Millions of questions in one thread. Sorry

TheRaph

TheRaph

TheRaph

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1 Apr 2007
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Hi new to the forum :) It's been a while but I'm on about building a new PC. I'm on a £500 budget that's already gone up for £550 :rolleyes:

This is what I'm thinking about getting

Kit.jpg


I was going to choose different RAM (GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit) but this one I wanted is out of stock.

Will this kit fit in my tower and do I NEED a new PSU to run it? I'm not too bothered about overclocking (so is the right motherboard?), as I just want to build it and have it last me as it is. This is my tower and PSU... http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15138

All I will have is that case and PSU with what is in my basket, so I need help with cables as well.

Thanks
 
That should fit in the tower fine and the psu that it comes with should be fine also. However, i would recommend upgrading the psu if you plan to upgrade the graphics card. To save some ££ you could go for the E6300 and OC it to the level of the E6400. You could do that with the E4300 too, but if your wanting to keep everything at stock, the E6400 should be fine. And the motherboard is an excellent overclocker.
 
It will certainly fit, and although ATI recommend a 450 watt PSU for the 1950 series, I'm sure you'll be okay unless you're going to cram a load of other components in there that you're not mentioning. A PSU upgrade will definitely be in your future if you want to expand or upgrade further though.
 
Personally, If you only have around £500 to spend, and you are not going to overclock why not look at an AM2 System?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-170-AM

Abit KN9 nForce Ultra (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-116-AB

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 ZX PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-011-GS

Samsung SpinPoint P SP2514N 250GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-020-SA

All of that is only £297.52 and leaves £200 odd quid spare to buy a decent graphics card. If you also upgraded the PSU you could even afford an 8800GTS 340MB card.

Just an idea.
 
ryansm said:
Personally, If you only have around £500 to spend, and you are not going to overclock why not look at an AM2 System?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-170-AM

Abit KN9 nForce Ultra (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-116-AB

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 ZX PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-011-GS

Samsung SpinPoint P SP2514N 250GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-020-SA

All of that is only £297.52 and leaves £200 odd quid spare to buy a decent graphics card. If you also upgraded the PSU you could even afford an 8800GTS 340MB card.

Just an idea.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense because I'm not overclocking and that is an equivalent spec. Thanks for the help, I might go for that with the 1950 card and that should work fine with my current PSU. I'll get a direct x 10 card and a new PSU when I need one.

So if I go for this setup am I missing any cables like the one for the hard drive because it's an OEM HDD?

Also this is what the PSU will be running if I went for this kit.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Abit KN9 nForce Ultra (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 ZX PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400)
ATI RADEON x1950
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2514N 250GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM
SONATA Piano Black Quiet Super Mini Tower + PSU
DVD RW Drive
CD RW Drive
 
All cables should come with motherboard. SATA connectors etc.

Your PSU will be fine for all of that I would have thought.

Just to let you know I found some AM2 motherboard bargains in the Overclockers Clearance Sections.

Abit KN9S nForce 550 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-095-AB&groupid=595&catid=597&subcat=643

MSI K9A Platinum Crossfire (Socket AM2) PCI-Expres
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-076-MS&groupid=595&catid=597&subcat=643

**B Grade** MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-131-MS&groupid=595&catid=596&subcat=689

These are better than the original board I specified - but no dearer. Just in the clearance section.
 
and if you are set on that gfx card - can I suggest this instead.

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-141-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=404

Memory is slower but you should be able to oc this via the Ati control centre.
Atleast it has 512mb DDR3 memory.

If you still want to go for the card you seen first have a look here

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-143-SP&groupid=595&catid=597&subcat=637

OEM versions available for less in the clearance section.
 
ok thanks for the help. I've just got to decide between the Intel or AMD now. I had AMD once and had to mess about with the motherboard bios settings for it to work correctly. But intel just worked straight out of the box. I hope everything goes smooth.

Are the intel CPU's really that much better for the price? I just don't want to buy into the AMD ones and find they are massively out of date in months to come.
 
dont get me wrong the intel core 2 duo's are better. They overclock amazingly and are very fast when overclocked.

AMD are bringing out new chips soon which will be based on the AM2 platform.

The AMD X2 is a good chip and will perform fine at stock levels. But the E6300 / E6400 are better but more expensive. If you decided to just overclock a little - buy an e6300 and take it 2.4ghz. This is easily achievable on most boards (like the one you had) and will be very fast. All you have to do is up the FSB to around 343mhz.

Another option is to buy an E4300 and do the same - but this would proove easier due to its lower FSB and higher multiplier. You would get this chip to 2.4-2.6 no probs.
 
jaykay said:
amd and intel cpus have similar performance for the same price
so either system will be good
Click to expand...

And the only main advantage to the intel one is the overclocking abilitles? Which I won't be getting into anyway.

I think I'm decided on the AMD kit. Thanks for the help everyone, if I can play C&C 3 1680x1050 in max settings then I'll be happy!
 
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