Spec me budget £150 desktop

wildest_jjk

wildest_jjk

wildest_jjk

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Hi guys,

A couple of members of my family are running Windows XP on their machines. I want to upgrade this in the next few months and ideally the hardware too.

Only needs to run the OS happily, no gaming just web browsing and office etc.

Not sure if I am going Windows 7 or 8.1 yet but what would you guys recommend?

Thanks!!
 
Are you going to reuse any of the parts from the old machine ? i.e Case, Hard drive, optical drive, power supply etc ?
 
lee32uk said:
Are you going to reuse any of the parts from the old machine ? i.e Case, Hard drive, optical drive, power supply etc ?
Click to expand...

Exactly this, £150 isn't really a budget to build a full system new. You would be better off checking out the MM or looking for a used system on stickytree or the bay.

If it was a case of upgrading a few parts, gpu/cpu etc then it would be doable but a full system you would get poor performance for your money. Better off buying used in that case.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I appreciate your point and that is something I missed out. Hard drives won't be needed. So just the major components and a case.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Optical drive isn't really needed either.
 
This seems to be as low as I can get it, however the PSU isn't really ideal.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £47.99
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £31.99
1 x OcUK Value Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £31.99
Total : £158.66 (includes shipping : £9.75).


___
As for Win 7 vs 8.1, 7 will be easier to adjust to if they've been on XP for a while however 8.1 apparently faster (haven't tried it myself). You can always use a trial version of 8.1 for a while to see if they like it or not.
Also if you don't mind spending a little more it might be worth getting an SSD to make the whole system a bit nippier :)
YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £59.99
Total : £68.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

 
Yeah wouldn't trust that power supply as far as I could throw it :/ Best advice is to hit up the Members Market or auction sites.
 
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Thanks for all of the responses.

That is pretty good for what I am looking for. The reason why I want to go down the build route is so that if anything goes wrong I can change parts and know whats in the machine.

I need two of them as well so would just build two the same. I guess if needs be the budget can go up a bit more to accomodate a better PSU.

What do you guys think?

Thanks :)
 
Thanks for the responses.

These components look pretty good. I want new really as the PC is not for me and if I build a system I know it will work and the setup etc. They just want a computer to work and that's it lol.

Thanks for all of the help.
 
altrewin said:
This seems to be as low as I can get it, however the PSU isn't really ideal.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £47.99
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £31.99
1 x OcUK Value Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £31.99
Total : £158.66 (includes shipping : £9.75).


___
As for Win 7 vs 8.1, 7 will be easier to adjust to if they've been on XP for a while however 8.1 apparently faster (haven't tried it myself). You can always use a trial version of 8.1 for a while to see if they like it or not.
Also if you don't mind spending a little more it might be worth getting an SSD to make the whole system a bit nippier :)
YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £59.99
Total : £68.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

Click to expand...

Are there any alternatives to this setup? Would you guys say an SSD is worthwhile?

Like I mentioned for both users they will only browse the web and write documents. Using about once a day. I'm trying to find a balance for cost and performance as they just want a computer that works lol.
 
Just to add, using the above components I have built on some of the issues that were mentioned.

How about something like this? Including the OS.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £41.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £26.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £248.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).



More than I was hoping but I would like to give them a new computer and both the same. It will make my life easier. I'm not sure on the PSU/case still though.

Thanks!
 
I'm also looking for a PC for about the same budget for my Mum. She wants a cheap desktop that will last for a good few years.

The above setup looks good but I'm just wondering if the Pentium G3220 will be a decent enough processor to last for the foreseeable future.

She will only be using it for internet, YouTube and office (which I already have).

Thanks in advance

Edit: Also I forgot to ask, can I pay to have the system built by overclockers if I decide I'm too lazy?
 
Last edited:
Just had a look at the Primo systems.

How would this do for browsing the internet, watching YouTube, movies and office?
Only possible downside I can see is that there is no hdmi but if it's needed in the future i could just convert the DVI.

YOUR BASKET
1 x "Primo Pro iX" Configurable Intel Pentium / Core i3/i5 Office PC £100.04
1 x Networking Not Selected £0
1 x Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days £0
1 x 24 MONTH WARRANTY - COLLECT & RETURN £0.01
1 x No Operating System £0
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £41.99
1 x KHX1600C9D3/4G 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 DIMM £29.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) HDD £35.99
1 x No Second Hard Drive Option (ZERO Cost) £0
1 x NO OPTICAL DRIVE INSTALLED £0
Total : £226.62 (includes shipping : £15.50).

 
for an office/internet machine, a celeron would be more than enough. i see OcUK have the g1820 for 31.99. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-529-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

that's 10/15 quid freed up to spend elsewhere. ignore the celeron name, they're actually very capable. :) i even used to play games like gta4/crysis with my sandybridge celeron (2.4ghz)/6850. obviously settings were on medium but i was more than happy with the performance/£££ ratio.
 
Last edited:
Boooooooooooooom

mxDkUd


and just incase the stupid link doesnt work from the work computer heres the link https://flic.kr/p/mxDkUd
 
wildest_jjk said:
Just to add, using the above components I have built on some of the issues that were mentioned.

How about something like this? Including the OS.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £41.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x MSI H81M-E33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £34.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £26.99
1 x Zalman T1 Plus Mini-Tower USB 3.0 - Black £19.99
Total : £248.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).



More than I was hoping but I would like to give them a new computer and both the same. It will make my life easier. I'm not sure on the PSU/case still though.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi guys,

I wanted to ask some final questions regarding my setup above.

In terms of the case, is this a good option in the budget? I'm unsure about how good the Zalman will be and if there are any better alternatives for a similar price?

Finally I realise I do now need HDD's for these PC's.

I have been looking at mechanical and hybrid but these are new to me and I'm not sure how worthwhile it would be. These are the hard drives I am looking at for the moment.

Seagate 500GB SSHD Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" 5400RPM 64MB

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache

Would a hybrid be worthwhile? Are these drives any good?

Thanks!!!
 
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