Build Advice PC for the parents

[jopers1986]

Hi Everyone! Been some time since i've posted on Bit-Tech, needless to say, i'm a little out of touch with whats going on in the hardware world anymore (which is sadening), i've not built a PC in quite some time (and just check my signature to see what i'm running)...

I've been enlisted to build a PC for my parents, as there's has finally gone pop. They don't need much, but what you think of the spec below:

Intel Core i3 2120 3.3GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £91.46
Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H £67.96
Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz Ballistix Sport Memory (2x4gb) £27.99
Xenta 600W 12cm Fan PSU - 1x 6pin PCI-E 2x SATA £26.58
LG GH24NS90 SATA DVD Optical Drive | OEM £13.57
WD 500GB Green Desktop Drive £50.25
CiT Vantage Gaming Case Black HD Audio Black Interior 4 Fans Card Reader No PSU £31.95
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 £69.99

All costed from eBuyer...

Any help apprecated as always...and it feels good to be back!!!

Rich

[suragh]

Hey there Rich,

You have a nice build there but I would like to make a few suggestions;

• Swap out the z77 motherboard for a h77
• I think 8 Gig of RAM is overkill for a "Family/Household friendly PC"
• A 600 Watt PSU is too much as well. I would go for a 450 at least.
• There is a thread on here discussing the new windows 8 and its similarities/differences with 7 in performance/price, and from what I can see its cheaper than Windows 7. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=248592

I would take up the advantage of the free delivery with Scan if the parts or similar are available on there.

Just my thoughts that's all.

[Shirty]

Good advice. With the money saved you could put a little more into the case, since that's the only bit that's really on display. I coerced my folks into paying for a Silverstone FT-03 rather than a plasticky "G4m3r 4 lyfe" cheapo affair.

That's probably overkill, but you could look at one of the options from Antec/BitFenix/Fractal etc.

Spend 20 minutes in here for some ideas.

[AlphaAngel]

All looks good except that psu - overpowered and unbranded = potential headache.

For the system listed I would be surprised if it went over 150W tbh

I would go with this:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-...et-fan-atx-psu

Lots of headroom should you need it and it won't go bang taking everything else with it.

If you really want to keep the cost down then this would suffice:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...et-fan-atx-psu

Personally I would spend the extra £6 though for a little bit of future proofing.

[Shirty]

I'd echo that advice on the PSU. Branded is the way to go really. It's also worth considering whether it might make more sense (or be more fun) to build a smaller unit such as a mini-ITX machine.

[AlphaAngel]

Case and Mobo idea - go mATX - means the unit is less intrusive/can be hidden away better. The case listed is a top case to and the mobo has heatsinks on everything too unlike other cheap mATX/ATX boards.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-h...vi-d-micro-atx

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fract...et-fan-w-o-psu

[AlphaAngel]

As per Shirty's suggestion some ideas for mini ITX.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...4x25-hdd-usb-3

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-b...-hdmi-mini-itx

I think micro ATX give more freedom though in terms of componants later on to upgrade and gives better air movement to keep stuff cool.

[AlphaAngel]

Also if you still want a card reader then this will be far better than the built in one on the case you listed:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/sweex...nc-usb-20-port

[jopers1986]

Ah i love Bit-Tech. thanks for all the quick replies!!!

Great ideas, would love to build a mini ITX PC, what about cooling in it though?

Though about mATX, but the mobos seemed to be more expensive... (but obviously not from your links)...

Will do some more research tonight i think, was thinkg 8gb of memory as it's pretty cheap in comparison to other components, but if 8gb will be utalised about as much as 4gb, i'll save a tenner...!

[Shirty]

Just for illustration, I use my PC almost exclusively for gaming. I have never exceeded 4GB or RAM usage, the additional 4GB are really just future-proofing because it's relatively cheap.

Cooling won't be an issue with the type of hardware you are looking at, so a quiet & neat build will be the order of the day.

Do you have a budget? I'm sure you'd get a suggested build up together in next to no time if you give the Bit-techers some tangible money to spend

P.S. I love the first part of your sig, it's sooo 2004 and takes me back.

[jopers1986]

Well, the intially said they don't want to spend over £500, but i was thinking £400 would be enough to suit what they need.

haha, that just proves how out of touch i am! The NF7 was a classic though.....

[Shirty]

How about this? Leaves some budget to be creative with if required...



A few comments:

1. A fully modular PSU would be much easier to work with in this case, such as this
2. You could use the onboard video, or buy a cheap discrete GPU if they enjoy a bit of light gaming
3. There is space for a single card reader if required
4. If the budget allows, a small SSD would bolster Windows performance hugely
5. I've selected Windows 8 OEM, but the upgrade edition is only £25 if you have a qualifying copy of Windows to upgrade from
6. The OEM cooler should be fine in there, as long as they're not hammering the i3 regularly
7. I've assumed you (they) already have peripherals and a monitor
8. I've left ScanSure in there as you haven't built a rig for a while. You'll know whether you need this or not

[Dave Lister]

I built a pc for my dad a couple years back for his xmas, It was only a dual core atom (1.66Ghz)with a 80gb laptop hdd i had lying around and win 7. He seems to love it, the only thing i'd change would be to swap out the hdd for a smallish ssd (64gb probably) The atom is fine for everything he does internet and writing, so open office and chrome were loaded on along with stuff like foxit reader just in case he needs to open a pdf. So that was about £140 for an atom ion mini itx board and ram, then I just knocked up a case out of some cutoffs of wood that were lying around the garage.

[jopers1986]

Cheers Dave, interesting idea, couldn't definately save some pennies there... thinking about upgrade potential as well in some respects.

Thanks for the shopping list shirty! You'd recomend mini ITX over mATX then? Not to much price difference... but what about features? Also not much extra space in that little box.

[Shirty]

What features will they realistically use? I think in reality I found working on a smaller scale quite fun, because my own rigs end up being enormous. Plus, unless you are a real power user then you can get everything you need in a smaller, neater package.

Space will only be a premium if you have things lined up to fill it

[docodine]

Not sure if they're available in the UK yet, but an ITX FM2 setup would be pretty perfect imo.

[megadriveguy]

I'd spend the extra few quid on 8GB of ram and forget the Hard drive get an ssd

[jopers1986]

What SSD would you recomend, would the SSD just be for windows etc? how about this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120gb...75mb-s-50k-iop
could get a cheaper seperate sata i guess for storage

[jopers1986]

also, how do you get free delivery at Scan...?

[Jester_612]

Are you sure they wouldn't be more comfortable with a chalkboard. To be helpful 4GB RAM is enough with little multi tasking.

Scan free delivery https://secure.scan.co.uk/aspnet/MyA...ecarriage.aspx. Check their sub-forum, it only comes into effect after £20 ex VAT