Budget Non-Gaming PC

I've offered to build a non-gaming PC for a friend that will hold up well for many years. Any recommendations of hardware and the usual?

Budget: around £200 but I'd like evaluations of performance/price

£200 is an incredibly low budget, is it just the tower and everything inside or peripherals too?

Just the tower yes. Perhaps £200 is a little optimisticl; any suggestions on hardware though and the best places to get it online?

He's looking in to video-editing yes. Newegg doesn't deliver to U.K. I believe and I'm guessing nor does microcenter.

Best place, hands-down is Newegg.com. However, if you can't order online find your closest MicroCenter. They're prices have been quite close to that of Newegg recently. Built 3 rigs so far, all from Newegg.LiftedHeadshot

Yeah, but this is in pounds; the only place I know of that's English is OCUK...Ask Markop2003 for more places in England.

Thanks for the OCUK tip, probably the best the U.K. has to offer. Looking at a P5Q ASUS motherboard, any recommendations for a 775 socket CPU?

If he's doing video editing without gaming your going to want a Core 2 Quad for the performance in video-editing. Core 2 Duo is last resort, I have a C2D machine and a C2Q and there is a noticeable performance difference in video editing.LiftedHeadshot

If he's doing video editing without gaming your going to want a Core 2 Quad for the performance in video-editing. Core 2 Duo is last resort, I have a C2D machine and a C2Q and there is a noticeable performance difference in video editing.LiftedHeadshot

I have a P5Q here, an E5200 @ 2.5 GHz and some good Kingston RAM for £170. I have a 8600GT lying around, a PSU and a DVD drive to spare. That means I'm looking at a case and a Hard Drive so maybe I'll be in the mid-£200 range :).

I have a P5Q here, an E5200 @ 2.5 GHz and some good Kingston RAM for £170. I have a 8600GT lying around, a PSU and a DVD drive to spare. That means I'm looking at a case and a Hard Drive so maybe I'll be in the mid-£200 range :).

Leon2793

An E5200 a good option then? There's a big leap in prices if you're going into the 7 and 8 series of intel core 2's.

Yes it looks pretty good on paper (or the web :P). I've found a bundle offer now an Intel G45 board along with the Q8200 for £180 yes he'd be better off with a high core 2 duo but there are no such offers. Does the Asus P5Q have advantages though? That means he'd be paying £50+ for the processor upgrade which could be worth it (depending on his point of view). I'll talk to him though.

Thanks for the support.

Yes it looks pretty good on paper (or the web :P). I've found a bundle offer now an Intel G45 board along with the Q8200 for £180 yes he'd be better off with a high core 2 duo but there are no such offers. Does the Asus P5Q have advantages though? That means he'd be paying £50+ for the processor upgrade which could be worth it (depending on his point of view). I'll talk to him though.

Thanks for the support.

Leon2793

[QUOTE="Leon2793"]

Yes it looks pretty good on paper (or the web :P). I've found a bundle offer now an Intel G45 board along with the Q8200 for £180 yes he'd be better off with a high core 2 duo but there are no such offers. Does the Asus P5Q have advantages though? That means he'd be paying £50+ for the processor upgrade which could be worth it (depending on his point of view). I'll talk to him though.

Thanks for the support.

LiftedHeadshot

I'll try and persuade him paying up a bit more would be a good option.

[QUOTE="LiftedHeadshot"][QUOTE="Leon2793"]

Yes it looks pretty good on paper (or the web :P). I've found a bundle offer now an Intel G45 board along with the Q8200 for £180 yes he'd be better off with a high core 2 duo but there are no such offers. Does the Asus P5Q have advantages though? That means he'd be paying £50+ for the processor upgrade which could be worth it (depending on his point of view). I'll talk to him though.

Thanks for the support.

Leon2793

I'll try and persuade him paying up a bit more would be a good option.

I don't think we'll be worrying about overclocking and thanks for imparting your greater knowledge :). You've helped a lot; while he may not need the proceesor upgrade considering the extent of the upgrade and the price I'll advise him to dig out some pennies.

Thanks again.