New build options, advice please.

[Ben Cole]

Haven't had a decent home pc for a while now. Put together this build. What improvements can be made or would I get better VFM if I bought a full system? I have an expensive Silverstone media PC case that I'd like to use(might need diff. cooler) but I could just keep my current media pc gubbins in there.

Don't game regularly but usually get reasonable gaming ability just in case. Media is main use so needs to be quietish. Maybe I should just go for an Atom dual core custom media pc? Thoughts appreciated.

Atom dual core, (obviously less grunt, no gaming?)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-174-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-170-OK

 

[PermaBanned]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £92.99
(£80.86) £92.99
(£80.86)
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
Corsair VX 550W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-550VXUK) £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
Asus M4A785TD-M Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
OCZ Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1600EB4GK) £57.99
(£50.43) £57.99
(£50.43)
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £41.99
(£36.51) £41.99
(£36.51)
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro PWM CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2) £17.24
(£14.99) £17.24
(£14.99)
Sub Total : £396.66
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £60.92
Total : £467.08

 

[Ben Cole]

Thanks.

It seems AMD are back in the game. The last time I specced up a build it was all Intel. Well Core2Duo anyway.

Do you have any thoughts regarding value with full system vs self build?

(Usually tempted just to go self build due to satisfaction factor)