Evening gents, I'm getting my Dad a desktop for his birthday and need a few opinions.
He will only be using the machine for general use but wants to not have to upgrade for a few years.
Here's a spec I came up with but need some advice.
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3-3240 Dual Core (3.40GHz, 3MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-MX USB3/SI: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB (Special Offer)
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
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
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)
Question 1;
As i'm donating him my old ssd (120gb Force 3) will it be worth upgrading to the 6.0gb/s mobo or will the difference be negligible for general use? Plan on having windows on the ssd only.
Question 2;
Will the internal graphics be capable of playing BluRay and 1080p Flash/YouTube videos or is it worth having a dedicated gpu?
Received great advice here when buying my gaming beast's (yes plural
) and i'm hoping for more of the same.
Also not much wiggle room on budget this time unfortunately so may need to get creative depending on answers I get
Edit; Forgot to swap out DVD for BluRay player.
He will only be using the machine for general use but wants to not have to upgrade for a few years.
Here's a spec I came up with but need some advice.
Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3-3240 Dual Core (3.40GHz, 3MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-MX USB3/SI: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB (Special Offer)
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
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
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 w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
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)
Question 1;
As i'm donating him my old ssd (120gb Force 3) will it be worth upgrading to the 6.0gb/s mobo or will the difference be negligible for general use? Plan on having windows on the ssd only.
Question 2;
Will the internal graphics be capable of playing BluRay and 1080p Flash/YouTube videos or is it worth having a dedicated gpu?
Received great advice here when buying my gaming beast's (yes plural
) and i'm hoping for more of the same.Also not much wiggle room on budget this time unfortunately so may need to get creative depending on answers I get
Edit; Forgot to swap out DVD for BluRay player.
Last edited:
