Spec a Core 2 Duo

Many years ago I used to spend many an hour within this forum speccing up PC's and know all there was to know about CPU's, Motherboards etc. Now I have no idea what goes with what, who makes the best Ram for which motherboard.

A friends asked me to build him a PC, the build I have no problem with, Im an IT field engineer. The speccing up of the kit itself is a problem, so hopefully you guys could give me a few pointers.

Budget is ?320

Needs:

Core 2 Duo CPU
2GB Ram
200GB or bigger HDD
then the usual ; Case, DVDRW, Graphics, Motherboard.

This unit will NOT be overclocked, needs to be 100% stable.

My effort:

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz ?63.44
Intel DP965LT 965 ?70.50
Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300C5 ?51.69
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 250GB ?38.76
Graphics card PCIe ?40
Case ?45

?309


Thanks

farco wrote:
then the usual ; Case, DVDRW, Graphics, Motherboard.

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz ?63.44

That's a very slow processor, not even marketed as a core 2 duo here in the
US - that's one of their new "Pentium Dual Core" line here. I'd see if you
can take a step up to something like the E4400, or if he needs
virtualization, possible an E6300 or something like that.

The rest of this looks good, although...
Intel DP965LT 965 ?70.50
Graphics card PCIe ?40

Which PCIe graphics card? If he doesn't play video games, he might save a
bit of money on an integrated video board. I'm assuming the ? are GBP
symbols my newsreader can't get - if so, that's $220 and on this side of the
pond you could get a decent integrated-video motherboard for half that.

Your budget doesn't include an optical drive; presumably he already has a
keyboard/mouse/monitor.

--
Nate Edel http://www.cubiclehermit.com/

"What's the use of yearning for Elysian Fields when you know you can't get
'em, and would only let 'em out on building leases if you had 'em?" (WSG)

On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:49:00 +0100, farco
wrote:


Many years ago I used to spend many an hour within this forum speccing
up PC's and know all there was to know about CPU's, Motherboards etc.
Now I have no idea what goes with what, who makes the best Ram for
which motherboard.

A friends asked me to build him a PC, the build I have no problem with,
Im an IT field engineer. The speccing up of the kit itself is a problem,
so hopefully you guys could give me a few pointers.

Budget is ?320

Needs:

Core 2 Duo CPU
2GB Ram
200GB or bigger HDD
then the usual ; Case, DVDRW, Graphics, Motherboard.

This unit will NOT be overclocked, needs to be 100% stable.

My effort:

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz ?63.44
Intel DP965LT 965 ?70.50
Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300C5 ?51.69
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 250GB ?38.76
Graphics card PCIe ?40
Case ?45

?309


Thanks

The spec is OK, but the whole thing with DIY a low-to-midlevel PC
doesn't make much sence from financial POV. For GBP309 - roughly $600
- you can get a better spec from the likes of Dull and HP - and a
legit Windows copy, possibly with cut-down Office. These days it
makes sence to DIY only high end rigs, or something with very special
features, like output for 3+ displays. As you mentioned, OCing is out
of the picture - otherwise it _might_ make sence to build a box on the
cheap, and then try and OC it to beat some much more expensive setups.

NNN

farco wrote:
Budget is ?320

Needs:

Core 2 Duo CPU
2GB Ram
200GB or bigger HDD
then the usual ; Case, DVDRW, Graphics, Motherboard.

This unit will NOT be overclocked, needs to be 100% stable.

My effort:

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz ?63.44
Intel DP965LT 965 ?70.50
Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300C5 ?51.69
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 250GB ?38.76
Graphics card PCIe ?40
Case ?45

?309

If you drop the graphics card, you can spend the savings on a bigger HD
or something. Going with the onboard graphics, I mean.

Yousuf Khan