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Thread: £350 build

  1. #1
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    £350 build

    Hi all

    I'm looking to upgrade/build new pc for my old man. Only need base as already has monitor etc.
    He only needs a fairly basic machine as all he does is surf the net and use a few other apps like office etc. Also occasionally put capture a vid from his camcorder.
    Going to be running Windows 7 so that's got to be included in the £350 budget.
    He does have a case but can't remember any details of it and the psu. Could probably do with a new and more efficient one I suspect.

    Anyone any suggestions. Oh and it'll have to last at least 5 years.


    Thanks

    Stu

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    Re: £350 build

    Maybe a pre-built office spec PC -

    Plus - Low power consumption (imo a plus), warranty and savings to be had on the OS make it attractive.
    You shouldn't have to maintain it
    May find one with a larger monitor; I know my folks are running in very low resolution.

    Minus -You won't have the fun of building it
    Lower spec.
    Poorer slection of parts to cannibilise later on.

    No sure on the specs; a nice dual core should be ok unless he goes crazy with 3D rendering and other process intensive tasks. i would look at what Dell offers and then shop around based on the price/performance.

    W7 seems to run very well on most systems I have tried it on and I am sure everyone will be using it in 5 years time (fingers crossed thats its the new XP and not the next ME).

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    Re: £350 build

    This is what I would get:

    AMD Athlon II X4 620 ~£76

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-A...MHz-95W-Retail

    This is a quad core processor which will be better for video encoding than a dual core as most video encoding software tends to be multi threaded AFAIK.

    M4A785D-M PRO ~£57

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-M4A785D-M-PRO

    This motherboard has all solid capacitors meaning it will have a longer lifespan in theory.

    4gb PC2-8500 DDR2 RAM ~£57

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...S-5-6-6-18-EPP

    Samsung F3 500GB ~ £37

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500Gb...-Cache-8ms-OEM

    Windows 7 Home Premium ~ £65

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Micro...lease-22-10-09

    Sony Labelflash DVD rewriter ~£17

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sony-...Labelflash-OEM

    Silverpower 400w PSU ~ £27

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/400w-...ed-cooling-fan

    Silverpower is part of the same company as Tagan.

    The total comes to around £336 excluding a case and including the free Scan postage for Hexus members with over 20 posts.

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    • britstu's system
      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
      • Phenom II X3 720 BE
      • Memory:
      • 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 RC 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 21" Trinitron

    Re: £350 build

    Thanks for the replies guys.
    I like the idea of a pre built pc but worried me that if I want to add hard drive or graphics card then it would voind the warranty.

    Was thinking of a similar set up to what "cat-the-fifth" suggested

    AMD Athlon II X2 245, Regor Core, S AM3, 2.90GHz ~~ £45
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductId=30153
    He'll only ever use the video editing probaly 2 or 3 times So not sure it justifies the extra 65% cost?

    Asus M4N78 PRO ~~ £60
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductId=28853

    Or indeed the M4A785D-M PRO. Is their much between them?

    4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 ~~ £57
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1018761

    500 GB Seagate ST3500418AS Barracuda 7200.12 ~~ £36
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500GB...MB-Cache-11-ms

    Windows 7 Home Premium ~~ £65

    Coolermaster Elite 331 Black/Silver Midi Tower Case w/o PSU + 500W Ezcool PSU Silent 80mm Fan 24pin+ ~~ £31 Today only combo price
    This or somehing similar.

    That all comes in at about £294 which is good

    Am tempted to get another drive and run it in raid as he's always parranoid about backing up his stuff.

    Any thougts?

    Cheers for you help

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    Re: £350 build

    As you're looking to capture from Camcorder, I take it via Firewire? You'd need a capture card of some sort or a firewire card if transferring via this method from the camcorder. If you do purchase a motherboard with on-board firewire ports then this would more than likely negate the need for an additional firewire card saving cost.

    Oh yeah, get yourself a decent branded PSU it might save you some headache!

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    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by britstu View Post
    Coolermaster Elite 331 Black/Silver Midi Tower Case w/o PSU + 500W Ezcool PSU Silent 80mm Fan 24pin+ ~~ £31 Today only combo price
    This or somehing similar.

    That all comes in at about £294 which is good

    Am tempted to get another drive and run it in raid as he's always parranoid about backing up his stuff.

    Any thougts?

    Cheers for you help
    Don't skimp out on a PSU, you'll only come to regret it later (and it almost certainly won't last the 5 years you're hoping for) - Cat's suggestion was a good one, and it's not like a half-decent case will be very expensive.

    And don't bother with RAID, just get him an external USB/eSATA drive that he can plug in once a week and backup onto or whatever. If he's paranoid, he'll be more than happy to take the 5 minutes per week/fortnight or whatever to do the backup.

    The idea of using RAID 1 for backup in combination with an EZCool PSU is an interesting one - mechanical hard drive failure is certainly not the only way in which you can lose data

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      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
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      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
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    Re: £350 build

    Thanks guys for your input.
    The camcorder is done via a usb capture dongle thing so don't have to worry about that one. Plus he'll only ever use it a couple of times.

    I understand what you're saying about psu,s I've had a few problems myself with them before and have just got a better one.

    As for the raid idea I was more concerned about him not having to do anything as he sometimes forgets how to do the back up. Or if there's a problem with a file not copying or something then he's never quite sure what to do with it. That's were the raid seems like a great idea as he doesn't have to do a thing. It just backs up everything as it goes.

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    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by britstu View Post
    As for the raid idea I was more concerned about him not having to do anything as he sometimes forgets how to do the back up. Or if there's a problem with a file not copying or something then he's never quite sure what to do with it. That's were the raid seems like a great idea as he doesn't have to do a thing. It just backs up everything as it goes.
    You can run automated backups onto an external drive, that's no problem.

    If you have RAID though, you're relying on the computer to keep those two drives going - if anything happens, like for example the PSU blowing up, it will probably be the end of both drives rather than just one of them, and then you've lost your backup.

    Okay, so you can probably send them to a data recovery firm, but by that time it's cost a fortune and you might as well have got an external drive.

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    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by snootyjim View Post
    You can run automated backups onto an external drive, that's no problem.

    If you have RAID though, you're relying on the computer to keep those two drives going - if anything happens, like for example the PSU blowing up, it will probably be the end of both drives rather than just one of them, and then you've lost your backup.

    Okay, so you can probably send them to a data recovery firm, but by that time it's cost a fortune and you might as well have got an external drive.
    I wouldn't bother with the external drive unless he has >50GB data to save, use an online backup service and schedule it, low cost and much more reliable.

    People talk about PSU failure, but if this happens while the external drive is connected it's possibly still curtains... and unless that drive goes off-site you still have fire/theft to worry about. Online backup is the best solution for home users, or at least a dual solution of online for the most important stuff and an external drive for the bulky but less critical (i.e. DVD rips that could if needs be be done again).

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    • britstu's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GA-MA790X-UD4P (bios F5)
      • CPU:
      • Phenom II X3 720 BE
      • Memory:
      • 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX HD 4770 Soon to be 2 in Crossfire
      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 RC 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 21" Trinitron

    Re: £350 build

    Thanks I didn't realise you could do automated back ups to an external hard drive.

    Have seen an external drive that can connect to his router so that might be a possability as then I can set it it up to back up both his and my mums pc via the network. That would be possible wouldn't it?

    Don't really like the idea of online data storage but thanks for the suggestion.

    I'm not entirely convinced psu faliure will make me loose everything though. I've had 2 psu's go pop and not lost a single hard drive. It's killed my mobo but that's about it.
    I'll probably regret saying that now I've tempted fate.

    Cheers

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    • britstu's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GA-MA790X-UD4P (bios F5)
      • CPU:
      • Phenom II X3 720 BE
      • Memory:
      • 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX HD 4770 Soon to be 2 in Crossfire
      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 RC 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 21" Trinitron

    Re: £350 build

    OK I've now ordered most parts but just can't decide on my mobo.

    This is what I've ordered....

    Athlon II X2 245
    4GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 PC2-6400
    1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
    385W Enermax PRO82+ PSU
    Windows 7

    That just leaves my mobo

    I'm thinking the Asus M4A78-EM @ £52.18
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...-uATX-VGA-HDMI

    But also the Asus M4A785D-M PRO @ £57.49
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-M4A785D-M-PRO

    Is it worth the 10% extra cost especially as I'm on a tight budget?

    I'm looking to get an external drive and was thinking of the Seagate 500GB FreeAgent Desk USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500GB...rpm-16MB-Cache
    This one should be ok shouldn't it? Again price is a real issue as at £48 I might be able to get 2 of them rather than one that attatches to the router.

    Thanks
    Last edited by britstu; 20-10-2009 at 04:17 PM. Reason: price correction

  12. #12
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      • Motherboard:
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      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVEN BIGGER E-PEEN
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      • OVERSIZED
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      • UNDERSIZED
      • Operating System:
      • DOS 6.22
      • Monitor(s):
      • NOT USUALLY ON....WHEN I POST
      • Internet:
      • FUNCTIONAL

    Re: £350 build

    I like this Biostar with the newer 785G chipset since it has 128mb of RAM on the motherboard for the integrated graphics card:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Biost...-RAID-mATX-VGA

    However it could do with more connectors on the back panel!!



    There also this Asus motherboard which has E-SATA which is great for an external hard disk:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-M4A785D-M-PRO

    It has an excellent array of connectors!!



    Regarding the external hard disk I would get this enclosure which supports both E-SATA and USB:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sumvi...losure-inc-Fan

    I would put a 500GB Samsung F3 hard disk in it:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500Gb...-Cache-8ms-OEM

  13. #13
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    Re: £350 build

    First rule of a backup strategy in Int.2 computing: Keep the backup far away from the original!

  14. #14
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    • britstu's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GA-MA790X-UD4P (bios F5)
      • CPU:
      • Phenom II X3 720 BE
      • Memory:
      • 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX HD 4770 Soon to be 2 in Crossfire
      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 RC 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 21" Trinitron

    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    I would put a 500GB Samsung F3 hard disk in it:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500Gb...-Cache-8ms-OEM
    Have done that in the past for myself and I did think about doing the ext drive that way but it still works out more expensive and doesn't have the same warrenty and backup software. I can get the Seagate Freeagent for £48 which seems good to me.

    Apart from the connections on the back do you think the extra 128mb onboard memory will make any differance. My dad uses a 22" lcd monitor but has the res at a lower setting so he can see it better. He doesn't play games or anything, well apart from solitaire.

    Thanks

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    • britstu's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GA-MA790X-UD4P (bios F5)
      • CPU:
      • Phenom II X3 720 BE
      • Memory:
      • 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 & 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX HD 4770 Soon to be 2 in Crossfire
      • PSU:
      • 850W NorthQ Black Magic Flex Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaser ATC 111
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 RC 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 21" Trinitron

    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by nibbler View Post
    First rule of a backup strategy in Int.2 computing: Keep the backup far away from the original!
    Sorry but not sure what you mean? What's Int.2 computing?

  16. #16
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    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Less E-PEEN
      • CPU:
      • Massive E-PEEN
      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVEN BIGGER E-PEEN
      • PSU:
      • OVERSIZED
      • Case:
      • UNDERSIZED
      • Operating System:
      • DOS 6.22
      • Monitor(s):
      • NOT USUALLY ON....WHEN I POST
      • Internet:
      • FUNCTIONAL

    Re: £350 build

    Quote Originally Posted by britstu View Post
    Have done that in the past for myself and I did think about doing the ext drive that way but it still works out more expensive and doesn't have the same warrenty and backup software. I can get the Seagate Freeagent for £48 which seems good to me.

    Apart from the connections on the back do you think the extra 128mb onboard memory will make any differance. My dad uses a 22" lcd monitor but has the res at a lower setting so he can see it better. He doesn't play games or anything, well apart from solitaire.

    Thanks
    The Samsung comes with a three year warranty and also the E-SATA connection is much faster than USB2 from my experience. Also the drive will spin down automatically when you shut the computer down and you can also have SMART monitoring to check if the drive is overheating or not.

    Also the enclosure comes with a fan which means there is some sort of active cooling for the drive meaning it should run cooler. The Samsung F3 is the fastest 500GB hard disk out there as it is single platter too.

    Regarding the motherboard you might as well go for the Asus on account of its better array of connectors and all solid capacitors as these should last longer in theory as they cannot leak AFAIK.

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