New build - whaddya think oh great oracles of knowledge?

[DebtMan]

APC Back-UPS ES BF350UK 350VA 225W - UP-009-AP - 52.82
Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - MB-142-AS - 135.07
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail - CP-164-AM - 64.57
Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC2-4200C4 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT6464AA53E) - MY-081-CR - 66.92
OcUK GeForce 7300 GT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - GX-040-OK - 64.57
Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM - HD-024-SA 1 - 39.89
Asus DRW-1608P3S 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Beige) - Retail - CD-019-AS - 28.14
Akasa Serial ATA 45cm DAYGLO Blue Data Cable - CB-001-AK - 3.47
Linksys WRT300N-UK Wireless-N Broadband Router/4-Port Switch - NW-046-LS - 82.19
Or Linksys WAG354G-UK 4-Port Wireless-G Broadband Modem Router - NW-044-LS - 56.99

Total - £537.64 or £512.44

 

[daven1986]

if you omit the ups you can get a 7600 which will be a lot better than the 7300.

also what are you using it for?

daven

 

[DebtMan]

if you omit the ups you can get a 7600 which will be a lot better than the 7300.

also what are you using it for?

daven

Well probably just about everything. It's intended to be a main home PC that will not need upgrading for a while but will offer the potential to upgrade as and when funds will allow.

The system I'm on at the moment was built to a strict budget and from one of OcUK's bundles and it's way out of date now with limited upgrade potential and runs WinME. I have the money saved for a new system, so....there you go.

Uses:

WinXP
Wireless network
Firewire, video editing & CD/DVD burning
Gaming
Freeview
Possibly dual boot to Linux
Office applications.
Surfing
MP3 collections

I wanted the router to enable other PCs in the house to connect without mine being on all the time. Plus being able to route my PS2 onto the net with a possibility of adding another PS2 in the house for increased multiplayer options.

My older PC - not this one - will be re-configured as a hardware firewall running Linux, not because I need it, but because I fancy having a go at it.

Do you think I'm over-specced?

 

[hp7909]

{snip}Do you think I'm over-specced?

Well that mobo is

What's your budget m8? That way maybe 'we' can assist. Also, do you need a case? PSU? Peripherals (keyboard/etc)?

 

[DebtMan]

Well that mobo is

What's your budget m8? That way maybe 'we' can assist. Also, do you need a case? PSU? Peripherals (keyboard/etc)?

Quick question - what sort of system would that mobo otherwise end up in? Another reason it looked so good was the possibility of buying one graphics card and using it, then buying another matching card as funds allowed.*

Budget - I reckon, going on what I've trawled up from OcUK in my original post will be somewhere in the region of £500 or less. It's been a hell of a long time since I built a system from seperate components - my last two builds were based around OcUK bundles, but now I have a bit more spare cash.

I have a case (X-Clio JR ) and a PSU (400W version of this )- I've been buying bits as they come available and as I've had the cash handy.

I have a Microsoft Internet Keyboard that'll do for now - though at some point I quite fancied one of these for little other reason than it's nice and shiny - sad isn't it? Likewise I have a nice little MS optical mouse. At the moment, I'm stuck with a 17" CRT monitor, but the replacement for that will come at a later stage.

Think that's about it for the moment. Not sure why I specced a UPS as part of the kit, we've not had a power cut whilst I've been on the PC for years. It's one of those things you always think you can do without when you don't have the cash to buy it, but think you ought to get when you do.

*Edit: And another reason is that is has one IDE connector that'll support two IDE connections - which to me means the Asus DRW-1608P3S 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter and the 80Gb unused IDE hard drive I bought when I last had spare cash.

 

[hp7909]

You mean SLi? One card solutions seem to be still king. & IMO, only makes sense to go dual/quad-cards with a higher spec rig & card/s!

Not too sure about that PSU going by the link you gave, i.e. poor specs (RAILS) of the 550W Considering yours is 400W, you'll have to check the label on your PSU & post the readings/specs, e.g....



Also, read this.

But for almost £500 you can have this...

• Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN) £115.95
• GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) £54.95
• BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG) £79.95
• NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-035-NE) £19.95
• Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-000-SS) £39.95
• Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-003-AK) £53.95
• Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA) £41.95
• Subtotal £406.65
• VAT £71.17
• Total £477.82

Will demolish that AM2 (see here if not convinced)!

Router, recommend D-Link. Have an excellent DI-624 (Cable/DSL NOT ADSL) which I picked up for £20 from that famous auction site

Regarding UPS, have one & very important for where I live BUT in your case just invest in a surge protector adaptor or socket type.

 

[DebtMan]

You mean SLi? One card solutions seem to be still king. & IMO, only makes sense to go dual/quad-cards with a higher spec rig & card/s!

Not too sure about that PSU going by the link you gave, i.e. poor specs (RAILS) of the 550W Considering yours is 400W, you'll have to check the label on your PSU & post the readings/specs, e.g....



Also, read this.

But for almost £500 you can have this...

• Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN) £115.95
• GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL) £54.95
• BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG) £79.95
• NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-035-NE) £19.95
• Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-000-SS) £39.95
• Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-003-AK) £53.95
• Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA) £41.95
• Subtotal £406.65
• VAT £71.17
• Total £477.82

Will demolish that AM2 (see here if not convinced)!

Router, recommend D-Link. Have an excellent DI-624 (Cable/DSL NOT ADSL) which I picked up for £20 from that famous auction site

Regarding UPS, have one & very important for where I live BUT in your case just invest in a surge protector adaptor or socket type.

Thanks for the spec hp7909. That Intel would make a first for me, I've always been an AMD man, but probably mainly out of habit.

So, I've had a think about it and, at the end of the day, you're the experts, not me, so you're very probably on.

About my Power Supply, I've attached a couple of pics for the detailed specs.

Pic 1 and Pic 2

One question about the motherboard (I can't see it mentioned), does it support IDE? - I have an 80Gb unused hard drive that I'd also like to use. (Maybe this is a stupid question)

Cheers

DM

 

[Raikiri]

Xclio power supplies are actually quite good, they do an SLi certified 500w one for £35 so that should be fine. I would go for the Conroe as it is dual core, faster and has a lot of overclocking headroom but I would get the Gigabyte S3 board. Seasonic are excelent though, silent and very stable so it would still be worth buying one.

 

[hp7909]

{snip}One question about the motherboard (I can't see it mentioned), does it support IDE? - I have an 80Gb unused hard drive that I'd also like to use. (Maybe this is a stupid question){snip}

The mobo I spec'd has 1 IDE connector (2 x IDE devices) just like most of the C2D boards. Problem with that is, if you have any optical drive it will have to share the cable with the HD, near impossible & also not recommended

Your PSU seems fine/will cope So drop the Seasonic & aim for more RAM!

£35 SLi certified PSU, find that very interesting

 

[DebtMan]

The mobo I spec'd has 1 IDE connector (2 x IDE devices) just like most of the C2D boards. Problem with that is, if you have any optical drive it will have to share the cable with the HD, near impossible & also not recommended {snip}

Why is this? Please don't take me as being awkward on this in any way, I just have a need to know as much as I can

 

[hp7909]

Why is this? Please don't take me as being awkward on this in any way, I just have a need to know as much as I can

Simple really, 1 IDE port also means 1 (IDE) cable. This can take 2-devices, as Slave & or Master.

Now, with the way most cases are built, the optical drive & IDE/PATA hard disk are not close to each other hence why I said it can be ‘impossible’ to set-up. Second & crucial reason is performance degradation of the HD because of sharing same cable as optical drive. Some might argue the impact can be negligible, but I know it can be an issues/problem especially if optical drive is a Writer (CD-R/RW or DVD±R/RW)