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batfink

batfink

batfink

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Joined
6 Jan 2006
Posts
487
In need of an upgrade to bring my PC out of the dark ages. I've only built one machine before - my current one, which has worked great for the last 6 years.

Current spec:
Epox EP-9NPAJ S939 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
2 x 512Mb Geil DDR Ram
NVidia 6600GT Graphics Card
Tagan 380W PSU (broken, system has been butchered to run on an old Dell PSU for the last 3 years)
DVD RW drive
Coolermaster Centurion 530 case
Windows XP

I'm not a gamer, so the system will be used for general internet/office use plus some video encoding. I'm also getting into photography so will likely use it for photo processing, plus iphone/itunes use and probably HD video/Blu-ray in the future.
I'm gradually moving more towards Linux as an OS so only boot windows up for itunes now.

I plan to keep my 6600GT for the time being as it seems fine for what I need, but if I upgrade, I will stick with NVidia because of the Linux support.

Budget is <£500, preferably <£400. Thinking about the below spec. (I may have a go at some mild overclocking, eg. clocking the 955 to 965 levels). It's unlikely I'll upgrade again for another 5-6 years so I want a system that will last! I'd like it to be fairly quiet, therefore I've picked a premium case (current mobo has a v. noisy fan and the case doesn't do much to keep it quiet)

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £117.49
(£99.99)
G.Skill RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C9 2000MHz Dual Channel Kit
(£89.99) £105.74
Antec P183 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £104.99
(£89.35)
Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
£89.99
(£76.59)
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £79.99
(£68.08)
Sub Total : £424.00
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £76.39
Total : £512.89

Probably complete overkill, but it should last! Was originally looking at the Corsair 400W PSU but not sure how close to the limit this system would push it (plus any future GPU upgrade).

Opinions, please!


Thanks.
 
Looks good to me, you don't need a PSU that big.

You might want to look at a smaller form factor for something that takes less space up.

When you switch to HD you might consider a more modern, low end GPU - don't know what NVIDIA drivers do with encoding on Linux tho, maybe nothing.
 
If you're not a gamer than the 400W Corsair will be fine for any graphics card you might need for other uses. Also spending that much on a case for quietness is overkill really, buy a cheaper case and replace the CPU cooler if you really want to make it quieter:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £117.49
(£99.99)

Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
(£76.59)

Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / LGA775 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 )
(£28.08)

Coolermaster Elite 330 Midi Tower Case - Black £30.98
(£26.37)

Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-400CXUK) £29.99
(£25.52)

Gelid Silent 120mm Quiet Fan £7.99
(£6.80)

Sub Total : £263.35
Shipping cost based on delivery to with:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £46.09
Total : £309.44

edit: this memory will be more than enough http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-047-GS the 2000MHz kit you picked is overkill.
 
Last edited:
Redmint said:
edit: this memory will be more than enough http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-047-GS the 2000MHz kit you picked is overkill.
Click to expand...

Thought it looked cheap for a second with a basket just over £300!
That's the memory I meant to pick. No need for the 2000Mhz kit, therefore call that one a user error :)

I'll have a look at that case. Will it be an improvement over the one I already have? (or is it just that the coolers you've picked are significantly quieter than the stock coolers?)

Cheers.
 
Well the Antec is obviously a very nice case, but when you want to get everything for £400, £105 is a lot for a case. :p Also if the CPU is under heavy load at any time (encoding etc) then the stock AMD cooler is LOUD! Included the extra Gelid fan as that case only comes with 1 fan as standard, but you can fit another one at the front for improved cooling.
 
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