a gpu.

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 14:00

Disco Boy said:
Well, being as his son is 7, I think that he could just use onboard and not a gpu.

And when he gets older, he will want to play games which need a better GPU, the onboard is pants really.

It wont be too long till hes wanting to Frag Zombie NAZI's.

Without a GPU it comes too,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Xenon AMD Athlon X2 255 3.10GHz Bundle - Dual Core £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £249.46
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £52.39
Total : £314.35

Reaper 392 · 8 May 2011 at 14:05

would it not be best to get a motherboard with stronger onboard graphics, and not include a graphics card until its needed?

something like this spec:
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
(£57.00) £68.40
(£57.00)
Options applied to the above product:
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Asus M4A88T-M AMD 880G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £263.61
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £54.82
Total : £328.93

no idea how much better these onboard graphics are though, but im sure stulid could tell you

stulid · 8 May 2011 at 14:10

The 880G is the same speed onboard GPU as a cheaper 785G etc motherboard GPU.

it just costs more.