What Usually happens is

[Milkybarkid]

Havinga fairly expert knowledge at using them and sorting out problems, when it comes to ordering I generally pack in as much as I can for what I have got to spend, regardless of whether I need it or not. I have a little cheap AMD HP that I use in summer, tucked away in the shade that has now become rather slow. The original idea was to replace it but then I thought I would replace my PCS desktop that was purchased in 2007 and has all the printers, scanner attached etc and shift that one downstairs.

I don't normally play games but I do like things to open up immediately. I'm not bothered about fancy cases as long as they do the job. I'm not keen on AMD and I do like a separate hard drive for the OS and software. I do a fair bit of scanning as I work in a paperless environment and I do like messing around with photography. While I'm not ready to spend just yet, playing around with configerations is all part of the foreplay, I just wondered whether I was going for overkill. My old PCS is an Intel Core Duo 2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13 with 2gig of ram and Windows 7 and while it is no slouch it can get a bit sluggish (probably because the shiny new laptop recently purchased has taken precedence). What are your views?

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-M LE/USB3 (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 - DVI,HDMI,VGA
Memory - 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
250GB SATA-II 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD, 32MB Cache (7200rpm)
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
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16) - I've got wired broadband but I thought it would be useful if I swopped round again
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
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £615.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Music Guy123]

Firstly, what is your budget? Yes that pc does look good, you said you like things to open quickly, you may want to consider an SSD but it does depend on your budget. I can't recommend enough the improvement on using wired rather than wireless. Otherwise, looks good, you could probably get away with integrated graphics though.

 

[Milkybarkid]

Budget this time is around £600. I think it cost me about £800 in 2007 and £2500 in 2000 (I was working then). I use wired broadband and the card was simply if I did a swop around with pcs in the future and moved away from the router although the PCS desktop worked fine when I tried a USB dongle in it. I also use a NAS drive along with a couple of external drives (one hitched to the router), so I'm not too fussed about a large second hard drive. I can't swop every two years like some enthusiasts do (I would like to but the OH would grouch) so I need a few years breathing space although having said that the year 2000 computer still works absolutely fine running XP Professional.

I had considered when I bought next time for the workroom that I would go for a laptop for space saving and more portability but I wouldn't be able to afford a similar spec and a desktop would pass OH's scrutiny (another laptop would be seen as an unnecessary luxury).

 

[Music Guy123]

I would strongly recommend changing your primary hdd, that one will be very slow. How about getting a 1TB caviar black and partitioning it, one for boot then one for everything else?

 

[tom_gr7]

I'd go for something like this mate.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st Hard Disk Partitions
Partitions
100GB, 900GB

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
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity 1

 

[Corfate]

You could also put a Caviar Green as your second HDD. Powers down when not in use, so saves electricity

 

[tom_gr7]

You could also put a Caviar Green as your second HDD. Powers down when not in use, so saves electricity

or just use a green instead of a black drive, cheaper and save power.

 

[Music Guy123]

He said he likes things to open quickly so I would stick with the black, tom, what does your spec come to?

 

[Milkybarkid]

I'd go for something like this mate.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st Hard Disk Partitions
Partitions
100GB, 900GB

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
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
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
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity 1

Interesting but how much?

 

[tom_gr7]

Interesting but how much?

my bad sorry, £616 with £5 warranty too

Remember to select ya partitions I'd go for 100gb for os, however you could go lower if you wanted. Then 900gb for everything else.