What System? £550

Associate
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Posts
772
I'm not confident enough to put my own together and I want the assurance of the 24 month RTB warranty of a pre-build so I'm going for one of those. I just don't know what one though? there's so many and I'm not sure what is old or new tech. I need help, guys.

My budget is £550 and my main (almost exclusive) use is watching HD video and constant video encoding/Photoshop work. I don't game so extreme video cards aren't a requirement. I don't need an OS either and I have a new 2TB drive already waiting so keep that in mind (don't need SSD). I want the BitFenix Shinobi white case so that might also reduce the price in some cases of the build on a better machine? I guess I'm after the best/most powerful combination of motherboard/RAM/CPU

Can you please recommend the best possible machine for me budget/needs?
 
Problem with the 1st link is it's just an i3. I was hoping to get a little more future proofed than that and get an i5 3750. Problem with the 2nd is the Coolermaster 500W power. I've actually had 2 Coolermaster's blow on me so I'd never go back to them.

If I self build how much more am I actually able to get? I'm interested if it's a noticeable upgrade. I've taken a PC to bits many times to clean them but I've never attempted to remove/reseat a CPU as that part scares me.
 
Last edited:
Could you revise the above post to factor in me not needing a HD or Optical Drive. Put the money into better parts if possible? Especially the power supply. I need a rock solid supply that could run a card if need be. Thanks. I'd like one of those motherboards that allow 1-click overclocks.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - White/Black £49.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24


I'm quite happy with these parts. :) Just again about the power supply, I'll be running the CPU and 2 hard drives, an optical drive and would need enough to cover a future video card, so would 450W really be enough for this? I'll need some RAM on this build too. :P
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom