PC for University - Need your advice!

[mythicx]

Hi,
Soon I'll be off to University after the time ive taken out and I am in need of a desktop PC that will last me at least the 4 years of my course.

My budget is around ?450, a friend of mine has helped me out with a build so far just using eBuyer but he's gone a bit over.

I was just wondering whether you could help me out getting the build that I need for the right cost!

Here is what I have so far:


Black Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive 14cm Front Fan - No PSU ?23.99
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 Socket 775, 1156, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler ?17.95
Western Digital WD5001AALS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Black ?45.61
ASUS P7P55D iP55 Socket LGA 1156 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard ?96.68
Sony AD-5240S 24x DVD?RW & DL SATA - OEM Black ?16.00
Sony Optiarc DDU1681S 18x DVD-ROM SATA - OEM Black ?12.10
OCZ Stealth Xtream 500W PSU - 1x PCI-E 6/8pin, 2x SATA.. | Ebuyer.com OCZ Stealth Xtream 500w PSU ?39.94
Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor ?170.12
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-Express - OEM ?43.52
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Intel Exteme XMP memory Kit CL8(8-8-8-24)?99.52


TOTAL ?565.43

This is the price delivered. Im sure these parts can be bought cheaper in other places that I don't know of. Any help on where to buy in the UK would be great.

A few notes:
I have an Asus EN8800GT graphics card in my home family computer that I can take to use in my new build, so I don't really need a graphics card.

I need a sound card with a TOSLink out port (SPDIF) so that I can connect my surround sound, doesnt matter which one as long as its good.

I will be doing some video editing, graphics work and playing games such as WoW, web design, "office" work and maybe some programming.

I would ideally like 4GB or more DDR3 RAM - though i am not sure at all what each variant offers.

In regards to the motherboard, I have little clue as to what is good and what is not. I need something good that will last and will be upgradable if needs be.

I would ideally like a quad core i5 processor, as it will last a long time and provide a good base.


Any help on where to buy, what to change, how to make the build cheaper without sacrificing too much performance, would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks.

[mythicx]

Just noticed that the mobo actually has SPDIF Optical out built in.. therefore I don't really need the sound card. Total down to ?521.91

Would anything be really bottlenecked with this system?
Are there any places where I can get these items cheaper? As I really am strapped for cash but desperately need a computer - don't want to spend too much upgrading throughout the course so it's best that I get it over and done with before I start.

[dasteph]

you could take out the cost of a fan as your cpu is a boxed retail which will include a heatsink and fan also you could look for less costly ram, also the dvd writer will also support dvd rom.

[Canker_Canison]

I've never paid more than ?24 for a case with a PSU from e-buyer.

A motherboard that has graphic & sound card on-board will be cheaper than buying them seperatly. You can always add a higher spec GFX card later.

As has already been pointed out, you don't need a DVD-Rom if you have a DVD writer. Unless you feel the need for disk-to-disk copying.

You could also save a few quid by installing a small HDD. A second can be installed later if needed. I believe later this year the 4KB structured drives will come onto the market. These will be a lot quicker than current drives.

[mythicx]

Alright thanks, I got rid of the second dvd reader - if i feel the need to copy more discs than I currently do I will just get one as and when cause theyre pretty cheap.

As for the gfx card and sound card, I am not going to be buying one and will take the gfx card from my old system.

This brings the total to around ?508

In regards to the HSF - i will be overclocking the processor to get a nice base for the system, as a fast processor is key. Its pretty cheap at just 17.50 so I don't mind shelling out on that.

The RAM doesnt go that much cheaper from what I can see - its all about the same price. Not sure what the differences are between them all either.

Was hoping for some suggestions on where to buy also - if anyone knows anywhere cheaper?

[Canker_Canison]

Other than ebay you could have a look at Novatech, but ebuyer is usually the cheapest around for the hardware.

Just had the daily e-mail from ebuyer. This might be suitable for you, it's not an I5 processor but it is Quad Core.