Need a good system builder recommendation

boing

Senior member
Sep 13, 2001
354
4
81
My dad needs a new desktop for moderate photoshop work and emailing, I said I would put something together for him around the £400 mark but having looked at a few pre-built systems it seems like I'm not gong to be able to save much/get a better spec by building it myself. I don't really want to go to the hassle of ordering everything from different locations and building the thing just to save £20....

After nearly ordering a system from Mesh.com then reading a barrage of terrible reviews at the last minute I thought I'd get some recommendations on decent sites that will build and deliver to the UK (Northern Ireland)

Can anyone recommend anything?
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Exactly what is included in that £400 budget? Just the tower, or do you also need to buy any peripherals? Do you have the OS covered?
 

boing

Senior member
Sep 13, 2001
354
4
81
He's on an old 2005 laptop at the minute so I told him I'd donate an old monitor keyboard and mouse, he needs the tower and internals.

He's a photographer and does a bit of minor adjustments to pics so he doesn't need a lot of horsepower but because he's moving and opening a lot of RAW files and pics he needs USB 3.0 for his card reader and backup drive and a decent lump of RAM.

Off the top of my head I thought the spec below would get the job done.

CPU - Core i3 4130/4340.
GPU - Integrated graphics.
RAM - 8Gb DDR3.
HD - 1Tb SATA3 HDD.
MB - I thought an H81 chipset board would cover as he won't need a graphics card and only needs 2 USB 3 ports.
PSU - 400W.
OS - Win 7 64 bit.
Audio - Integrated.
Case - dependent on MB form factor.

As I say I think this is easily doable for £400 but if I can get something decent off the shelf it'll avoid the hassle of sourcing everything and building it all.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Yeah that looks about right. I'd get a board with internal USB 3.0 so he can connect the card reader into the case front panel. I don't think the i3-4340 is worth it over the 4130. But I would try to fit in a small SSD, it'll make working with Photoshop, along with everything else really, a bit more responsive and fluid.

e.g.

i3-4130 £80
MSI H81M-E33 V2 £39
Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB £55
Seagate 1TB £42
1x8GB kingston hyperx 1600Mhz £55 (leaves one slot free)
XFX 450W £35
Cooler Master N200 £33
Win 7 64 £70

= £409 + shipping

I thought an H81 chipset board would cover as he won't need a graphics card and only needs 2 USB 3 ports.
A h81 chipset board can handle a graphics card the same as any other.

Case - dependent on MB form factor.
Not necessarily. You can get a microATX board and put it in an ATX case if you wish. The CM N200 above is microATX
 
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boing

Senior member
Sep 13, 2001
354
4
81
Thanks for the feedback, I especially appreciate the MB recommendation as I was getting swamped going through the options.

Would it reduce memory bandwidth to only go with 1 stick of RAM? I know Photoshop holds a lot of info in memory especially with a lot of history states.

Also, I haven't heard of XFX for the PSU, are they decent enough?
 

ignatzatsonic

Senior member
Nov 20, 2006
351
0
0
XFX is good stuff; most if not all are Seasonic-manufactured, which is probably the best name out there.

A single stick of RAM might make a minor difference in a benchmark, but I doubt you'd notice it in real-world usage.