Spec Me ... a cheap as chips PC!

Soldato
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
MMM I never thought I'd be doing a spec me thread - let alone for a cheap as chips PC :eek: :o ! Anyway, here goes...

This PC will be used for internet, word processing etc - no gaming (it's for my parents :rolleyes:!). So, it doesn't need to be amazing, although I would like it future-proofed for a while to come if at all possible. I've chosen a lot of these components for silence as well. I have a monitor , keyboard, mouse and all software already.

What I've come up with:
Mobo - Gigabyte K8N SLi nForce4 - £59
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (retail) - £73
RAM - GeIL Value 1Gb (2 x 512) - £65
HDD - WD Caviar 80Gb - £34
GFX - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1300 256Mb - £52
Case & PSU - Antec P150 & 430W PSU - £80
= £363 (inc VAT)

The mobo and gfx are passively cooled (I'm not bothered about the SLi obviously). RAM was chosen as GeIL Value is excellent stuff, likewise the HDD. For price sake, I had to get a case-PSU combo, and this is nice and silent. CPU - because it was the cheapest one!

So, what are your thoughts people? Is there anyway to take that price down a bit?
 
Soldato
Joined
4 Sep 2003
Posts
4,426
Location
Cornwall
Going to order this for a similar rig, its cheaper and probably just as good for most things.

AMD Sempron 64 2800+ 1.6GHz (Socket 754) CPU
£39.95
Gigabyte K8N51GMF nForce 6100 Micro ATX (Socket 754) PCI-Express Motherboard
£34.95
OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit
£47.95
Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache
£38.95
NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
£20.95
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU
£56.95

Total £293.34 inc VAT and shipping
 
Associate
Joined
18 Mar 2006
Posts
1,252
REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
MB-002-AK Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 (Socket 939 & Upgradable to AM2) AGP & PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-002-AK)
£36.95 £36.95
CP-117-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3000BPBOX) (CP-117-AM)
£61.95 £61.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK)
£47.95 £47.95
CD-035-NE NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-035-NE)
£19.95 £19.95
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£34.95 £34.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£38.95 £38.95
Subtotal £240.70
VAT £42.13
Total £282.83
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
Those specs are fair enough, thanks for your ideas.

Although neither of those have graphics, so add £52 (if I were to keep the one I speced), which would give £334 and £345. Well done for getting them cheaper :p!
 
Man of Honour
Joined
27 Sep 2004
Posts
25,821
Location
Glasgow
King4aDay's specifications has onboard graphics which will be fine for word processing/internet usage so no real need to get anything extra. rmuir's doesn't but as you say will still work out cheaper. Socket 939 will be a little bit easier to upgrade than socket 754 in that you have more potential up to around FX60 speeds but socket 754 is currently where AMD's value line of CPUs are so that may even outlast socket 939 I suppose.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2005
Posts
17,995
Location
Brighton
CP-162-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.80GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-162-AM)
£66.95 £66.95
MB-071-MS MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-071-MS)
£54.95 £54.95
MY-000-PA Patriot Signature 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (PSD21G667K) (MY-000-PA)
£55.95 £55.95
HD-023-WD Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80GB 800JD SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-WD)
£28.95 £28.95
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£34.95 £34.95
CD-015-SO Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM (Silver) - OEM (CD-015-SO)
£11.50 £11.50
GX-062-MS MSI ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 256MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-062-MS)
£49.95 £49.95
Subtotal £303.20
VAT £53.06
Total £356.26


£356 for AM2 with good DDR2 ram and a nice case
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
Thanks for that Raikiri, I hadn't even really thought about going AM2 - just assumed it would be more expensive tbh :).

I'll take a look through that stuff - seems to be a good setup.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Jun 2005
Posts
13,958
thought id be different and go with intel..... wouldnt normally but dual core@ cheap as chips price needed to be suggested and they arent going to be gaming.


intel pentiumd 805 dual core cpu inc heatsink - 73.95

Asus P5VDC-MX P4M800 Pro Micro ATX(Socket LGA775)Motherboard - 36.95

Patriot Signature 1GB PC5300 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit -£55.95

Western Digital 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £28.95

Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU - £34.95

Subtotal £230.75

Total inc VAT £272 quid !


motherboard has onboard graphics and supports DDR + DDR2

wasnt clear from the OP but if you needed a dvd rw i highly recommend the OEM pioneer ones

wont be as future proof as rakiiris i must admit :( unless the mobo supports conroe (wich is unlikely imo)
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2005
Posts
17,995
Location
Brighton
Thats a good spec although I personally think the 805 is only worth it if you areoverclocking, otherwise it is a bit of a waste (they do fly @ >3.5ghz).

Certainly worth consdiering over my spec as they tend to be faster in windows and for general use (3200+ @ 2.5 vs 805 @ 3.7)
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
Sorry, I forgot to mention the CD / DVD drives etc ... I have enough to start a small shop, so that isn't a problem. The PC that just died (hence this spec) had 3 by itself.

I do like the look of Raikiri's setup though ... motherboard and graphics are passive as well, which is a plus :)

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Socket AM2) Retail - £79
MSI K9N Neo-F nForce 550 (Socket AM2) Motherboard - £59
Patriot Signature 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 - £66
WD Caviar Special Edition 80GB - £34
Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case & 380W SmartPower PSU - £41
MSI ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 256MB - £59
= £338

I will report this to the powers that be and poke them appropriately ;). It's surprisingly hard to spec a cheap PC - I could do a high-spec rig easily though - go figure :rolleyes:.

// EDIT //
Raikiri said:
Thats a good spec although I personally think the 805 is only worth it if you areoverclocking, otherwise it is a bit of a waste (they do fly @ >3.5ghz).
Certainly worth considering over my spec as they tend to be faster in windows and for general use (3200+ @ 2.5 vs 805 @ 3.7)
I would indeed like to have one of these to 'play' with - sometimes my X2 3800 just isn't enough :) - but as it isn't mine I can't really do this. That, and tbh I have AMD written right through me I'm afraid.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
8 Jun 2003
Posts
4,961
Location
NBO
Raikiri said:
CP-162-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.80GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-162-AM) £66.95 {snip}
How about:
  • AMD Sempron 64 2800+ (Socket AM2) CPU - Retail (CP-156-AM) £48.12 incl. VAT
  • or AMD Sempron 64 3000+ (Socket AM2) CPU - Retail (CP-157-AM) £55.17 incl. VAT
:D
 
Last edited:
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
Those are decent and I did look at them. Tbh though, I think the extra cache on the Athlon 64 3000+ compared to the Sempron 3000+ might sway it.

Saying that though, I could get a Sempron 3500+, still for less money than the Athlon.

Decisions decisions ...
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2005
Posts
17,995
Location
Brighton
Get the sempron and clock it a bit, I didnt realise they had released any AM2 versions. The only reason I wouldnt of got a sempron is due to the 754 boards and upgrading at a later date. As they are on AM2 go for it.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
6 Nov 2005
Posts
8,066
Location
MK45
Right I've done some reading about the performance differences between semprons and athlons. It was as I thought ... having the lower cache (128 or 256 L2 compared to 512 in the athlons) does compromise their performance significantly. Not even a 3400+ sempron will outperform an athlon 3000+ in testing.

Admittedly, this was with the S754 set-up vs the S939, but the comment about the cache still stands, and this hasn't changed with the move to AM2.

Here's my source btw ... I think it's fine to link to it. I AM A LINK

Probably going to go for the Athlon 64 3000+ I feel - unless anyone follows with something to blow me out of the water :rolleyes:

// EDIT // Forgot to say ... unfortunately overlocking is not an option here. We're talking stock :(
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Jun 2003
Posts
4,961
Location
NBO
A.N.Other said:
{snip}This PC will be used for internet, word processing etc - no gaming (it's for my parents :rolleyes:!). So, it doesn't need to be amazing, although I would like it future-proofed for a while to come if at all possible. {snip}
What happened to that? :confused:

I mean the Sempron's a capable processor and worthwhile at the same time for that price! TBH, Word nor Firefox don't care about the cache size :) As for future-proofed - its on AM2!
 
Back
Top Bottom