Quick spec check for a mate

Raikiri · 15 Sep 2006 at 13:35

£650 max budget -

MO-016-OK OcUK Gamer Extreme 178GP 17" LCD Monitor - Black (MO-016-OK)
£89.99 £89.99
CP-164-AM AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM)
£54.95 £54.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£44.95 £44.95
CD-045-LG LG GSA-H10NBAL 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-045-LG)
£15.99 £15.99
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£43.99 £43.99
GX-042-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-042-OK)
£99.99 £99.99
KB-088-LG Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-088-LG)
£5.99 £5.99
KB-046-LG Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Black - OEM (KB-046-LG)
£5.50 £5.50
MY-034-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) (MY-034-GL)
£129.99 £129.99
SP-023-LG Logitech S100 10W RMS Speakers Black - OEM (SP-023-LG)
£5.49 £5.49
MB-006-AK Asrock ALiveNF4G-DVI (Socket AM2) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-006-AK)
£39.99 £39.99
Subtotal £536.82
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £14.95
VAT £96.56
Total £648.33

Anything I should change/add or remove? Thanks

Computer will be used for general work, fair bit of gaming, video etc. He doesn't want a wide screen because he thinks it will distort the image (and won't listen to me)

semi-pro waster · 15 Sep 2006 at 13:43

I'd be tempted to go for 1gb Ram and spend the money saved on a better CPU, maybe even drop the graphics card to a 7600gt to save cash and then you should be able to get a Conroe into the budget which is a much more competent CPU as well as being dual core.

Virdi · 15 Sep 2006 at 14:32

With that kinda budget - you should really be looking at an Intel Core 2 Duo setup.

The performance gains over the 3500+ you have chosen will be
astro-nomical.....!

Raikiri · 15 Sep 2006 at 15:06

True, but I don't think he would be buying another GB of ram any time soon.

If you can spec the same sort of thing with a C2D within the strict budget of £650 then ok

I may ask if he wants to drop down to 1gb and get an X2. But a half decent board (even an asrock) with 1gb ram and the 6300 won't quite fit in budget.

semi-pro waster · 15 Sep 2006 at 15:12

I've dropped the Ram to 1gb and the graphics card to a 7600gt(more than sufficient for a 17" monitor still) and it easily fits into the budget including a faster hard drive.

CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£114.99 £114.99
MB-004-AK Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-004-AK)
£45.99 £45.99
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£69.99 £69.99
MO-018-OK OcUK Value Hanns-G HC174D 17" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-018-OK)
£89.99 £89.99
KB-046-LG Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Black - OEM (KB-046-LG)
£5.50 £5.50
KB-088-LG Logitech Deluxe Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-088-LG)
£5.99 £5.99
SP-023-LG Logitech S100 10W RMS Speakers Black - OEM (SP-023-LG)
£5.49 £5.49
GX-025-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG)
£74.99 £74.99
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£43.99 £43.99
CD-041-NE NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-041-NE)
£18.95 £18.95
HD-079-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-079-SE)
£49.95 £49.95
Subtotal £525.82
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £12.95
VAT £94.29
Total £633.06

Virdi · 15 Sep 2006 at 15:17

Even if you go slightly over budget - Your mate will still be so much better off with a Core 2 Duo setup.

These new CPU's are simply the MUTS NUTS

Raikiri · 15 Sep 2006 at 16:53

Hmm, drop the Seagate and opt for the 160gb Samsung then it is only £5 or so over budget with the 7900GS, I'll see what he thinks