New PC Build, thoughts?

[mrtruesdale]

Thinking of this set up from pcspecialist.co.uk

I'm interested in a quiet running, solid bit of kit. I'm going to run XP and use it for gaming, little bit of photoshopping etc.

Haven't bought a new computer for about 5 years, is this processor sound? Is it worth getting any more RAM?


Processor (CPU) - Intel® Core™2 Duo E8600 (3.33GHz) 1333MHz FSB/6MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM) - 2GB CORSAIR XMS2 DUAL-DDR2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY

Motherboard - ASUS® P5QL/EPU: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 3 PCI, 2 x PCI-e x1

Memory - 1st Hard Disk - 250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive - 22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Graphics Card - 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GT PCI EXPRESS

Case - COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE

Power Supply & Case Cooling - 450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling - SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER

Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

[Ritwik7]

How much is that build costing you?

I suggest that you build one yourself. Some of the components look a little dated.

 

[Route44]

To add to what Rit has said, what is the reason you are going XP?

 

[mrtruesdale]

I have my own copy of XP SP3 and hated Vista when I tried it.

I'm looking to spend £550 to £650, which components are outdated?

 

[Ritwik7]

You'll be able to build yourself a better rig with that money. Only 2 Gigs of memory and the 9800GT for a video card are not the best choices now. Also that PSU may be weak.

Consider putting together an AMD system.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz - £124.94
Asus M4A79XTD EVO - £76.01
G.SKILL DDR3 4GB (2GB x 2 - £72.74
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - £77.69
Sapphire HD5770 1GB - £129.89
Cooler Master CM-690 Dominator - £59.51

Total - £540.78 (excluding HDD and optical drive)

If you're willing to spend a little more, get yourself the Radeon HD 5850 graphics card or add another HD 5770 in CrossFire later.

 

[mrtruesdale]

Thanks Ritwik7, much appreciated.

I'm definitely leaning toward building my own. I've never installed a PSU before, is it easy enough to do? I already have an ATX case with a Silent 400W PSU + 80mm internal Fan, will I need to upgrade these do you think?