My First spec

[kennyp]

Any comments?...Actually thinking of parting with my own money for this
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X2 560 (3.30GHz/6MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A78LT-M: mATX MAINBOARD, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
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
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
4 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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo (£49)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£46)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Del

 

[Meds]

What will you use the PC for & what budget do you have? I'm certain we will be able to improve things for you

 

[kennyp]

Mainly general home use but I also need ability to video edit (as I am getting more and more tapes of the kids and need to put them into some form of order). I want to be able to watch Blu ray movies on a decent monitor via hdmi and with decent sound.Modest amount of gaming also.Also as the kids get older they will use it more and more so do need decent amount of memory. Its to replace my five year old hp desktop which has been great but starting to run slower and slower despite all the tune ups/ defrags etc I can muster. Budget is between £800-£900

 

[Meds]

You're definitely on the right track. I attempted to put together a spec based on the new 2nd Gen Intel CPUs but with your peripherals & warranty you selected it rocketed up towards £1k

The only suggestion that I'd make is to change the CPU to the AMD Phenon II X4 955 - it's only an extra £20 but you get a quad core instead of dual core. The only other way to improve the PC would be to spend less on peripherals - is this something you'd be happy to do?

 

[kennyp]

I would have preferred a 2nd gen intel, also. The Monitor has to be a decent one with hdmi connectivity, looking at the options the one I chose seemed to be the cheapest (Unless you know different!). The speakers I could drop and use my current ones. The only other item that could save me would be reducing the warranty cover. I have noticed that the majority seem to go for the silver at a fiver but I am a pessimist by nature.....what do you think?

 

[Meds]

So far you have;

IIyama 24" Monitor - £169
Logitech Wave Keyboard & Mouse - £49
Logitech Z323 Speakers - £46

I'd keep the Monitor as it is, the warranty also - if it gives you peace of mind then it's worth the money. If you lost the speakers and used your current set and dropped the keyboard & mouse to the Logitech MK250 (£18) you'd free up £79, with that you could...

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 PCI
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
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
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
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
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£18)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £925.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

Note: if you dropped to the Core i3-3120 the price would come to £892.00.

 

[Meds]

You could also drop to the stock Intel Cooler and remove the wireless card (unless it 100% necessary).

 

[kennyp]

My First Spec

Thanks for that, but wanted to keep the price under £900,preferably mid £800's but it is looking good

 

[James]

You could drop £30 from the setup by simply dropping from the 24" screen to the 22" screen.

You could also save some money on the Mouse and Keyboard area, and is the Triple cooler necessary ?

 

[kennyp]

Just had another look and came up with this, I know its over £900 but it does include monitor and speakers, what u think?

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7H55-M SI: MICRO ATX VALUE MAINBOARD,USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
2nd Graphics Card
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
2nd Hard Disk
NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE
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
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing
NONE
TV Card
NONE
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
2nd Monitor
NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision
NONE
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo (£49)
Mouse
NONE
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£46)
Webcam
NONE
Headsets (VOIP)
NONE
Surge Protection
NONE
Printer
NONE
External Hard Drive
NONE
Home Installation
NONE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Data Recovery
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Quote Value:
£963.00

 

[kennyp]

Maybe this is poss my ideal spec as it covers everything I want........This is more difficult than I thought. Don't want to order something that I will regret later (The 'if only' syndrome) but if I am realistic
I should try and keep it under £900 ('er indoors will have a fit if I go much over!!....frightened, me?.....'course not!)

 

[Meds]

The spec you have done is using the older H55 chipset which has just been replaced by the newer, more powerful H67 & P67 (Sandy Bridge). Even though the performance from the specification you have put together will be good, no doubt the H55 will be discontinued soon and I can't recommend spending nearly £1k on technology that has already (in a way) been replaced - hope that makes sense?

As it stands, with your £900 budget the best spec for you would be this;

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 955 (3.20GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A78LT-M: mATX MAINBOARD, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 450 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
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
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
4 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
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo (£49)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z323 2.1 SPEAKERS - 30W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£46)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £898.00 including VAT and delivery.


Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-home-office-pc/

This way you get your PC, Monitor, Speakers, Keyboard and Mouse & warranty that you want. If you are willing or decide to push past the £900 barrier then I really would push you towards the 2nd Gen Core CPUs rather than the orginal (older) ones.

Also, where did the Sound Card turn up from? Honestly, you won't need it the onboard audio is just as good for media play back.

 

[kennyp]

Trying to work out the differences between the suggestions so far........My main problem if I'm totally honest is that I want my cake and eat it. You are being fantastic with the help so when the kids have gone to bed tonight and the missus is out I am going to go thru the specs so far work out what I NEED together with future proofing (hate that term) as much as possible then hopefully will come up with a final spec.
Remember the days of cream/beige units with crt screens sold by Tiny Computers....(Now I am showing my age) life was so much simpler then!!!!

 

[pez]

^^ LOL

Indeed. Would you like 256mg of Ram, 256 mg of Ram or maybe, this beautiful 256mg of ram

 

[kennyp]

Have checked through previous specs and after checking for alternate sources for monitor and keyboard PCS have them at the best price.......So I think this is what I finally have come up with.....what do you think?:surrender

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 440 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£49)
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 GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 x HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo (£49)
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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price is £919......can live with that

 

[Tom DWC]

It's looking pretty good - personally I prefer Meds' spec because it's more balanced overall due to the stronger graphics card.

 

[kennyp]

Thanks for that didn't notice the graphics card change did mean to select the GTS 450 as I have done all along, so have changed the quote to show that

 

[Meds]

Looks good, it'll perform brilliantly and although it's slightly more than you originally wanted to pay, I think you've made a good choice.

 

[kennyp]

Thanks Meds, took a while to get there but appreciated the help from your good self and the other forum members. Just one thing do you allow collection of the p.c. by buyer or does it have to be posted?

 

[Rakk]

I believe you can go pick up it up yourself when its ready, as long as you let them know.