Pc from scratch...

[no_numb]

Hi.

My friend has £700 to spend on building a computer from scratch and I was wondering what everyone could recommend. Here is what he needs from it:

• must be reasonably fast.
• must have large storage space preferably 160gb.
• needs to include tft monitor keyboard case etc... but for these cheap ones will do.
• needs dvd burner, dual layer.
• preferably a motherboard with onboard 5.1 surround sound but not essential.

Is all this possible from a £700 budget? any help would be appreciated.

[Daneel]

Yes it's possible. You have no mention of games which saves a lot on the graphics card as that is often the most expensive item in a PC set-up these days.

You may be just as well going for a special offer Dell, especially if the guy has never built a machine before.

[javalord]

Yes it's possible. You have no mention of games which saves a lot on the graphics card as that is often the most expensive item in a PC set-up these days.

You may be just as well going for a special offer Dell, especially if the guy has never built a machine before.

Second that. Dont waste time on building them a computer and then supporting them every step of the way when Dell can do it at 2/3rd's your budget and still meet his needs.

[no_numb]

well it wouldnt be him building it I'd be building it I just havnt kept up to date with what the best components are. but if you think that a dell would be better then I shall tell him that.

[krazy_olie]

Buying a PC out of the box can work out cheaper due to the cost of required software being included. I.e Windows and Office. And the cost of a monitor.

Dell seem to actually make decent computers these days but they still seem to be stuck on using P4, which isn't too popular at the moment.

It depends on what software and monitor is required really to decide what's a better option. Personally I would build it myself but there are some good deals.

[cotswoldcs]

You can get a lot of satisfaction building your own PC (or for others), plus it's a great way of learning about how they work (or don't). However, building your own PC is not a way of saving huge amounts of money and don't think that you could make money from building and selling on computers - the likes of Dell, Evesham, Mesh etc have got the job sewn up (sadly).

I still build my own PCs, partly because I enjoy it and partly because it allows me to upgrade a little at a time. This way you can add bits and upgrade bits when you want. Of course if you want to build a PC that is a little bit special, building it yourself is the best way to go. If however, you want a basic £700 PC then I'd look at Dell or Mesh.

Best of luck, whichever decision you make.

[Daneel]

I build my own PCs but that's because I'm a fussy sod and want to specify every single component Also, I like a nice case with custom fans and a beefy PSU, those aren't something places like Dell do very well.

I'm not sure about the satisfaction part, I've been doing this for my last 5 PCs and every time there was some problem that had me tearing my hair out. I fix whatever it is eventually but I normally spend at least one day fighting with the new box and wondering why the hell I bother!

[maverick77_uk]

Hi all,

I'm definately one for "if you've got the know-how, build your own". If you build your own (or for a friend), you know exactly whats in it - if something breaks, you know exactly what has gone wrong and how to replace it. You can put exactly the components in to do the job you want at the budget you want and know exactly what its capable of. Also, if you build your own, all the parts will be completely generic, ie. interchangeable with 99% of the "compatible" companents bought on-line or on the high street. If something goes wrong, and you need it fixing today, you can go to a high street shop, buy the new bit and have it up and running again without having to send anything off.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Dell use some custom parts? Like I've heard they use a custom power supply and connector on the MoBo so you can't replace them with anything other than Dell parts. Also, Dell comps look great on paper, but nearly always use on-board video etc. Not at all good for any games!

£700?? You could build a killer machine with that. I'll have a quich flick through Scan for you and come back in a bit with a suggested set-up.

See ya!

[maverick77_uk]

OK, a suggested system (prices from Scan) could be:

AMD Athlon 64 3000 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" 90nm Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty - £102.58

Gigabyte GA K8NSC-939 - K8939 nForce3250, 1600Mhz, 8xAGP, 4xDDR,SATA Raid, 8CH Audio, Gb LAN, ATX - £54.01

2X 512Mb PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail (1GB total in dual channel mode) - £29.30 each = £58.60

AOpen DUW1608-ARR 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer Chameleon (Sil/Blk/Ivory) DVD±RW, Retail with DVD Software - £29.83

1.44Mb Sony Ivory Floppy Disk Drive OEM - £4.10

160Gb Western Digital Caviar SE 1600JD (7200rpm,8MB) - SATA - £59.02

128Mb Gigabyte GV-N66T128D 6600GT, 500MHz, 1000MHz, AGP8X,8x32-2 DDR III,DirectX 9.0c,DVI-I, TV-OUT - £108.68

Compucase 6CN2U Ivory Midi Tower Case 300W (Screwless) - £26.36

17" LG L1715S Charcoal/Grey 15pin D-sub, 16msec, 1280 x 1024 - £151.45

Grand Total = £594.58

Add about £60 if you need Windows.

OK, the downside of this rig is its AGP based - But there are plenty of fractionally more expensive MoBo's with PCI-E for the graphics. Now tell me that doesn't kick what you could get pre-manufactured, or name some current main-stream software / games that couldn't run?

See ya!

[Daneel]

That looks pretty decent maverick77_uk but I'd make a couple of changes.

The ATI X800 GT seems to have displaced the 6600GT as the value GFX card of choice.

The Hitachi 250GB SATA is very attractive at a little over £70 so I'd put that in rather than the 160GB WD.

How good is PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail from Scan? What is it exactly? I've always bought branded RAM, typically from Crucial or Corsair.

[maverick77_uk]

Hiya,

Yep, those changes would also do nicely!

The major memory is usually from a third party - not the original manufactures, such as Corsair. Quite often they are chips that work fine at their designated spec, produced by the major manufacturers, but aren't good enough to over-clock, consequently the original manufacturers don't deem them suitable to bear their name, and they get sold off cheap. This memory (often called Major on Third) should be fine, as long as you don't push it past its designated speed. They are definately not suitable if you plan any over clocking.

Hope that helps!