Student PC - Rate my build, advice deeply appreciated!

a5y

I've been looking to build my first PC for a long time, and since things seem to have never been cheaper now looks like the time to do it. This isn't really a gaming PC. I'm going into my final year in college and I'd like a PC that would reliably run Photoshop and Solidworks (and some other things, un-demanding stuff such as word processing and firefox).

Having used a 192MB RAM relic that has run XP sp2 for years (yes, not even a 1/4 gb... it crawls a little but to its credit it rarely crashes), and knowing XP inside out by now I'm reluctant to move to Vista. I'm on a really tight budget and I'd really appreciate feedback on the 2 builds I'm considering.

The first is a Windows XP machine:



And the second is the Vista PC:



- I've no graphics card on either build (since I don't plan to be running any demanding games, and since the motherboards all have DVI for when I can afford to buy an nice big monitor), but would I be better off buying a cheaper brand name motorboard and a cheap graphics card to do the same thing and free up some resources? (Like a Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L motherboard with a MSI RX1550-TD128EH, 128MB, PCI-Express graphics card for about €17 more?)

- Also, is the ECS board a bit of a "yellow pack" motherboard? I'll pay for something that won't breakdown before a deadline.

- Since I won't be overclocking this, is 2GB of brand name RAM more or less the same as any 2GB of RAM? In short, should I save a few Euro by not buying Geil or Corsair?

- The 2 hard disks in the builds are pretty similar, but the cache on the Samsung is 16Mb versus the Maxtor's 8Mb. Would I ever notice the difference?

- Do I need to buy any additional fans or heatsinks? And does anyone think I am overspending on cooling and already since the case has 2x120mm fans? I can live with a cheaper and uglier case if the cooling is unnecessary.

- What about overspending on the PSU, I've tried using an online PSU calculator that was linked on another thread and it gave an estimate of 228 Watts.

(Since I'm aiming to buy other stuff later - LCD monitor, Pantone Calibration Kit, Wacom Tablet, wifi and maybe even printer ink... - not wasting money on stuff I won't need would be a great help later...)

- I'll almost certainly be using an old (ie pre-Vista) 19" CRT monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, will this have any incompatibility problems?

- I've never build a PC before, and recently broke the screen on my PSP trying to fix something that went wrong on the wifi circuitboard. Should someone like me just pay the extra €20 to have the PC built by HWV?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

SquirrelOnCrack

Seems like youve done your homework on this!

Considering your needs, I would go for option A. It might also be a good idea to pay a little extra and get a better motherboard. If you plan on upgrading, get one with plenty of PCI slots, this allows you add graphics, sound, wireless etc later on.

- I've no graphics card on either build (since I don't plan to be running any demanding games, and since the motherboards all have DVI for when I can afford to buy an nice big monitor), but would I be better off buying a cheaper brand name motorboard and a cheap graphics card to do the same thing and free up some resources? (Like a Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L motherboard with a MSI RX1550-TD128EH, 128MB, PCI-Express graphics card for about €17 more?)

If you dont plan using it now, dont bother. Onboard should work with photoshop but if you do notice it being a little sluggish you can always add one later.

- Also, is the ECS board a bit of a "yellow pack" motherboard? I'll pay for something that won't breakdown before a deadline.

I would recommend an Intel or GigaByte motherboard. With alot of PC hardware, its a case of "You get what you pay for". You can always shop around for cheaper deals but a motherboard is one thing I would fork out the extra $ for. If anything else in a PC dies, its relatively easy to swap but when the m/b dies it can cause alot of headaches. Plus, its the last thing you want to deal with when you have an assignment due.

- Since I won't be overclocking this, is 2GB of brand name RAM more or less the same as any 2GB of RAM? In short, should I save a few Euro by not buying Geil or Corsair?

What you've got is fine.

- The 2 hard disks in the builds are pretty similar, but the cache on the Samsung is 16Mb versus the Maxtor's 8Mb. Would I ever notice the difference?

If you are doing alot of project work (saving/loading files) you will notice a difference.

- Do I need to buy any additional fans or heatsinks? And does anyone think I am overspending on cooling and already since the case has 2x120mm fans? I can live with a cheaper and uglier case if the cooling is unnecessary.

You should be fine with what youve got at the moment, depends on how much hardware you want to add. That can be looked at in more detail down the line. Some graphics cards come with a built in fan. Cooling can determine the life of your PC, you can never have it too cool. The chips in your PC can run very hot, when they run hot for long periods of time they can break down.

- What about overspending on the PSU, I've tried using an online PSU calculator that was linked on another thread and it gave an estimate of 228 Watts.

Try calculating the wattage required with all the hardware you plan to install, this way you wont need to upgrade it later.

- I'll almost certainly be using an old (ie pre-Vista) 19" CRT monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, will this have any incompatibility problems?

This wont have any effect on the performance of your PC.

- I've never build a PC before, and recently broke the screen on my PSP trying to fix something that went wrong on the wifi circuitboard. Should someone like me just pay the extra €20 to have the PC built by HWV?

A PC is like a modern-day meccano set, its pretty easy to build. You need to take a day and start early, the build shouldnt take too long but the software setup can sometimes be tedious. If you can take the time to build a detailed list like the one you did above, you should have no problems building a PC.

I hope this helps a little, everything I answered is to the best of my knowlege. Some people may be able to go into a little more detail if you need it.

slave1

Although the ridiculously cheap Vostro offer seems over, the Dell Vostro Small Business D082004 still seems better value at €262.04 inc. delivery(select the logitech remote keyboard + mouse and the price DROPS) and 1 years local cover, you'll have around €80 to upgrade the harddrive to something decent, rakes of folk have the Vostro (I've two) and they are a great little PC, with HW you will have issues if parts go out of stock and shifting it back if there is a problem, with Dell they always have loads of stock and you'll get within 2/3 working days usually....

DanGerMus

For a budget pc like you're looking for i'd go look for some of dells special offers. In that price bracket you'd be hard pressed to beat their Value systems which can include a half decent monitor.

OK-Cancel-Apply

I'd stay stick with XP. Vista has given me nothing but problems, especially where games are concerned.

seraphimvc

some info maybe helpful:

i have this amd x2 6000+ with 8800GS ,2G RAM on 19'' monitor,running PS CS3 is not that smooth from what i feel, when i am applying brush scribble on the layer,the brush didnt show up immediately - takes sec/few sec .i guess i need more RAM or it is just the software

also,stick with XP if possible,search around photoshop vista story

a5y

Thanks for the all advice guys, I never even considered looking for a cheap Dell computer (my experience with ordering a computer from a big computer company didn't go too well last time).

I think I'll look over everything and see if I can scale back on one or two parts (the motherboard won't be one of them - thanks SquirrelOnCrack), partly because I want to try and build it myself, plus maybe that way I can afford to order some more peripherals and stuff on the same order.

Also, I might look around on a few other stores too, reading the Budget Gaming Computer thread kinda made me just look at HWV without checking out anywhere else, and in the past I'm kicked myself for not looking around at other places before buying something expensive.