Budget Build

[IainM]

Hey,

Wanting to build a budget PC but a bit unsure as whether to go with AMD or Intel..

Really just want to use it for browsing internet, MSN, listening to music, watching movies.. etc etc..

Nothing major,

Gigabyte GA-P35-S3L, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800 MHz, SATA II, ATX £49.99 £58.74
256MB Asus Radeon X1650 Pro PCI-E (x16) 12 Pipes 800 MHz GDDR3 600 MHz D-Sub/DVI-I/HDTV £42.99 £50.51
2Gb (2X1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC5400 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12 £40.54 £47.63
Coolermaster RC-330 Elite Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU + 80mm Coolermaster Internal Case Fan Black £22.99 £27.01
400W EZ-Cool Silent pPFC Power Supply AMD & P4 Ready 8cm Silent Fan
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400, Socket 775, 2.0 GHz, 800MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail £64.39 £75.66
19" Daewoo HL920W , Black, Widescreen, 5 ms, DVI/VGA, 1440x900, 1000:1 £94.99 £111.61
LG 18X GSA-H62NBAL DVD+/-RW, 12X RAM SATA Black OEM £16.29 £19.14
Microsoft Multimedia Value Pack V2 Wired Keyboard, PS2, Ball Mouse, Ivory £10.99 £12.91
250 Gb HGST (IBM/Hitachi) 0A31636/OA33423 Deskstar T7K250, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ £33.61 £39.49

Total: £442.72

That was a little over budget...

Was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as to waht i could drop.

Thanks,
Iain.

[NightshadowUK]

I'd go AMD cos it's cheaper, drop the £50 graphics card for something cheaper / onboard and, last but most importantly, get a decent brand of PSU.

[shadowmaster]

I would advise not to buy that Ezcool psu, really bad quality.

What is your total budget?

[Thorsson]

Throw that "Ball Mouse" away! Can't beat Logitech IMO. Don't skimp. Maybe something like this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=608233 (the side buttons allow to to go back and fowards in web pages which I find very useful in my MX518). Keyboard to match: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=607149. The extra money is well worth it for items that can make a big difference in how you feel about your system.

PSU - get a name brand. With a 120mm fan (much quieter). Modular is also nice as it means less wires - and you're not going to need that many. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=284214 would be ideal, although you could get away with spending about £10 less.

I'd suggest the Samsung SH-203 Optical drive - according to CDFreaks it's top dog at the moment and around the same price.

If you're not going to OC (and I see no aftermarket cooler) then AMD is a better option than C2D. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=445618 and http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=661331 for instance.

GFX I would suggest a DX10 card, simply for DX10 support and the additional movie hardware. Oddly enough this will save you money. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=633079 is an example, although 2400Pro is even cheaper.

Most here would go Samsung (quiet) or Seagate (5 year warranty) rather than a Deathstar for the HDD.

[Pob255]

Fully agree with NightshadowUK with these additional comments.
If there's no gameing to be done:
Then you'll see little differnce with 2gb of memory over 1gb
Pritty much anything will do for graphics.

You don't need a high end motherboard if you're not planning any major overclocks.
Antec cases come with decent PSUs (Antec earthwatts) if you can find one with PSU (none on scan atm)

[peterb]

If you really want budget, you could do a lot worse than buy an Asus terminator set up. Nothing startling (and the hard core gamers would turn their noses up at it ) but you can build a respectable PC for under £300. (And as someone said, Samsung disk for silence) It is also pretty quickto build as te major assembly has been done. Install, HD, DVD, memory and CPU and its ready to go.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...rs=4&OrderBy=1

[IainM]

OK.

Made some adjustments..

Now got,

Gigabyte GAM61SME-S2
AMD AM2 Athlon 64 4200+
Corsair XMS2 PC5400
Seagate Barracuda 250GB
Asus 7300TC GFX

Samsung SH-S203
Antec NSK6000
Tagan 380W PSU
Daewoo 19" Widescreen
Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse

That's to a total of £415.50

Was wondering whether it would be a good idea to drop the GFX completley an just use the onboard.. Don't know if it will make a major difference when watching movies.

As for the mouse and keyboard, i'm sure i'll upgrade on them at a later date, just want a matching pair for the meanwhile.

Obviously, any more ideas as to how to drop the price at all would be appreciated,

Thanks,
Iain.

[staffsMike]

I'd prefer an abit board

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=507034

or this asus which offers more ram slots for a few quid more

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=564802

If you want to save money don't bother with a graphics card at all..the onboard will be ok for all of that, i believe the asus board i linked to does it well

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=622461
this one even has DVI onboard

[Queelis]

Wouldn't Antec NSK6500, which comes with PSU preinstalled, be cheaper than NSK6000 and a separate PSU?

[pp05]

Are you building for windows XP?

[pp05]

if you already have a midi-tower look into using that if possible. [Ignore if it doesn't apply to you.]

Second will you be using windows XP or vista? If XP, then 1gig will serve you well for what you want. Heck I use 512mb on mine. You could save £15-20.

Processors, speed isn't a consideration anymore for general usage of PC's. So you could easily get a decent AMD heat sink for £50.

[NightshadowUK]

I agree with a lot of what's been said so to summarize:

- Swap the Gigabyte motherboard for an Abit AN-M2.

- The Antec NSK6500 would be a good choice as it's the same case but with a PSU included.

- If you're running XP consider 1GB Corsair TwinX XMS2 PC5400 4-4-4-12.

[Pob255]

Only problem with the NSK6500 is none in stock and

Item overdue since 25/07/2007

overdue for over a month.

And realy ditch the *** keyboard&mouse, it's a ball mouse!
Cheap and basic http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=132723
Or seperate for the same sort of price
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=607149
or
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=495321 (without multimedia controls, I'm useing one, it's very nice to type on )
+
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=189064 (cheap optical mouse, does the job, with out balls to clean)

[IainM]

I'm gonna be using XP..

Other issue with the Abit Mobo is that it's out of stock..

Was really wanting to place an order asap..

[DanceswithUnix]

That video card really isn't worth bothering with. Stick to the Nvidia integrated for now, it has all the same movie scaling/decoding hardware in it as the 7300.

[DanceswithUnix]

Actually, the video card has a DVI port on it, which some people swear by. Other motherboards have one as well, is that important to you?