New build on student budget :)

robjf

robjf

robjf

Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2003
Posts
4,577
Location
Derby, UK
Evening guys, long time since ive posted in GH!

Right my old P4 is going to give up the ghost soon and i think ill need to be using my student loan/christmas funds to build a new computer. Ive ben out of touch with the hardware side of things for a fair while now so thought here would be a good place to start for a spec of a base system.

Current System:
P4 2.4c
Abit IC7
2X256mb Geil Value ram (i think)
9800se ( :eek: )
Antec case and psu
Hyundai B91D *
Keyboard and mouse *

* - intend to use on new computer

Now i know i could reuse the case but ideally id like to start a fresh with that as i may give this one to my mother. Im an occasional gamer (very occasional) so blistering graphics aren't a necessity. Im just looking for something which will be solid for the next year and half when i finish my degree.

My budget is probably quite restrictive, i think £350 is going to be the limit bearing in mind i also dont need a hard drive, Dvd drive, monitor, keyboard or mouse.

I hope im not too resticted to what i can get with this and thank you in advance of all suggestions.

Rob :)
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK) £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Sub Total : £261.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £47.41
Total : £318.31

needs case and overclocking
 
jak731 spec looks good ;) Maybe add an aftermarket cooler to OC the E2180.

Only question is: What HD you got, SATA or IDE? Ask because mobo only has 1 IDE connector which can take 2 such devices, but not a good idea to share with DVD Writer :(
 
but he still needs a case and an aftermarket cooler will make getting a case harder (if he intends on keeping it below £350) unless he thinks a 3850 is overkill for his needs tehn he could drop it and use the money saved on a cpu cooler and a nice case
 
jak731 - Cheers mate, nice spec, need to try and shoehorn in a case somewhere though.

hp7909 - Ive got a SATA HDD and have 2 DVD writes which are obviously IDE so from this point of view it should be fine.
 
hp7909 said:
Which Antec case is it?
Click to expand...

Errrr.... Black one with a lockable door and the side panel is lockable aswell. Also has a dust filter which pulls out from the bottom, thats about as much help as i can be, as i said i built this nigh on 3 years ago.
 
Having looked at the recommendations how does this look, cheaper graphics, could spend a bit more on that, but not sure which. Anything better for £10 - £20 more? (any areas)

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus ATI Radeon EAH2400 Pro HTP Silent 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £24.99
(£29.36) £24.99
(£29.36)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £91.99
(£108.09) £91.99
(£108.09)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case - EarthWatts 500W PSU £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Sub Total : £273.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £49.68
Total : £333.58
 
why are you spending more on the cpu and skiming out on the gpu? Games are gpu limited mainly. Get the 2180 it will overclock to about 3.2 on a decent cooler and about 2.4 on stock cooler. Get a better graphics card instead like the 3850 or if possible 3870 which would be a good increase in performance.
 
HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £89.99
(£105.74) £89.99
(£105.74)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case - EarthWatts 500W PSU Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case - EarthWatts 500W PSU £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
Sub Total : £283.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £51.61
Total : £346.51


The E2180 gets to 3ghz on stock cooler comfortably ;) well my E2160 got to 2.9, temps around 60c so should be oki wid stock
 
As said previously im not really clued up on all the hardwear side of things! My line of thinking was that having a fast CPU would be a the best start. Obviously not!
 
Overclocking makes sense... u get a lot more performance for ** money.. otherwise ** skimping in other areas to get the fast cpu
 
Overclocking wont be a problem, the one i have currently is overclocked.

Is there much of a performace difference between the E6550 and the E2180 at stock?
 
What games do you intend to play? The 3000 series maybe be overkill if you only intend on playing something like CS:S occastionally.
 
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