Another 'what do you reckon to this spec' thread...!!

[RussAB]

I've been lurking around for a few weeks, as a total newbie to BIYS (and a total newbie to the inside of a PC, come to think of it!), trying to see if I could learn how to do it........I'm hoping I have! I'm looking to get a new PC, and have tried to come up with a spec that I hope suits the needs I have. I'd be really grateful if anyone has any comments.

Main requirement is to be able to work from home - my boss has given me some software (VPN and Novell - neither mean anything to me) that means I can access all our Lotus Notes databases, my work email, as well as all our drives where we store all our spreadsheets and reports. Multitasking is a must - I typically have half a dozen applications open at once, and it'd be good to be able to do that at home.

Reasonable storage for some photos would be cool too. Not too fussed about gaming. Copying CDs and DVDs would be an option I'd probably like to have.

I saw this thread https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-2500826.php and pretty much based my thoughts on that as the requirements are similar, albeit that I'm not fussed about the video editing capabilities. I'm not sure, however, how to tone this down to remove the stuff in there specifically for video editing.

Here's my go - have I gone too far (or not far enough)? It's a bit on the pricey side, £821 delivered (and built, i think, but I am hoping to have a go myself) from PCSpecialist, but what it's come up with is affordable (could stretch a bit more if need be). I've already got XP Home and Office from our current laptop which I presume I can also install on a desktop?

CPU​

AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT X2 3800 2 x 512K L2 Cache

Memory​

512 MB DDR400 PC3200 WITH LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Motherboard​

ASUS® A8N-SLI SE: DUAL DDR, S-ATA, 2 x x16 VGA, 3 PCI

USB Options​

SIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)

Hard Drive​

SATA II 200 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache

DVD ROM/Combi Drive​

52 X 32 X 52 CD WRITER + 16X DVD ROM (COMBI DRIVE)

CD/DVD Writer​

16x +/- DVD WRITER (8x +/- Dual Lyr) (5x DVD-RAM) (40x CD-RW) (£24)

Graphics Card 1​

128MB GEFORCE 6600GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Sound Card​

HIGH END ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL SOUND (RECOMMENDED)

Network Facilities
2 x 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORTS (1 PORT ON A8N-SLI SE)

Floppy Drive/Card Reader​

INTERNAL 7 IN 1 CARD READER WITH 1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Case​

Black Stylish Case + 2 Front USB

Power Supply & Cooling​

500W (Peak) Silent Dual Rail PSU with 120mm fan (£25)

Firewire & Video Editing​

1 x FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD (A8N-SLI DELUXE ONLY)

Monitor​

HIGH END TFT: 19 INCH SILVER/BLACK: 12MS + DVI! (£149)

Keyboard​

Logitech® Cordless Internet Pro Desktop Keyboard + Mouse (Black) (£17)

Speakers​

LOGITECH S200 2.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM (£12)

Warranty
1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return



Any comments gratefully received!

Thanks
Russ

 

[Ian]

Welcome to the site Russ

Seems like a sound choice, but you should be able to save some money by downgrading the graphics card to something else - if you aren't gaming at all the cheapest/lowest option should do

I would suggest getting 1GB of ram (1024MB) if you have lots of applications open at once, as that will make a big difference for £35 or so.

 

[Adywebb]

Welcome Russ

You could also save some money by dumping the CD Writer and just sticking with the DVD RW - if you need to do CD/DVD copying just buy a DVD ROM.

 

[Me__2001]

im with iain, you want as much RAM as you can afford if your mulltitasking

also you dont need two LAN ports so you can drop the extra one as the motherboard has one built in

other than that its pretty good

 

[muckshifter]

I agree with the others ... get 2gig ram, dump the combo (not needed) ... and make sure your Boss is going to give you a pay rise for "working" at home.

The components you have chosen are way over the top for any office PC, however, if you intend to mix leisure & work, better to have today's technology ... make sure you get into a good back-up routine.