PC for my sister

jamescd

Hi folks. My sister needs a new PC, her current PC is more than 6 years old now I think so it's about time she replaced that dying piece of junk :pac: Her budget is €400 - €500 for PC and monitor only, no need for OS, mouse, etc.

I built my current gaming rig more than a year and a half ago so I think I know how to put it all together, I just need advice on which parts would be best. I sourced the parts for my rig from komplett, but I've heard they're not too reliable these days so I need an alternative source.

She mainly wants to use it for watching high definition TV shows and movies so she wants a big hard drive and a big enough monitor. Here's a quick list I put together on ebuyer:

AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.00GHz Socket AM3
Gigabyte GA-770T-D3L AMD 770 Socket AM3
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10666 1.65V
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB
Asus HD 4350 512MB DDR2 DVI VGA HDMI
Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM
Coolermaster Elite 310 Case with Coolermaster Elite 500W PSU
Benq G2222HDL 21.5" LED Monitor 1920x1080 5ms VGA DVI-D

That comes to £384.25 or €460 not including delivery. Any way to reduce the cost a bit would be welcome.

Solitaire

My sister's comp is going on a decade :pac: To be fair it was a hunk of junk from the start so the internals are only ~7 years old now

Here's an example build for €410 shipped:



Considerably better processor, otherwise quite similar. Also note I'm using onboard video, but its equivalent to your discrete card! :P

Does she have any special requirements for audio connections however? And given her taste for HD content does she need a BluRay drive instead of just DVD?

massy086

ecs mobo i seen it all now sol lol

Solitaire

Its not going to be used for OCing the CPU and running Folding@Home 24/7! Besides, nowadays Asus, ASRock and even some MSI models are going down the cheap-n-nasty route anyway so its pointless having a go at ECS!

massy086

ecs the first mobo i ever bought and didnt work out of the box i was very sad :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

jamescd

Thanks for the replies. I don't think she needs any special audio and a DVD drive will do.

I'm slightly concerned about the mobo too, would this be any better ? http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38555&agid=1292

Also will that PSU last long ? She'd murder me if it dies in less than 5 years :pac:

Solitaire

Thanks Auntie Massy! :rolleyes::pac:

That mobo is probably worse, sound chip is for sure!

Revised build, now €480 shipped...

massy086

sorry sol :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Solitaire

:P

jamescd

sorry for the late reply. how about this motherboard http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39737&agid=1292 and this PSU http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=23606&agid=240 ?

Solitaire

There were complaints as to the quality of the mobo and PSU so I put in good ones Your choices are okay (and the mobo has onboard video, albeit not as good as the discrete card above) but not the highest quality (some people look down on ASRock and the Basiq range are made by FSP which are inferior to high-grade HECs like the Cougar A-series). All depends on where you personally prefer to draw the line

jamescd

Ok thanks for the help. I'll show her your suggestions and get her seal of approval :pac:

One more question though, I have a Windows 7 Home Premium Full Retail (with the 32 bit & 64 bit discs). I currently have the 64 bit version installed on my PC and I just bought Windows 7 Professional Upgrade Edition for 45 quid. My plan is to use the Professional Upgrade on my PC and then use the Home Premium on my sister's PC. Will that work? I presume the upgrade will uninstall the home premium from my PC making it usable on another PC ?

Solitaire

Not if its an Upgrade it won't! Upgrade is a license that kills the old license!

jamescd

So if I use Professional Upgrade on my PC, my Home Premium Retail will become unusable ? That's not good

Solitaire

The Upgrade alters your current OS install but it is not a license to use a second copy of the OS! The only license you have is from the current install I'm afraid

jamescd

Bought everything from ebuyer instead because she wanted it before christmas. Here's the full spec:

AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.00GHz
Asus M4A88T-M 880G
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz
Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD±RW
Arctic Power 450W PSU
Casecom MA-1199 MATX Case
Benq G2222HDL 21.5" LED Monitor

Everything arrived yesterday and I just finished putting it all together. Have that Windows 7 Professional Upgrade up and running on her PC, kept the Home Premium on mine.

Assembly went smoothly, but when I was about to plug the PC into a wall socket I noticed the PSU didn't come with a wall plug. It came with the PSU itself, SATA, PCI-E connectors and all that but no gotdamn plug :mad:. I pulled out the plug from her old PC and thankfully it fits.

I need the plug so her old PC can still be used. Do I ask ebuyer for it or do I go directly to the manufacturer ?

Solitaire

Arctic PSU... ugh. Only bad Seasonic PSU ever made! :pac:

jamescd

It's working fine except for the missing mains power cable. Fingers crossed it lasts long :pac:

I've emailed both ebuyer and the manufacturer about it just to be sure

B00MSTICK

Is it just the kettle lead you're missing? (i.e the lead that goes from the PSU to the wall)

jamescd

yeah that's the one

jamescd

Solitaire wrote: »

Arctic PSU... ugh. Only bad Seasonic PSU ever made!

Ugh, you're right. It died this morning, needless to say my sis wasn't the least bit happy

I pulled out the PSU from her old PC so it's back up and running now. I've already contacted ebuyer about a return but a replacement will probably die just as quick. It's only 2 months old for christ's sake :eek:

jamescd

ebuyer have accepted my request for an RMA in just 1 day, and they're providing collection for it too. Top notch customer service

Too bad they're not shipping to Ireland anymore

Monotype

jamescd wrote: »

ebuyer have accepted my request for an RMA in just 1 day, and they're providing collection for it too. Top notch customer service

Too bad they're not shipping to Ireland anymore

Wow, that's very generous. Do they realise that you're in Ireland?!

jamescd

Tis' generous indeed .

There doesn't seem to be any problems when I put my address down so it's looking good for now. I just have to pick a collection date, haven't decided yet though :P

Nothingbetter2d

Solitaire wrote: »

My sister's comp is going on a decade :pac: To be fair it was a hunk of junk from the start so the internals are only ~7 years old now

Here's an example build for €410 shipped:



Considerably better processor, otherwise quite similar. Also note I'm using onboard video, but its equivalent to your discrete card! :P

Does she have any special requirements for audio connections however? And given her taste for HD content does she need a BluRay drive instead of just DVD?

for few quid more she could have a quad core cpu... also onboard graphics suck for hd 1080p playback... go with a budget ATI 5450 (€50 approx) or better for good quality n less jittering when playing hd movies.