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Thread: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

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    LTP
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    [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Hi guys,

    Just abit of background before we get to the nitty gritty...I previously had a desktop consisting of these specs:

    AMD Athlon XP 2800... and recently the PC decided to 'blow up' thus rendering it useless. The system was unstable for the past weeks with random crashes/freezing even during tasks such as youtubing. But one day it just died with 2 boom sounds coming from the system. I thought about repairing it but to be honest the components are so outdated I questioned whether this was worth doing...

    I have about £500 to spend (ideally lower bound) and wish to assemble a system myself from scratch. I'm not an "expert" so to speak in this sort of field although I did build my previous system but that was a long time ago...hence I am out of touched with the current state of the PC world.

    The User Requirements:
    - Internet
    - Streaming
    - Gaming (Wishing to try out games like COD4 and above if budget of £500 allows...)
    - Music/Video (Not editing)
    - General office stuff...

    Components Required:
    - Case (Something that has a easily accessible layout)
    - Motherboard (Built in soundcard, ethernet etc preferred)
    - CPU
    - Ram
    - Hard Drive
    - Monitor
    - Graphics Card
    - Ethernet
    - PSU
    - Keyboard (I have a good mouse already)
    - 2.1 Speakers

    Components I have already:
    - 250GB MAXTOR IDE
    - Mouse
    - 17inch CRT
    - DVD / CD Drive IDE

    A quick question: As my prevoius PC went bust, I am unable to extract my personal data from the 250GB. Once a new system is built, would I still be able to access the data in that hard drive because newer mobos will surely not support IDE connection anymore for HD?

    Another note, I am not really a perfectionist in PC systems hence if I had a choice of performance or value I would pick value so activities like overclocking would be out of the question for me. Btw, I'm open to suggestions on "PRE BUILT" systems exc monitor if price is right and has decent reviews...

    Woah, this was a long post, thanks for reading and looking forward to all your expert advice!

    LT

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    Headless Chicken Terbinator's Avatar
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Quote Originally Posted by LTP View Post
    A quick question: As my prevoius PC went bust, I am unable to extract my personal data from the 250GB. Once a new system is built, would I still be able to access the data in that hard drive because newer mobos will surely not support IDE connection anymore for HD?
    You would be surprised how many motherboards still offer IDE and Floppy support, to my knowledge at least the only boards i've seen that don't support them are intels own range
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
    CAT-THE-FIFTH: "The Antec 300 is a case which has an understated and clean appearance which many people like. Not everyone is into e-peen looking computers which look like a cross between the imagination of a hyperactive 10 year old and a Frog."
    TKPeters: "Off to AVForum better Deal - £20+Vat for Free Shipping @ Scan"
    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Do you need to purchase a copy of an OS??

  4. #4
    Senior Member Ulti's Avatar
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    - Case:
    Casecom 6788 for cheapness and quality, check Pob255's review to see if it's right for you
    Casecom 6788
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172779
    £24.99

    - Motherboard (Built in soundcard, ethernet etc preferred)
    Pretty much every mobo comes with built in sound and ethernet.
    MSI 770-C45
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165438
    £46.57

    - CPU
    You won't really need a quad core or anything so a high end dual core will be good. As you won't be overclocking this will do very good:
    AMD Phenom II X2 545
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168972
    £64.80

    - Ram
    4GB will be easily enough.
    Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL7
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179278
    £74.98
    (You should be able to find better RAM than this but sourcing from different websites is not exactly the best idea)

    - Hard Drive
    Not sure how much you want.
    WD 500GB Blue - £35.42
    Samsung F3 1TB - £66.68

    - Monitor
    Not sure what screen size you're looking at. Could go with 19" or there's some good value 22" monitors too.
    Digimate L-1935WD 19" - £77.99
    Philips 220SW9FB/05 22" - £111.99
    LG W2242S-PF 22" - £113.52

    - Graphics Card
    ATI HD5770 will be very good for you. Not the best bang for buck atm but it's hard right now as Nvidia haven't really been good value lately and the high end ATI 4000 series is being phased out. It will be able to play every game you throw at it on the best settings though mostly, especially things such as COD4 easily.
    PowerColor HD 5770 Play Edition 1GB
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/185910
    £113.39

    - Ethernet
    Not sure what you mean as pretty much every motherboard has onboard ethernet.

    - PSU
    OCZ StealthXStream 500W will definitely be enough
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135159
    £49.05

    - Keyboard (I have a good mouse already)
    Not sure what exactly you're looking for in a keyboard but try this:
    OCZ Alchemy Series Elixir
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149237
    £12.99

    - 2.1 Speakers
    I'm not familiar with speakers at all but here's some budget ones:
    Logitech X-210 25W RMS - £24.99
    Logitech Z323 30W RMS - £39.99

    Total price: £525.17 if you take the cheapest options (so that's 500GB, 19" monitor and the weaker speakers. Up the monitor, HDD and speakers and it'll be £605.43

    If you wanna get it down more you could go for AMD Athlon X2 245 2.9Ghz at £43.89 and the total will be £504.26.

    If the HDD is not destroyed, you can easily just copy the data from the HDD as motherboards nowadays still have an IDE connector but only 1 usually. However that means you're gonna have to leave your DVD drive unconnected for now.

    Hope this helped.

    EDIT: Forgot about the OS. Will leave it to the hands of CAT as he is here now

    If I think about it, you should be able to reuse your old OS hopefully, provided it isn't Windows 98. XP is better than Vista in my eyes although Windows 7 takes the good from both worlds in my opinion. IDE drives are pretty slow though and if you wanted to upgrade to an OS later it's quite a lot of hassle as there's lots of backing up involved in my opinion.
    Last edited by Ulti; 21-12-2009 at 10:28 PM.

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    • Code Geass's system
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Hi m8,

    This list includes a Windows 7 HP hence, went over the your budget by 10%



    Edit: Added AMD Build

    Last edited by Code Geass; 21-12-2009 at 10:25 PM.

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    Senior Member Ulti's Avatar
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    P45 is way overkill for non overclocking system. He wanted a new monitor too I believe as it was under his required parts although he had a CRT monitor but honestly nowadays who uses CRT monitors?

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    LTP (22-12-2009)

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    • Leggie's system
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Quote Originally Posted by Ulti View Post
    - CPU
    You won't really need a quad core or anything so a high end dual core will be good. As you won't be overclocking this will do very good:
    AMD Phenom II X2 545
    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168972
    £64.80
    Fair enough, but I'd go for the Athlon II X4 620 for just over a fiver more from Scan...a quad core might be overkill and somewhat slower on some games but I'd say it's the smarter choice for the future as more games will be designed to make use of more cores.

    To be fair though, I don't game, so my knowledge is limited.

  9. #8
    Headless Chicken Terbinator's Avatar
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      • Case:
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      • Operating System:
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      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media 60Mb.

    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    E6300 Is over-priced as well IMO - may as well stick with the E5xxx range.
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
    CAT-THE-FIFTH: "The Antec 300 is a case which has an understated and clean appearance which many people like. Not everyone is into e-peen looking computers which look like a cross between the imagination of a hyperactive 10 year old and a Frog."
    TKPeters: "Off to AVForum better Deal - £20+Vat for Free Shipping @ Scan"
    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

  10. #9
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    • Code Geass's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5Q Premium
      • CPU:
      • Intel Q6600 3.60GHz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Crucial BallistiX [4-4-4-12]
      • Storage:
      • Western Digital 640GB Caviar Blue
      • Graphics card(s):
      • H.I.S Radeon HD4870
      • PSU:
      • Cooler Master iGreen 600w
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master Elite 334
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 Professional x64

    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Third attempt, no OS tho You also might be lucky enough to unlock 2 more cores that is dormant on that Phenom II X2 550BE


  11. #10
    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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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: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    This is what I would get:

    AMD Phenom II X3 710 ~ £84

    http://www.svp.co.uk/technology/comp...etail-box.html

    OR

    AMD Phenom II X4 945 ~ £114

    http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

    MSI 770-C45 ~ £47

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165438

    4GB DDR3 ~ £75

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173933

    Corsair HX450W ~ £52

    http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

    Casecom 6788 ~ £25

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172779

    HD5770 ~ £113

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/185910

    Samsung F3 500GB ~ £37

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

    Windows 7 ~ £70

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173791

    The OP also should check out the free postage they can get from Scan for being a Hexus member with over 20 posts.

    With the Phenom II X3 710 the build should be around £500 excluding a keyboard. I would be looking to get a triple or quad core processors if the build is meant to last a few years without any CPU upgrade.

    I would also look to get a monitor at a later date as it would be better to get a decent build spec first.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 21-12-2009 at 11:12 PM.

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    • Cheapy's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD Phenom II X3 710 (Unlocked)
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb Corsair DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 320Gb Samsung F1
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • Case:
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      • Operating System:
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    I agree with Cats and Ultis idea to go AM3 to let you upgrade processor in the future. Andtech have a benchmark to compare most processors that you might find handy.

    http://anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=84&p2=105

    Seeing as you dont do any video editing or rendering the Phenom II X3 710 that Cat suggested is a better idea for gaming. I carnt complain with the performance of mine.

  13. #12
    Senior Member Ulti's Avatar
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      • CPU:
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      • Memory:
      • Kingston 32GB HyperX 3200Mhz
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      • Graphics card(s):
      • Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti FE
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    The OP isn't even playing the newest games though so I doubt anything more than a fast dual core is needed.

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    • Cheapy's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD Phenom II X3 710 (Unlocked)
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb Corsair DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 320Gb Samsung F1
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire 7950 Vapor-X
      • PSU:
      • 520W Corsair HX
      • Case:
      • Fractal Define R3
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ GW2450HM

    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Unless he wasnt playing the latest games as the previous computer could not handle them? But somthing better than a fast dual core might come in handy further down the line if you dont upgrade often. But if you do upgrade often then mayby it is better to go for a fast dual core and then upgrade to somthing more beefier 6 or 12 months down the line.

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    LTP
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    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Thank you guys for the quick and informative advice! Looking at all these components just makes me feel so outdated lol.

    Gona have an indepth read through at all the options before I commit to a purchase but its been a good read so far...

    On the subject of O/S and Gaming, I already have a genuine copy Windows XP which I intend to use. Not sure whether it's worth forking out the 60 or 70 odd quid for windows 7 (software compatability issues?). If its worth it, I might get my uni friends to get it for me as MS are doing a £30 for students!
    As for gaming, wouldn't consider myself a hardcore gamer, just the occasional boot up to release some stress really...

  16. #15
    Senior Member Ulti's Avatar
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    • Ulti's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B550I Gaming Edge
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
      • Memory:
      • Kingston 32GB HyperX 3200Mhz
      • Storage:
      • Corsair MP510 1920GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti FE
      • PSU:
      • SilverStone SX500-LG V2.0
      • Case:
      • SSUPD Meshlicious
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • AOC Agon AG322QC4 31.5"
      • Internet:
      • TalkTalk Fibre 150Mb

    Re: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    I'd say it's worth it for W7, especially if you can get it for £30.

  17. #16
    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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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: [Self Build] Recommend a COMPLETE system for ~£500

    Considering the OP has an XP2800 it indicates they probably want to keep the system for at least three to four years at least before a major upgrade.

    If the OP is only gaming occasionally then even this graphics card will do the job:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512MB...-DVI-I-HDMI-DP

    Also getting an el cheapo monitor is not worth the effort IMHO. A decent 20" or 22" monitor which has DVI is over £100 so it would be not worth downgrading the spec of the PC to incorporate the cheapest possible LCD monitor.
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 22-12-2009 at 03:31 AM.

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