Help with new budget build for a mate

[Nobull]

http://www.cclonline.com/product/982...t-OEM/PSU0486/
http://www.cclonline.com/product/763...W-PSU/PSU0307/

Which of these two would you go for? The cheaper one at £16.56 seems almost too cheap! And it's a higher power rating. Is there any reason to by the more expensive but lower rated one?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Which of these two would you go for? The cheaper one at £16.56 seems almost too cheap! And it's a higher power rating. Is there any reason to by the more expensive but lower rated one?

I have the 400W version,which I took some pictures of:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...-oem-psus.html

The 460W PSU looks like the newer version of the FSP460 60HCN:

http://translate.google.com/translat...en-ac-fsp460/1

Edit!!

I would e-mail CCL Computers to confirm the 460W PSU has a PCI-E power connector as the newer version has one.

[Nobull]

Is there any reason both Cat and Jim recommended the LiteOn DVD drive when there are LG and Samsung drives for a smidgen cheaper on Ebuyer? I would've thought LG or Samsung would be preferable ordinarily...

@Cat I think I'll go for the 400W supply if it's 80+ certified, thanks for that great little review.

[scaryjim]

Think the Liteon was the cheapest when I looked at it - the Samsung and LG are both showing a ~ £4-£5 reduction now. You may as well grab the cheapest DVD drive you can get, they're pretty much of a muchness.

[teppic]

What's your final spec for the PC?

[Nobull]

What's your final spec for the PC?

Was going to post that once I bought all the bits but it's pretty much finalised:

CPU: A8 5600k £69 from Ebuyer
Mobo: Biostar HiFi A85S3 £39 from Flubit
RAM: 4GB Crucial Ballistix £17 from Flubit
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda £42 from Flubit
SSD: 60GB Corsair F60 (new refurb) £25 from me
Case: (expected) Fractal Design Core 1000 £25 from Maplin
PSU: FSP 400W £23 from CCL
Optical: LG or Samsung DVDRW £13 from Ebuyer

Total cost: £253 which should come in comfortably under budget once I shift SimCity.

I think for the price is getting a pretty capable machine and I'm sure it will fly doing everything he needs it for.

EDIT: Just been offered the Fractal Core 1000 for £21 from Flubit so another £4 saved.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

In the thread for the PSU,supposedly it is not the 80+ version of the FSP. However,it appears that the older version was 80% efficient under 230V but not probably under 110V so did not receive the certification.

Anyway,I use one with an A6 3670K based rig and another forum member(Bagnaj97) uses one with an Athlon II X3 and an HD7770 so its not too bad TBH.

Edit!!

Not having the RAM in dual channel with reduce performance especially with the IGP.

[Nobull]

Was much cheaper than Dual Channel. I have 2 sticks of 2GB corsair value select he could have but it's only 1066mhz.

What do you think will be better?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Probably go with single channel as he could add another stick of RAM later.

[Nobull]

He's not gaming with it so should be okay. Is there an article anywhere that compares the difference in performance of single vs. dual channel? If it's a big difference I might just get a 2nd stick as he's given me a bit spare and I have saved money on all those flubit purchases.

[scaryjim]

Not having the RAM in dual channel with reduce performance especially with the IGP.

I put some figures for single channel v dual channel in my A6-3670k review here: http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-reader...le-review.html

Basically going from a single 1600MHz stick to 2 1600MHz sticks boosts performance by around 20%

I have 2 sticks of 2GB corsair value select he could have but it's only 1066mhz.

What do you think will be better?

Interesting. 2 sticks of 1066MHz RAM will have ~ 33% more bandwidth than a single stick of 1600MHz RAM, so I reckon the 2x 1066MHz sticks will give you between 5% and 10% better gaming performance. However, as CAT says if you stick 1 1600MHz stick in then another can be added later, and 2x 1600MHz sticks will give 50% more bandwidth than 2x 1066MHz sticks, and better performance again.

But here's the thing: if he's not going to play games then it doesn't really matter, and if he is going to play games then he'll be much better off with two faster sticks. So personally I'd stick with the one slower stick.

[Nobull]

I think I'll stick with the single stick then, he ASSURES me it's not for games! I'll tell him if he ever gets the urge it would be worth investing in another stick.