PC for Silver Surfer

[sinky]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[Phoenix]

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: