Build Advice New cheap build

Hey guys ive put together a very cheap base unit. Max spend is £250-265

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7377/newcheapbuild.jpg
anyone see any problems with this or got anything that would be beter at te same price?
Also has to be fom ebuyer.

Cheers phil

 

I'd say use XP over Vista seeing as you only have 2gb of ram.

 

What will the system be used for?

Would you consider using Linux in order to keep the cost down? That would mean you'd be able to improve on the other stuff slightly.

 

Its for basic use, ie internet music a very little picture editing. Normal family stuff really.
Building for a friend. Ive never used linux and i dont think my friend has either. Would like to stay with windows though.
y desktop had 2G ram and was fine with vista premium. Will home basic really need more than 2?

 

Have you thought about buying a cheap pre-built system from ebuyer - Extra Value Business Desktop, Celeron E1400 2.0GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, Card Reader, Keyboard and Mouse, NO OS £198 and just add the OS

 

psu: make sure to get one that doesn't suck. corsair cx 400 anyone?

 

Personal experience with my cousins laptop wasn't favourable in my books with 2gb ram and Vista. Could be the processor they had in though.

 

+1 for investing a bit more cash in a decent PSU. You may also want to give some thought to upgrading the E1400 to an E5200.

I realise I have done nothing to help the budget but I believe the extra outlay will result in a far better build.

 

what about this:

CASE: coolermaster elite 333 with 460W PSU - £51.98 EBUYER
MOBO:ASROCK N68-S GeForce 7025 - £38.16 EBUYER
CPU: Athlon X2 5200+ 2.7Ghz - £47.99 SCAN
RAM: 2GB DDR800 CORSAIR - £20.29 SCAN
HDD: 250GB Hitachi deskstar 7k500 - £32.07
ROM:Lite-ON 20x DVD rewriter - £14.99 EBUYER
OS: Vista Basic 32bit - £64.96 SCAN

TOTAL £270.44

so much better than the crappy E1400 celeron

or even better but more over budget would be the E5200 for £55.17 although something like the gigabyte EP35-DS3L would be better for overclocking it.

would be £290-£293 but unbelievably faster than your original spec and alot faster than the above.

 

Vista Home Basic is no good, get Home Premium. Oh, and 64-bit for sure.

Also agreed with Bbq on the PSU. Get a decent one.

 

going for the e5200 now but keeping the rest the same. I have a coolermaster 500w psu hanging around so ill stick that in and charge him for it.
will put nvidia 9400 in there when he got a little bit more money. only wants to watch high def files.

cheers for he advice guys

 

DOOM!

second (or third or fourth) that. bt just reviewed it here.

 

for cheap power supplies i get the silver power 500w lots of conections more than the 400w corsair and costs £46

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500w...er-80-Plus-CertifiedIntel-ATX-12V-6Serial-ATA

 

I got Windows XP Professional for £18 from play.com, check there for any bargains.

 

not a bad unit. manufacturer is owned by the same comany that builds tagan (does that rate?). cheaper looking build quality than the corsair unit. internal heatsinks are not great, and the fan is a little noisy with low airflow. never heard of the capacitor manufacturer personally, but maybe doom could comment. cable braiding doesnt go all the way inside the psu which lends to that cheaper look. 2 year warranty.

i don't know, i think i'd go with the corsair. he doesn't need the extra connectors or wattage. additionally, the higher wattage will make it less efficient than the corsair as psu's hit higher efficiencies at higher loads. save the fiver imo.

 

Try an Geforce 9400 based motherboard, and an E5200 instead of that CPU, You won't need to upgrade a graphics card, the 9400 is fine with HD.