Spec £1k to £1.1k - is this possible?

McHaggis69 · 14 Mar 2009 at 18:53

Been out of building for a good few years now and my current machine is actually an off the shelf Dell...

Decided my new machine will be back to self build but despite doing a few weeks research I don't seem to be much further forward... this forum seemed to throw up some top advice so I'm all ears.

Have about £1000 to £1,100 to spend, is it possible with this to -

1 - do core i7 or core2quad (and if so which is recommended)
2 - at the very least 4gig RAM but preferably more
3 - 1 SSD for OS and 1Tb of storage (possibly 2 x 500 RAID0 for speed?)
4 - decent graphics card for occasional gaming but doesn't need to be cutting edge
5 - case style is irrelevant to me - I'm not bothered how it looks as its kept in a closed desk
6 - monitor 1080p at least BUT if system spec depends hugely on adding this then I have a current monitor I can live with for a few months so this could be ignored
7 - keyboard and mouse - quality but doesn't need to be flashy
8 - bluray player and DVD/CD writer

The system has to be whisper quiet - my current Dell is pretty much silent and I don't want fans intruding.

I really want an all purpose but fairly hi-spec system - games, web, photo and video editing, etc...

Many thanks for any assistance/advice in bringing this old-timer up to speed...

icey_haj · 14 Mar 2009 at 19:01

I've tried to include everything you need as regards to the main rig, but I'm about £200 over.

Fledge · 14 Mar 2009 at 20:03

Well I couldn't spec you much better than that.
I'd say go for it, maybe without the monitor?

Ducky Spud · 14 Mar 2009 at 20:39

This ones not as good spec wise, but gets you a SSD and 2 500gig hard drives like you asked for.

Works out about the same price if you add the monitor, but icey_haj's setup would be a lot better

i7 and tripple channel DDR3

fergie128 · 15 Mar 2009 at 01:12

Before buying an SSD, make sure you do the research. There are good ones, and there are truly abysmal ones

McHaggis69 · 15 Mar 2009 at 09:57

Thanks for the help folks -

I am tempted by spec 1 less the monitor (although I might sneak it in if I I can camouflage it from the missus!)... spec 2 looks good too although I will do a bit more reading on SSD's... From what I had seen so far it appeared they were great for speeding up the OS.

lankymorley · 15 Mar 2009 at 10:13

fergie128 said:
Before buying an SSD, make sure you do the research. There are good ones, and there are truly abysmal ones

Very true, I remember reading a review somewhere or other and many of the SSDs they tested came in slower than cheaper HDDs of around 100 times the capacity.