Advice needed for a PC spec please?

[danjuma]

Hello. Just came across this website and I like the idea of buying a PC based on my spec. What I am after:

1. Would like a mini PC, not necessarily because I do not have the space, but prefer to save space.
2. I am not really a gamer, actually hardly play any games, nor do I do any photo or video editing, but do a lot of multitasking - running multiple intensive programs, and would prefer to play music or dvd or stream films/TV programs at the same time. So would like a decent sound and graphic cards.
3. A 17-inch monitor will do. Do not necessarily require keyboard/mouse, as can use my old ones
4. Require loads of RAM, at least 8GB. Don't require much HDD, 500GB should be enough.
5. Budget - about £500 max.

Many thanks
Dan

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums

This specification suits your requirements and budget perfectly:

Case
PCS Hush! Silent Mini-ITX Case + 60W PSU
Processor (CPU)
AMD® Zacate™ E350 Dual-Core Processor (1.60GHz) 1MB L2 Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® E35M1-I DELUXE: FCH A50, SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1066MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
Integrated AMD® Radeon HD 6310 Graphics - DX11
Memory - 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
19" Widescreen TFT 1360 x 768 2MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £492.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-silent-mini-pc/

1. The smallest system we sell. Also totally fanless, so silent!

2. Can play full HD Blu-ray movies without a problem with HD sound.

3. 19 inch is the smallest we provide.

4. 8GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD added.

5. Just under budget

 

[danjuma]

Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your response. I think I might have to spend a bit more as not happy with the processor. Below is a configuration I have done
which comes in at £637.
I would like the following assistance or advice please:

1. Are the main components I have chosen ok, in terms of working together for the best performance, especially the motherboard with the processor I have chosen for example?

2. I have chosen the Intel 2nd generation processor. Is this a better choice than the first generation ones. I.E. is the i5-2500S I have chosen better than the i5-2500k?

3. Would very much like to bring the price down to say £600 round figure if possible. Do you have any suggestions for any alternative component that is cheaper than what I have chosen but does near enough the same or better thing?

Many thanks for your assistance.



Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500S Quad Core (2.7GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
19" Widescreen TFT 1360 x 768 2MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £637.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/mainstream-intel-sandy-bridge/

 

[PCS]

Nice spec that you have put together but this is not a mini PC, it's a tower desktop unit.

1. The graphics I selected on the mini PC are more powerful than the desktop choice. Consider a dedicated graphics card, for example the HD 6570.

2. The "S" does not stand for second generation - both processors are the 2nd generation Intel Core. The "K" model is much faster because it is unlocked for overclocking. The "S" model is a low power version and not as fast.

3. You could reduce the RAM to 4GB in this system without making too much difference to the performance. At the moment the system is slightly out of balance - you have a mighty amount of RAM with basic graphics and a moderate processor.

Here's another suggestion:

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
AMD A8-3850 APU (2.9GHz, 4 Cores) & AMD Radeon™ HD 6550D Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® F1A55-M LE: FM1 A-SERIES, SATA 3.0GB/s, USB 2.0
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6570 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1[SUP]st[/SUP] DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
19" Widescreen TFT 1360 x 768 2MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £600.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-llano/

Again, please note that this is a desktop "tower" system and not a mini PC.

 

[danjuma]

Hello PCS,

Thanks for your response. I have a bit of a bias towards intel chips, and I have come up with the following config. I take your point that this is a tower PC, but the case I have chosen is not too big for me at 350 mm x 168mm x 360mm. It does not look like I could get the same sort of config with the mini cases available. So with my config below, would you be kind enough to advise me please:

1. If it is a balanced system?
2. If there are some components that I could swap for something cheaper (trying to bring it down to at least sub £650) that would do the same job, I am sticking to the intel core i5-2500k though

Many thanks.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6450 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
19" Widescreen TFT 1360 x 768 2MS, D-Sub, DVI, 18.5" Panel (£79)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £673.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/mainstream-intel-sandy-bridge/

 

[PCS]

1. The 2500K and 2500 CPUs are identical apart from the K model is unlocked. Unless you plan to overclock, save yourself some cash with the i5-2500.

2. 1TB green drives are not recommended as the primary drive as they are designed to run slower, therefore saving electricity. Consider a standard 1TB hard drive, which will also be cheaper.

Other than that, it looks good to go

 

[danjuma]

Thank you for your assistance PCS. Ok will come up with a spec similar to the above that I will post in the 'Check my spec' subforum for final thoughts/advice. Cheers