I think I need to upgrade...

Rossmac

Rossmac

Rossmac

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Hey folks...

So. I think I need to upgrade my PC. The last time I did this was back in either 2003 or 2004 so it's definitely getting old. I'll just be needing the PC itself upgraded as I've got Windows 7 Premium image from MSDN and keyboard/mouse/26" Samsung HDTV. I have 2 speakers in my room so I assume that my soundcard would be able to be kept in the upgrade as it's probably not much of a concern to get much better sound!

Here's my current spec:

AMD Semprom 2800+ 2.00GHz
Abit NF7II Motherboard
2x512mb Corsair PC3200(200MHz) RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 (128mb gfx)

I've got a budget of £350 and can push to £400 if it really deserves it.
My main uses are programming in Visual Studio as well as other programming apps, running XBMC daily, as well as general internet browsing and other stuff which I'm sure isn't too stressing.

I don't play games on my PC (I've got Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS3 for that) so I don't think I'll need an overly great GFX card other than to do Windows 7 Aero features really (unless you can say that VS needs a good graphics card...).

Any and every bit of advice will be taken on board!

Many thanks!
 
Would you want your current PC to be left intact ?
Could reuse the case + possibly PSU if wanted but not really necessary, ill do a spec now.

EDIT:
Untitled-1-15.jpg

with your free postage it should come in a tiny bit over budget, if you want it closer to the £350 mark you could knock that GPU down.
 
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here

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get rid of harddrive, dvdrw, case if you dont need that

for graphics card ideal solution would be to get professional graphcis card, for example

256Mb <PCI-E> DDR PNY VCQFX570 (OEM) +DualDVI <NVIDIA Quadro FX 570>

or get motherboard with integrated graphics, i would recommend:

GigaByte GA-MA78G-DS3H (AMD 780G, 1xAM2+, 4xDDR2 DIMM, 1xPCI-E 16x)
 
I forgot to mention that I have a Soundblaster Audigy 4 soundcard and I think it'll do fine.

Case wise? A new one might be better but I'm not sure if it'd need upgrading (I wouldn't be the best to ask about how good its airflow is). Power supply will need upgrading as it has no SATA power supplies as it is and it's only rated 300w.

I forgot to mention also that a hard drive would not need to be more than 120gb as I store all media/documents on an external or networked HDD.
A new dvdrw drive would also be good as the current one doesn't really read dvd video discs anymore...

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Drake22 has offered a decent spec at a more friendly budget.
Wouldnt want that HDD though, had a few Seagates break and I know im not the only one. And ive had one of those Samsung DVD's fail and im using one now which is really picky about what its reading.

As Drake said, you really dont need a GPU, the onboard on the mobo I offered would do you fine.

EDIT:
Untitled-1-16.jpg
 
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seagate 7200.12 are great, it's 7200.11 version that break often

big, i dont see much point going ddr3, phenoms don't scale it at all, just adding to more cost

wow, i ve just found out i got free shipping now :D
 
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Excellent. I didn't know that you could get an integrated graphics chip on a desktop (or at least I wasn't thinking correctly). So would it be better for my needs (read: no gaming!) to go with that over a 256mb card?

What is the main difference between the 2 Corsair ram kits listed (apart for £17 :p) and would the 420w psu and cooler be better for the couple of extra quid?

Thanks a lot guys for the time!
 
integrated will do, + less hassle
really good motherboard GigaByte GA-MA78G-DS3H , but not available on OCuk, do some google shopping to find out cheapest (should be about £60).

big's corsair is ddr3, mine is ddr2
both will do same performance, but for ddr3 you will need ddr3 motherboard, so overall it ll be more expensive.

tricore 710 or 720 up to you, same chips, one is just preclocked, but you could do that yourself.

For cooler - coolermaster geminii s (google shopping again, about £20) - get it if you ll do overclocking which I advise you too. (if you won't though, the stock cooler is fine)

As for psu, that 420w is really good one, but which one you ve got now?
 
DDR3 will give you slightly better performance, barely noticeable in your apps mind.
But my mobo is overall better and will give you more upgradeability options in the future.
If your not going to overclock the CPU (which would really need an aftermarket cooler) then the 720 will give you better performance.
The prebuilt systems do make some sense if your not fussed about building it yourself.
 
Drake22 said:
integrated will do, + less hassle
really good motherboard GigaByte GA-MA78G-DS3H , but not available on OCuk, do some google shopping to find out cheapest (should be about £60).

big's corsair is ddr3, mine is ddr2
both will do same performance, but for ddr3 you will need ddr3 motherboard, so overall it ll be more expensive.
Click to expand...

so then best to stick to ddr2.

Drake22 said:
tricore 710 or 720 up to you, same chips, one is just preclocked, but you could do that yourself.
Click to expand...

I'd try my hand at overlocking at some stage, never did it before but I can learn I'm sure!

Drake22 said:
For cooler - coolermaster geminii s (google shopping again, about £20) - get it if you ll do overclocking which I advise you too. (if you won't though, the stock cooler is fine)
Click to expand...

Just to be certain, this is the cooling device that sits on the CPU right? Would I need to get extra fans for the case itself?

Drake22 said:
As for psu, that 420w is really good one, but which one do you have at the moment?
Click to expand...

Well, my current one is pictured in my 2nd post. 300w with no SATA power supplies.

BTW, I take it as my spec is so low in comparison to others on this board that waiting until Sept 8th will have no effect on the prices of my products nor the decisions I will make?
 
BIGBC said:
DDR3 will give you slightly better performance, barely noticeable in your apps mind.
But my mobo is overall better and will give you more upgradeability options in the future.
If your not going to overclock the CPU (which would really need an aftermarket cooler) then the 720 will give you better performance.
The prebuilt systems do make some sense if your not fussed about building it yourself.
Click to expand...

Ahh okay. Yes I'm always looking to build myself :) Thanks anyway to siumatfung!

I think DDR2 is what I'll go for then as you both agree that it's going to be negligible difference in performance for what I'm going to use it for. Would you say go for it and get DDR3 and be using somewhat "newer" technology or just settle for DDR2?

I shall look to overclock and so will probably go with the 710 for fun's sake!

If I got for DDR2 I should get Drake's mobo and if DDR3 then Big's... right?

A lot of thanks for the help guys, as if I did it on my own I know I'd get the stupidest thing on here which would be very poor.
 
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My spec is better for your needs, especially if you plan to overlcock.
As you can afford DDR3 you might aswell, opens up future options along with the AM3 socket.
 
Okay folks, can I just get a "yeah that'll do you fine" as all of these items are now back in stock and so would be looking to order this afternoon:

screenshot20090908at153.png


Any last minute recommendations/alterations?

And yes £20 shipping to Northern Ireland is woeful.
 
Rossmac said:
Any last minute recommendations/alterations?

And yes £20 shipping to Northern Ireland is woeful.
Click to expand...

I feel your postage pain! its a joke tbh fights urge to rant.

Seems a good spec but I personally would make 3 changes.

1. Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
£5 more twice the size just as fast

2. Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H AMD 785G (Socket AM3)
£6 more for uk rma worth it even just for the cost of rma postage

3. PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420W Power Supply
£4 more the daddy of the psu worlds baby more like a 500w psu will run anythng within reason ofc your throw at it & 2 years more warrenty.
 
Okay that's great thanks! Could you give a quick explanation of the benefits of the motherboard? The PSU and HDD make sense, so they've gone into the basket! :)

What is the RMA thing you are on about? Just about to buy :D
 
If it was to go wrong you only have to send it to the UK instead of abroad.
Whenever ive RMA'd something its been to retailer though then theys end it on so wouldnt make much difference to me.
 
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