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.

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[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.