Is it stable, is it safe?

BottledDog

BottledDog

BottledDog

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28 Jul 2006
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Hopefully going to order on Wednesday night if I get some money together in time (will that still be ok for the deal on the US Robotics gateway doodad?).

Just hoping that it all fits together ok etc.. and that any probs with the motherboard are one offs. :confused:

Anyhoo, here is what I am thinking of getting:

CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Alendalle" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)
£114.95 £114.95
MB-061-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI)
£94.95 £94.95
HS-017-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
MY-014-GS G.Skill 2GB DDR2 NR PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBNR) (MY-014-GS)
£114.95 £114.95
GX-051-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1600 XT ICEQ Turbo 256MB DDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX1600XT-256ICEQT) (GX-051-HT)
£74.95 £74.95

HD-079-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-079-SE)
£52.55 £52.55
CD-045-LG LG GSA-H10NBAL 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-043-LG)
£20.50 £20.50

CA-026-EN Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-026-EN)
£40.95 £40.95

NW-016-US US Robotics USR019108 Wireless MAXg ADSL2+ Gateway & Free USR805421 USB Adapter (NW-016-US)
£66.49 £66.49

Subtotal £595.24

VAT £104.17

Total £699.41

I would be really grateful for any help or recommendations as I'm flying by the seat of my pants a bit here. :D
 
That looks really good to me. If you scrape up some extra cash you might wish to upgrade the PSU because if you upgrade to a more powerful graphics card in the future you might find 400W inadequate.

Beyond that it's very similar to the machine I just spec'd out. :)

What case are you getting?
 
The x1600's arn't amazingly good cards, so if your going to be doing a spot of gaming, i suggest you swap that for something else. An X1800XT would be a good choice, though a little more expensive. Or a 7600GT?
 
BillytheImpaler said:
That looks really good to me. If you scrape up some extra cash you might wish to upgrade the PSU because if you upgrade to a more powerful graphics card in the future you might find 400W inadequate.

Beyond that it's very similar to the machine I just spec'd out. :)

What case are you getting?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought I might get by with 400W (hoped that the super efficient conroe would help out :) ) but thanks for the suggestion, I might yet be able to stretch to a better PSU.

As for the case, I'm hoping to use my current case, a wonderfully dusty Beantech igloo (7?!?) if possible.
 
benjo said:
The x1600's arn't amazingly good cards, so if your going to be doing a spot of gaming, i suggest you swap that for something else. An X1800XT would be a good choice, though a little more expensive. Or a 7600GT?
Click to expand...

Trying to keep within budget, and there seems to be a bit of a buzz on here about waiting for DX10 cards, so I was a bit worried about spending masses now.

Would the HIS Excalibur X1600 XT be enough of a step up from my current Radeon® 9600 (which is still just about able to handle 2d after its fan siezed up :rolleyes: ) to keep me going for the next year or so? If not then I'll give a 7600GT a whirl as I am really hoping to see some of my newer games run a bit better than a flip book animation. :D



Edit:
Erk, I just realised that these new cards don't seem to have RGB plugs. Do you need to buy a converter or is there a decent card for under £130ish (weee there goes the budget) that has both digital and the old school connectors? :confused:
 
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all cards come with DVI to vga converters, :) so you should be sweet

Never ever schrimp and save on a PSU, make sure its a good one, I rate the s12 seasonic, its been a fantasticly quiet PSU on full load and is ROCK solid.

looks like theres an 1800 xt card for £130 in this week only I'm 99% sure they will also come with dvi/vga converter.
 
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Aye, the X1800 XT on offer would be a massive step-up from an X1600 if you can afford it, for that price is a great card ;)
 
The X1600XT is actually a rather poor card as it is seriously crippled by the 128bit memory bus. The high clocks of this card dont count for much becasue of this...

Try getting hold of a 6600GT with 256bit bus or any newer nvidia offering in the same range&budget with a 265bit bus. Much better bang for buck.
 
LaRZ said:
all cards come with DVI to vga converters, :) so you should be sweet

Never ever schrimp and save on a PSU, make sure its a good one, I rate the s12 seasonic, its been a fantasticly quiet PSU on full load and is ROCK solid.

looks like theres an 1800 xt card for £130 in this week only I'm 99% sure they will also come with dvi/vga converter.
Click to expand...


Yoinks, that's nearly another 100 quid. :eek:

But, what can I do when you guys talk so much sense. I'll try and upgrade the card and PSU. :D

Ok, so now a toss up between the Enermax Liberty 500W and the Seasonic S12 500W Silent. A modular PSU sounds good, but a quieter life would also be nice. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
t31os said:
I have the Enermax 500W, can't hear it.
Click to expand...
Cheers. Done. :)

HicRic said:
Yep, in fact they come with two!
Click to expand...
Nice one, thanks HicRic.

SiriusB said:
Seasonic and X1800 - You wont be dissapointed. Now go forth and buy them and to hell with your budget! :D
SiriusB
Click to expand...
Gah! :( Too late, the Enermax it is. ;)


Last question (hopefully :D ).
If the Gigabyte boards are a bit flaky (and I dont think I will ever have dual graphics cards) is the Abit AB9 worth a look as an alternative £89.95, or umm, the Asrock at £51.95. How do these cheaper boards compare, or should I stick with the Gigabyte DS3?
 
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