First build, £400 budget, please advise me on my spec.

[danny-mac]

Hello could some of you knowledgable gents/ladies advise me on this spec. I will be building it for my Mum who lives 400 miles away in Cornwall so I'd like it to be as reliable as possible within budget.

She has only asked for it to be no larger that 200mm wide, 370mm high and 410mm deep.

I want it to be quite futureproof eg. usb3, sata3, good processor. maybe you can advise me further on this.

I would prefer to buy it from CCL which is only 5 miles from me, but if there's something much better that they don't stock then I would consider that also.

Here goes, processor- Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz Processor - CCL Computers
motherboard- http://www.cclonline.com/product/56...igabyte-GA-HA65M-UD3H-B3-Motherboard/MBD0128/ or Gigabyte GA-H67M-D2 Socket 1155 Motherboard - CCL Computers
PSU Corsair CX500 Builder Series 500 Watt ATX PS/2 Power Supply Unit - CCL Computers
case- Inwin Z637 Micro ATX Screwless Black Case - CCL Computers
HDD- http://www.cclonline.com/product/53...arracuda-7200-12-3-5-Hard-Disk-Drive/HDD1140/
RAM- http://www.cclonline.com/product/36...1333MHz-DDR3-Dual-Channel-Memory-Kit/RAM5965/
optical drive- LiteOn iHAS122 22X DVD-RW (Dual LR)/RAM SATA Drive - CCL Computers

Is there anything else that I would need? sata cables etc.
I already have a old noctua fan that I plan on using for the case, Noctua NF-R8 80mm Quiet Case Fan - CCL Computers would this be OK.

I chose the 2500k processor for its hd3000 graphics chip, I feel that this would negate the need for a GPU. She wont be playing games on it.

Any advice on any part of the build would be more than welcome, Thanks in advance.

 

[LJx]

Seems a bit like overkill on the CPU, maybe get a P67 or Z68 motherboard as opposed to the H67 with that CPU, she should be able to get a nice overclock on it

 

[danny-mac]

I don't think she would be interested in overclocking or know how to.

Do the p67 or z68 support the graphics in the chip, would i need to add a GPU?

 

[rorackowe]

I think your original build is great. Ideal for Mum! Do you already have the OS? The CX430 would be just as suitable as the CX500 if your Mum is not planning on a major graphics upgrade in the future. The machine will likely never break 100W. I prefer to spend a little more on the case but a budget's a budget!

Motherboard box usually comes with 2 SATA cables, one straight end, one right angle.

 

[LJx]

Z68 has onboard graphics, personally I would buy a CPU for half the price and get here some nice accessories and a £40 graphics card

 

[danny-mac]

Thanks for your reply, I will be buying windows 7 home for her.

Which of the 2 motherboards is better, do they use different chipsets? The second which I linked to has 2 small pci slots, does this limit it?

I'll take your advise about the PSU and maybe put the saving towards a better case. Which mini case would you recommend?

 

[rorackowe]

Each motherboard has its merits. H61 supposed not to have SATA3, although the one you listed claims to. The H61 board has more memory slots, has PCI slots and only one PCI-E x16 slot (generally for the graphics card). Just depends which features you envisage her needing.

Cases can last several builds, mATX spec been around for several years and hopefully will be several more. I've had one pretty good inwin case years ago, I like Lian-li aluminium cases, some of the silverstone ones and some antec. It's difficult to know what you'll like unless you get your hands on one. Built with a few cheaper cases and found the metal can be flimsy which means the system is louder than ideal.

 

[aljowen]

If you are not going to overclock her pc them dont bother with the 2500k and just get a 2500 instead. Also that processor will run crisis do you think she will really need that
considering that you are looking at a h67 board that k on the end will only be there for show as you wont be able to use the overclocking features

hope this helps

 

[danny-mac]

If you are not going to overclock her pc them dont bother with the 2500k and just get a 2500 instead. Also that processor will run crisis do you think she will really need that
considering that you are looking at a h67 board that k on the end will only be there for show as you wont be able to use the overclocking features

hope this helps

My reasoning was that for a few extra quid she would be getting the hd3000 as opposed to the non k hd2000.

After reading your replies here and on another forum, I've decided to revise the spec a bit. Let me know what you think.

Revised spec, RAM 4GB Kingston HyperX blu DDR3 1333MHz DIMM - CCL Computers

CPU Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz Processor - CCL Computers

Mobo Gigabyte GA-HA65M-UD3H-B3 Motherboard - CCL Computers

PSU Corsair CMPSU-430CX 430W Power Supply - CCL Computers

HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB (7200rpm) SATA 6Gb/s 16MB 3.5 inch Hard Drive (Internal) - CCL Computers


Are there any big differences between the caviar blue and black ?

Thanks for all the help so far.

Oh and with the money saved I was considering adding a GPU, would this help much or be a good improvement over the hd2000 integrated graphics.

Something like this? http://www.cclonline.com/product/57...phire-HD-6450-1GB-DDR3-Graphics-Card/VGA0218/