Recommendations for newbie

decogriff · 2 May 2011 at 14:59

Hi all, I am looking for recommendations for a desktop either a ready built one or just the components so I can build it myself. I was using a apple powerbook G4 laptop to date until the logic board packed in and to replace it is almost the cost of a new laptop. I'm thinking of choosing a window based machine as you can do a lot of the upgrades yourself rather than have them sent away to be upgraded. I need the computer for mainly photo-editing on photoshop and some HD video editing, I would like to keep the cost down as much as possible and maybe upgrade components through time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

sk82jack · 2 May 2011 at 15:04

Whats your max budget? And will you need OS, monitor, mouse/keyboard, speakers, etc?

decogriff · 2 May 2011 at 15:12

Hi! My budget would be around £600 no need for OS, mouse keyboard, speakers if I can get a monitor within that budget it would be great but if it is a big sacrifice on quality and speed then I can do with out and buy one on top of that budget, thanks for the reply

stulid · 2 May 2011 at 15:15

£600 including a monitor is easy, and no drop in performance

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
Samsung B2230H 21.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
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)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB SILENT GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £25.19
(£20.99) £25.19
(£20.99)
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.59
(£12.99) £15.59
(£12.99)
Sub Total : £491.40
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £102.10
Total : £612.60

I went for the 2500K cpu as for your usage the 2600K offers no benefit - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

And theres a 1TB harddrive for lots of storage.

!TIMMY! · 2 May 2011 at 21:01

That system looks good, although would it be better to get a nvidia card for cuda with photoshop and video editing?

Tediore · 2 May 2011 at 21:12

You can also get the 22" BenQ for the same price as the Samsung. I have no idea how well it compares to the Samsung, but I know people have been very happy with them for the price. I'm pretty sure you can still get them for less than £100 if you shop around as well. They seem to have shot up in price on here.

stulid · 2 May 2011 at 21:14

!TIMMY! said:
That system looks good, although would it be better to get a nvidia card for cuda with photoshop and video editing?

The cheapest Nvidia card at the same price range is a 8400GS, and its slow, and really too slow for any use in CUDA.

The next Nvidia card after this is £55 so over budget.

titan13131 · 2 May 2011 at 21:20

me Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £239.99
(£199.99) £239.99
(£199.99)
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
GeIL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP38GB1600C9DC) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 450W Core Edition Power Supply £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 5450 512MB SILENT GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £25.19
(£20.99) £25.19
(£20.99)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £475.91
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 : £97.68
Total : £586.09

this build is for if you buy the monitor separate.

edit: forgot the hard disk, i knew there was something ^_^

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98

Sub Total : £499.23
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 : £102.35
Total : £614.08

stulid · 2 May 2011 at 21:23

And the monitor

Trust me, you wasting your time.

titan13131 · 2 May 2011 at 21:25

stulid said:
And the monitor

hehe he said he could buy a monitor on top of his original budget is necessary, which i dont think it is but I was just giving him another option

edit: not really wasting my time, trying to get 250 posts ^_^

Tediore · 2 May 2011 at 22:59

titan13131 said:
hehe he said he could buy a monitor on top of his original budget is necessary, which i dont think it is but I was just giving him another option

edit: not really wasting my time, trying to get 250 posts ^_^

I'd like access to the member's market.

As long as you make your posts useful, I don't think anyone has a problem with your reasons for them

If you're not using the PC for gaming, I'd make £600 the budget to include the monitor, but that's me.

decogriff · 3 May 2011 at 23:05

Thanks for your response lads! I think I am most tempted with Stulids build! Cheers lads!!