Non gamers

non gamer

Member
Seems like we need to do some thinking; There is the Sleinous spec which may never need updating pushing £800 with a decent monitor (noticed the PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE is not a PCS option today) or the James Spec (I would go for the AMD Phenom II for some future proofing), pushing £700 again with the monitor.
OR maybe 'my' original spec copied from others (I'm not that clever) with an Intel i3 which was OK'd by "PCS Super star" around £730 with a good monitor. Thanks to all for your help.......Just as a best of three I would really like any thoughts on the / (or a modified) i3 spec as that seems to be the latest technology ?? (for our non gamer general internet use).
 

Shibin

Enthusiast
If you can give us exact details of you budget and uses it would be great. Ie: how long you want it to last,specific uses. etc etc
 

non gamer

Member
Shibin; To answer the question I did'nt honestly start with a budget, I need a new computer this one is well over 5 years old. Having looked at computer Shopper (June) they tested 3 sets of desktops; a) £400 to £425, b) £550-£590 (including a PCS Aurea i3-530x which needed some upgrades to move up from 3*) and c) £773-£790, all with screens of varying quality. Eclipse Computers did very well but when I looked at internet reviews they were less than complimentary about Eclipse computer staff and aftersales !
So that's when I looked on the PCS site and did my best with my first spec above with an i3. As far as usage; General computer use (just don't do games, nothing against them just don't do em) BBC I player, storing photos and a little editing, email, spreadsheets, word, wife is on Facebook, youtube, ebay, surfing the net for a car, household goods, Computer, google earth, trip advisor, listen to some music etc etc. I want a computer thats reliable, reasonably fast, I have had my current computer 5+ years, something that I know will not be outdated to quickly. Don't want to spend unnecessarily but again don't want to spoil the ship by going to cheap. If I go Intel i3 what do I need to go with it ? and a 2nd opinion (James was the 1st)is an i3 is just to high for my intended usage.
 

Shibin

Enthusiast
Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55 LX: USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT220 PCI EXPRESS
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
80GB Intel® X25-M 2.5" SSD (34nm / upto 250MB/sR | 70MB/sW)***SPECIAL***
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D FULL HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Price: £924.00 including VAT and delivery.

Vid card can easily handle hd videos etc. SSd will make everything super fast. Great monitor. Pretty much very future proof except for gpu. Choose extra quiet case and quiet cpu cooler as i thought you might want silent computers?. To reduce price go for wd caviar green hardrive/lower end case/take off cpu cooler.Also can go with amd quad core for better bang for buck.
 
Last edited:

non gamer

Member
Just to confirm your reduce price option ?
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55 LX: USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT220 PCI EXPRESS
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st 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 & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D FULL HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech® Internet 350 USB Keyboard (£9)
Mouse
Black Logitech® Optical Wheel Mouse USB (£5)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery



Price: £778.00 including VAT and delivery.
 

Shibin

Enthusiast
Yep thats it. To reduce price ,put an amd processor,dont really need that good a motherboard for your usage,take away memory card reader.
 

James

Active member
Seems you're quite confused with the process, I've just checked and thrown up another spec and this time I'll comment on each piece of of why I think you need/don't need it, of course others are free to point out mistakes and such but anywho here we go:

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Honestly, simply does it, there is no need for a fancy case, some of them offer better organisation inside and extra fans but if you don't plan on opening it up yourself or pushing it to it's limits, there's no need.

Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 945 (3.00GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3)
Now then, why a Quad Core and why an AMD.
Firstly while a Dual Core is enough for what you need, an AMD Quad Core is that cheap and will pretty much out power nearly any Dual Core it's just not worth it too not get it. Also as you might notice the Single Core era is coming to an end, everything these days require Dual Core etc...
While what you want it for won't require a Dual/Quad Core now, it is worth investing into for the future.

Motherboard
ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0
The SATA 6.0GB/s is mainly used for Solid State Drives and I can't see why you'd need one of them, they are very fast, but seriously expensive and much smaller than a normal Hard Drive.
The USB 3.0 is just for you to be ready for when USB 3.0 becomes more commonly used.
Other Motherboards could work too, I built something similar with a cheaper one I think but for some reason I wasn't happy with it, this one I liked and have liked since, and it's also pretty future proof.

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
4GB is more than enough for you, 2GB just seems too low and 8GB is way too much, it will be easy to upgrade to 8GB in future if ever required.

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5450 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Honestly any of them advertised there should do, I simply choose this one for size, price and it's ability of DirectX 11 which isn't used much now but will be more used in future.

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
2TB is an absolutely massive size, even for me, it should be able to satisfy all your storage needs for many many years.

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
For you to put in CD's/DVD's, to watch DVD's, listen to Music, play games etc...
Didn't think you'd see the need of Blu-Ray yet but if you do just upgrade this option.

Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
This is too keep your pc quite and cooled, fairly basic to understand really, mostly need to upgrade this due to Overclocked Pc's or big Graphics cards been used.
You have neither so only need a small one and this should be more than adequate.

Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Mainly used for Overclocked Processor's, you don't have one, so no real need.

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Personall choice, should be more than good enough for near enough anyone.

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
For the Internet, I'd suggest one of the Wireless PCI Cards too incase you decide to use Wireless instead of a wire, but personal choice all the same.

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Personal Choice again, this option should be enough.

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
This one's up to you to find out what you want, all the comparisons are on Microsofts home site.

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Both optional and personal preference.

Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D FULL HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Very, very nice monitor, the 2nd best they have I think.
The 1st been the 24" one :p

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 9 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Also personal choice.

Price: £706.00 including VAT and delivery.

For a very very good price might I add.
However I would suggest you have a talk with the missus and see if you can have some sort of limit and minimum buying price.

Personally I would say £600-£800 as I've chosen a very good pc, and there are things that could be toned down to save a bit of money :)
 

Michael89

Bronze Level Poster
James's last specification is pretty much spot on for yourself I think. The only real variable to consider would be hard drive size. 2TB is an insane amount of storage and only really required if you guys are insane hoarders and will never delete anything for the 5+ years you have the computer. 1TB is also very acceptable but if you store a large amount of video files and image editor files i.e. photoshop's .PSD (saving files out would make them either .jpg or .gif and they are tiny).

The price is also very reasonable and the computer will be fast and do what you want it to do for a very long time, even with the introduction of new technology as explained in his post. Plus there's no substitute for a good monitor :)
 

non gamer

Member
James thank you for the fantastic response ! Michael89 for his input. Shibin is correct re Keyboard and Mouse (and once again Sleinous & others for all previous input. We will go for the 1TB hard drive and the spec as suggested. Keep up the good work all of you......... it really does help those of us who need the tech support.
 

Shibin

Enthusiast
If you are intending to buy james post make sure you use a nvidia card as it has cuda cores which is better for video watching etc. 1gb 220 is only £8 more.
 

Sleinous

Author Level
For watching it wont make a diff, for editing using photoshop and converting (badaboom) it will. Although badaboom not supported on 400 series yet
 
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