Spec Me: Basic Computer System

Darkwave

Darkwave

Darkwave

Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2005
Posts
13,779
Hey guys,

A friend and I are doing a little experiment to see if we can come up with a reasonably decent budget computer for general usage. The computer in question will be geared toward your relatively newbish "friend of a friend" type who needs a computer for things like coursework, email, IM, and very light gaming.

Keep in mind this is a computer people might actually want, so while it needs to stay basic it should be balanced, modern but avoiding "cruddiness" (AM2/Conroe, 7000/X1000 etc.) One of these specs will probably be purchased by my own brother, so put your heart into it. ;)

So far we have come up with this, and would appreciate any opinions or improvements to make this computer better value for money at around the £450 mark (but cheaper is always nice.)

Before I forget to mention it: It needs to have everything (speakers are optional if the monitor has them built-in.) This means monitor, keyboard, mouse, case, etc.

OcUK Value Estar 7799 Case With 400W PSU (£25.30)

Asus M2N-E (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£59.95)

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (£59.95)

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (£51.95)

Leadtek GeForce 7300 GT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out (£49.95)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (£46.55)

OcUK Value Hanns-G HC174D 17" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (£86.95)

Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail (£17.95)

Subtotal: £398.55
VAT: £69.75
Total: £468.30

Thanks in advance, I look forward to seeing your specs. :D

Sincerely yours,
Úlfhednar.
 
Last edited:
It all looks great to me apart from the PSU. I think you should go for the antec case with the 380w PSU.

anyway i've had a go and come up with this
CP-150-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£54.95 £54.95
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£43.95 £43.95
HD-046-WD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
£46.55 £46.55
GX-087-LT Leadtek GeForce 7300 GT 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-087-LT)
£49.95 £49.95
MB-002-AK Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 (Socket 939 & Upgradable to AM2) AGP & PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-002-AK)
£34.50 £34.50
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£53.95 £53.95
HS-029-AK Akasa AK-860 Low Noise CPU Cooler (Socket 754 & 939) (HS-029-AK)
£3.95 £3.95
KB-072-LG Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail (KB-072-LG)
£17.95 £17.95
MO-018-OK OcUK Value Hanns-G HC174D 17" LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-018-OK)
£86.95 £86.95
Subtotal £392.70
VAT £68.73
Total £461.43
 
GhostRider said:
It all looks great to me apart from the PSU. I think you should go for the antec case with the 380w PSU.
Click to expand...
I completely forgot about that case and PSU, I think I'll do just that. :D I love the rest of your spec, but is it worth going back to 939 from AM2 with the price difference being so little for those processors and memory?

Sure, the SD 3700+ is faster, but we've only got a 7300GT driving the graphics anyway so I doubt it'll be too much of a strain for the 3500+ to handle (I thought the 3500+ was overkill for this system actually, considering I am using a 3400+ in mine, but it's so cheap.

Edit: Price check on the 3700+, I think you quoted the 3500+ one.
 
Last edited:
How's this look? :)

Chassis: Antec NSK4400 Case (380W PSU)
Power Supply: N/A (built-in on case)
Motherboard: Asrock Dual-SATA2 Socket 939
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ San Diego
Memory: 1GB (2x512MB) DDR400 Dual Channel
Graphics: Leadtek GeForce 7300 GT 256MB
Sound: N/A (built-in on motherboard)
Monitor: Hanns-G HC174D 17" Standard LCD
Speakers: N/A (built-in on monitor)
Mouse: Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110
Keyboard: N/A (combo with mouse)

Subtotal: £388.75
VAT: £68.04
Total: £456.79
 
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