Lower budget spec check.

houghtonbee

New member
Hello there!

Hoping to get some advice before I commit to buying a PC from PC Specialist as you've been highly recommended to me. I'll be mainly using the PC for university work (Open University) in the short term but I also like playing games, especially Football Manager and the Total War series but I'd like a good setup to enable me to play future releases that catch the eye possibly flight simulators etc, as well as internet browsing. I've allowed myself a maximum budget of £700 but ideally would be looking to spend £550-650 unless the extra money is really worth spending. I've had a very quick go at the setup below;

STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache
ASUS® P8H61-MX USB3/SI: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 650Ti BOOST- 2 x DVI, HDMI, - 3D Vision Ready
FREE £50 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 & GTX 650Ti GPUs!
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
LOGITECH® K120 USB KEYBOARD (£9)
LOGITECH® OPTICAL USB MOUSE (£5)
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days

I've gone for the basic case as I'm not fussed on how it looks, although if a more expensive option is worthwhile I'd be interested to know? I'll be running the PC through my 23" bedroom tv which has either HDMI or VGA connections so I've chosen a graphics card with HDMI option rather then mHDMI but again I'd be interested to know if a cheaper option is more suitable to my needs. I went for a more expensive option in the hope it'll be good to use for a long time to come, for the whole build I've got an eye on it lasting for a good few years, my current PC World one (I know I know!) has lasted 7 years without me making too many demands on it. In regards to the processor I've followed the name to be honest, are AMD processors worth looking into to save a few quid? 8 gig of ram should give me enough power for a few years whilst giving me the option to upgrade in the future.

I'm not looking to get into overclocking anything, but will I need to spend any extra on cooling? The PC will be on top of a desk in a well ventilated room anyway.

Thanks for reading!
Alan.
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Hi Alan,
If you want more value for money you could consider an AMD CPU, for your budget choosing an intel CPU means that you need to compromise in other components. For £650 to £700 you can get a much better spec with a different gpu, a more suitable case for gaming and other things improved.
 

houghtonbee

New member
thanks for the quick reply.

re the graphics card, is there a lot of difference between a GTX 660 and a GTX 760? and how do they compare to the AMD 7850/7870 (I'm looking at the 2gb cards in the hope it'll be 'current' for longer!)?
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
I'm looking at the 2gb cards in the hope it'll be 'current' for longer
You need to consider other things apart from VRAM, from all the GPUs you mentioned the best is the GTX 760.
Case
InWIN MANA-136 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-6300 Six Core CPU (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS GAME with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £696.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/amd-bulldozer-top-spec-pc/NckURAIyvS/
 
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