PC for Silver Surfer

sinky

Member
Need another desktop, this time for my mum (so no gaming). Uses PC for BBC IPlayer, Watching DVDs, Photo editing (Picasa), Skype, email, internet and wordprocessing.

Am I wasting my time getting a graphics card ? Should I make do with a board that has an integrated graphics chip ?

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-650 Dual Core (3.20GHz, 4MB Cache) + HD Graphics + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7H55-M SI: MICRO ATX VALUE MAINBOARD,USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
512MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210 PCI EXPRESS
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply & Case Cooling
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector + Auto Power Off Function (£18)
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 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £541.00 including VAT and delivery.
 

Phoenix

Prolific Poster
I would either go with integrated graphics or get a GT430, anything less than that really wouldn't make a lot of difference for photo editing.
 

Meds

Moderator
Moderator
I have to agree with phoenix, there is very little difference between the integrated & the GT210 it it begs the question - is it worth it? If you're going to spend money on a GPU then go for something with a bit more umph such as the GT430 or HD5570.

The only other thing to think about is the CPU, the only difference (as far as I can see) is the i5-650 has "turbo boost" - is this worth an extra £40 considering what the PC will be used for?
 

sinky

Member
OK, so given what the PC will be used for, what would be the alternatives to the i5-650. Should I go for a slightly lower spec Intel CPU or should I also consider AMD ?
 

Phoenix

Prolific Poster
You could get a much better system based around a quad core AMD processor:

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A78LT-M: mATX MAINBOARD, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT430 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, 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
STANDARD AMD 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
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
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 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £532.00 including VAT and delivery.

I upgraded the power supply so that if in the future a better graphics card is needed you won't have to worry too much about the PSU exploding, it's also a quiet version which is nice.
 

sinky

Member
Thanks. One more question.... would it be worthwhile to replace the GT430 with an ATI card, so that it could crossfire with the integrated GPU ?
 

Sleinous

Author Level
Not possible to crossfire with the integrated GPU. ALl crossfires and SLIs must be between identical cards (for the time being).
 

Phoenix

Prolific Poster
Crossfire has more options available than SLI but you still can't crossfire with integrated graphics.
Here's a chart showing which cards can go together:

CF_combo_chart.jpg
 
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