Spec me a machine between 1-1.5k... please :)

Mort

Mort

Mort

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Posts
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Yo :cool:

Got offered a job recently working for a design agency heading up their web dept. They all work on pooey Macs so asked if I could build a PC instead. I have 1 - 1.5k to spend, it will be used for web development, photoshoppage, and probably general network admin etc. Only thing I must stipulate is it must have dual 19" monitors, and also a 10k 36gb raptor to boot from, 2 if its affordable :P

I was thinking AMD dual core (AM2), abit board, 2gb RAM etc, but I haven't been into the hardware scene for a year or two so very out of touch as to whats hot or not, so any help anyone can offer would be awesome!

Also probably going to need money for software as due to them being Mac users I doubt they have any licenses there. Either XP Pro 32 or 64, heard 64 was shocking though.

Thanks in advance :)
 
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Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £48.99
(£57.56) £48.99
(£57.56)
Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)
Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £124.99
(£146.86) £249.98
(£293.72)
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 Keyboard £11.99
(£14.09) £11.99
(£14.09)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £182.99
(£215.01) £182.99
(£215.01)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £149.99
(£176.24) £149.99
(£176.24)
BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (E85-04026) £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
FSP Sparkle FX700-GLN Epsilon 700W ATX2.0 PSU £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)

Sub Total : £1,136.86
Shipping : £24.95
Vat : £203.32
Total : £1,365.13
 
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This might be suitable, the graphics card might be a shade overkill for what you need but it is one of the cheapest that appears to have dual DVI and I've heard that Nvidia graphics cards are better (or at least easier) for multiple screens. The 36gb Raptors are out of stock and the Seagate 7200.10 isn't that much slower anyway plus it is cheaper and has more capacity. There is potential to expand/upgrade the system easily but I've assumed you won't be overclocking since it is a work machine, if you are then go for a Gigabyte DS3/DS4 and PC6400 Ram and it will be fine. :)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
NEC AD7170A 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.50
(£21.74) £18.50
(£21.74)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HC194D 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black £111.99
(£131.59) £223.98
(£263.18)
Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 - Black/Silver £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £48.99
(£57.56) £48.99
(£57.56)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - OEM - 1Pk (ZAT-00054) £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
Intel DP965LT 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - Retail £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) £129.99
(£152.74) £129.99
(£152.74)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £93.99
(£110.44) £93.99
(£110.44)
Leadtek GeForce 7300 GT Extreme 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Sub Total : £891.38
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £24.95
Vat : £160.36
Total : £1,076.69
 
Last edited:
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
(£146.86)

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk
(£93.99)

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£99.86)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel
(£124.54)

Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM
(£23.49)

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO
(£281.99)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£70.49)

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
(£57.56)

Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£70.49)

Asus VW192S 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black Asus VW192S 19" x2
(£289.02)

Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 - Black/Silver Logitech Cordless Desktop S
(£35.24)

Sub Total : £1,100.88
Total : £1,322.85

i think this would offer superb performance for the money, with a lot of overclocking potential. there arent any raptors, but the seagates are extremely quick!
 
Ok, so I went over budget. This is a gaming spec which you might not need.. lol. If thats the case ditch the 8800GTX for, well anything really. I ditched the raptor because in my expereience they save very little time.

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £48.99
(£57.56) £48.99
(£57.56)
DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £149.99
(£176.24) £149.99
(£176.24)
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) £32.99
(£38.76) £32.99
(£38.76)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £182.99
(£215.01) £182.99
(£215.01)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £384.99
(£452.36) £384.99
(£452.36)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (E85-04026) £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
OcUK Digimate L1931W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £113.99
(£133.94) £227.98
(£267.88)
Sub Total : £1,340.88
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £24.95
Vat : £239.02
Total : £1,604.85
 
Last edited:
cheers everyone, very helpful all of you :D

People definitley reckoning intel over amd? also the ocuk tft's any good for gaming (just in case:p)

keep em coming, thx again
 
Here you have 2 very nice quality TFT's, decent graphics, a huge (and might i add, fast) hard drive, good processing power, 2GB Ram. You also get a nice quality keyboard and mouse and case etc. Good all-rounder, i rekon... ;)


Samsung SM-920N 19" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (2 of these)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3000 Laser - Retail

Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Abit AW9D-MAX Intel 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (E85-04026)

Liteon DVD-8900 16x DVD±RW/RAM (Black) - OEM

Sub Total : £1,237.88
Vat : £221.00
Total : £1,483.83
 
Last edited:
a little over budget and missing the raptor, 4gb of ram is handy if your going to be doing large photoshop files and everything else all at once. if not cut back and get a pair of raptors for os and scratch drive :)

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
£111.99 (£131.59)

Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
x2 £249.98 (£293.72)

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £48.99 (£57.56)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
x2 £119.98 (£140.98)

OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
£249.98 (£293.72)

NEC AD7170A 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£18.50 (£21.74)

Cherry Black CyMotion Expert (USB/PS2) Keyboard - Black (G86-2
£14.99 (£17.61)

Logitech LX3 Optical Mouse - Retail
£14.49 (£17.03)

Logitech S100 10W RMS Speakers Black - OEM
£5.49 (£6.45)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £177.99 (£209.14)

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (E85-04026)
£79.99 (£93.99)

Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU £59.99 (£70.49)

Sony Floppy Drive - Black
£4.99 (£5.86)

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler
£28.99 (£34.06)

Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£74.99 (£88.11)

Shipping : £24.95

Vat : £225.10
Total : £1,511.38
 
Mort said:
correct, as PC's > Macs anyday :P
Click to expand...

As a PC user for all of my life up2 this year untill i started working with Macs, never again will i use a PC for anything other than gaming and net lol, They just pwn PC's for this type of job hands down
 
Exactly gaming and net. No gaming will be done but as a web developer if I had to develop everything in Safari I would cry :p oh well the up point of this is no more IE :D

Design work I have always found PC's to be perfectly fine for, although to be fair I have never used a Mac for it.

Anyways thanks for your help everyone, you rock. Will let you know what I go with
 
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