7 replies to this topic

[Mr Spoon]

After the recent review of Falcon Northwest's Tiki PC, I have been inspired to build a similar spec PC, possibly the last tower computer I would build.
I haven't upgraded my current tower so I thought why do I even bother having a huge lump which has been a hassle in it's 4 hour moves.

BUDGET: No more than £1500, closer to the £1000 mark if poss.

CURRENT PC:
Windows 7 - 64-bit
4GB Ram (I guess DDR2)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - 3Ghz
ATI Radeon HD 4800 graphics
WD 500GB x 2
DVD Drive x 2 (I only use one really)


NEW PC (£1568 / $2432):
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz
RAM: 2 x 4GB DDR3
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (1GB)
SSD: Crucial m4 256GB
HDD: WD 2TB Green
Optical: TEAC Slot-Load Blu-ray Reader
Windows 8 Standard (64-bit)
Office Home & Student (I guess office 2013)

However I don't know if I got components I would actually use/need.

I am not a massive gamer, Sim City 5, Team Fortress 2 is about my limits and don't do much video encoding, perhaps just adding subtitles to MKVs or deleting part of a video.
I have a couple of external hard drives which hold most of my archives, others get written to a series of DVDs. While the price of blank BR discs is still relatively high, I wouldn't mind sticking to DVD if it means a fair amount less on the PC build.
So taking the above into account, I changed some of the parts and came out with:

NEW PC - lower spec (changes only) (£1386 / $2150):
Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz
Optical: Sony Slot-Load DVD Writer



A difference of £182. What do you guys think?
It would possibly work out better if I got Windows 8, Office and the 2TB drive over here, plus I haven't even seen if they ship to the UK. Taking out those brings the price in at £1207, but then it'd be the hassle of having to fit the drive myself.

Is there another company that produces small, but powerful mini computers? Apart from Shuttle PC.

Thanks

[Haggis]

Are you going to be overclocking? if not dont get a K version CPU your paying more for nothing

If your not bothered about bluray keep your current optical drives

[madmrcopper]

I would shop around on those parts. I managed to get the first new pc specs for about £600 less than you have quoted.

[threetonesun]

Haggis, on 14 February 2013 - 11:16, said:

Are you going to be overclocking? if not dont get a K version CPU your paying more for nothing

If your not bothered about bluray keep your current optical drives

Conversely, the K version comes with Intel 4000 series graphics... if he's not a big gamer, he could try to just use the onboard GPU and save some money. TF2 certainly runs on a 4000 series.

[kaffra]

also if not overclocking, even the h7x or b7x motherboards will do.

[DrakeN2k]

Also the new Intel core i7s should be soon, if you happy to wait i would. No point buying something when 2 mouths or so be out of debt. You might even get that part for less.

[Haggis]

All From Ebuyer.com

Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE Z77 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard
around £80

i7 3770K

£254

Corsair 8GB DDR3 2133MHz Vengeance Blue
£63


Gigabyte GTX 650 1GB GDDR5
£86

Crucial 256GB M4 SSD
£161

WD 2TB Green Desktop Drive
£70

Pioneer BDR-207EBK 12x Blu-Ray Writer Drive
£65

Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit DVD - OEM
£69

Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 32bit/x64 - Medialess
£100

£948

Thats without looking at different sites for cheapest buy

[Mr Spoon]

No overclocking here!

I think most of the cost is the case and someone building it for you. I wonder if I'd be able to get the car and a couple of bits then put the rest in myself. Hmm.