Building First Computer in five Years

[perplex26]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, although i have browsed overclockers quite a lot recently. I am building a new computer soon, and was after some experienced opinions on a few matters. If anything i mention has been discussed before, i have missed the thread and just posting a link would be great

Please note, i am not interested in overclocking any hardware as i dont know how, and cant afford to replace burnt parts! I would like the computer to last 3 - 5 yrs. It will be used for Gaming and programming apps. I dont expect most recent games to run perfectly on high settings, but would like good results for my money.

Definate specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
Abit AX8 VIA K8T890 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard

Question able specs:

1) Graphics card -a) An upper range ati 1800 card
(PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3)(£258) or
b) A lower range ati 1900 card
(PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB )(£317).
2) Ram - I want 1gb of ram (crucial ddr pc3200). Do i get 1x1gb, or 2x512mb for my motherboard? I dont understand the main differences.
3)Sound - My system will only have 2 speakers and a bass speaker(sub woofer?). I believe it would be pointless getting a top of the range surround sound creative card. Would Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 7.1 EAX Sound Card (£35) be suffice?
4) Power - Is 350W (OcUK Value Estar Benz Case) enough?

If you can help me or make suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated. I only have a rough budget at the moment, but there is a rough guide for the main hardware parts here. I would be willing to pay around 15% more for a part, if the increase in performance is worth it. I would also be willing to pay around 15% less for lower hardware if the performance difference was non-recognisable!

Regards,

Perplex26.

 

[Cyber Hamster]

Might be worth getting a better/bigger power supply for that case, or just get a case with a bigger one in.

 

[kbc]

The items listed sounds fine, apart from the case and PSU, not sure what quality PSU it is with the OcUK case, but a generic 350W seems weak to power the X1900 ATi card you are considering and perhaps the X1800. I'd seriously consider a quality PSU above 400W minimum. At least it'll last you longer before you require another upgrade. Check out Seasonic, Antec, Tagan and Enermax PSUs... and the case? The cooling doesn't sound great on the Benz case, for £5 more, check out the Antec SLK3000B, which supports up to 2 x 120mm fans.

You've listed decent parts, but to enforce the robustness of your system, get a better PSU. This is often overlooked.

 

[perplex26]

Hello and thankyou for your replies.

I will take your advice and try a more powerful power source - i think ill go for Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU.

I have another question i just discovered while looking at motherboards and HDD. If my motherboard is a has SATA 150 connectors, i assume i purchase a SATA harddrive, and not an ide hard drive?

regards,

perplexed.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, although i have browsed overclockers quite a lot recently. I am building a new computer soon, and was after some experienced opinions on a few matters. If anything i mention has been discussed before, i have missed the thread and just posting a link would be great

Please note, i am not interested in overclocking any hardware as i dont know how, and cant afford to replace burnt parts! I would like the computer to last 3 - 5 yrs. It will be used for Gaming and programming apps. I dont expect most recent games to run perfectly on high settings, but would like good results for my money.

Definate specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
Abit AX8 VIA K8T890 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard

Question able specs:

1) Graphics card -a) An upper range ati 1800 card
(PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3)(£258) or
b) A lower range ati 1900 card
(PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB )(£317).
2) Ram - I want 1gb of ram (crucial ddr pc3200). Do i get 1x1gb, or 2x512mb for my motherboard? I dont understand the main differences.
3)Sound - My system will only have 2 speakers and a bass speaker(sub woofer?). I believe it would be pointless getting a top of the range surround sound creative card. Would Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 7.1 EAX Sound Card (£35) be suffice?
4) Power - Is 350W (OcUK Value Estar Benz Case) enough?

If you can help me or make suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated. I only have a rough budget at the moment, but there is a rough guide for the main hardware parts here. I would be willing to pay around 15% more for a part, if the increase in performance is worth it. I would also be willing to pay around 15% less for lower hardware if the performance difference was non-recognisable!

Regards,

Perplex26.

1) If playing above 1280x 1024 res i would go for the X1900XT, myself, but the X1800XT 512MB is still a beast of a card!
2) For AMD best to get matched ram pairs!
3) Dont get any sound card, try the onboard sound of te mobo, it has decent 6-Channel Audio afaik. If thats not good enough then get a low end soundcard.
4) As far as cases go, one of these would be much better ...
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU (CA-048-AN)
£61.04*Including VAT
or
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£77.49*Including VAT

 

[ACESHIGH]

Hello and thankyou for your replies.

I will take your advice and try a more powerful power source - i think ill go for Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU.

I have another question i just discovered while looking at motherboards and HDD. If my motherboard is a has SATA 150 connectors, i assume i purchase a SATA harddrive, and not an ide hard drive?

regards,

perplexed.

Good choice of case & PSU.
as for HDD, yes get SATA.

 

[perplex26]

1) If playing above 1280x 1024 res i would go for the X1900XT, myself, but the X1800XT 512MB is still a beast of a card!
2) For AMD best to get matched ram pairs!
3) Dont get any sound card, try the onboard sound of te mobo, it has decent 6-Channel Audio afaik. If thats not good enough then get a low end soundcard.
4) As far as cases go, one of these would be much better ...
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU (CA-048-AN)
£61.04*Including VAT
or
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£77.49*Including VAT

Matched pairs it is then As for playing res, i am using an old monitor(hansol710A- 17in) and until i get a new one (19in one or two months), im stuck with 1024x768.

I relooked at motherboard and there seems to be only 2 pci slots, so i may change - 1xgraphix,1xethernet,1xextra pci fan (maybe unneccessary?), perhaps sound card if on-board is bad (my instinct is to avoid onboard cards). Its no easy lol

 

[DaveBennett]

Hey, nice lookin spec m8.

Just a few things to say.

1) Spend *** extra to get the AMD athlon Dual Core 3800 over the 3700. Your notice the difference I think and the Dual core is a lot more future proof.

2) With ram,1x1gb means you get one stick of 1gb ram. 2x512mbmeans you get two sticks of 512mb ram. I would say get 1 stick of 1gb as then you can easily add another stick later on to get 2gb ram, less sticks the better imo.

3) With sound card, unless you want fab sound most on board sound is perfectly fine these days.

4) Your best of not getting the OcUK cases, get a Lian-Li, Coolmaster, Antec, Asus, anything apart from OcUk tbh lol. Also, the PSU's that normally come with cases arent always very good. You would be better getting a case without a PSU and buying a Enermax or other good brand one.

Hope tht helped,

Dave

 

[perplex26]

Final Post

Hello,

I have finally decided what to get, and thankyou to the people who advised me as you have helped.

-AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - £147.99
-Abit AX8 VIA K8T890 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard - £70.44
-PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB - £258.44
-OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 - £105
-Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU - £61.04
-Sony CRX320EE CDRW/DVD Combi Drive (Black) - OEM (CD-025-SO) - £21.09
-Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 NCQ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £38.72

-Belkin 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub - £19.68
-Logitech Media Keyboard Elite - £19.92
-Creative Inspire T3030 2.1 Speakers - £35.19

-Akasa System Exhaust Blower (SY-000-GE) - £3.47
-Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) - £6.46

Cost £747ish (no monitor purchased).

Maybe this could help someone with a £750 also.

Regards,

perplexed.

 

[DaveBennett]

Change the AMD 3700 for a Dual core 3800, its only about £25 extra and I think ure find it a lot more future proof with that

Dave