All round PC for £200?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Any cheaper RAM out there as its getting quite expensive?

You could try looking at some 800MHZ DDR2:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142380

If you don't mind running the RAM in single channel then get one RAM module only:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165306

Alternatively get 2 of these 1GB 1066MHZ DDR2 modules:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143020

[wzix]

One of the far left I'm talking about

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/busi...bsd&cs=ukbsdt1

Looks good to me seeing as everything is included? Ok the HDD is a downside but opinions?

thanks alot

wzix

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

One of the far left I'm talking about

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/busi...bsd&cs=ukbsdt1

Looks good to me seeing as everything is included? Ok the HDD is a downside but opinions?

thanks alot

wzix

That is a very good specification for the price but will cost you around £387 after VAT is added.

Here is the specification:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5 -750 (2.66GHz, 8MB)
OPERATING SYSTEM English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English
SECURITY SOFTWARE Norton Internet Security™ 2010 - 30 Day Protection
MONITOR Display Not Included
MEMORY 2048MB (2x1024) 1066MHz DDR3 Single Channel
HARD DRIVE Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA non Raid (7200rpm)
GRAPHICS CARD Graphics: 512MB ATI RadeonTM HD 4350 (DVI, VGA,HDMI)
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD-ROM Optical Drive for Win 7
KEYBOARD UK/Irish (QWERTY) Dell Standard Quietkey USB Keyboard Black
MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

You will need to manually upgrade to 64 bit Windows 7 although this is free.

The Core i5 750 is a very fast processor and trades blows with the top end Phenom II X4 965:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/defau...x?p=102&p2=109

Also the HD4350 will be faster than the HD3200 integrated graphics on the 780G motherboards although both are not high performance graphics cards for playing modern games


However the downsides to the system are:
1.)Small and potentially slow hard disk
2.)No DVD rewriter
3.)The system is running 1066MHZ DDR3 RAM which usually has high latencies
4.)The price of the system is way over your budget
5.)Many of the Dells tend to have propriety connectors so when parts like the PSU have issues it can be hard to find new parts

The PSU is 350W.

However the £70+ difference in price means you could potentially get a Phenom II X4 955BE or 965BE into your build too.

[wzix]

Ok I'm back to my build now lol,

Just trying to understand Windows upgrade etc.

Found this

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/58289...onal-64?page=2

http://www.software4students.co.uk/M...n-details.aspx

An upgrade version but would it work using this guys instructions?



For £36
"

1. install as clean, but do not enter serial number
2. reinstall over the top, but this time "upgrade" the original unregistered version
3. enter serial number this time and it will activate, as it sees it as an upgrade.

"

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ok I'm back to my build now lol,

Just trying to understand Windows upgrade etc.

Found this

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/58289...onal-64?page=2

http://www.software4students.co.uk/M...n-details.aspx

An upgrade version but would it work using this guys instructions?



For £36
"

1. install as clean, but do not enter serial number
2. reinstall over the top, but this time "upgrade" the original unregistered version
3. enter serial number this time and it will activate, as it sees it as an upgrade.

"

I am not sure TBH!!

If you have an MSDNAA account you maybe able to get Windows 7 for free.

[wzix]

Ok Well I'll investigate further, and if needed just buy a different version.

Before spending would you mind just confirming my components are actually going to work together?

Thankyou very much for your help!

AMD X3 425
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+
Samsung SH-S223 22X DVD
Kingston 2gb Ddr2 1066mhz/pc2-8500 Hyperx Memory Cl5
Antec New Solution NSK3480-UK

Any other last recommendations?

thanks once again CAT

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have found two alternatives to the motherboard you have chosen!

The first is based on an Nvidia 8200 IGP and has four RAM slots:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152752

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_I...hSV&templete=2

This motherboards has the slightly improved 785G IGP but still has only two RAM slots:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/171803

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=pr...&prod_no=1883#

[wzix]

I have found two alternatives to the motherboard you have chosen!

The first is based on an Nvidia 8200 IGP and has four RAM slots:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152752

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_I...hSV&templete=2

This motherboards has the slightly improved 785G IGP but still has only two RAM slots:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/171803

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=pr...&prod_no=1883#

Just need to decide which out of the 3 is best, the 785G looks good, but what about it being MSI?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

At least in the last few years MSI has made some decent motherboards for AMD processors IMHO.

Here is a review of the motherboard:

http://en.inpai.com.cn/doc/enshowcon...87&pageid=6203

[wzix]

At least in the last few years MSI has made some decent motherboards for AMD processors IMHO.

Here is a review of the motherboard:

http://en.inpai.com.cn/doc/enshowcon...87&pageid=6203

How does the Nvidia 8200 compare to the 785G/780?

Lol, really need to make a decision on this one now

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How does the Nvidia 8200 compare to the 785G/780?

Lol, really need to make a decision on this one now

For gaming the 780G is faster than the 8200:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3430&p=4

The 785G has lower idle power consumption,DX10.1,better media decoding abilities than the 780G but performance in games is the same AFAIK.

[wzix]

Which would you choose the Asus 780 or the MSI 785?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably go with the MSI motherboard due to the newer IGP and better media decoding abilities of the 785G over the 780G. Also the SB710 southbridge which the MSI motherboard has is better than the SB700 the Asus has!

[wzix]

I would probably go with the MSI motherboard due to the newer IGP and better media decoding abilities of the 785G over the 780G. Also the SB710 southbridge which the MSI motherboard has is better than the SB700 the Asus has!

Right thankyou very much for all your help.

So it all should definitely go together well?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Right thankyou very much for all your help.

So it all should definitely go together well?

Hopefully!!

The motherboard CPU list shows that the X3 425 is supported and the motherboard can take 1066MHZ DDR2:

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=pr...=&prod_no=1883

[kmac]

Windows 7 upgrade edition for £36

http://www.software4students.co.uk/

You must have an existing XP or Vista license though

Else full version is circa £52

Edit: oops you've already found this. chanced upon it as I was looking for a Windows 7 deal myself