Building a new PC

2007-07-26 13:25:55

#1

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

I'm building a PC for a friend, who wants it primarily for watching films off and browsing the internet. He has a monitor and a decent HDTV as well as a few other bits to go in it.

My problem is I have to do this on a tiny budget of £300.

I've been aiming at getting an E6550 a cheapish P35 Mobo, 2GB PC6400 and a low end 8 series GPU (it's not for gaming - at all, it's for media and looking flashy) such as an 8400GS as well as a P180 case and PSU.

Ebuyer have some great deals on at the moment, the 6550 is the same price as the 6320 and the P180 is going very cheap - but together they add up to £170, more than half my budget (although I may be able to get him to stretch to another £50).

So, for £130-£180 I need a PSU, an 8 series GPU, 2GB of RAM and a P35 based Mobo (pref Gigabyte).

Anyone got any ideas?

2007-07-26 13:33:00

#2

FoReVeRTS!: Member; +0|6596|Paris,FRA/Ottawa,CAN

Well, you have Mission Impossible IV laid out for you.
However, I'd say that given the job expectations, most of that stuff isn''t needed. You'll want to buy a nice case with lots of LEDs, and a NVidia Zalman processor fan, as it's quiet, which is a must for watching vids.
512mb would be enough RAM, but make sure you get a DVI graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 7950 if you get a good deal), though, or at least one with a Y/Pb/Pr output, or at the very leats a converter. That way, you can hook up directly to the HDTV--gr8 picture.
This is all available in Canada, where I am @ the moment, so I don't know about the UK.
Also, I've been very general, b/c I'm not sure about the compatibility of your friend's desired uses/components.

2007-07-26 13:54:36

#3

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

FoReVeRTS! wrote:
Well, you have Mission Impossible IV laid out for you.
However, I'd say that given the job expectations, most of that stuff isn''t needed. You'll want to buy a nice case with lots of LEDs, and a NVidia Zalman processor fan, as it's quiet, which is a must for watching vids.
512mb would be enough RAM, but make sure you get a DVI graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 7950 if you get a good deal), though, or at least one with a Y/Pb/Pr output, or at the very leats a converter. That way, you can hook up directly to the HDTV--gr8 picture.
This is all available in Canada, where I am @ the moment, so I don't know about the UK.
Also, I've been very general, b/c I'm not sure about the compatibility of your friend's desired uses/components.

I know what I need.

I just need help finding cheap bits. I do NOT want anything like a 7950, I want something like an 8400GS - what the hell would be the point in having a 7950 in a rig that is NOT for gaming.

THIS PC IS NOT FOR GAMING ON!!!

I'm pretty close to getting it within budget, but not close enough.

2007-07-26 14:03:39

#4

ReDevilJR: Member; +106|6824

Bertster7 wrote:
FoReVeRTS! wrote:
Well, you have Mission Impossible IV laid out for you.
However, I'd say that given the job expectations, most of that stuff isn''t needed. You'll want to buy a nice case with lots of LEDs, and a NVidia Zalman processor fan, as it's quiet, which is a must for watching vids.
512mb would be enough RAM, but make sure you get a DVI graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 7950 if you get a good deal), though, or at least one with a Y/Pb/Pr output, or at the very leats a converter. That way, you can hook up directly to the HDTV--gr8 picture.
This is all available in Canada, where I am @ the moment, so I don't know about the UK.
Also, I've been very general, b/c I'm not sure about the compatibility of your friend's desired uses/components.
I know what I need.

I just need help finding cheap bits. I do NOT want anything like a 7950, I want something like an 8400GS - what the hell would be the point in having a 7950 in a rig that is NOT for gaming.

THIS PC IS NOT FOR GAMING ON!!!

I'm pretty close to getting it within budget, but not close enough.

Damn, I even chose some descent parts, can't get it cheap enough.

2007-07-26 14:05:03

#5

mafropetee: Member; +18|6616|Altamonte Springs, FL

you dont even need a descrete graphics card. just get a G33 chipset mobo like the ASUS P5K-V and find a DVI to HDMI converter and your set to hook up to the HDTV.

i cant help you on finding deals though. im in america, and im not familiar with the british tech sites.

2007-07-26 14:07:39

#6

Flaming_Maniac: prince of insufficient light; +2,490|7180|67.222.138.85

If it isn't for gaming, why do you need such a good machine? The parts your talking about are mid-high end.

2007-07-26 14:11:23

#7

A-Unit64: King Medic......; +23|7314

is a pound= to 2 dollars?

2007-07-26 14:25:40

#8

r'Eeee: That's how I roll, BITCH!; +311|6921

A-Unit64 wrote:
is a pound= to 2 dollars?

Yes around that.

2007-07-26 15:07:19

#9

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

Flaming_Maniac wrote:
If it isn't for gaming, why do you need such a good machine? The parts your talking about are mid-high end.

He does a lot of rendering in 3DS Max, quite CPU intensive and a fair bit of RAM helps too. Same with video encoding, which it'll be doing a lot of. It needs to last a good few years too. It's going to get some quite hard use, just not for gaming.

That said, the only reason I'm going for a 6550 is that I've found it cheaper than a 6320 - I dislike the Allendales (800MHz FSB).

2007-07-26 15:20:58

#10

jsnipy: ...; +3,277|6995|...

all new stuff only?

2007-07-26 15:23:39

#11

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

jsnipy wrote:
all new stuff only?

Yes.

Although, returned open box stuff is good too.

Last edited by Bertster7 (2007-07-26 15:23:59)

2007-07-26 16:17:50

#12

ReDevilJR: Member; +106|6824

Bertster7 wrote:
jsnipy wrote:
all new stuff only?
Yes.

Although, returned open box stuff is good too.

Just seems too difficult with that budget, maybe consider giving $150 bucks to your friend

2007-07-26 16:21:26

#13

pers0nah: Waste Kid; +271|7055|MANCHESTERRR

why dont u get a mobo with onboard graphics? or is that a thing of the past?

2007-07-26 16:24:00

#14

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

ReDevilJR wrote:
Bertster7 wrote:
jsnipy wrote:
all new stuff only?
Yes.

Although, returned open box stuff is good too.
Just seems too difficult with that budget, maybe consider giving $150 bucks to your friend

I've managed to get it to about £385. But I need to shave at least £35 off that. It's soooo close. I just need to find some good special offers. Hopefully there will be something helpful on HotUKdeals tomorrow - if not, I dunno....

2007-07-26 16:26:35

#15

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|7054|SE London

pers0nah wrote:
why dont u get a mobo with onboard graphics? or is that a thing of the past?

I wouldn't be opposed to that. But I don't think any exist filling the specifications I've given.

2007-07-26 17:30:57

#16

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6911|King Of The Islands

Bertster7 wrote:
pers0nah wrote:
why dont u get a mobo with onboard graphics? or is that a thing of the past?
I wouldn't be opposed to that. But I don't think any exist filling the specifications I've given.

The new Intel EXTREME!!1! Graphics ain't so bad, it even does DX10 (not that it has a hope in hell playing Crysis).

Waste of money getting a GPU, imo. They were made for games and games alone. And as you so bluntly put it,

THIS PC IS NOT FOR GAMING ON!!!

Hell if you went AMD you could get onboard 6100, but its still not going to do shit.

Plus with a lacking GPU, you could probably get away with the case's PSU. I've always seen that as something for afterwards anyway (when it turns out it does suck).

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

BF2S Forums Building a new PC

FoReVeRTS! wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

FoReVeRTS! wrote:

A-Unit64 wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

jsnipy wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

jsnipy wrote:

ReDevilJR wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

jsnipy wrote:

pers0nah wrote:

Bertster7 wrote:

pers0nah wrote:

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