Sam has asked me to setup a PC system for him. He give me a budget of Max RM3k. Just for the Desktop alone. No keyboard & mouse, and no LCD. Got me really excited about it. It has been a long time I setup a PC with this budget.

Now we get straight to the PC Specifications:

Main Component:

Intel 45nm wolfdale processor Core 2 Duo E8400 = RM595

E8400 is famous for its capability to over clock. There this one post I’ve read that the processor was clocking at 5ghz. The cpu-z shows it. I don’t think they false it.

ASUS P5QL PRO = RM320

This is a mid range Asus motherboard. I’m using Asus board at home and does good things for me. So I’m sold with Asus.

Kingston 2GB 800MHz KVR800D2N5/2G (x2) = RM88×2=RM176

I was thinking of dual kit Corsair XMS2 6400C4 4GB. But after reading the mainboard QLV, I don’t think it support it. It may support 2GB kit. Which is 1GB each piece. So I went with Value ram instead.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA 3Gb/s 500-GB Hard Drive (x2) = RM210×2=RM420

Sam asked me to put in as much hdd in this machine. I put only two of them. 500GB seagate 7200rpm. The board can support up to 6 SATA drive. I’ve counted the PSU supply for 6 SATA. And it is about 398w including other stuff.

Palit GeForce™ 9400GT Super = RM175

You may think I’m cheap with this graphic card. Sam prefer the system to be more storage than graphic power. At least this card can support HDTV. If he want to hook it up to a 32″ lcd tv, there is no problem at all.

ASUS DRW-2014S1T X Multi DVD±R/RW DRIVE = RM85

Why Asus. Just keeping the name. I don’t really care about optical drive. As long they can stand the test of times.

ASUS WL-160N = RM70

The price for this I’m not sure. Just a guest. Asus again, I know

Cooler Master CM 690

Cooler Master CM 690 Black Midsize Tower = RM289

I just fell in love with this. The simplicity of the case and the potential expansion on it. If you have more bucks, you can easily put in a water cooling system in it.

Corsair VX550 PSU = RM389

I’ve said earlier, after counting the potential watts for this system. I went on with 550W Corsair VX.If in full capacity meaning 6 SATA. Sam need to replace it. 4 SATA at most if it’s me. Never run the full capacity of a PSU. Making it last and run longer.

Air Cooling Accessories:

Cooler Master Hyper TX (Intel version) = RM139

Yes again. Fan of ASUS and a fan of Cooler Master. Never use a stock cooler if you going to make your baby run overtime.

CoolerMaster 90 CFM Blue LED Silent Fan 120mm (x2) = RM35×2=RM70

The case already comes with three 120mm fan. Figure just add another two. At the top casing and the bottom. Having more air in and out.

Cooler Master NanoFusion = RM25

You will have to use the thermal compound. Better use more delicate one. It can transfer heat better.

Deepcool Memo 4 DDR Memory Cooler with Heatsink (x2) = RM45×2=RM90

Deepcool. Why? I can’t seem to find the price for a Cooler Master ram heat spreader. This one is kind of fancy. Never test it before.

Total Price: RM2,843.00

The price and the item I’m going to use maybe changing as I don’t visit the store yet. Maybe it’s there maybe it’s not there. Basically this are the items I’m going to put in Sam’s PC.

p/s: You can click on the item name to know it better….

You will never thought that a branded PSU could blow out. I’m not sure what it is that yellowish thing. It has burn mark all over it. Maybe the cabling inside not that good. I could see the solder pathces not that great.

Despite that I do manage to push my tower to the ground flat. :) maybe that’s the cos of it to start having spark and just blow. Spend RM170+- on it. The good thing is I did manage to open up the case and unassembled the whole PC and clean it up.

After the desaster I will be more gentle with PSU even thoug they look tough. You might not know thing that hard could be so fragile.

I do replace it with a new cooler master PSU. hehehehe… I’ve calculated the total watt needed for my PC and went with a 460W PSU from CoolerMaster.