Building custom PC (in UK)

[Jojimbo]

I've been looking for a PC to replace my HP Pavilion A6030uk (macwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/HPPAVD09) as it seems to be getting heavily outdated and has developed a few issues (login fails sometimes so I get a new desktop prepared like when you first log on, programs sometimes randomly fail and pop up an error box when logging in, and after I sent it back to HP with a fault (they replaced HDD w/o transfering any data/asking ;; ) you have to restart to be able to change user).

I don't want to have anything too expensive, however I also want it to last a decent amount of time.

I made this PC on pcspecialist (first result in google, seems good though) and it came to £679

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Processor i7-860 (2.80GHz) 8MB Cache + HyperThreading

Memory (RAM)
4GB CORSAIR XMS3 DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2: DDR3, SATA II, 2 PCI, 1 PCI-Ex

USB Options
8 x USB 2.0 PORTS (6 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st CD/DVD Drive
22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Graphics Card
1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5770 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11

Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK FUSION CASE inc. 2 FRONT USB

Power Supply & Case Cooling
450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£25)

Processor Cooling
STANDARD CPU COOLER

Firewire & Video Editing
2 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORTS (1 onboard, 1 at back panel)


Any thoughts? Anything that can be replaced with cheaper/better components? I have files for Win7 Pro 64-bit on my laptop which I got with student discount thing, just need to figure out what to do with them, there was another thread with some ISO creating programs I think.

I done some research and with a generic PSU/HDD/DVD I could get the individual parts (+ a better case) for about £630~, although that doesn't include shipping. I havn't looked into alternative parts as I wouldn't really have any idea what is any good. Keep in mind I havn't built a PC before, although I'm sure I could learn.

Also, my old PC won't have a use after this so any idea how much would it sell for (doubt it'll be a lot though), I couldn't find any used PCs with specs near my current one to base a price off of.

[fishstix]

The only thing I don't like is the hard drive, 8mb cache is small, although you'd pay a little more for a 32mb cache.

Oh and I wouldn't go with a generic PSU, you don't want some crappy unit fail, taking out your entire system. I like OCZ, Antec, Thermaltake, Corsair brands for the PSU to name a few

hmm, guess you don't really have a choice from that site though