Spec me a budget base unit. £300!

[DavyBoy]

Hey guys,

My father in law has asked me to build him a cheap base unit, he is only looking to spend £300 at the most, I have tried to spec a couple of systems at this price range, but I'm not sure what would be my best options..

Here is what I have so far:

Or this:

I have an old 8500GT that I will be giving him so I don't need a GPU, but basically, I just wanted to check here to see if anyone else can check these over, to see if they are alright, and also to see which one would be the best, or whether someone could spec me something else that might be better.

Thanks in advance guys

p.s. I just noticed I forgot the DVD drive in that second build, so I will have to just use the stock HSF, and get a optical drive instead of the aftermarket cooler.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Here is my suggestion, very similar to your second option but using DDR2 RAM and mobo. I also put in a bigger HDD, better case, DVD drive and kept the cooler. I love PC Power & Cooling PSUs, so I swapped the corsair for one.

Edit: Whoops, I originally put in only 2GB of RAM, I have changed this to 4GB and upgraded the CPU to an X2 250.Though if you can spare the extra £12, this is well worth it.

 

[Angelos_n]

What about this, you could even streth to a quad etc.. change where you feel necassary

Asus T3-P5G31 Intel Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad (LGA775) Barebones System - Black Asus T3-P5G31 Intel Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad (LGA775) Barebones System - Black £99.99
(£86.95) £99.99
(£86.95)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail £51.99
(£45.21) £51.99
(£45.21)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
Samsung EcoGreen F2 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HI) Samsung EcoGreen F2 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HI) £37.98
(£33.03) £37.98
(£33.03)
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77)
Sub Total : £214.73
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £33.90
Total : £259.88

 

[DavyBoy]

Hmmm, thanks guys, I am now even more confused now as to which system to get for him!!

I'm thinking about trying to build one based around the PII X2 550, but I am unsure which motherboard and ram I should get.

Also, are there any cheap motherboards out there that have onboard video that I could use for this build, as I would prefer to keep my 8500GT as it is my backup card.

Remember that it has to be no-more than £300.

Both of these suggestions from you guys would be great, but I would still like to have a few more options to choose from.

Thanks again.

::edit::

I only just noticed that the mobo I chose for the AMD build has onboard video!

 

[PermaBanned]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 3.10GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) - Retail £77.99
(£67.82) £77.99
(£67.82)
**B Grade** DFI Lan Party DK 790FX-M2RS AMD 790FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 (MB-042-DF) £45.99
(£39.99) £45.99
(£39.99)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 Low Latancy Dual Channel (PVS24G6400LLK) £42.99
(£37.38) £42.99
(£37.38)
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420W Power Supply £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £37.98
(£33.03) £37.98
(£33.03)
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51)
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/775/1156) £13.98
(£12.16) £13.98
(£12.16)
Sub Total : £241.66
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £37.75
Total : £289.41

Case i would get a xClio Propeller. Check CPU support first though...