Small Internet/family pc

[sheldonleigh]

Ok so I'm building a pc for a friends parents.

It is NOT for gaming but I don't really have a handle on what is a decent spec for a day to day home pc. Have a look and let me know what you would add or minus. The budget is £250. they have a screen. Thanks for the input

Please note the above dates are a guide and are subject to stock availability and credit clearance.

You will be sent another email when your goods have despatched.

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1 x BB-342GB  Novatech Barebone Bundle - Intel Celeron E3400 - 2GB DDR3 1333Mhz - Intel G41 Motherboard - 4 Bay ATX Tower Case & PSU

   @ GBP 99.99 each (Ex Vat)

1 x SG-712S500  Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 16MB Cache Hard Drive SATA II 300MB/s 11ms 7200rpm - OEM

   @ GBP 26.37 each (Ex Vat)

1 x NOV-KB060U  Novatech Standard Keyboard

   @ GBP 5.10 each (Ex Vat)

2 x CAB-SATA  Novatech SATA Cable - 46cm

   @ GBP 3.40 each (Ex Vat)

1 x LOG-B110  Logitech B110 USB optical mouse

   @ GBP 5.94 each (Ex Vat)

1 x SAM-S223C  Samsung S223C 22x DVD+/-RW SATA Black - OEM

   @ GBP 11.66 each (Ex Vat)

1 x CAB-SATA2P  Novatech Serial ATA Power Splitter Cable

   @ GBP 2.54 each (Ex Vat)

1 x NOV-84GS5  Novatech GeForce 8400GS 512MB DDR2 VGA/DVI PCI-Express - Retail  with PhysX & CUDA

   @ GBP 22.97 each (Ex Vat)

I am considering a wireless card but as a desktop I doubt it's a necessity.

Thanks again.

Ron

 

[Stryker64]

Day to day use with just word docs and power point that will be fine.

EDIT: Does the bundle come with an OS? If not get a 32bit OS, since you don't want to go 64bit unless you have 4 or more gigs of ram.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Day to day use with just word docs and power point that will be fine.

EDIT: Does the bundle come with an OS? If not get a 32bit OS, since you don't want to go 64bit unless you have 4 or more gigs of ram.

No it doesn't come with an OS. Thanks its a good point, I didn't know that was the rule.

Does going for a 32bit os limit the upgradeability of the system?? Does the 32bit run faster on slower PCs than 64bit??

Thanks for your input again

 

[Stryker64]

No it doesn't come with an OS. Thanks its a good point, I didn't know that was the rule.

Does going for a 32bit os limit the upgradeability of the system?? Does the 32bit run faster on slower PCs than 64bit??

Thanks for your input again

Lol double post. Anyway the primary difference between 32bit and 64bit systems is the amount of memory the computer can use. If you're using 64bit system the maximum amount of ram you're computer can use is around 128gigs I believe this is including RAM, Graphics RAM, Hard drive Cache etc, which is plenty, so programs that run on 64bit are able to use a lot more ram, but they will also use more ram by default. So if you had the same programs running on your computer, they might take up 1gb of ram for a 64bit OS, while only 500ms of ram for a 32bit OS.

So why doesn't everyone use 32bit? Well 32bit OS are limited to 4GB of ram including the ram on the graphics card and everything. So for a slow PC they will run faster.

If you found anything confusing or if I missed out on anything just comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.

 

[hmmblah]

Lol double post. Anyway the primary difference between 32bit and 64bit systems is the amount of memory the computer can use. If you're using 64bit system the maximum amount of ram you're computer can use is around 128gigs I believe this is including RAM, Graphics RAM, Hard drive Cache etc, which is plenty, so programs that run on 64bit are able to use a lot more ram, but they will also use more ram by default. So if you had the same programs running on your computer, they might take up 1gb of ram for a 64bit OS, while only 500ms of ram for a 32bit OS.

So why doesn't everyone use 32bit? Well 32bit OS are limited to 4GB of ram including the ram on the graphics card and everything. So for a slow PC they will run faster.

If you found anything confusing or if I missed out on anything just comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.

That's really not true. You would be fine running 64-bit Win7 with under 4GB of RAM. There would be no performance difference at all.

 

[Stryker64]

Well in my experience you have more spare RAM when using 32bit, so you have more ram to play around with, which would in turn lead to a slightly faster pc wouldn't it?

 

[Diablo]

It shouldn't really make much difference. 64 bit means that the pc is future proof so that when the owners decide that they want to have more RAM, they can easily have that.

 

[Stryker64]

Ok I've joined the 64bit side.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Ok

I will defo go go 64bit. Question is, do I need to put in the graphics card? I thought originally that it'd help if they fancied a little video decoding or entry level gaming, but now I don't know if it's worth using??

Anybody got any pros or cons of installing the baby gfx card??

Thanks all for the input

 

[Brooksie]

Well if the motherboard doesn't have onboard VGA, you would need to install the graphics card.

 

[chudley]

you can get a 8800GTS on ebay for a good price, I would recommend that to them.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Cool, I'll look into the 8800, I use a 8800m GTX in my old laptop. Good card from my experiance I'll look what cash is left at the end of the build.

It's a good learning curve for me and a pretty good deal for them And with all the great, helpful people out there I can't go wrong

Thanks again guys :£) &girls ofc

 

[chudley]

Ron PM sent and I am about to send another.