Yet another one of my spec check threads

PureAppleJuice · 26 Jul 2011 at 10:41

Dear OcUK,

Thanks for the patience and apologies for posting what is now my fourth spec. I'm actually going to click the buy button today as my girlfriend has the day off work tomorrow and can actually wait for the delivery, hurray!

Two things;
i) I've had to ditch my original £700 spec as I'm being a cheapskate for the time being, this is why;
ii) I've gone for Lllano as I don't think I can justify money for a decent graphics card for the time being and am thinking of wacking one in later.
iii) I've gone for an SSD as I've used raptors for years and the thought of slow boots and slow OS make me feel ill!

Anyway, thoughts? Respec me? Wahhh. I've got ~£500 to spend and need to click buy before 4pm or whatever it is today!

PureAppleJuice · 26 Jul 2011 at 11:14

Also, for intergrated graphics should I pump up 4gb RAM to 8gb?

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 11:30

sorry... :/

Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £143.99
OcUK GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
Silverstone Temjin TJ08B Midi Tower Case - Black £74.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £49.99
MSI H61M-E33 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £46.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £27.98
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.85
Total : £506.34

No SSD. Quad core, GTX460.

PureAppleJuice · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:15

Looks like a good build, I suppose it's worth dropping the SSD for an enhanced overall spec right? This seems to be raised a lot.

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:24

Performance-wise, yeah, if you are gaming. If not interested, then Llano will do, or i3-2120.

And to be honest, 30GB would be cutting it close for an OS drive.

Can change case to Fractal Design, Temjin, or the old favorite, the Lian Li PC-A05BN. The Lian Li also has some neat optical drive bay covers to replace crummy DVD plastic facia and keep a clean look.

Can change the PSU to a BeQuiet Pure L7, which I think is a better unit (high efficiency, runs cool, same power on 12V). It's not modular though and cable clutter is also a consideration, obviously.

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:32

Note that the temjin can support cards up to 11'' in length.

If planning to add a proper GPU later, then maybe ditch the GTX 460 OC, get better modular PSU, and a SSD (50GB or over).

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:36

Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £143.99
Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £89.99
Silverstone Temjin TJ08B Midi Tower Case - Black £74.99
Lepa B-Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £72.98
MSI H61M-E33 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £46.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £27.98
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
Total : £502.91

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:38

And... £550 will give you a 2500K and a m-atx board

I think I'm getting carried away.

stulid · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:51

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £137.99
(£114.99) £137.99
(£114.99)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
(£45.82) £54.98
(£45.82)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
(£25.82) £30.98
(£25.82)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £27.98
(£23.32) £27.98
(£23.32)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £273.26
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £56.65
Total : £339.91

This better motherboard has SATA3.0 and USB3.0 and a full compliment of display outputs if you want to use the onboard GPU.

The XFX PSU is a Seasonic item,

Review - http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story2&reid=225

Then just pick a case you like.

PureAppleJuice · 26 Jul 2011 at 13:25

Thanks everybody, looks like nobody recommends Llano so I shall avoid! I'll attempt to put up some pictures of my budgety rubbishy build tomorrow night!

olivier renault · 26 Jul 2011 at 14:09

Llano aint bad, it's just not competitive right now. Motherboards are too expensive, and CPU aint cheap.

If you want low power HTPC, then they are pretty good.