95thrifles need your help? New Build help

andyarmitage

andyarmitage

andyarmitage

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Joined
22 Feb 2006
Posts
34
Hi there,

I need help and find this all so confusing I need to upgrade my PC as it has been about 4 years since it was done I am clueless with all this. I know nothing so be gentle, I think the only thing I would keep is the Lian Li case[ maybe not though I don't know] I have a 520w OCZ p/supply but maybe I should get a new one, I don't know where to start amd/intel nvidia/ati my brain hurts but you seem to know your stuff. I am after a decent machine but not top end I don't want to spend too much maybe up to £700/800 I will pay more if need be but I would prefer it to be less than £700 if possible, if I tell you what I have it will give you an idea I have an amd x3800 dual core an ati x1900 card 2 gig ram, hard drive not sure what size I have a IIyama 19" monitor when mine is running it makes a fair bit of noise so I would like it to be silent if possible I play games but mainly Team Fortress Classic 2 I get about 30fps sometimes less though it doesn't stutter. I do like games so I would like to be able to cope with new games as well, do I need to be DX11 ready? I am using windows Xp I need windows 7 don't I. I live in York so I thought I would contact a fellow yorkshireman any help would be greatly appreciated I suppose the good thing is that I haven't upgraded for so long that maybe I won't need to spend a fortune to get a big improvement but I also want it to last me a few years as well lastly I think a bigger monitor would be good any ideas on make/model? Hopefully you can make sense of this if you want my e mail give me a shout thanks in advance Andy
 
Hi Andy
Firstly yeah your case and PSU should be fine, least for now, if you ever go dual gfx you'll need a better PSU though - thats a good £100 of budget there so you should be able to get something pretty decent However you also mention noise being an important factor for you, and these two can be as big a culprits as anything else so if you can, open up your pc whilst its running and try and listen for where the noise is coming from, namely if its coming from psu or not? Case isnt likely to produce noise (bar fan noise which shouldnt be too much anyway) but can have a big impact on whether it dampens any noise or not - if your case isnt any good at this and you cant improve it with absorption mats then something like an antec P183 would be a good investment. Which model Lian Li is it?
I presume youre on 32 bit XP? In which case yeah you'll be best investing in 64 bit win7 so it can address all the system memory
ATI vs NVidia, they're about equal but atm ATI is my recomendation as not only do they have the newer cards out but NVidia's cards are hard to get hold of as they have wound down manufacturing ready for their new cards - though Ive just checked OcUKs stock and its a lot better than last time I looked. Theres no real need to go DX11 no, most games still use DX9 and its only just last 6 months new games have been optimised for 10
Do you do anything else with the PC or is it just gaming?
Do you have any space constraints re monitor?
Edit: was that budget including new monitor and OS? or just for the tower?
 
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Hi there,

Thanks for your swift reply apart from games the PC is used for nothing more than surfing the net and using normal banking programs etc so nothing demanding, am i as well getting something pre built like the OC titan goliath or is that the expensive way to go, monitor space constraints, well it's on my desk in the lounge but there is a bit of space either side so maybe a 22" might be best but it could possibly take a 24" not sure though, but if I am going from a 19 to a 22 it should look a lot better shouldn't it. You must love computers as you seem to know so much about them i find this whole thing mindblowing. i actually don't have a copy of windows now but i think it's XP32 but I think if windows 7 is as good as people say then i should get it as i want this build to last a good few years. i still have an alcatel broadband modem you know the manta ray shape :eek: I should get a new one but again which one, you can look at magazines and they all give different advice. I am planning to get an external H/D to back up as I never back up if i get one and back up my banking stuff etc will i be able to load thin information onto the new machine ok and will it work on windows 7? Oh so many questions i hope you don't mind if you are too busy or are just fed up with helping people i will understand ;)

Thanks

Andy
 
Hey no problem, I wouldnt be doing it if I minded :D

Hows this look for you? Its more than 800 but includes your monitor and windows7, I've gone for a 5770 mainly becase you mentioned noise, a 4890 would be better on raw performance but I have two and they're not exactly quiet, if you need more performance you can add another card later, though as before you'll need a new psu for that too, and this should do you fine for quite some time anyway

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Edit: If you did want to save money you could change the cpu cooler, as you can see Ive gone for the H50, again down to noise, if water scares you dont worry its nice n easy to install, but you could ditch it for something like a freezer 7 pro rev 2 which is £20, bring you back down to your £800 budget, still quite a decent cooler too
 
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Thanks guys you have been great,I have a friend who will build it for me he is an ex PC world technician and he knows his stuff. The only thing bothering me is all my stuff in favourites I am using XP and wonder if these can be saved and will go into windows 7? I also have my finances on quicken 98 and I don't have a clue if that will work on windows 7! any ideas chaps?

thanks
 
Well just export your favourites from IE and then save onto usb e.t.c then when you install IE or FireFox e.t.c then just import, Regarding quicken i wouldnt know sorry mate :/
 
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