Spec an Xmas PC for my son..

Magic Man

Magic Man

Magic Man

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24 Jul 2003
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571
Looking to build a new machine for my son for Christmas (he'll be 9)

No need for monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. Purely the tower components.

Was hoping for something around a 6300 or better, 1GB RAM. Mainly for games, e.g. Battlefield etc.

Price around £500.

Cheers...
 
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) 1
£66.99 £66.99
GX-061-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-061-PC) 1
£99.99 £99.99
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) 1
£79.99 £79.99
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA) 1
£25.99 £25.99
CD-047-LG LG GSA-H22NBAL 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-047-LG) 1
£19.99 £19.99
MB-064-GI Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-064-GI) 1
£54.99 £54.99
CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN) 1
£114.99 £114.99
Subtotal £462.93
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £9.95
VAT £82.76
Total £555.64


little bit over budget, but only by £55, will play BF2, i managed on 1 gig ulta cheapo kingston and x300intergrated graphics :D without much trouble (yes on lowest settings :p) but that spec will deffo run BF2 and lots of other new(ish) games...have fun ;)
 
For the same budget, I would swap the Radeon X1800 GTO for the card below, which is faster, quieter & draws less power.

OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3
Price: £97.99 (£115.14 Including VAT at 17.5%)

However, to bring nearer to budget you could get :

BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT
Price: £84.99 (£99.86 Including VAT at 17.5%)

which is about as fast as the 1800 GTO.

Otherwise, bringerofdecay's spec looks good.
 
Your son would really appreciate 2 gigs of ram over 1 gig when it comes to bf2.

Any flexibility on the budget?
 
Cheers guys, much appreciated.

Budget perhaps could go a little higher, what would 2GB add?

I know BF2 benefits but am I going to notice that much with other titles for the time being? I'm currently running BF2 with 1GB on a PIV2.8 and a 9800pro.

Saying that, will be building my own new machine soon (6700, 2GB, 8800GTX currently specc'd :D )

As for BF2, yep, there's no blood. To be honest he was playing BF1942 and other titles since he was 5. Was quite amusing to see him beat other players online. There's no bloody violence and no language so no real difference than any other child playing soldiers... And I make sure that he knows it's only a game and that real war is and was not nice and he respects all those that fought and died in such conflicts.

Thanks again...
 
no problem,
tbh, i wouldn't worry about 2gigs for a kid (don't mean to sound mean), he wont notice the difference, he wouldn't worry about if he could play it max everything as much as a 16-40 year old would... :rolleyes:
1gig is perfectly fine, my first PC only had 256, and that was only 2 years ago...and i was happy with that (was a gift from my uncle, kinda a practice present till i had the money/knowledge to stick my own together :D).

anywho, have fun
 
bringerofdecay said:
no problem,
tbh, i wouldn't worry about 2gigs for a kid (don't mean to sound mean), he wont notice the difference, he wouldn't worry about if he could play it max everything as much as a 16-40 year old would... :rolleyes:
1gig is perfectly fine, my first PC only had 256, and that was only 2 years ago...and i was happy with that (was a gift from my uncle, kinda a practice present till i had the money/knowledge to stick my own together :D).

anywho, have fun
Click to expand...


I, when i was 9, did notice difference between ram, also i now highly notice diff between 1 gig and 2 gigs when playing bf2 maxed ( stutters 1st 3 or 4 minutes on 1 gig, while doesnt on 1.5 and 2 gigs...)


Also what is 16-40 yr olds supposed to mean, i couldnt stand not playing games on max settings since mohaa was out... while i was a lot younger than 16 then ( atm 15)...
 
Last edited:
snowdog said:
I, when i was 9, did notice difference between ram, also i now highly notice diff between 1 gig and 2 gigs when playing bf2 maxed ( stutters 1st 3 or 4 minutes on 1 gig, while doesnt on 1.5 and 2 gigs...)


Also what is 16-40 yr olds supposed to mean, i couldnt stand not playing games on max settings since mohaa was out... while i was a lot younger than 16 then ( atm 15)...
Click to expand...

well, as its his 1st computer he WONT know the difference between 1 gig, and 2 gigs, stop bitchin' about nothing and get on with your life ;)
 
snowdog said:
I, when i was 9, did notice difference between ram, also i now highly notice diff between 1 gig and 2 gigs when playing bf2 maxed ( stutters 1st 3 or 4 minutes on 1 gig, while doesnt on 1.5 and 2 gigs...)


Also what is 16-40 yr olds supposed to mean, i couldnt stand not playing games on max settings since mohaa was out... while i was a lot younger than 16 then ( atm 15)...
Click to expand...

although a little heated, i do agree.

2 gb seems to be a prerequisite for gaming these days.
 
CA-052-AN Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU (CA-052-AN)
£42.99 £42.99
CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£114.99 £114.99
HD-023-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-023-SA)
£25.99 £25.99
MB-064-GI Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-064-GI)
£54.99 £54.99
CD-078-SA Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-078-SA)
£16.99 £16.99
GX-042-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-042-OK)
£97.99 £97.99
MY-083-CS Corsair 1GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300 Dual Channel Kit (2x512MB) (VS1GBKIT667D2) (MY-083-CS)
£72.99 £72.99
Subtotal £426.93
VAT £74.72
Total £501.65


What I would get, although 2GB is very nice to have.
 
I would also go for the 2gb fella,

He is bound to want to install other games at a later date, and 2gb will handle that fine.

Also he may want to listen to music while playing games.
 
bringerofdecay said:
well, as its his 1st computer he WONT know the difference between 1 gig, and 2 gigs, stop bitchin' about nothing and get on with your life ;)
Click to expand...
He will notice long loading times and stuttering, it may be his 1st computer but i doubt it will be the 1st he has seen or used.
If all you can do is offer negative opinions and **** people off then why not just browse the GD forum, they are right up your street.
 
snowdog said:
I, when i was 9, did notice difference between ram, also i now highly notice diff between 1 gig and 2 gigs when playing bf2 maxed ( stutters 1st 3 or 4 minutes on 1 gig, while doesnt on 1.5 and 2 gigs...)


Also what is 16-40 yr olds supposed to mean, i couldnt stand not playing games on max settings since mohaa was out... while i was a lot younger than 16 then ( atm 15)...
Click to expand...

yes but this kid probably has a life and didn't spend it's childhood in a dark room comparing the difference in ram.

the fact is , if this is his first own machine he has nothing to compare it to, what's the problem?
 
1GB will be fine, I'm running BF2 with "only" 1GB of RAM and on medium and max mix of settings its fine with no stuttering and pretty good load times. What is everyones obsession with running everything at max settings? Dropping to medium to save several hundred pounds with almost no drop in quality seems a wise choice to me. Especially if its a kids PC without a huge budget.

Keep the 1GB of RAM, it's something that can easily be upgraded for a birthday IF its a problem.
 
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