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I need to build this dualcore spec. How much do i need to spend?

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  • 09-08-2012 10:44am
    #1
    Posts: 0


    Hello all,

    First post in this forum, so please forgive any noob-type transgressions. I looked around for the best thread to post in, and settled here, hope that's ok.

    I need to build or buy the Win7 dualcore PC spec below for part of a gaming project i'm thinking of doing. I have very little experience with multi-core PCs (anything past a P4 3ghz is new fangled to me) but i'm OK on modding, installing operating systems and generally messing about inside older PC's up to about that time period, with the exception of VRAM and video cards, which i haven't done much with.

    The spec i need to get my hands on is as follows. As far as i understand, it's not particularly high end:
    • OS: Windows Vista (lol, yeah right!) or Windows 7
    • Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.0 GHz and up
    • Memory: 2 GB RAM
    • Graphics: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 and up supported (operation on-board is not guaranteed)
    • Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and up, VRAM: 512MB and up (operation sharing with main memory is not guaranteed)
    • Hard Drive: 4.5 GB free hard drive space
    • Sound: DirectSound, DirectX9.0c Compatible Audio
    Can anyone help or point me in the right direction to buy (ideally) or build this as cheaply as possible? Second hand would be great, and the OS already installed would be handy but not essential. As long as i can get to that spec or above, keeping cost down is the main factor. Looks, and (to an extent) box size are not really important.

    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 6,710 ✭✭✭Monotype


    Celeron G530/G540 are €40-50 and 2.4/2.5GHz, dual core and a few generations newer than a core 2 duo. Would that do?

    Do you want something upgradable or is keeping costs low a priority?
    Are you a student that could avail of cheap windows?

    Check adverts.ie for second hand. Alternatively, get back to me with those answers and I'll see if I can get something cheap and new.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Monotype wrote: »
    Celeron G530/G540 are €40-50 and 2.4/2.5GHz, dual core and a few generations newer than a core 2 duo. Would that do?

    Sure, as long as it does what i need and there's not a major price gap. What i'm trying to do is get to that spec, maybe with a bit of headroom, so as long as it doesn't cost much more. If it's better, great. Ideally something off the shelf/second hand would be good, as opposed to having to build it, just for the sake of time & simplicity.
    Monotype wrote: »
    Do you want something upgradable or is keeping costs low a priority?

    If there's processor, RAM, and storage headroom in the spec for not much extra cash that would be good, but price is more important than upgradeability, once it's got that minimum spec to do what i need, particularly in the graphics area. It's going to be config'ed and set up, and pretty much left to run as it is without any further tweaking needed, so upgradeability past that point is only a "nice to have" rather than essential.
    Monotype wrote: »
    Are you a student that could avail of cheap windows?

    I'm not a student, but i have a licensed copy of windows 7 i could use if i needed to, although again, it would be great to be able to just get my hands on a box that's ready to go, including an OS, depending on the price.
    Monotype wrote: »
    Check adverts.ie for second hand. Alternatively, get back to me with those answers and I'll see if I can get something cheap and new.

    Something secondhand off adverts would be great, once the spec is right. Problem is I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. I'm not at all familiar with the different generations of processors post P4 and particularly the graphics cards over the last few years, and the various names are double dutch to me.

    If you could link me to a couple of ads I'd really appreciate it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,710 ✭✭✭Monotype


    If you were to build it, something like the following would be a good basis.

    Item|Price
    Intel Celeron G540 Box, LGA1155|€39.19
    BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.86
    XFX DD RADEON 7770 1000M 1GB D5 mDP HDMI DVI|€114.72
    Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.20
    ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€57.74
    WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€61.78
    LG GH22NS50/70/90 bare schwarz|€17.82
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€85.04
    4GB Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10667U CL9|€18.57
    Shipping|€18.99
    Total|€487.91

    You could actually cut back in a few places there. I picked a reasonable motherboard that has USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps, but if you wanted just the very basic board, you can cut this as far back as ~€43.
    Hard drive eats into the budget a bit. I see a few on adverts for 45, make sure it's not too old and slow and maybe you could knock it to 40. You can pick up something second hand instead of that card - say a 6850 or 6870 or 4890 - actually there's a few 4850s for very cheap on there that should do the job.

    If you're not in a hurry, you could consider AMD's new Trinity APUs which have reasonably powerful graphics on the chip with the CPU. They're expected some time next month. Could be ideal for your needs.

    The windows quoted there is the German version, so you'll need to grab an English copy and burn it to disk. See the guide in my signature for more details on that.

    Also, hardwarversand just take bank transfers (or paypal for 3% extra). Credit cards aren't the norm there.

    There's just loads and loads of desktops on adverts after taking a quick look. Many of them are a few generations old and I can't really be going through them all. Best thing to look for is something that's at least reasonably recent. AMD's current sockets are AM3+ (mainstream) and FM1 (APUs with integrated graphics, soon to be replaced by FM2), although AM3 CPUs should still be up to scratch. Intel are using Socket 1155 and recent naming schemes are Core i3/i5/i7. Socket 2011 is high end and 1366 is former high end.
    If you want to post one and are wondering about it, I can check it out.

    If this is only a temporary thing, you can keep a Windows 7 trial running for 120 days!


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Thanks very much indeed, i appreciate the time you took. There's loads of food for thought there.

    Much appreciated!


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