Specs on my new systems!

[heyskull]

Here are the specifications on my 3 new design systems:-

Motherboard = Asus M4N78-V Socket AM2+
Processor = AMD Athlon Quad Core 635 2.90ghz 2000mhz 2mb Cache SKT AM3
RAM = 4gb 800mhz PC6400 DDR2
Storage = Samsung 500gb Sata 16mb Cache 7200RPM
Graphic Card = 9400GT 1024mb PCI-E HDMI + DVI + VGA
Monitor = LG LCD Black Monitor 22 Widescreen
Including : Case, Power Supply, DVD writer etc. etc.

Price for these each is about $700 or £470 each.

Is this a good price for complete built systems?

SC

 

[jiarby]

The compromises to keep the price low are in the video, ram & hdd. You don't say what chassis/psu you are using, but there is a big difference between a $30 case that includes a little 300w psu and a $100 case that does not! $200 for a power supply and case is not ridiculous. The PSU is the heart of the system. If it sucks you may lose your mobo later.

The 9400GT is not a leading edge graphics card, but for 2D work it will be fine.
I'd add as much RAM as your wife will let you. Get 2 HDD's: An O/S drive, and a DATA drive.

Backup the OS drive to the data drive, and vice versa using drive imaging software. 500gb drives are $60 US.

 

[heyskull]

The PSU is 450W so should be OK
I understand about the 2 drives so I may switch to 2 250GBs or partition the 500GB into 2!
I wish I could find 500GBs drives for $60 (£40) in the UK...lol
I agree also that the graphics card is more than adequate for design work and probably is overspeced for 2D design work.
I may raise the RAM upto 6GB.
But this becomes all expensive when buying 3off machines.

What operating system would you specify as this is nearly $150 extra per machine?!!!

SC

 

[Malkin]

I am not familiar with typical pricing in th UK, but that doesn't sound too bad. I can tell you that I recently picked up a box from Best Buy with an AMD Phenum II (Quad), 1 TB storage, & 8 GB ram for about $600 (USD) Did not include a monitor though.

 

[smdgrfx]

My opinion - you are building machines that are already outdated
On the processor, you should at least use the 945
Power Supply - super important. The more head room you have, the more efficient they will be and save you $$$ in the long run. Be sure you get one that is 80+ bronze certified. Will cost a little more now, but save you from headaches later. And I wouldn't go with anything less than a 550w. The computer is only going to use what it needs. If you are pushing that little 450w all the time, it will go bad in a couple of years or less.