Cheap but not cheerful

[AndrewE]

These components cost £347.49 inc VAT & delivery so we're within budget. They're from E-Buyer and if you use Google checkout you'll get a tenner off.

All the components are quality parts.

The motherboard has onboard graphics but will be fine for your requirements. It will not run most latest high res games, but will be happy with some older games.

There is no floppy drive and no Operating system. You will have to use the stock heatsink and fan, which should be fine (if you do order this, don't forget to order a small tube of CPU thermal compound with your order, I just remembered that).

However, you have a dual core 2Ghz machine, a gig of RAM, a 250Gb hard drive and a DVDRW. 380W PSU and a 17" TFT Samsung Monitor.

The case is a matter of personal taste of course, but I chose the one here as I liked the look of it and it was a fair price.

You may wish at a later date to add better graphics - that's ok, it has a pci-e slot.

Adding a floppy drive will add about £7.00 to the price.

Adding a DVD-ROM drive (to copy from, but it's not needed) will add about another £14.00.

Here we go, hope this picture is readable:

Having done a bit more research, I'm not at the stage of refining my choices. As flops points out in this comment, choosing a case is always going to be a subjective affair of taste.

I came across this Antec case on Ebuyer with a PSU already included:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112648

I was wondering what people think of this as an alternative to Flopps case and separate Coolermaster PSU as mentioned above.

Thanks and sorry for dragging this thread on.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Well, if you like the case it is good value for money but I kinda went off Antec PSU's a couple of years ago when three died on me in almost as many months.

They ranged in age from five to two years, quite odd really. But maybe they're building them better now, I dunno. For that price I'd probably take a chance, cos other than my misgivings about Antec PSU's, it's a good buy.

And don't worry about dragging the thread out, this is a computer help forum, you want to be sure what you're buying suits you, so ask away.

 

[Adywebb]

I like Antec cases, they are beautifully built - I have 2 Antec P180's and 3 Antec Solos - however they come without PSU's, so I'm unable to comment on the quality of the one fitted to the one you are looking at.

The reviews at ebuyer look positive though