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Graphics Card - Building Computer

Tigjaw

Tigjaw

Tigjaw

Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2005
Posts
669
Location
West Midlands
Hello,
I'm considering building a new computer and I'm in the note-making stage, at the moment I'm considering which graphics card to fit in.

The price isn't important so long as it's not the equivelent price of a PC! (which some graphics cards seem to be). So long at the graphics card isn't above £350.

I'd appreciate any advice you can offer...

Thanks in advance.

PS: I'd also be very greatful for any other advice for someone building a computer for the first time.

Danke!
 
Thanks for the reply Dante, about the 1900xtx; what is it like in comparison to the latest graphics card (or the best?) I know the 7950 series are only better if you use the high resolutions or else it's not worth it.

Thanks again.
 
First, thanks a lot for all the replies everyone, I'm quite good with computers but I'm more with the software than with hardware so I really appreciate all the help you can offer. :)
Well I currently have a 17" monitor and a 6600GT (bought from OverclockerS) graphics card so I use a resolution of 1024*768 but obviously I'd bang it up a bit if I had games to play on that resolution and a better graphics card.

I use my current computer all the time and I've specced it up quite nice but I thought as I use it so much it wouldn't be too greedy to replace it with a whoppa.

The only trouble is I found all the components I want and it comes up to about £1000, don't get me wrong it would be a terrific computer and a great bargain but it may be cheaper to just replace my:
graphics card
PSU
motherboard
processor
RAM
Or would it? :confused:

Here's the components I chose:
Motherboard - Intel Extreme D975bx-304 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-010-IN)
or
Asus P5WD2-E Premium Intel 975X (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-130-AS)
(about £150)
CD/DVD combi drive (no specific chosen) - (about £30)
Hard Drive (no specific chosen) - 250gb OEM (about £100)
Graphics Card - x1900XT/XTX (£250-350)
or
x1800x (£160)
Operating System Software (OEM?) - (about £90)
PSU - (not specific chosen)

But if I just gave my computer an overhaul then I wouldn't need a:
CD/DVD Drive
Hard Drive

Here's the specs of my current computer anyway:
eMachines 5240
CPU: Intel® Pentium® 4 515 Prescott (2.93 Ghz)
0.09 micron process
81mm² die
533MHz FSB
16k L1 cache
1MB L2 cache
RAM: 2.5GB DDR RAM - (2x 256 + 2x 1024 - PC3200)
Motherboard: Intel® D915GAGL-G1 "Augsburg"
Hard Drive: 160 GB Western Digital® Caviar® WD1600BB-00HTA0
CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On® SOHW-832S DVD/RW Combo drive
Write:
DVD+R 8x maximum by Z-CLV
DVD-R 8x maximum by Z-CLV
DVD+R9 2.4x maximum by CLV
ReWrite:
DVD+RW 4x by CLV
DVD-RW 4x by CLV
Read 12x maximum by CAV
CD Family :
Write CD-R 40x maximum by P-CAV
ReWrite CD-RW 24x maximum by Z-CLV in UltraSpeed disc
Read 40x maximum by CAV
Buffer Size 2 MB
Access Time DVD Family : 160 ms
CD Family : 160 ms
MTBF (Life) 70,000 Hours
Support OS Windows 98 / NT 4.0 / ME / 2000 / XP
OS Requirement Pentium III 450 MHz or faster CPU and 128 MB or higher RAM are required
650 MB HDD available capacity; and 5 GB free space for creating a DVD image file
Power Requirement +5V +/-5% and less than 100 mVp-p ripple voltage
+12V +/-5% and less than 200 mVp-p ripple voltage
Sound Device/Card: Integrated Realtek High Definition Audio (5.1)
Graphics Card: 6600GT 128mb

I use my computer for work, play, browsing and whatnot.

What would be the best options? upgrade? completely replace?

Thanks again everyone, if you need anymore information just ask, I'm bound to have missed something.
 
Last edited:
Ok I've drafted up another spec that uses my current Hard Drive and CD/DVD combi drive.

Motherboard: Asus P5WDE Premium Intel 975x (lga775) PCI-E
(MB-130-AS) - £147
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 940 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 3.2Ghz (800fsb)
(CP-113-IN) - £174
Ram: GeIL 2GB PC5300 667Mhz DDR2 Dual Channel (GX22GBS300DC)
(MY-034-GL) - £130
OR Bundle: (BU-037-OK) - £451
Graphics Card: Connect 3D ATI Radeon X1800XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO
(GX-044-CO) - £170)
Hard Drive: Western Digital 160Gb 7200rpm (£0 - mine)
CD/DVD-RW Combi Drive: Lite-On SOHW-832S (£0 - mine)
Cooler: Not chosen specific cooler, need advice (~£30 right?)
PSU: Not chosen specific PSU (~£40-80)

OR: Buy Case (CA-000-NX) £88 Inc. Cooler and 500W PSU.

Is it all compatible? Advice/suggestions/opinions?

Thanks again.
 
Angilion said:
My main advice is to not buy anything now. You can carry on with what you currently have until after Core 2 is released. That will (a) give you a very powerful new range of CPUs to chose from and (b) drop the price on existing CPUs, in some cases by a very large margin.

Also, I can't see the point in spending £150 on a motherboard for a home PC. For a server, sure. For a home PC, no.

For the CPU cooler, I'm pleased with my Akasa EVO 120. It should fit any current socket apart from AM2.

That case doesn't seem to come with a CPU cooler and 500W PSU.

NZXT Lexa Classic Series Ultra light Aluminum Midtower (CA-000-NX), in the 'Other' section. No mention of a CPU cooler or a PSU that I can see.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Angilion, when are the core 2 coming out?

The case I mentioned does come with a PSU, you have to click on full specifications, I'm not sure if the PSU and/or cooler are optional though.

Otherwise, I'll just follow your advice with your cooler, what should I look for in a cooler and a PSU apart from the obvious? (Wattage of PSU and diameter).

If you think that motherboard is OTT then what should I be looking for in a mobo? I don't really know much about motherboards and their specs so I just looked for one that I recognised from a dell customisable computer.
 
Thanks again, I'll look around for reviews and posts on this board about coolers and PSUs and maybe if there's squeeze room for a new pretty case I'll get one and deduct the optional PSU and/or cooler if there are any.

I'll post in the motherboard section for further advice on the mobo, don't wanna go too off topic on here.

But I think the X1800XT/XTX graphics card will be my final choice, good price and very powerful by the looks of it and not too shabby compared to the 1900. What PSU wattage does a graphics card like this require? Some GFX cards say and some don't so I'm not sure.
 
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