New desktop

[jamiesalter]

Hi there,

A friend recently asked me to find him a desktop computer. Could you give me an approximate spec for a computer to the tune of £1000? The budget is variable though so I think the max is approx £1200. The usage will probably be gaming, media and internet, although he's not a hardcore gamer so running games maxed out isn't a top priority. It will need a keyboard, mouse, screen, although not speakers or any other extras (and I think onboard sound would be fine). I was looking at i7, is this the best at this price point? And graphics of around the 4850 although I'm not too sure so I'll wait for your input!

Thanks alot. If this post is against any forum rules please remove

Cheers.

[jamiesalter]

Okay so i'm currently swaying towards the following:
Its the 3XS-X58-E

Case: Coolermaster Elite 335 Black Mini Tower Case
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz 4.8GT s QPI 8MB Cache (D0 Step) @ 3.00Ghz
CPU Coolers: Akasa Nero AK-967
Memory: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 9
NVIDIA Graphics: *No NVIDIA VGA Card Required* (ATI Required)
ATI Graphics: 512MB XFX ATI HD4870 775Mhz GPU 800 Cores GDDR5 Mem XXX
Power Supply Unit: 500W Silverstone ST50F Silent PSU 120mm Fan Dual +12V
System Drives: 750 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: *Storage Hard Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash - Card Readers & Writers: Akasa 3.5" AK-ICR-01EB Black Internal Multi Memory Card reader USB 2.0 Port (SDHC Compatible)
DVD Writer: Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±R 12x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 SATA Black
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: *Sound Card Not Required Use On Board Sound*
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: *Wireless Adaptor Not Required*
Acoustic Sound Proofing: AcoustiPack LITE Multi-Layered Material Kit
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64Bit
Software - Application: Microsoft Office 2007 - 60 Day Trial
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: NVIDIA DVD - Platinum Edition Dolby
Software - Security: *No Software Required*
Software - Hottest PC Games: *No Software Required*
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: Logitech Cordless Desktop® Wave™ Keyboard & Mouse
TFT Monitor: 22" iiyama E2207WSV Black Widescreen LCD 1680x1050 1000:1
NVIDIA 3D Vision TFT Monitor - Requires NVIDIA Graphics Card: *NVIDIA 3D Vision Not Required*
Speakers: *Speakers Not Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

This then comes to £1,195.87

Any thoughts? Is the 4870 best at this price point?

Cheers.

[Ph4ZeD]

I can't imagine your friend will use that amount of memory. Half the RAM and get a 4890/275 as a minimum. Hell, 4870x2s are dirt cheap atm, especially from Scan.

[Lee24]

Hi mate,

I jest done a quick spec for you which i think is a bit better see what you think

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)

Coolermaster CM-690 V2 Dominator Black Midi Tower Case with Mesh Top Panel w/o PSU

750W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, quiet & cool 80%+ Eff

6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600MHz), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24

2GB XFX HD4870 X2, PCI-E 2.0, 3600MHz GDDR5, GPU 750MHz, 1600 Cores, CrossFire, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV

22" Acer V223WBbd, Black, Widescreen LCD Monitor, 5ms, DVI/VGA, 1680x1050, 10000:1, HDCP, Green!

Intel Core i7 920, D0 (SLBEJ), S1366 (B), Nehalem, 2.66GHz, 8MB Cache, 20x Multiplier, 130W, Retail

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P, Intel X58 Express, S1366, PCI-E 2.0x16, DDR3 1333, SATA 3Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX

1TB (1000 GB) Samsung HD103SI EcoGreen F2, SATA 3Gb/s, 5400rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

All for £1,159.42

[jamiesalter]

hmmm...looks good, but did you get the prices from scan or 3xs? Building one for him is a possibility, but I'd prefer to direct him to a system builder for the warrenty and support etc that I probably wouldn't be able to provide.

Although saying that I've come up with a similar spec on the 3xs website with the following (although couldn't choose the HD4870 X2 as a graphics card option):

Case: Coolermaster Elite 335 Black Mini Tower Case
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66Ghz 4.8GT s QPI 8MB Cache (D0 Step) @ 3.00Ghz
Memory: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 9
ATI Graphics: 1GB XFX ATI HD4890 850Mhz GPU 800 Cores GDDR5 Mem
Power Supply Unit: 500W Silverstone ST50F Silent PSU 120mm Fan Dual +12V
System Drives: 750 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64Bit
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: Logitech Cordless Desktop® Wave™ Keyboard & Mouse
TFT Monitor: 22" iiyama E2207WSV Black Widescreen LCD 1680x1050 1000:1
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

All for £1,182.67.

[Ph4ZeD]

Again, do you really need 6GB of RAM. I seriously doubt it. And you better up that PSU soldier!