New Computer

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 19:28

Heya guys mate has asked me to build him a new coputer cause he is having some serious problems with his, no matter what he uses when he is downloading stuff it resets and this is after a clean install (Formatted all drives and re-installed windows) then the first thing he put on was a couple of bit clients and as soon as they were open it restarted.

He is also having problems where the computer seems to freeze and after he clicks something on the desktop the screen goes black for a second then he can use the computer again.

This is his current system.
Athlon XP1900
1GB Single Memory Module
MSI Motherboard (MS-7021)

he does a lot of video encoding so was gonna reccommend this

2 Gig DDR2 Twinx XMS2 C4 TWIN2X2048-6400C4
Gigabyte DS3 Mainboard
Core 2 Duo either a E6300 or E6400
EZ Cool 650w PSU

How much of a performance boost would he see over his current system ?

He was looking to get Tower plus Mobo/CPU/Memory/KB+Mouse with a budget of £500.

He doesnt really use it for games so graphics card not an essential.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 19:58

The 1GB was a new stick he was having the same problems before I replaced the memory so it cannot be that.

It was either the C2D setup I mentioned or a AMD 64 3500 system (Single Core) which would be a bit cheaper.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 20:18

6300 has 2mb 6400 has 4mb would he see any difference with the extra 2mb ?

There is a £44 difference between the two.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 21:10

He said he could probably do between £500 - £550

I think I am gonna recommend this to him what do you think.

C2D E6400 £155
2 Gig DDR2 Twinx XMS2 C4 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 £207
Gigabyte DS3 Motherboard £82
EZ Cool 650W PSU £20
Coolermaster Elite 330 Black £30

That leaves £56 for a Laser Mouse and a wireless keyboard.

I think I might recommend him the one I was interested in from another post on this board.

Also about the PSU being over kill, it might be but its half the price than the other 2 the local shop does.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 21:27

Thats nearly 3x the cost I would have to goto the 1.8 ghz chip instead of the 2ghz one.

No this is local shop prices gonna pick it all up from there so if anything goes wrong can get it exchanged instantly

Would tell you where but unless you list stuf you buying from OCUK you cant ask anyone to help with bits you getting from somewhere else.

Pretty silly.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 22:13

They have an akasa paxpower for £55.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 22:20

Well if anyone can recommend anything in core2 duo way that comprises of this (with a bit to spare for the Laser Mouse) from the overclockers site I would be grateful

Memory (Would like 2GB)
Motherboard (Would like to stick with the GB DS3 since its a good board)
Processor (Would like either E6300 or E6400)
Power Supply (Whatever is cheapest lol)
Case (The cheaper the better but think the one listed would be enough)

Also if the onboard video is crap I guess I will need a Graphics Card as well but nothing too extravagant.

Budget would be between £500-£550 and he might not be able to do it but if it comes to it max would be £600

I would send you a PM but says I cant lol

Well looks like the Gigabyte DS3 board is out of the question it only has 1 IDE channel.

He has 2x HDD and 2X DL DVDRW

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 22:31

Gigabyte is out the question he has 4 IDE devices and so he needs 2 IDE channels.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 22:55

Cheers mishima appreciate all the help.

alphaomega16 · 1 Feb 2007 at 23:32

yeah I upgraded mine last when the 7800GTX was released I got with it a AMD64 3500 with a Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe as well as 2GB Dual Channel 400mhz memory.

Dont need to upgrade again til theres a game that is unplayable on my system.

alphaomega16 · 4 Feb 2007 at 22:27

Was looking on Tomshardware but couldnt find a comparison from the XP1900 to a Core 2 Duo E6400

alphaomega16 · 5 Feb 2007 at 16:22

Fair enough.

Out of curiosity I done a comparison between his 1900XP and my AMD64 3500 and then proceeded to do my AMD64 3500 and compare it with the E6400 and the difference between mine alone and the E6400 he isnt gonna know what hit him once he fires that beast up lol.

I rekon he will give me all the money over the next 1-2 months so maybe some of the parts would have come down by then with the 4 Core processors coming out.

alphaomega16 · 5 Feb 2007 at 18:19

I think mine was kinda in the middle of the XP1900 to the E6400 lol might have been a little higher than in the middle but not much.

alphaomega16 · 18 Feb 2007 at 14:06

mishima said:
This has 2x IDE ports (same price as the DS3 too) -

ASUS P5N-E SLI

I cant seem to find that mobo on the Asus site the only P5N Mobo I see there is This One

Apart from the £60-£70 whats the difference between the one you showed and the one I showed ?

ok I have sacrificed the high priced Corsair memory and come up with this new system for him.

This will go into a Coolermaster Centurion 532 Black, What do you think ?

Is the Case+PSU Enough for this system.

PS
He wont be using the system for games but you cannot have a computer without a graphics card its just not normal.

Case is £44.99 which in total will makes his computer £597.11.

Just hope he can get up to £600 if not its the 2.13ghz processor which is £55 Cheaper.

PS2
Even got a mouse in there

alphaomega16 · 25 Feb 2007 at 15:55

Is there an AMD equivalent of 2.13ghz C2D Processor as he might not be able to get the 2.4.

Is the PSU alright as I saw this in description

Designed for AMD Athlon XP, Athlon 64, Intel P4 & EPS 12V for AMD Opteron & Intel Xeon.

Doesnt mention Dual Core ?

Another edit lol

I have after looking through the CPU section of this board to change the PSU and CPU I have decided to go with this setup.

He has money ready so can buy as soon as no problems can be seen, I am being very cautious as this system is not for me so I want to have as minimal problems as possible.

There will be no overclocking done to this system.

That will save him £82.24 which he can use to buy a case and keyboard/mouse.

alphaomega16 · 25 Feb 2007 at 22:05

Also would the Coolermaster Elite 330 Black be sufficient space to house all this gear in ?

He said he doesnt want a big case since he doesnt really play games or anything and wont be overclocking so cooling wont be that much of an issue.

Or would the
Thermaltake VC3000BWS Armour Jr SuperMidi Tower £64.61
Thermaltake VC2350BNSB Mambo SuperMidi Tower £46.99

I am leaning towards the Mambo as its cheaper but would like opinions

Also the memory here isnt listed in the supported memory on the motherboard manual I downloaded and was wondering if it would still work ok.

alphaomega16 · 27 Feb 2007 at 00:11

I only chose that mobo because I know it has 2 IDE channels and I am familiar with Asus Motherboards.

I went round his tonight to let him see the stuff I chose and he requested the Mambo case, the other motherboards are a bit iffy on the info when it comes to DDRII 800mhz memory.

With the stuff I listed above and adding the case his new total including P&P and Shipping would be £523.92.

With that he wants a Logitech MX1000 and a wireless keyboard.

Mouse is £35 so that leaves another £30 for a keyboard and they are not that expensive so I rekon total system will come to around the £550-£575 Mark.

I will leave it to him to decide if he wants to skip Keyboard and Mouse and go with the 2.4 or not and get the kb/m later.

So if you think the above specs with the case added is ok then the
2.13ghz system will be £523.92
and the
2.40ghz system will be £581.50

But it all depends on whether he wants the fastest one or the cheapest one.

PS
Would like to thank you for all your help though this will be the first intel system I would have ever build (Been an AMD man myself) and wanted it to go off without a hitch.

So if that all looks ok (Apart from his choice of processor whatever he wants since he will never overclock it) I will wait for him to give me a cash before I order.