Customising Pre-Built from PLE

[Yaheed]

I'm looking at building a PC from scratch, when I came across a pre-built from PLE:

PLE Pre-Built Model

Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz AUS$1979

Motherboard: Asus P5Q PRO motherboard

Memory: Corsair 4GB Memory Kit 800Mhz

Video Card: Asus HD4850 625M PCIe 512mb with dual DVI

Monitor: Acer 23" HD 5ms Widescreen LCD

Card Reader: Shintaro Internal 30-in-One Card Reader

Hard Drive: 500gb 7200rpm SATAII Hard-drive 16mb Cache

Optical Drive: Asus DVD +/- 22x SATA Dual layer burner

Sound card: Integrated sound

Speakers: Logitech X-230 2.1 Speaker set

Case: CM Centurion 590 Case with Thermaltake 650w Qfan PSU

Keyboard: Logitech Desktop 1500 keyboard

Mouse: Logitech Desktop 1500 mouse

Software: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bit & Bitdefender Internet Security 2009

Other Options:

Video Card:
$149 Radeon HD4870 512MB PCI-E 2.0

Hard Drive:
$50 750gb 7200rpm SATAII Hard-drive 16mb cache


Now I can go without the mouse and keyboard since I have some already, but I do need the 23" HD LCD. Is it worth adding swapping the Asus HD4850 for the Radeon HD4870, and the larger HDD? It's mainly for web development/design (so Adobe software), gaming and video work and hoping it will last me a couple of years.

Or am I better off with other components and starting from scratch for around the same price? My budget is ~$2000

 

[Outlander_04]

Even to a poor kiwi that
seems like an expensive computer .

What will you use it for? What online retailer are you likely to buy from?

 

[Yaheed]

I'm likely to buy it online from PLE.

I'm going to be using it for graphic work, games and general browsing of the internet most of the time I have many programs open that suck up a lot of juice.

If you think it's too expensive then could you perhaps suggest something of the same quality yet cheaper? Haha.

 

[Outlander_04]

Ive found the PLE website . Nice city Perth . I have a couple of good mates there .

I will look over it and get back to you.

 

[Yaheed]

New Zealand is SO much nicer. Went there a couple of months ago, beautiful scenery.

Thanks for taking a look . Btw if you any one thinks that I don't need such a beefy PC for what I'm going to use it for, then just tell me because I'm not really knowledgeable about hardware.

 

[Outlander_04]

This is a much better gaming computer . It should be better at many apps as well

AMD 720 be processor
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4
Corsair TwinX PC8500 2 x2 gigabyte kit
Antec trupower 550 watt psu
WD 640 gig blue
Ati 4870
SATA dvd drive
Antec 300 case
23 inch Acer monitor
Vitsa 64 bit

Total is $1802

Interesting that some stuff is cheaper in NZ despite our much weaker $$.

Your C2Q build is a weaker processor . Buying the triple core AMD with 3 stronger cores makes more sense to me and allows you to afford a better gfx card , bigger hard drive etc etc .
Gaming is the hardest thing any home computer gets asked to do . If you want gaming ....


PS I originally included the 4890 card ... but I suspect you'd need a stronger power supply and that pushed the price a little high

 

[Yaheed]

This is a much better gaming computer . It should be better at many apps as well

AMD 720 be processor
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4
Corsair TwinX PC8500 2 x2 gigabyte kit
Antec trupower 550 watt psu
WD 640 gig blue
Ati 4870
SATA dvd drive
Antec 300 case
23 inch Acer monitor
Vitsa 64 bit

Total is $1802

Interesting that some stuff is cheaper in NZ despite our much weaker $$.

Your C2Q build is a weaker processor . Buying the triple core AMD with 3 stronger cores makes more sense to me and allows you to afford a better gfx card , bigger hard drive etc etc .
Gaming is the hardest thing any home computer gets asked to do . If you want gaming ....


PS I originally included the 4890 card ... but I suspect you'd need a stronger power supply and that pushed the price a little high

The case you specified isn't coming up on PLE, and the price is at $1798, is this right?

 

[Outlander_04]

Dont get vista ultimate .

Theres nothing added for a home user .
Gets Vista home premium 64


And heres the case
http://ple.com.au/?p=snapshot&inventory_id=33521 for $119

My mistake with the RAM . You should pay the extra for a 2 x 2 gig kit . That adds another $41

 

[Yaheed]

Awesome thanks. Oh I heard that the WD HDDs aren't very reliable from a friend...any thoughts on the topic?