Help building a machine.

Scope

Scope

Scope

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Joined
1 Dec 2002
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Swindon
Its been a few years since I last bought my machine from OC, and it seems there is more choice than ever; so its quite difficult to pick hardware that fits together.. Can somebody help me building a machine that is:

  • fairly fast and used mainly as a server (Apache, FTP, mail). (currently have an AMD1900)
  • I will do video/photo editing on it (remotely over LAN)
  • no gaming (so onboard video card will do I guess.. ),
  • onboard soundcard will do aswell..
  • Im aiming for 2gb ram, but can start off with 1gb.
  • Needs to be Vista compatible..
  • Intel or AMD, whatever is best
  • Dont mind overclocking as long as I dont need to mess around with extra fans, etc.

I have a case with 400w power supply, will this be enough?
Also, wont be needing HDD, DVD or Monitor..

So need Motherboard, CPU, RAM...

I wouldnt want to spend too much..

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
how much money is not too much then? lol

why not get a cheap core 2 duo system then? get some decent ram and cheap case etc.

what sort of price and maybe someone can spec something.
 
Say around £500..

CPU - 150?
Motherboard - 150?
Ram - 150?

I only need those 3, I think I have the rest of the components.
 
Let me give this post one last chance then.. Not much feedback so far.

Can anybody suggest a combination of the above?
 
You're welcome!

I couldn't seem to find any 'decent' mobo's with onboard GFX but with a highly regarded CPU, highly regarded RAM, not a bad mobo (Could be upgraded to a 965 chipset if budget allows) WITH a dedicated graphics option it certainly would seem like money well spent.

(That GFX Card on paper also looks as though it 'could' play some games OK)

I also should address your case with 400W power supply.... A GOOD 400W power supply that can give that power constantly will be enough I feel but if it's generic then It will probably not be the most stable of systems.

Sean :)
 
hmm, shouldnt I get a 64bit CPU? After all thats where we are heading, no?

As for the power supply I seem to remember it is a decent one (Antec?), so hopefully it will be enough.. I'd like to use as much as I can from the "old" machine. It will be hard enough getting the £500 released from "the boss". ;)
 
:)lol , the boss. We all know that can be impossible lol.

But yeah , one thing i would watch out for is make sure you get good onboard GFX if you go for onboard, becuase as a vista user i can tell you it does kick seven bells out of the graphics just by sitting and looking pretty. By the time its done Aero and every other bit of AA and AF that it has on smooth coreners it can be faily intensive. And those cpu mobo ram and gfx specified before look good.

Id say 64Bit is overrated to be honest, drivers are scarce and support is flakey. I wouldnt let it be the turning point of your desicsion, afterall ive had my Pentium D for almost a year now and i have used the 64 bit for about as long as 20 minutes lol.

Rgds,
Nomisf
 
Scope said:
hmm, shouldnt I get a 64bit CPU? After all thats where we are heading, no?

As for the power supply I seem to remember it is a decent one (Antec?), so hopefully it will be enough.. I'd like to use as much as I can from the "old" machine. It will be hard enough getting the £500 released from "the boss". ;)
Click to expand...

It is 64-bit mate ;)

It is one of the most highly regarded CPU's at this time and if I were to build a PC tomorrow it would certainly be based around this chip :p

4th 'bullet point down on CPU linky! said:
EM64T 64-Bit Technology
Click to expand...

I thought that the board I stated could take this chip but the final point states that ONLY newer 965 and 975 chipsets can take it.... Can a more knowledgable counterpart confirm??

Swapping the mobo for the Gigabyte S3 965 chipset brings it to a total of...

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £182.99
(£215.01) £182.99
(£215.01)
Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Leadtek GeForce 7100 GS Turbo Cache 512MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Leadtek GeForce 7100 GS Turbo Cache 512MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £24.99
(£29.36) £24.99
(£29.36)
OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £124.99
(£146.86) £124.99
(£146.86)
Sub Total : £407.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
Vat : £72.84
Total : £489.05

/edit/ VERY sorry - I linked incorrectly on my original "MOBO" linky, updated to the 945p I originally intended. But in hindsight I'd go for the spec I made in this post ;)

Sean
 
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Largely, I agree with Sean's recommendations but I would not got for any graphics card with 'turbo cache' as this uses some main memory when it needs to. You could save up to £100 by dropping the CPU from E6600 to E6300 or E6400, still have excellent performance and put some of what you've saved towards a slightly better graphics card, say a 7300GT or X1300XT.

Jonathan
 
How does a Geforce4 Ti 4200 (128mb) AGP8X compare to these cards.. Its my current card, but Im not sure if it is up to the job when it comes to Vista.
 
I wasn't aware of the turbo cache leeching memory but hey, you live n learn ;) thanks for the headsup snapshot.

Scope - I think that card is likely to struggle with Vista.

Also - if you are upgrading the motherboard and decide to keep that GFX then you'd need to ditch my suggestion and buy a compatible mobo with an AGP slot.

The one I've specced is PCI-e only...

Sean
 
Compared to these , im pretty sure it doesnt cut the mustard. However the card you just mentioned is AGP , and all the systems here have been PCI -E specified as there is very little support for AGP and Core 2. So a new graphics card will almost definatly be required.

*edit* posted at same time as last post

Rgds,
Nomisf
 
As you're not gaming, and just want some speed and vista compatability, here's what I suggest.

Asrock Conroe945G-DVI - £51.69
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz - £215.01
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - £152.74
(I would specify the 800Mhz stuff on offer, but not sure if this board is compatible, but its cheaper anyway)

The mobo has onboard intel graphics (more than enough for workstation use), as you're about £80 under budget, that leaves you with enough money to buy a cheap graphics card, if you find the integrated graphics on the mobo dont support Vista, and also enough aside, to buy a new decent PSU if yours isnt powerful enough :)
 
I've had a closer look at the gigabyte board, but it only has 1 PCI port, and is missing firewire.. It is likely I would need more than 1 PCI card as PCI-express is more or less only for gfx card for now..

Can anybody recommend another motherboard that will work with the 6600 that has more than 1 PCI slot, and ideally firefire aswell.
 
Not sure which Gigabyte board you're referring to but both the 945P-S3 and 965P-S3 have three PCI slots. They only have one PCIe x16 but that's all you need for graphics.

Jonathan
 
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