Starter project EUR500 to spend

remoteboy

To cut a long story short a mate of mine has decided to build a PC with his 14 year old son this Christmas. Neither of them have done it before and the primary reason for doing it is for the experience of doing it together.

1. What is your budget?
€500

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
General usage - doing schoolwork, surfing the web, watching videos. Gaming performance isn't top of the list but if it's capable of running some games that would be great.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
No. Would like to build from scratch.

5. Do you need a monitor?
No.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.]
Not sure. But can probably source 1920x1080.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]
No.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]
No

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

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]
As soon as possible. Need the parts by Christmas.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]
Don't need help building it.

There seem to be quite a few builds in this price range on the forum at the moment. Not sure how appropriate any of them are. This one seems closest in terms of price / value for money -

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057340371

The primary considerations are -

1. Ease of build.
2. Delivery times.

Everyone seems to lean towards hardwareversand for their parts. Are they easy to deal with and fast to deliver? Has anyone here any experience with how they handle returns (i.e. if a part is faulty)?

Thanks for reading. All help greatly appreciated.

R

remoteboy

Ok. Done some homework on this and have put something together on dabs.ie. Used dabs because can get the order delivered for free before Christmas. Was hoping to spend 500 but running at almost 600. Not too fussed about the extra 100 at this stage. Figure I could drop the SSD and switch the WD Green Drive to a WD Black and save some money if needs be.

Just need to know if you think I've dropped any clangers or should this all play nicely together. Am I missing any tricks?

MRTULES

Just a question. Would it not be 50+ euro cheaper from hardwareversand even taking delivery into consideration.
Its just that on a tight budget that 50 could go a long way.
Components wise it looks fine tbh. Possible questions might be:
do you need that expensive a motherboard?
Is the PSU good (I'm sure it is but I don't know)?
Otherwise seems pretty good all round.

remoteboy

MRTULES wrote: »

Just a question. Would it not be 50+ euro cheaper from hardwareversand even taking delivery into consideration.
Its just that on a tight budget that 50 could go a long way.
Components wise it looks fine tbh. Possible questions might be:
do you need that expensive a motherboard?
Is the PSU good (I'm sure it is but I don't know)?
Otherwise seems pretty good all round.

Thanks for the feedback. I ran it through hardwareversant and there wasn't a lot in it. Might look again. Given how close it is to Christmas I'm happy to pay a small premium for timely delivery hence dabs option.

Not sure about the mobo. Picked it as z97 so he has option to overclock if he ever feels adventurous. Could you recommend anything cheaper?

Serephucus

€40 cheaper and with twice the SSD space.

Most of the specs are similar, as you had the bones of a good build.

remoteboy

Serephucus wrote: »

€40 cheaper and with twice the SSD space.

Most of the specs are similar, as you had the bones of a good build.

Brilliant. Cheers.

remoteboy

I'm not getting those prices when I add to the cart. On average each item is 3-4 euro dearer. Is there a code I need to enter?

Serephucus

Search for the items on geizhals.de. When you get the item, click on the HWVS logo down the page a bit. It'll show up with the lower price then.

remoteboy

Cheers.

remoteboy

Last question. What are they like for delivery times. I Need to get delivery this side of Christmas.

Serephucus

Should be fine. Pay via bank transfer. It'll take a day or two to get there, they'll have it processed and dispatched possibly within the same day (if not the day after) and from there it's about 3-4 days for delivery.

BloodBath

It's leaving it a little late for a Hardwareversand delivery before Christmas tbh. Usual delivery from payment received is 3-4 working days. My last 5 orders this year have been at least a week late though. All parts were in stock when I ordered but their system is not accurate.

Just some advice on the build though.

No need for an expensive board like that on a budget build. You can overclock those Pentiums on a cheap board like the Asrock H81-HDS.

Also go for a seagate Barracuda desktop 1TB or Western Digital Blue 1tb Desktop drive instead of that WD Green. They are faster drives.