Lots of Advice needed- Budget Build: £250

[thedesolatesoul]

Hi everyone,
I posted before regarding this, but MadAdmiral made me see light to get a SandyBridge instead of Clarkdale.

So now again I need some advice and verification on my budget build which is just meant for everyday home computer but I want it to be fast, snappy and upgradable.
I know 250 is really dirt, but I am willing to extend the budget slightly over.

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks

Budget Range: £250

System Usage from Most to Least Important: multitasking, web, office, eclipse, visual studio

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: please recommend (ebuyer.co.uk/scan.co.uk)

Country of Origin: UK

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024

Additional Comments: want it to be running cool

Here is my list so far:

Intel Core i3 2100 £92.56 Scan.co.uk: Intel CPU i3 2100 Sandy Bridge Dual Core Processor - BX80623I32100
ASUS P8H67-M LE £75.20 Scan.co.uk: Asus P8H67-M-LE Rev3 Intel H67 Express Socket 1155 Motherboard - P8H67-M LE <Rev.3.0>
Samsung F3 Spinpont 500 GB 7200 rpm £29 Scan.co.uk: Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Hard Drive - HDD - HD502HJ
Kingston Hyperx 2GB 1333 MHz CL7 £18.66 Kingston HyperX Genesis memory 2 GB DIMM 240pin DDR3
Coolermaster Elite 430 with 500W PSU £53.33

What is the lowest price I can get these components for?

Also, you might note that there is no removable media. So I need to install my previous Win XP or Ubuntu from a USB harddisk. Will my BIOS support booting from a USB device? and also how do I get the OS on it? Links appreciated!

 

[ScrewySqrl]

USB boot should be doable in the BIOs. If you aren't going to use a GPU, you might save a bit with a 300 or 350W PSU.
go for an MSI or ASRock version of the H67 mobo
check to see if G.Skill or Mushkin ram is any cheaper than the Kingston.
the Motherboard and less-expensive case/psu combo might save enough for 4 GB of RAM.

 

[thedesolatesoul]

The PSU was cheap in the combo thats why I went for it. Most cheap PSUs are 22 to 30 pounds anyway so I wont save much that way.

I cant find any cheaper mobos than the one I have chosen!

Also G.Skill is def more expensive than Kingston...cant find Mushkin...but do u think that brand really matters that much? Although I just love the name RipJaws...would love to have that!

Anyways...i might be able to shell a little bit more out but I dont know if for the extra money I should go for a 1TB HD, more RAM or a DVD RW?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

a dvd will simplify things, next I'd suggest 4 GB of RAM over 2 GB.

 

[Geef]

I looked on the site and checked out the prices of how I recently upgraded my machine.

£46.96 - ASROCK M3A770DE 770 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
£56.14 - AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95w 1.5MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£36.45 - Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9
Which would come to = £139.55

I found the suggestion for that motherboard and chip in one of Tomshardware's $500 computer setups. Its also possible for you to turn on the processor's 4th chip by doing one change in the BIOS on the motherboard settings. The one I bought runs fine as a X4 processor now.

Or you could always buy this processor instead:
£88.50 - AMD Phenom II X4 840 Socket AM3 3.2GHz 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
That would bring the price to - £171.91

Still lower than your original: £186.21 total

... ALSO the memory is 4GB (2x2GB) instead of a single 2GB memory chip. Which means you will get Dual Channel memory too.
One last thing is the ASROCK motherboard does allow boot from USB flash drives.

Good luck

 

[thedesolatesoul]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will definitely get more RAM and run it in dual once I have more money!
If I dont manage to boot off a USB flash drive then I will get a DVD RW but apart from that I never use it. (Although I like complicating things, saving 10 bucks could cost me for being anal!)
Nice setup Geef, the only reason I didnt go for AMD was because of higher power/heat. My house is very small and crampy and running cool is very important and there might not be enough ventilation. Besides for the extra 15 pounds it is probably worth going Intel...and ofcourse I know nothing about AMD Processors and their socket/upgradability!!!

 

[simon12]

If you want cheap how about
Asrock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 Socket AM2+ VGA Out 6 Channel Audio mATX Motherboard 221178 296 in stock £30.95 £30.95
AMD Athlon II X3 445 3.1 GHz - Socket AM3 1.5 MB cache Retail Boxed Processor 235421 55 in stock £54.05 £54.05
EXTRA VALUE 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit 1.5V CL9 192049 454 in stock £29.00 £29.00
Casecom 7720 Black Mid Tower Case with 450W 24pin SATA PSU 174506 418 in stock £22.85 £22.85
Recertified Seagate ST3250318AS 250GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM 259510 44 in stock £17.00 £17.00
Cart total inc vat: £153.8
All from ebuyer

 

[thedesolatesoul]

simon, that is really cheap! didnt know u could go that cheap...
but really im leaning towards Intel now because it seems to have a better upgrade path and performance...
I definately dont want to sacrifice performance as much as I can...if I can afford it later on I can upgrade to a Core i7 8GB and an SSD