I don't think you can beat this spec! Prove me wrong if you dare!

liam72uk · 31 Mar 2006 at 13:14

What do you think of this spec for around £600? Do you think any improvements can be made?

CP-150-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£119.95 £119.95

MB-120-AS Asus A8N5X nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-120-AS)
£49.95 £49.95

MY-030-CS Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-030-CS)
£49.95 £49.95

HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£45.95 £45.95

CD-048-SO Sony DWG120A 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM (CD-048-SO)
£24.95 £24.95

CA-001-AR Arctic Cooling T2 Silentium Silent Midi Tower Case - 450W Seasonic Silent PSU (CA-001-AR)
£49.95 £49.95

GX-037-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-037-OK)
£199.95 £199.95

FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95

Subtotal £553.60
VAT £96.88
Total £650.48

EDITED DUE TO TZANG'S WISDOM

tzang · 31 Mar 2006 at 13:20

You need a CPU cooler as OEM CPUs don't have a HSF as standard

If you are avoiding original CPU HSFs, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler does a pretty good job.

liam72uk · 31 Mar 2006 at 13:22

Damn you

Well apart from the HSF BEAT THIS SPEC IF YOU DARE

lee87 · 31 Mar 2006 at 13:24

I don't think that psu would power a 7900GT, I might be wrong though.
It is only a 350W psu and with 450W peak.
Take a look at the 580W tagans, they should be fine.

liam72uk · 31 Mar 2006 at 13:27

Mmmm that's a very valid point lee87. Anybody running this type of setup on a similar power supply?

GAMEfreak · 31 Mar 2006 at 14:42

i really reccomend it especially with transistor degradation over a period of time. check out if its enough using this : http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

Lanz · 31 Mar 2006 at 15:04

That PSU will be fine.

liam72uk · 31 Mar 2006 at 15:13

Lanz said:
That PSU will be fine.

Which one? The 350W seasonic or the 580W tagan?

Lanz · 31 Mar 2006 at 15:15

The original 350W one, I would think that whole system wouldnt peak over 200W.

Explicit · 31 Mar 2006 at 15:46

liam72uk said:
BEAT THIS SPEC IF YOU DARE

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£140.94
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£70.44
Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-030-CS)
£58.69
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£211.44
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A31637) (HD-001-HI)
£52.82
NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£30.49
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£15.22
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU (CA-048-AN)
£61.04

Total inc VAT: £641.08

Would you like a dual core version?

liam72uk · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:10

The 7900 GT is faster than the X1800 XT so you don't win a cookie

keyser · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:20

I'm didn't think the 350W seasonic has PCI-E support? Only the 500w/600w do.. or did 2 months ago when I last checked. However, I guess it could power it, if you have a converter connector.. not sure about that though.

Explicit · 2 Apr 2006 at 14:42

liam72uk said:
The 7900 GT is faster than the X1800 XT so you don't win a cookie

Actually, the X1800XT is faster than the 7900GT in some games, for example:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page10.asp
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page14.asp
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page15.asp

Equally, the 7900GT is faster than the X1800XT in other games (see the rest of the review). So you can't say the 7900GT is faster than the X1800XT because it's not true. Some games handle better on ATI, others handle better on nvidia.

BigDom · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:08

Explicit said:
Actually, the X1800XT is faster than the 7900GT in some games, for example:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page10.asp
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page14.asp
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7900_gt_gtx_performance/page15.asp

Equally, the 7900GT is faster than the X1800XT in other games (see the rest of the review). So you can't say the 7900GT is faster than the X1800XT because it's not true. Some games handle better on ATI, others handle better on nvidia.

True enough, and with the X1800XT being cheaper it's the better buy.

liam72uk · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:15

Ok fair point. mmmmm :confused:

By the looks of that cards heatsink and the high clockspeed im guessing it's going to be very hot and noisy :confused:

BigDom · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:28

liam72uk said:
Ok fair point. mmmmm

By the looks of that cards heatsink and the high clockspeed im guessing it's going to be very hot and noisy

Which card the X1800XT? Nah it's pretty damned quiet. I can't hear mine at all.

iraiguana · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:49

most graphics cards are pretty noisy, and its the x1900's that with the dual slot cooling can get noisy (not sure baout x1800's).

liam72uk · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:03

Ok guys spoke to my friend who I am building for and he wants it as close to £600 as possible. So here is the new spec:

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£59.95 £59.95

MY-030-CS Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-030-CS)
£49.95 £49.95

HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£45.95 £45.95

CD-020-SO Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM (CD-020-SO)
£10.95 £10.95

CD-049-SO Sony DWG120A 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-049-SO)
£23.95 £23.95

CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£59.95 £59.95

GX-121-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-121-SP)
£179.95 £179.95

CP-118-AM AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM)
£91.95 £91.95

Subtotal £522.60
VAT £91.46
Total £614.06

Can anybody see any problems with this setup or Compatibility issues?

Chocki · 2 Apr 2006 at 16:50

You can drop the DVD rom unless your planning to do much copying and save yourself a few quid, your burner will suffice on it's own.

LoadsaMoney · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:27

liam72uk said:
The 7900 GT is faster than the X1800 XT so you don't win a cookie

x1800 XT is faster than the 7900 GT im afraid.

Bah: beaten above.

Would need more than a 350w PSU as well if going for the x1800, as the x1800's require more power, and produce more heat.