New to SFF - advice please

rangor gubbins · 13 Mar 2008 at 10:25

so my mate has asked me to build him a small PC, but i'm more used to knocking together desktops than mATX/shuttle thingamys.

Budget is less than £300 (preferably nearer the £200 mark).
Used for internet, music (storage and listening and perhaps playing around with Reason but nothing serious), burnign DVDs and CDs, and a bit of word processing etc, perhaps some film watching.
The quieter the better. No peripherals needed.
budget includes:
case, motherboard, processor, cooling, RAM, HDD, GFX.

He has an old AMD XP system, so don't think he could salvage much out of it that would be useful. Even his old HDD is a PATA so prob not much use. Should be able to use his old disk drives though.

Any advice greatly appreciated, as i know this might be difficult on such a tight budget.

cheers

Bane · 13 Mar 2008 at 12:38

I'd consider an Asus barebones, such as the Terminator or Vintage range, as going to be tight for budget.

Available ranges link

rangor gubbins · 13 Mar 2008 at 19:02

Thanks. the terminator looks reasonable.

I've also been looking into getting an mATX case (perhaps a cheap EV case, or Antec etc) which look like they could be had for around 40-70 with no PSU, a little more with a PSU.
If needed then an Enermax EG285 mATX PSU for £30 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-012-EN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1086

An intel E2160 (about £50)
2GB RAM PC6400 (£30)
HDD (between £40-50)
and the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R Micro ATX (Socket 775) for about £70 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-091-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326

any thoughts? Total cost should be under £300 (at around £270).
Am i wasting money getting PC6400 RAM for a system that won't be very overclockable. Anyone know if the stock HSF that comes with the E2160 will fit in an mATX case and allow for any OCing?
Is it worth going for a cheaper motherboard and getting a separate cheap GFX card or is the GMA3100 as good as its going to get on this low budget?

mattyrigby00 · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:25

most "Matx" cases use a full atx PSU

rangor gubbins · 17 Mar 2008 at 15:38

thats good to know. Thanks.
A 300W PSU should do it then? One HDD, onboard GFX, one disk drive.

poggy · 1 Apr 2008 at 17:10

Hi rangor gubbins are you still thinking about getting an HTPC? If so i'm selling mine if you are interested it's:
The Silverstone ML02 (the case has in-built card reader, VFD, in-built Receiver and the case is in black) comes with:
AMD x2 32bit 4000
2gb DDR2 OCZ
400GB 3.5 Hitachi HD
MCE Remote and MCE Keyboard plus Receiver
Slot loading DVDRW drive
Abit motherboard AN-M2HD - Onboard HDMI
hauppauge Dual digital tunner
I've only had the case for 3 months

I know you are looking at Intel stuff but if that sounds alright let me know, email in trust

Cheers
Poggy

rangor gubbins · 1 Apr 2008 at 20:55

yes am still looking into getting an HTPC. And have also been looking into AMD X2, so your system may just fit the bill.

how much are you looking for?

sent you an email