Building a Vista PC, but its getting expensive? Any advice?!

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 4:11 pm

Hi everyone Smile

I have a componant list for what I belive is a pretty good Vista PC, but I wonder if you could help me cut some corners.

I dont really want to play games, or do any massive media intensive work, but do need power for graphic design and running some VMs as well as general stuff.

This is what I have as keepers (no NOT really want to change this):

CASE/POWER:
Antec P180
Coolermaster IGreen 500W PSU

The rest (I WANT this but think its a little over the top):

BOARD/CHIP/FAN:
Asus P5b Deluxe
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz)
Arctic Cooling (AC-FRZ-7P) Freezer 7

RAM:
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400

GFX:
Asus 7600GS SILENT 512MB

HARD DRIVE:
Maxtor STM3250820AS 250GB 7200rpm

CD/DVD:
Sony AW-G170AB2 18xDVD±RW/RAM

Thats about it.

I have a budget of around £600 but this goes just over.

I like the board (P5B) but am willing to change, I would like to also keep with a Core2Duo chip.

As for RAM, I have no idea if I am paying over the odds but Crosshair have a decent following.

GFX is pretty good and quiet, but is it too much seen as I will rarely if ever play games?

If you have anything to add, post something Smile

Team XLink Moderator Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 1223

this should make it easy! Cool

http://tinyurl.com/y8zn6o
http://tinyurl.com/wr9yb

Kai Spammer Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 8681

LMAO Amo.

Team XLink Administrator Joined: 11 Nov 2004 Posts: 5024

You might save some money by going with a P5B instead of a P5B Deluxe.. As far as I can tell the main difference between the two is that the deluxe has two PCI-E x16 slots and 6 SATA ports, while the regular one has one PCI-E x16 slot and 4 SATA ports. You also get some extra stuff like a 2nd Ethernet port and Firewire.

I haven't bought memory in a while, but just from looking at prices on Newegg it looks like Corsair memory is a little more expensive than other brands.

If you're not going to play games, then any Vista/Aero-compatible graphics card will do fine. 512mb really won't buy you anything. The best upgrade I've done recently was to add a second monitor (and then a third!). It's relatively inexpensive and a big improvement, especially for programming and Photoshop work. You could also easily run a VM full-screen on one monitor and your regular desktop on the other. Maybe consider a graphics card that can drive two monitors - you can probably find one for less than that 7600GS.

Kai Lover Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 585

Yup my ATI x800 256mb can run two monitors and has enough juice for vista, but not really enough for the absolutely latest games (its only shader model 2.0), but BF2 runs okay on med/high

I know you said it was a keeper but that 500W PSU looks a little like overkill, unless you plan on adding harddrives or extra GFX cards later.

Just a thought but will you really need that cooling? Duo Cores are supposed to be more efficient than single. Once its built put it through its paces, check the temps and then decide.

Kai Spammer Joined: 01 Jul 2005 Posts: 1065

Motherboard:
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=14832&GroupID=1093
50.45 pounds

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=14433&GroupID=1674
Core 2 duo 6400
118.50

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=11779&GroupID=1146
2 gigs of OCZ 667 with heatsink, incase ya wanna overclock
107.90 pounds

250 Seagate 7200 rpm, with 5 year warranty
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=12847&GroupID=1048
44.40 pounds

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=15860&GroupID=1551
Gforce 7950GT Dual DVI out, supports two monitors yadda yadda
155.10 pounds

Grand total 476.35 pounds

Ya need a case, power supply, heatsink and case fans. Ya should be able to do that for 123.65 pounds. Its not what the case looks like, its what in it. Wink

Besides, that video card will eat you up and spit ya out. I'd sacrifice a case and put my computer in a pizza box for that. Razz

Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:46 am

amadeus wrote:

this should make it easy! Cool

http://tinyurl.com/y8zn6o
http://tinyurl.com/wr9yb

Why Amo, how I have missed your Iron Clad wit during my sabbatical ;P

Thanks for the advice folks. I already have a decent 22" wide-screen monitor, its the hardware in my PC which is 5+ years old.

I tend to buy PCs around the Windows release schedule, the last PC I made was back in 2001 when XP came out. Since then its had more RAM added and HD space but everything else (apart from said monitor) is the same!

I belive I can get the cost down a little by using the cheaper P5B board and maybe some cheaper RAM. The rest of expensive parts (case/power supply) are needed to ensure my PC is quiet and not too power hungry. My current one sounds like a lawnmower and makes the lights dim when it switches on Shocked

Team XLink Moderator Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 1223

[MF]mkjones wrote:

Why Amo, how I have missed your Iron Clad wit during my sabbatical ;P

Who said anything about wit

Kai Beginner Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 41

I would definately check out www.tigerdirect.com they have some really good discouints on there computer stuff. my cousin built a gaming computer for a little under $500