Opinions on Spec please

[Trigger]

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REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
CP-118-AM AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM)
£95.95 £95.95
MB-119-AS Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
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£39.95 £39.95
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA)
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CD-020-SO Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM (CD-020-SO)
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CA-001-OP Optronix Midi Tower Case Bundle Kit (Keyboard, Mouse & Speakers included) - Black/Silver 400w PSU (CA-001-OP)
£29.95 £29.95
CA-026-EN Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-026-EN)
£44.95 £44.95
Subtotal £311.65
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Total £366.19

Hi,

Could I have some opinions on the above spec please? It will be used for office work, internet etc but no gaming. It must be easily upgradable though which is why I have gone for a decent parts (Not that bothered about the case although I did build a system with it the other week and was very impressed with the build quality and the cooling on it ). I don't want people saying 'Oh, that's soooooo overkill, that could all be done by a Socket A sempron' so if you have only those comments to make, please refrain from posting Budget can't go any higher- this is all they have as they've already bought a 19" LCD monitor and a DVD-RW.

Thanks for any opinions/improvements

Ben

 

[BillytheImpaler]

I think it looks good for an integrated graphics solution. You can certainly use that as an office machine for years to come. I take it that as a retail CPU it comes with a heatsink?

Do you need to add any extra fans to the case for adequate cooling?

 

[Trigger]

I take it that as a retail CPU it comes with a heatsink?

Yup, comes with the retail fan

Do you need to add any extra fans to the case for adequate cooling?

The case already comes with two fans because I used it a couple of weeks ago

Thanks for the comments

Ben

 

[Explicit]

That looks fine for office work, and later on you can add a graphics card if you need to

 

[Larok]

Looks good, is there a reason why you have spec'd a psu when there is one in the case deal?

 

[Trigger]

Update time...

Went down to Overclockers this morning and after getting lost on the way there (stupid roadworks on roundabout ) we returned at about 1:00. Took about an hour to put together (Most of which was spent reading manuals ) and half an hour later, I had windows installed.

Now got most of the programs it needs installed and it's running perfectly stable- will post up some pictures later

One thing though, the CPU temp as indicated in Probe II is around 42 degrees celcius- is this normal?

Thanks

Ben

 

[Trigger]

Anyone got any idea on the temps issue?

 

[BigDom]

Anyone got any idea on the temps issue?

Idle temp? What's the case temp reasing?

 

[Trigger]

Clicky

Thanks

Ben

 

[Explicit]

CPU temp seems slightly higher than it should be. Has that case got good airflow?

 

[Trigger]

CPU temp seems slightly higher than it should be. Has that case got good airflow?

It's not great but there's not much I can do about it It came with 2 x 80mm fans but they don't seem to shift much air. Taking the case covers lowers the temps by 3 degrees but I can't leave it without the covers on if you see what I mean. Should I just put up with them then? I'm perfectly happy with it as long as it doesn't blow up or melt lol

Thanks

Ben

 

[Explicit]

It's not great but there's not much I can do about it It came with 2 x 80mm fans but they don't seem to shift much air. Taking the case covers lowers the temps by 3 degrees but I can't leave it without the covers on if you see what I mean. Should I just put up with them then? I'm perfectly happy with it as long as it doesn't blow up or melt lol

Thanks

Ben

Well, 60c is supposed to be the max for AMDs, so 42c is not dangerous by any means, but it is high for idle temps. If you can spend £17 on an Arctic Freezer 64, that should help out.

 

[Trigger]

Hmm, the weird thing is though that in the BIOS it reads as about 40 degrees and the reading in the BIOS is supposed to be at load

Thanks

Ben

 

[Explicit]

Hmm, the weird thing is though that in the BIOS it reads as about 40 degrees and the reading in the BIOS is supposed to be at load

Thanks

Ben

I would trust the bios reading, but that's the idle temp. If you run S&M to put the CPU through its paces, then you will see the temps rise (hopefully it will stay below 60c). Where it peaks is considered to be the load temp.

 

[Trigger]

I would trust the bios reading, but that's the idle temp.

Errr.. no, the BIOS is supposed to give a reading at load, not idle Anyways, I've booted it up this morning and the CPU is sitting there at 35 degrees and the case is at 26 degrees

 

[semi-pro waster]

It could be that the thermal paste needed time to settle as I believe it performs better once it has time to 'bed in'. The bios reading ought to be the more accurate and you are right it is meant to be the temperature at load(or at least the CPU isn't slowed down in any way) because at a bios level Cool N' Quiet isn't enabled, you could however enable that and see if temperatures drop any further in Windows.

 

[Trigger]

Thanks mate I'll see how it goes on over time. I can't see any airflow problems within the case though:

Clicky One

Clicky Two

Thanks

Ben