Computer for my sister

[Ross1234]

My Sister has £600-ish to spend on a new coputer. She wants me to build one. i want it to be good enough to run the latest games and not go out of date too quickly. This price must include everything. It will have a 17 inch monitor. I know nothing about overclocking, any ideas?

 

[SiriusB]

You say it must include everything, then you say "it will have a 17" monitor". Is that a roundabout way of saying you want a 17" monitor included in the spec?

 

[Ross1234]

Yes that is what i mean sorry

 

[Ross1234]

does someone mind helping me choose components im really stuck

 

[Will_3rd]

Quick and dirty spec, room for some improvement

 

[Ross1234]

Whats the processer like, i cant overclock i dont know how

 

[lsg1r]

Gone slightly over and taken a slightly different approach but I did include an os too


Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1000 Black - Retail (BV3-00007) £23.99
(£28.19) £23.99
(£28.19)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW173D 17" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99
(£117.49)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU £58.99
(£69.31) £58.99
(£69.31)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99
(£75.19) £63.99
(£75.19)
LG GSA-H42NBRL 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black, Beige) - Retail £19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £45.99
(£54.04) £91.98
(£108.08)
OcUK GeForce 8600 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £67.99
(£79.89) £67.99
(£79.89) Sub Total : £559.90
Shipping : £12.95
Vat : £100.25 Total : £673.10

You could cut out one of the hard drives and save £54.04 but personally I would spend the extra for the extra benefits of two drives - page file configs etc

 

[Ross1234]

I dont like the look of 1.86ghz is it a good processer?

 

[Will_3rd]

what's the processor like, i cant overclock i don't know how

it is pretty good for the speed, can be easily overclocked all you have to do is raise the fsb

 

[Ross1234]

how do you raise the fsb without breaking your pc and how do you know if its broken? Whats the average overclock on it?

 

[Will_3rd]

I don't like the look of 1.86ghz is it a good processor?

It's not all about Ghz anymore, that processor can beat ones that are rated at 2.5Ghz+

how do you raise the fsb without breaking your pc and how do you know if its broken? Whats the average overclock on it?

You won't break it average clocks are usually in 3Ghz range

 

[Ross1234]

do you do it in the bios?

 

[Ross1234]

you can get 1.86 to 3?????????

 

[Will_3rd]

do you do it in the bios?

that's one way

you can get 1.86 to 3?????????

Yep, RAM and luck permitting

 

[Ross1234]

and why 64bit edition vista is at a vast improvement on 32bit?

 

[killer_uk]

Well as you have a 64bit CPU and all of your drivers will be 64bit compatible, theres no reason not to get 64bit, as it's 'future proofing'.

As for overclocking, its easy, but we will come to that once you actually get the system up and running. Take a look at the overclocking forum for more info meanwhile.

 

[Ross1234]

thanks for all your help but i dont know if im up to the whole overclocking thing

 

[Ross1234]

what will it be like for playing sims 2 etc

 

[killer_uk]

As I say, overclocking is really easy, it's just a matter of changing the FSB and if it becomes unstable upping the voltages a little. Very little risk as long as youve got good cooling and don't go crazy with the voltages.

As for the Sims 2, any of the current specs will run it no problem at all, highest settings. I would wait until tomorrow to see what other people come up with on the spec side of things.

 

[lsg1r]

you have to remember as well that most new cpu's don't follow the old ghz scale, the 1.8Ghz chip I suggested will beat a 3GHz+ p4 architecture cpu.