Right, I've come to build a machine - not a superspec or anything, and I'm not fussed about keyboard/mouse/monitor. I was just wondering if you have a few moments if you'd check the specs I've got planned and see if I have any glaring ommisions? Anything you can suggest to improve the build without jacking up the price would be awesome too Thanks dudes!

NZXT HADES Black Midi Case No PSU


Gigabyte motherboard GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 Core i7/Core i5/Core i3 LGA1156 DDR3


Intel Core i3 540 3.06Ghz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) Processor - Retail



Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM Unbuffered Non-ECC CL9 DIMM Memory Module (Gold)


Gainward 1GB GeForce GT 220 sDDR3 NVIDIA Graphics Card


Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit - English


CIT 450W Dual 12V Rail 12cm Fan PSU - 20+4pin 1x SATA



Western Digital 250GB ScorpioBlue SATA-300 5400rpm 8mb


If there's anything wrong feel free to fish slap me, thanks guys - I really appreciate it!

Looks like a low end machine but i'm out of touch with the marker at the moment. Did you have a look at Overclockers UK? I love these guys. Easily my favourite PC hardware shop.

Yeah, I'm looking to spend less than £300 on it And I once I know everything is compatible with everything, I'll search around for better prices - but I did run it through google to check

Nice one dude

My feedback...take with salt as necessary.

Good choice on a motherboard. It gives you the option of upgrading to any LGA 1156 cpu, which is basically any intel cpu other than the high-end core i7. A core i3 is a pretty low end choice. If it's all you can do, that's cool, you can always jump up to a core i5 in the future. Just don't expect awesome performance from a core i3.

The graphics card is really low end. The GT 220 is so low end it doesn't even show up on Toms hardware. If there's any way you can squeeze in some more money for a graphics card, I would highly recommend it. you wouldn't be gaming with this card. also, your motherboard support crossfire (but not SLI), so it actually would make more sense for you to go with ATI so you could upgrade to crossfire at some point.

A 450watt power supply should be plenty for what you're packing into that box, but if you do plan on upgrading in the future, it may make sense to go for a 550 or 650. the price difference here isn't all that great.

On the note of upgradability, I'm assuming that's on your agenda. if it isn't, you may want to look at a pre-built machine from a major manufacturer. since they buy in such bulk, their component prices are less and you may be able to get a better deal going that route. However, the machine will almost certainly not be upgradeable.

http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop ... ID=B256359

Just posting here as a link dump for myself later.

heh...but Mole's is a burner, the second link isn't. Lite-On's a good budget optical drive maker, though.

Who still writes DVD's? I mean, is there even a use-case for it anymore?

I use them when I want to put relatively large amounts of data on, a medium and then just give it away. But yeah, in most cases my non-luddite friends just come over and we hook up a portable HD and pump over a terabyte of por...I mean family photos.

heh...yea... most of the time, a thumb drive or portable hard drive is the way to go. But sometimes a DVD can be good, especially if you're burning an actual movie or something. Besides that, the price difference between a DVD reader and writer is pretty small. I'd rather have the added functionality.