Help- I want to attempt to build my 1st basic cheapy PC

iggy

1. What is your budget? €300ish

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Mainly browsing and MS office. No gaming

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No. I have a retail copy of Windows 7 ultimate

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes

5a. If yes, what size do you need. At least 19"

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? N/a

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In a few days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? I will attempt it myself

Hi
Im looking for a basic cheapy €350ish PC from HWS.
I know the budget is small but I cant stretch much more.
It will be mainly used for browsing and small bit of MS office.
500GB would be plenty of storage.

I have never built a PC before so would love to try with a basic/easyish build.
Could anyone spec me a build for €350ish that would be fairly easy to put together as a first time builder.
I would like it to be quiet as possible as it will be in living room.
I could push a little over the €350 if its worth it.
Basically something that will be fast for browsing.
Will I need extra cables/ paste or anything else.

Thanks
Thanks in advance

paulmclaughlin

You'd be hard pushed to build a computer and buy a monitor for that money. Could you plug it into a TV?

Monotype

You could shave off a tenner by getting an Intel celeron build. This is a pretty decent board with this one though.

Item|Price
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.50
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.56
AMD A6 5400K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7540D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€53.03
MSI FM2-A75MA-P33, FM2, mATX|€48.07
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€47.84
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€27.29
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.39
ASUS VS197N|€90.80
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€364.47

You could leave out the DVD drive which would bring it under €350. You'd need to install windows from a USB drive.

iggy

What about if I bought a pre built PC like this

And bought a monitor like this
this one.

This comes to about €350 and then add shipping.

Anyone know are the pre built ok?

marco_polo

Something like this would be grand for browsing and office work.


Item|Price
LG 22EA53VQ-P|€134.16
Zalman T2 Mini Tower - schwarz, ohne Netzteil|€20.68
Corsair VS Serie VS350, Non-Modular, 80+|€29.56
ASRock H61M-DGS, Sockel 1155, mATX|€40.94
Intel Celeron G540 Box, LGA1155|€37.52
2 x 4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€54.58
Seagate Spinpoint HD502HJ 500GB SATA II|€45.90
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€12.62
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€394.95

Monotype

The CPU in it is last generation - although it does have more cores, so it would be more powerful. Kind of better for now but in the long term, you're pretty much at the limit when it comes to upgrades.

Prebuilts tend to put the cheapiest power supply units in there, so I'd be wary of that. The one that I picked is really as low as I feel safe to go.

I'd go for the monitor that I picked out instead on account of it being DVI. There's really no need to be using VGA these days. VGA = analogue, DVI = digital.

If you want it, I can send you on a Sempron that I don't need. Socket AM3.

iggy

Cheers for the specs.
Monotype that processor is out of stock with unknown date.
I will be probably ordering tomorrow evening so what u reckon?
Cheers

Monotype

You could downgrade it or get it from amazon for €5 more.
The 5400K is handy though because you can overclock it to squeeze more out of it.

Or switch to a different platform such as marco's Intel build above or AMD's AM3.

Sh1tbag OToole

For ultimate cheapness you could source an old computer locally for free (skip, recycling centre, adverts, jumble town). This would save you having to buy the case and power supply at least. You might get an optical drive out of it as well and a low capacity hard drive

You might need a 20 to 24 pin converter if you're using an old power supply but those are cheap.

iggy

Thanks for all the help.

Which build from above do I buy- the AMD or Intel????
If i went with Marcos build and dropped the 22" monitor and used Monotypes specced 19" in place , that would save a few quid. Also do I need 2x4GB Ram in the Intel build?

Monotype- if i could use your AMD's AM3 that would be great, which will bring cost down

Monotype

I replied to your PM.

I made one mistake there about the 5300/5400K. I'm so used to seeing Intel's "K" CPUs being the only ones that are overclockable. That doesn't apply to AMD: You can overclock the 5300, it just doesn't have an unlocked multiplier.

marco_polo

iggy wrote: »

Thanks for all the help.

Which build from above do I buy- the AMD or Intel????
If i went with Marcos build and dropped the 22" monitor and used Monotypes specced 19" in place , that would save a few quid. Also do I need 2x4GB Ram in the Intel build?

Monotype- if i could use your AMD's AM3 that would be great, which will bring cost down

I just threw in in there mostly out of habit , its unlikely you will need more than 4GB for a basic office PC for the foreseeable future, whichever route you chose.

iggy

marco_polo wrote: »

I just threw in in there mostly out of habit , its unlikely you will need more than 4GB for a basic office PC for the foreseeable future, whichever route you chose.

Cheers.
That As Rock board is now out of stock too.
Says delivery late, request date.
Damn it:mad:
Any other I can replace it with?