£600 Budget Office PC (Not just tower)

aaronjohnston18

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Oct 10, 2009
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hello there, I am building a high end office PC for a present for Christmas for a friend of mines daughter.

I was looking at the recommended specs and have put most of the item in the cart, However I would like it if some of the more exp builders (as I've done it only twice myself) could check my information and see if its OK. I am from the UK and all parts will be from ebuyer, however I am looking to try and reduce the current cost of the build as its quite high.

O.S: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Complete package - 1 PC - DVD - English - United Kingdom [£109.98]
PSU+Case: Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 500W PSU 220863 [£59.99]
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5400 2.7GHz 800FSB Socket 775 2MB (2x1MB) L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor [£46.99]
MOBO: Asus P5P43TD P43 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard [£62.71]
RAM: Kingston 2GB DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Blu Memory Module CL9 1.7-1.9V Non-ECC Unbuffered [£34.33]
HDD: Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache [£42.99]
GFX: Asus 8400GS Silent 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA Out PCI-E Graphics Card [£24.41]
DVDRW: LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black [£13.00]
FANS: x2 120mm Blue LED Fan - 4pin Molex Connection [£5.74]
Sata Cables: x2 Plexus SATA 2.0 to right angle SATA 7-pin Cable (Red) 46cm / 18" [£3.88]
KB+M Black Wireless 2.4GHz Multimedia Keyboard and Optical Mouse with Nano USB Receiver [£12.99]
Monitor: Samsung B1930N 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor [£89.99]
Speakers: Logitech S120 Black 2.0 Speakers - 2.3W RMS [£7.95]
Printer: Epson Stylus SX218 All In One Multifunction Inkjet Printer [£43.99]
Printer Cable: Plexus Hi-Speed Black USB2.0 A-B Device Cable 2 Metres [£1.49]


Cart total inc vat: £561.42


 

calguyhunk

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You'll have to go with DDR2 RAM for this set-up, not DDR3.

I'll say keep the RAM - Go with an i3 540/H55 system. Getting an H55 Mobo will mean you won't need a discrete GFX card, thereby saving some money - ASRock H55M-LE

If you want a P55 with a discrete, the ASUS P7P55D is a good one.

If you think that you wont be needing this for an office PC, just get some 2 X 2 GB DDR2 RAM form Kingston & you're done!

For printer, I'll prolly go with the Canon Pixma iP4850 for an all purpose printer, but do you need a colour printer for office? Also, for high volume printing, you might wanna look at Laserjet printers 'coz the cost of cartridges are gonna be killer.

Don't think you'll need those SATA cables 'coz your Mobo will come with 2 anyways.

Also, changing the DVD drive fron Lite-On to LG / Samsung / Sony ain't gonna hurt.

Finally, 109 quids seem a bit much for an OS, IMO. Why don't you let Mr. Daz take care of the problem?
 

aaronjohnston18

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Hi, thanks for the speedy response.

You posted 2 boards there, the first was quite expensive, the 2nd is from america but seems cheaper.


Would the 2nd board support the DDR3 ram AND remove the need for the low-spec gfx card?

The printer you listed was pretty expensive, the one i listed was an all in one.

I agree with you on the DVDRW probably need switching out. Im a Sony Optiarc user myself.
 

aaronjohnston18

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It wont let me edit my posts, but you edited yours and it answered my question about the 2 listed boards, The Computer is a joint gift for passing courses and xmas. Its for a customer for his daugheter and it will be a home computer but used for lots of paperwork and studying as well as music and more.
 

calguyhunk

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Hi Aaron, sorry for the Newegg links, so here you go - Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2 - any good H55 board from a reputable & reliable manufacturer should be good enough for office work.

And yes, this will support DDR3 & also remove the need for the gfx card.

The all in one is definitely nice, but will be more expensive in the long run because of the cartridge costs.
 
DO NOT get that CoolerMaster PSU. It is pretty low quality.

Second, I have no idea of the prices over there in the UK, but you *should* be able get a AM3 based set up with an Athlon II X2/X3 or may be even an X4. DO NOT spend money on a dead socket if at all possible. LGA775 is dead.

Lastly, DO NOT build that PC now. Wait until Christmas when you should see the older CPUs go on sale due to e-tellers clearing stock for Sandy Bridge CPUs. You may even want to consider waiting until January/February for the Sandy Bridge CPUs.
 
I agree with Shadow but for an office rig i dun see why u need an X4 (nice to have) of even the power of Sandybridge..or Bulldozer for that matter hehe

Here we have a Quad + 4GB DDR3 with a 20" LCD all in for 537 quid
Untitled-2328.jpg

I went with a 760G/Radeon 3000 IGP config as an office rig shouldn't need to play HD DVDs/Blu Ray...but if u disagree bump it to a fancier 880G/SB 850 mobo with HD 4250 IGP and USB/SATA 3.0 hehe


 

aaronjohnston18

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The build is to be done as soon as possible, great PC above for a similar price. I'm going to have a good look at that and see if its got everything.
 

aaronjohnston18

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I want to replace my 3core now :(

Which i paid a similar price to the above for. But with a 4800gfx card.

Long story short, Im trying to setup my own PC repair business since i fell out of work

However when it comes to building I aint no expert (They are all here).

If everyone could get the great builds that can be made by you fella's on this site.

Comet would be killed - hahaha.


Great recommendations, and I thank you all for your input. This is my first PC customer who is a friend of the family. and I'm trying to do some good work :)
 

aaronjohnston18

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Im not lacking confidence in building, its finding the right parts to fit each other part, and also getting a good pc for a good price.

You doubled the power / at same price of what I offered more of less, and made a better PC. and I was using tomshardware config guides.

Brilliant work. (From a site I use too)

Thanks to all ...