(Not so) Budget computers

[Gray]

Well since the laptop from my previous thread has been sorted, it got me thinking about upgrading my own, considering the fact its been about 4-5 years now and i haven't toyed around with the idea of upgrading.

While i won't be making the decision to order right away, i'd rather keep an eye out over the next month or two to decide on what to order, but i have pretty much everything nailed down now already.

I checked the price of my old computer what it cost from Ebuyer, and it came in at around the £600 mark, while i was thinking about it, i have decided to keep some things from my old computer, to keep the cost down, but also because they have been great.

Current PC:

Spoiler

Asus P5K Socket 775 Motherboard
Intel Core2Duo 2.66ghz
BFG Nvidia Geforce 8800GT ()
Corsair DDR2 800mhz PC2-6400 XMS2 (1gb sticks, i have 4gb in total)
Western Digital 320gb 7200rpm 16mb cache
Enermax Liberty 620w power supply
NZXT Hush Black Silent case
Ilyama ProLite E434S

The hard choice was the very beginning obviously, choosing between AMD and Intel. I did some quick checking around and found that Intel where more expensive, but better, but AMD while not as powerful, where cheaper.

In the end i opted for going with Intel though, but i didn't want to break the bank so much, so i got my eye on the low end processor, unless prices change in the next few months.

So with that, i made a list of hardware and extras, which obviously would be subject to change...

Spoiler

Asus P7P55D iP55 Socket LGA 1156
Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz Socket 1156
Asus GTX 550 Ti 1GB GDDR5
Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3
AOC 22" F22+ LCD TFT Monitor MN22AOCF22+
Samsung SH-B123L 12x BD-ROM DVD


Enermax Liberty 620w
Western Digital Cavier WD3200YS 320gb
NZXT Hush Silent Case

All in all, it comes to approx £500 without VAT, more expensive than my older PC (Especially since i'm harvesting my older PC for the expensive stuff). Also i have only checked one or two websites, Ebuyer primarily as rough guidence.

Also i'm not 100% sold on the new monitor, while i would like a nice one, i think that 22' might be a wee bit too big for my deskspace, so i might have to keep my options open in that sense, even though its cheaper than the others i have seen...

 

[Ch3tan]

22" is too small IMO.

 

[Will]

22" is too small IMO.

Must...resist...cock joke...

 

[Gray]

Indeed, in the end i opted for something a little smaller, the 22' wouldn't really fit.

Digimate L-1982WD 19'

It ticks all the boxes which i was looking for, while at the same time it;s not a brand i have associated with before so that makes me cautious.

Modified the CPU as well, instead of the i3 540 i think i'm going ot opt for the i3 550, strangely enough though with all the items from Ebuyer (Which is still the cheapest out of all the others) it only comes to approx £450, i'm half tempted to try to add an extra £50 on somewhere but i don't know where.

 

[ECA]

Change the cpu to a 2500. at least.

 

[Will]

Indeed, in the end i opted for something a little smaller, the 22' wouldn't really fit.

...must...resist...

22 feet is a bit big for most people.

 

[Gray]

Gone over everything by checking many sites and i think i've come to my decision, little bit more expensive but in the long run probably for the best.

Asus P7P55D Motherboard
Intel Core i5 650 3.2ghz 4mb L3 cache
Asus GTX 550 Ti TOP (Clocked to 975mhz)
Corsair 8gb memory (2x 4gb) XMS3 1333mhz
Acer 19' LED LCD

All in all, it will come in at around the £500 mark, the only two issues i have are with the CPU and the graphics card now, i think i will be happy with the motherboard.

I opted to change from an i3 to an i5 processor, the difference in price put me off quite a bit though i must say, but i am willing to go for it even though it cost an extra £50 above the i3.

The graphics card was the tricky one as it seems Asus are selling the same card, however the one i opted for was a bit more overclocked and cost about an extra £10, but the TOP one was not available from Ebuyer...

 

[Influenza]

Your motherboard and CPU cost £238 combined , id pay a tenner more and get these 2 , the i5 2500k is a quad core compared do the dual core i5 650.

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 Socket 1155 7.1 Channel Audo.. | Ebuyer.com
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache.. | Ebuyer.com

 

[Gray]

I checked on that motherboard but couldn't really see any reviews on it, but if i were to choose the option (Reducing the motherboard price and increasing the processor price) it would have to be to a 1155 slot and not the 1156 slot i wanted.

Plus the fact that motherboard i was going to buy went out of stock, so decided to have a quick look anyway.

Asus P8H67-V which is only a pound more than the Gigabit.

 

[Kryten]

You don't want a 1156 slot....

We've been buying i5 2500K (unlocked) processors on stock intel mainboards for £200 the pair - memory is moot as 8gb is currently around £40+vat. Value for money is easy on those. You'll be better off keeping your 8800 for a while longer until you can perhaps save up for another graphics card or something. Even they're not particularly expensive if you look at things like the ati 6870.

 

[Gray]

The PC parts have been ordered so i'll be getting them in the next few days i guess, the i5 2500k etc etc.

It might have been an idea to keep using the 8800GT, or maybe even seeing if the BFG models now they have gone bust, on ebay to see if they sell really cheap so i could have had two of them.

No matter though i guess. I do have two generalised queries now though while i'm waiting for the parts to arrive.

1] I have the Windows 7 Home Premium which came with both 32bit and 64bit, i used the 32bit on my current PC but now once this comes through, i'll be using the 64bit. Will i need to contact Microsoft directly stating that i need a new licence or something, because i have changed a lot of hardware?

And on that, i also suspect i won't be able to use the same key/licence for both of my computers, even though they're in my posession?

2] This is just a general hardware question about earthing yourself, i have always been told that you would get earthed if you touched the metal on the case (or anywhere), but i found out yesterday when looking into it that there was more to it than that.

You need the actual power cord plugged into the live socket to earth yourself? But isn't this like, well, wrong? If you touched a component inside the machine while the machine was live, surely that would fry it?

 

[Kryten]

Don't worry about earthing yourself. Touch a radiator or something before starting and don't subscribe to other bollocks, unless you have a house full of nylon carpet and you like scuffling around the place.

As for the windows licence, if it's retail it's transferrable and you should not have a problem. If it's an OEM licence (came with the computer or bought as OEM) then it's non-transferrable. If it's retail it will activate fine regardless of what version - but you can only use a licence once - either 32 or 64bit.

 

[Gray]

All PC parts have finally come, just waitng on monitor which should be later today. Installed all the motherboard essentials like CPU, Fan memory etc and now i'm going to wait til tonight to transfer it all over into my case.

About the Windows 7 thing though, it is retail i bought which came with both a Windows 7 32bit and 64bit disc, once this computer is all up and running i will be installing the Windows 7 64bit onto this computer.

The Windows 7 32bit though, does this mean it wouldn't be able to be activated then on the other computer or are both fine?

After i got the parts though i had some regrets about 2 things, the memory first, since i decided to get 1333mhz whereas everywhere seemed to recommend at least 1600mhz, i was half tempted to send the memory back and replace it with some 1600mhz.

Then i thought about getting a new hard drive, since while this 350gb is more than sufficient (Especially since i backup the stuff to an external 350gb drive) but i relised only after that my hard drive only has 16mb cache, though i think it is 7200rpm. I was then thinking of replacing it with a 64mb cache one, but end of the day i suppose i'm content with this to see how it goes.

 

[MYstIC G]

You shouldn't run 2 copies of Win 7 on 2 boxes under one licence but that doesn't mean that you can't.