Rookie With Hardware

napinapi Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14172Members, Constellation
edited February 2005 in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">any one got advice on new comp?</div> Hallo all - well I openly admit that I don't really know entirely what i'm doing when it comes to hardware... however: the time has come for a new comp - my dad successfully melted the motherboard on the one downstairs so he decided he'll take this and it's time I get an upgrade.

Note - All prices are in GBP - I don't expect you to look around for better prices (if you want to, thats great, but I'll only buy from UK shops - no importing) but just offer advice on what I've got. The biggest bit I'm concerned about is the Gfx card... Didn't really know what to get so slapped that down as a place to start.

Price wise, I don't want it any higher than what it is already!

Here we go:

# Mobo - [ £105.69 ]

DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html</a>

# Chipset - [ £140.41 ]

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-097-AM)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939_cpus.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939_cpus.html</a>

- Includes 1xHeatsink, 1xFan

# PSU - [ £76.38 ]

<s>OCZ PowerStream 520w ATX2.2 Power Supply (CA-011-OC)</s>
OCZ PowerStream 420W ATX2.2 Power Supply (CA-013-OC)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/OCZ.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/OCZ.html</a>

# Gfx Card - [ £217.32 ]

Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 Pro 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM (GX-085-SP)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_X800_Series.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/cop...800_Series.html</a>

# RAM - [ £93.98 ]

<s>Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-030-CS)</s>
Crucial 512MB CT6464Z40B DDR PC3200 x2
<a href='http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT6464Z40B&cat=RAM' target='_blank'>http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/PartSpecs....464Z40B&cat=RAM</a>

# Monitor - [ £260.85 ]

<s>Hyundai ImageQuest Q17+ 17" LCD Monitor - Silver (MO-017-HY)</s>
Viewsonic VP171S-2 17" LCD Monitor - Silver (MO-032-VS)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/lcd17.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/lcd17.html</a>

# Case - [ £76.38 ]

Coolermaster Cavalier 1 - Silver (No PSU) (CA-063-CM)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Coolermaster_Cases_126.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Onl..._Cases_126.html</a>

# HDD - [ £44.06 ]

<s>Samsung SpinPoint P SP0812C 80GB SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-010-SA)</s>
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Plus NCQ 80GB ST380817AS SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-003-SE)
<a href='http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Samsung.html' target='_blank'>http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Samsung.html</a>

# CD/DVD-RW - [ £48.99 ]

<s>MSI X52P Active Panel 52x/24x/16x CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive - Retail (CD-013-MS)</s>
Bundle Deal NEC-3520A WHITE 16x DVD Re-Writer
<a href='http://www.burn-media.co.uk/acatalog/DVD_RW_Drives.html' target='_blank'>http://www.burn-media.co.uk/acatalog/DVD_RW_Drives.html</a>



- Am well aware there are other places to buy from in the UK.. but OC.uk aint a bad place to start from what I was told.

Thankye in advance for any help!

Edit: changed HDD to seagate
Edit: downgraded PSU to a 420 instead of 520 - advice from some one that as i'm not running SLI it's excess power that wont' be used (and saves me £35 - remembering i'm trying to cut the costs where possible)
Edit: Made quite a few changes... still undecided with what to do about the gfx card!
Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome

Comments

  • KillymageeKillymagee Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 3136Members
    edited February 2005
    Dump the the motherboard and go with an Asus,Gigabyte or MSI. For graphics cards save up a little and get the X800XL , because there discontinuing the X800 line. Also Get a Seagate harddrive, there quieter and have a 5 year warranty.Dump the burner for a NEC 3520A. Everything else seems to be fine <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    EDIT: I also read that your father melted your old computer, Don't let him near the new one <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • Invader_ScootInvader_Scoot Join Date: 2003-10-13 Member: 21669Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    If you're gonna get an x800, spend the extra bucks and either get the x800 XT or the x800 XL. The x800 pro only uses 12 pipelines, while the x800 XL and XT use 16. The extra four pipes are quite a performance boost.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    No offense to the ATI guys.. but I prefer the Nvida 6800 GT over the X800XL.

    I have found it to be faster, albiet when you are counting 20fps as faster you are nitpicking a bit.

    I also like the way it sounds, hehe since I have half my case open.

    Either one of those would be an excellent choice, and if money is no object, go for the 2 gig DDR instead of just the 1. One is nice, but even with my comp it occasionally did slow down some of the higher end games, most notably Vampire Masquerade, and Doom 3.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • NikonNikon Join Date: 2003-09-29 Member: 21313Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-Killymagee+Feb 16 2005, 01:02 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Killymagee @ Feb 16 2005, 01:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Dump the the motherboard and go with an Asus,Gigabyte or MSI. For graphics cards save up a little and get the X800XL , because there discontinuing the X800 line. Also Get a Seagate harddrive, there quieter and have a 5 year warranty.Dump the burner for a NEC 3520A. Everything else seems to be fine <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    EDIT: I also read that your father melted your old computer, Don't let him near the new one <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    He is dead wrong on the MoBo issue.

    <a href='http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2337' target='_blank'>review</a>

    its a great mother board.

    as for the vidcard, yes, wait for the XL, it is true PCIe and is getting AMAZING reviews.

    Seagates warranty does make them a sweet deal too.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • elitebearelitebear Join Date: 2002-05-29 Member: 696Members
    edited February 2005
    dump the motherboard? are you kidding me? dfi has top quality mobos

    as for the cavalier, id recommend something with some better cooling. i have no idea why, but the cavalier has 1x80mm fan up front, but a 120mm fan exhaust at back. youre gonna have some definite dust issues with that case, as well as high temps. id recommend an antec super lanboy, which has been serving me well the past couple of months. its got 2x120mm fans and a nice setup.

    as for the video card, i would either wait for the x800xl or get a 6800gt. both are faster by a bit

    edit: maybe some arctic silver 5 and a new heatsink, such as a zalman cnps7000 for the processor? just a thought.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • KillymageeKillymagee Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 3136Members
    Eh in my defense I've never heard of DFI so I thought it was a second rate company <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • Invader_ScootInvader_Scoot Join Date: 2003-10-13 Member: 21669Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--QuoteBegin-WoTLanfear+Feb 16 2005, 03:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (WoTLanfear @ Feb 16 2005, 03:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> No offense to the ATI guys.. but I prefer the Nvida 6800 GT over the X800XL.

    I have found it to be faster, albiet when you are counting 20fps as faster you are nitpicking a bit.

    I also like the way it sounds, hehe since I have half my case open. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Talesin where are you?
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    He has a life.. I do not. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
Sign In or Register to comment.