New parts

.:MBK:. · 20 Jun 2006 at 19:08

New parts [£500 budget]

well permanent damage to my graphics card and possible issues with my PSU is a sign to me its time to fork out, if possible id like to stick around the £400 mark, if things get desperate i may adjust this.

Well as i may aswell take this time to upgrade to PCI-E i guess what i need is a new PSU, CPU, mobo and graphics card, preferably the motherboard should still support DDR1 as another expense is something i dont want or need.

So, spec away, and ask for any more details if need be, think ive covered my requirements. I'm not fussed as to whether its AMD or Intel as, whilst i game, i dont go overclocking the hell out of parts or notice any minor differences each cpu may give.

semi-pro waster · 21 Jun 2006 at 03:31

For your budget and requirements I'd probably opt for something along these lines, the graphics card isn't great but is still pretty decent for the price.

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£154.95 £154.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
CA-007-EN Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN)
£49.95 £49.95
GX-054-LT Leadtek WinFast PCX6600GT-TDH Extreme Edition GeForce PCX6600 GT 128MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-LT)
£74.95 £74.95
Subtotal £349.75
VAT £61.21
Total £410.96

Stelly · 21 Jun 2006 at 08:33

semi-pro waster said:
For your budget and requirements I'd probably opt for something along these lines, the graphics card isn't great but is still pretty decent for the price.

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£154.95 £154.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
CA-007-EN Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN)
£49.95 £49.95
GX-054-LT Leadtek WinFast PCX6600GT-TDH Extreme Edition GeForce PCX6600 GT 128MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-LT)
£74.95 £74.95
Subtotal £349.75
VAT £61.21
Total £410.96

That looks good to me

Stelly

t31os · 21 Jun 2006 at 10:20

He said he games and you spec him a 6600GT on a £400 budget.

You have to be kidding me surely. That 6600GT will be a waste of money, i've had one and they just don't cut the mustard on some games, and thats now, it'll be a wasted upgraded and will require replacing again too soon.

And why the custom HSF?..... extra cost when that could be put on Graphics, he did say he didnt overclock, so again another waste.

t31os · 21 Jun 2006 at 10:27

How about something like this instead...

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
CP-141-AM AMD Opteron UP 144 San Diego 1.8GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-141-AM)
£109.95 £109.95
CA-026-EN Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-026-EN)
£40.95 £40.95
GX-054-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1800 GTO ICEQ3 SILENT TURBO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-HT)
£124.95 £124.95
Subtotal £330.80
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £59.46
Total £399.21

The CPU could be debatable, but at least this way he can get a cheap CPU when the prices drop if he finds this one a little too slow, cheaper then upgrading the graphics, which as we know won't be dropping prices any time just yet.

.:MBK:. · 21 Jun 2006 at 12:21

how would the opty compare to my current 3ghz P4?

t31os · 21 Jun 2006 at 13:19

A clan buddy got his from 1.8 to 2.9.

No guarantee yours will do that, but they do clock better and easier then the regular Venice cores for example from what i hear. He did use a custom cooler, but hes no clocker, he just cranked it up and it worked were pretty much his words. Still working to this day.

I can ask him for further details, like his RAM, PSU, Mobo, and what he changed to get that clock if you like?....

.:MBK:. · 21 Jun 2006 at 13:43

i prefer not to overclock, think i might just extend my budget and get the x2 3800 suggested above, would it run on the 400w PSU you suggested or would i also have to go for the 485w suggested?

t31os · 21 Jun 2006 at 15:21

I think the opty would cope ok, the X2 though i don't know much about, i'm sure someone here can comment though as to wether the 400W would be ok.

If you go the opty route you get a nice Graphics card and the option for X2 later, which shouldnt cost too much because of the price drops predicted.

If you like games you'll appreciate the x1800 far more over the 6600GT for sure. I've had the 6600 and have the x1800 (although mines an XT, but its not hugely far off), and i'd hate to ever go back.

If you think the CPU is a better investment then go that route, but you'll see CPU prices drop more then the graphics cards over the next few months. I honesty believe the graphical upgrade will be better value for money at this point.

.:MBK:. · 21 Jun 2006 at 16:20

well like i said ive not extended my budget to the £500 mark

a friend of mine who runs a computer shop has also specced me an intel setup

CP-112-IN Intel Pentium 4 930 Dual Core "LGA775 Presler" 3.0GHz (800FSB) - Retail (CP-112-IN)
£121.95 £121.95
MB-049-GI Gigabyte 8I945P-G (Socket LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-049-GI)
£59.95 £59.95
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£54.95 £54.95
GX-054-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1800 GTO ICEQ3 SILENT TURBO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-HT)
£124.95 £124.95
Subtotal £361.80
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £64.89
Total £435.64

plus a 500w antec PSU @ ~£50

would this be an alternative? what i save in the cpu cost i use to get DDR2