Need a spec that can handle my 2 IDE HDD's and 2 IDE DVD Burners.

Dangerously

Dangerously

Dangerously

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4 Feb 2009
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22
Hello.

I'm looking to build a new PC. This old one is starting to crawl along, and my usual bi-yearly Windows XP re-install hasn't helped this time. :)

Basically, I think I need to upgrade everything, except that I have 2 perfectly good IDE Hard Disks and 2 Pioneer DVD Writers, the 106 and the 112, that I want to carry on using in it.

I'm looking to spend about 300 pounds max, if possible. Looking for speed and reliability, NOT for gaming.

I also want to get a decent case, I built a PC with an Antec Sonata a few years ago which I loved cos it was easy to get into and change parts and add Hard Disks. And a futureproof PSU, not an expensive one, but a powerful one that can handle any upgrades I make in the future.

I'm going to add a nice LCD Monitor another time.

I'll be ordering these parts very soon, so any offers Overclockers are currently doing would still apply.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would suggest getting a newer, bigger hard drive - they have improved massively in recent years (and the higher data densities help with speed too), and any new system will be bottlenecked by an older hard drive IMO.
 
The problem youre going to have is finding a modern board that has two IDE channels. The Asus P5N-E SLI does assuming you wanted a C2D cpu and is pretty old now

Or you could get a PCI IDE controller, but tbh for the price of a new optical drive id get a SATA DVDRW and then use you IDE hard drives on any mobo you like.

Hows this for a none gaming sysyem:



Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail £51.99
(£45.21) £51.99
(£45.21)
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2H Intel G41 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £49.99
(£43.47) £49.99
(£43.47)
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5C) £49.99
(£43.47) £49.99
(£43.47)
Antec 200 Two Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £37.98
(£33.03) £37.98
(£33.03)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £36.98
(£32.16) £36.98
(£32.16)
Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77)
Sub Total : £212.11
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £33.58
Total : £257.44
 
The CPU you specced me there seems to be out of stock. Presumably getting this

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail

would be the obvious alternative.

Just to be sure, are you saying that, by sacrificing my IDE DVD Writers for a SATA writer, I can still use my two IDE HDD's for now (until I get the recommended SATA HDD in the near future)?

Would a 500w PSU do for this setup and give me enough power for any future upgrades? I'm thinking of extra HDD's and DVD drives mainly, not so much extra cards, although I may add a basic graphics card, if I think it would be an improvement on the onboard graphics.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
 
Dangerously said:
The CPU you specced me there seems to be out of stock. Presumably getting this

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail

would be the obvious alternative.

Just to be sure, are you saying that, by sacrificing my IDE DVD Writers for a SATA writer, I can still use my two IDE HDD's for now (until I get the recommended SATA HDD in the near future)?

Would a 500w PSU do for this setup and give me enough power for any future upgrades? I'm thinking of extra HDD's and DVD drives mainly, not so much extra cards, although I may add a basic graphics card, if I think it would be an improvement on the onboard graphics.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yep thats right mate. A 500w should be fine assuming its a decent brand. If youre not gaming the onboard graphics will be perfectly fine for windows/dvd/blueray playback stuff.
 
Ok, this is a little embarrassing. Due to a couple of financial setbacks around October, I didn't buy the parts at the time. I hope to order them this week.

One problem though, the motherboard is now out of stock, can someone recommend an alternative?

Also, are there any better alternatives to the original spec now? I know it's only been about two months, but you never know.

I was gonna order the Antec 300 Ultimate Gaming case instead. Basically, I still need the same thing, speed and reliability, about £250, and I still plan to put my 2 old IDE Hard Disks in for now.

Thanks for all the advice so far, it is most appreciated.

P.
 
Dangerously said:
Ok, this is a little embarrassing. Due to a couple of financial setbacks around October, I didn't buy the parts at the time. I hope to order them this week.

One problem though, the motherboard is now out of stock, can someone recommend an alternative?

Also, are there any better alternatives to the original spec now? I know it's only been about two months, but you never know.

I was gonna order the Antec 300 Ultimate Gaming case instead. Basically, I still need the same thing, speed and reliability, about £250, and I still plan to put my 2 old IDE Hard Disks in for now.

Thanks for all the advice so far, it is most appreciated.

P.
Click to expand...

Try this one instead:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-220-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1490

It doesn't have the HDMI port, but I guess that won't be important to you. Otherwise it is the same chipset.
 
what he said above. if you did need HDMI look for a cheap graphics card what has one. £40 max.
 
Many thanks for all the advice. I've ordered the following for delivery next week.

Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5C) 1 £65.21

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail 1 £46.80

OCZ StealthXStream 500w Silent Power Supply 1 £39.14

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black 1 £34.88

Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L Intel G41 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard 1 £34.03

Sony Optiarc AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM 1 £16.16


Gonna stick with my two IDE Hard Disks in it for the time being, so we'll see how it turns out. Once again, many thanks.

P.
 
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