General use machine

[Dudley]

Hi Chaps, bought a top spec machine a year ago, love it.

So now my brother needs a PC so look after him or I look stupid

His requirements are a little more modest than mine, it's just a standard home desktop we're doing here with a stated budget of 600. Here's what I've come up with any comments?

Coolermaster Elite 310 case
ASUS P8H670M Motherboard
Core i3-2130 (dual core, 3.4ghz)
8GB Kingson Hyper-X
1gb Geforce 430
120GB OCZ Vertex SSD
(Has own data hard drive to be fitted post purchase)
350W PSU
Standard Intel cooling

This comes out to 609 which is dead on the money. The expensive bit is the SSD but I think in general use (and it is a machine that gets shut down when not in use) that'll make a difference worth having over a bit more CPU grunt or (certainly) graphics card.

I'm also assuming the CPU will cope with this lowish end machine and that the graphics card is dual-head. Am I safe there?

Thanks in advance all.

 

[Rakk]

If its only for 'standard home use' such as browsing, word, excel, email etc then 4GB of RAM will be plenty, and the Samsung 1333MHz RAM would be perfectly fine (you don't really need the 1600MHz RAM, you wouldn't notice the difference anyway).

I'm not sure I'd go for an SSD in a low end machine, seems a lot of the budget for what you get.

 

[Corfate]

Probably best to go for an AMD X4. I prefer AMD more but that's my preference

 

[Sleinous]

I'd go for the 450W PSU and get a smaller 64GB SSD and put it on a Z68 motherboard. Either way you shouldnt be getting the H67 chi^pset as its for those that arent buying a dedicated graphics card. The P67 or Z68 boards should be used when adding a dedicated graphics card. I'd really recommend the Z68 chipset board because you can use the Intel smart reponse technology: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review

Pop the SSD in and use it as a large cache with your existing HDD, you will notice a huge boost over just an HDD but obviously not as much as just SSD on its own but as you were intending on using the HDD as data storage anyway you would have been limited by the HDD's responsiveness anyway.

Honestly i'd go for that option. Z68 + i3 2130 + GT 430 + 450W PSU + 64GB SSD + HDD


Recommended Build:


Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3-2130 Dual Core (3.40GHz, 3MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 - DVI,HDMI,VGA
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 90MB/sW)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £615.00 including VAT and delivery.


Note:I realise that is an 80GB SSD, its still cheaper than a 160GB SSD and considering you were going to put apps and stuff on the HDD anyway even 64GB is big enough for Windows + Anti-Virus + Critical startup programs and offers very similar speeds indeed! (is exactly what I do).

 

[Petchi b]

I would go for this. It has a strong quad core CPU, a better GPU and a fast Caviar Black HDD. On a budget like yours an SSD is not worth it, it's a luxury not a necessity, the Caviar Black will be more than fast enough for your needs. An AMD setup is advisable with your budget as you will get a lot more for your hard earned cash.

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A87: AM3+ PLATFORM, DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £574.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Wozza63]

theres no point spending it on an expensive graphics card if it will just sit there, so from the above you could always swap the 550Ti for an SSD and CPU cooler

 

[Sleinous]

^+1

 

[Dudley]

Don't need the Windows either which helps.

Yeah I think I'll drop the SSD it is a lovely idea but it's maybe still one machine away for said brother.

Thanks all.

 

[Wozza63]

if you can afford it and you dont mind spending the money it may be a good idea to get one, however big, im sure hed be amazed by the speed difference compared to his last one/current

 

[Petchi b]

Don't need the Windows either which helps.

Yeah I think I'll drop the SSD it is a lovely idea but it's maybe still one machine away for said brother.

Thanks all.

If you dont need Windows you can invest that money in a better case and a faster CPU..but that's your choice