Spec Me Long Overdue Upgrade

cjp2k

cjp2k

cjp2k

Associate
Joined
21 Jan 2003
Posts
59
Location
Darlington UK
Hi Guys, I dont often post, however I have not built a pc for about 7 years, my Girlfriend has been offered a place on a pgce course so needs a PC for uni work (she has been working for the last 5 years!) I am going to upgrade my old PC which is a P4 2.8 ghz 300gb HD and 2 gb ram.

This is obviously quite an old system, so I think I need a entire new system!

I am not sure what to look for, its mainly for her uni work, web browsing and if possible I would like to use it as a server for music collection and maybe to rip/store dvd to stream to my HDTV in the lounge...(This part I am not so sure about)

So if you could point me in the right direction for a good CPU Not sure what all this new fangled I7/I5/I3 means lol, Motherboard, Case (I like the look of some of the plain black alu cases without the flashy lights etc) and memory this would be appreciated!

Thanks

Chris
 
is your graphics card pci-e, psu good enough?

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line
Total
AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz
(Socket AM3) - Retail £152.74
(£129.99)
£152.74
(£129.99)
Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AMD 870 (Socket AM3)
DDR3 Motherboard £86.99
(£74.03)
£86.99
(£74.03)
OCZ Reaper Low-Latency 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
12800C6 (1600MHz) Dual-Channel
(OCZ3RPR1600C6LV4GK) £86.94
(£73.99)
£86.94
(£73.99)
Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case -
Black Pearl £80.99
(£68.93)
£80.99
(£68.93)
Sub
Total : £346.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland
with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £62.90
Total : £422.34
 
Psu is an old 500w antec..was quite expensive in 2003!

Graphics no, I only have AGP card currently, my PC was well before PCI-E!

I dont plan on overclocking, will stock CPU coolers be ok (My P4 is running stock cooler), Also I was going down the Intel route, as I have had issues in the past with the old T-bird AMDs, but this was years ago!

Cheers

Chris
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line
Total
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G
(Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £93.99
(£79.99)
£93.99
(£79.99)
OCZ Reaper Low-Latency 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
12800C6 (1600MHz) Dual-Channel
(OCZ3RPR1600C6LV4GK) £86.94
(£73.99)
£86.94
(£73.99)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 635 2.90GHz
(Socket AM3) - Retail £82.24
(£69.99)
£82.24
(£69.99)
Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case -
Black Pearl £80.99
(£68.93)
£80.99
(£68.93)
Sub
Total : £292.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland
with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £53.45
Total : £358.85

would be more than enough, motherboard even has onboard gpu.

your psu sounds fine.
 
slightly cheaper i3 option

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line
Total
OCZ Reaper Low-Latency 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
12800C6 (1600MHz) Dual-Channel
(OCZ3RPR1600C6LV4GK) £86.94
(£73.99)
£86.94
(£73.99)
Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket
LGA1156) - Retail £83.41
(£70.99)
£83.41
(£70.99)
Fractal Design Define R2 Midi Tower Case -
Black Pearl £80.99
(£68.93)
£80.99
(£68.93)
Asus P7H55-M Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3
microATX Motherboard £65.99
(£56.16)
£65.99
(£56.16)
Sub
Total : £270.07
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland
with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £49.45
Total : £332.02

the i3 has a built in gpu too, which the H55 motherboard can make use off.
 
Thanks for your help, will have a look at this in more detail tomorrow, its changed so much in 7 years lol!
 
the first spec would need a slightly different motherboard, due to your agp card, so change it to the one in spec two, which is also the one I recommend.
 
I dont plan on gaming mainly uni work/web and possibly media storage if I can figure how to get video rips to play on the lounge TV!

May need a cheap GPU afterall, my Girlfriend wants dual screen now...more expense:rolleyes:
 
Max Budget is about £650-£700, this price will include the Hard Drive, DVD RW as well but not the monitors,

Thanks for your help everyone

Cheers

Chris
 
For Uni work/web, video ripping & media storage...



Motherboard does 'dual independent displays support with HDMI/DVI and D-Sub'

EDIT: I'll admit the X6 might be too much for requirements but thinking long term especially if you plan to keep the PC for long just like your current or should I say previous system
 
Last edited:
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