Spec a (long overdue) upgrade for an ignoramus

WillyNelson · 18 Apr 2006 at 15:01

The time has finally come for a bit of a PC renovation. Out with the ol' Athlon 1800+ and in with something new... and preferably inexpensive. I'm ok with using a computer and fixing them if they go wrong but I really don't know what I'm looking at as far as comparing different makes/models for various bits of kit, so I'm turning to the greater knowledge of you lot.

I mainly use the PC for the internet, downloading music, photoshopping, MS Office stuff and gaming (almost exclusively FPS's). What I'm after is a new mobo, cpu, gfx and I'll probably need ram. All to be tucked inside an Asus TA-210, as I quite like the look and they can be had for £30 (if you know prettier and cheaper, let me know).

The main challenge here is to keep things as cheap as possible, around £200-£300 without the case if that's possible. I wouldn't mind replacing my 17"Trinitron CRT with a flat screen but that would be an extra.

Edit: Just seen how cheap you can get TFTs. If I could get a reccomendation for a 17" or 19", that'd be grand

keyser · 18 Apr 2006 at 15:12

Could you sell any of your old stuff to get the budget up a bit?

lee87 · 18 Apr 2006 at 15:26

This should play games at a decent quality at low res (1024x768), but I don't think it'll play at high quality with a high res on a 19" monitor

CP-130-AM AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-130-AM) 1
£59.95 £59.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR) 1
£15.95 £15.95
MB-134-AS Asus A8N-VM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-134-AS) 1
£42.95 £42.95
MY-004-OK OcUK Value 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-004-OK) 1
£46.95 £46.95
GX-055-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO16 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-055-PC) 1
£89.95 £89.95
Subtotal £255.75
VAT £44.76
Total £300.51

WillyNelson · 18 Apr 2006 at 15:53

keyser said:
Could you sell any of your old stuff to get the budget up a bit?

I could flog my CRT, dunno what it'd fetch though. Would also have Athlon 1800+, mobo (don't know make atm), a CD writer and my old beige case with PSU. Don't imagine I'd get much for them.

Lee87 - what would I need to spend more on to get the gaming quality at a higher res?

lee87 · 18 Apr 2006 at 16:03

You would probably need a better gfx card but i'm not sure how good a card you would need. A 1800XT should be fine, I think a X850XT should be fine as well at a lower quality in the game.

BigDom · 18 Apr 2006 at 16:06

lee87 said:
You would probably need a better gfx card but i'm not sure how good a card you would need. A 1800XT should be fine, I think a X850XT should be fine as well at a lower quality in the game.

X850XT fairs surprisingly well on a 19" monitor, even an unmodded X800GTO2 doesn't do badly. Games such as WoW can run at full settings and full res, only start to drop down once you hit EQ2, Oblivion and the like.

IwantanewPC · 18 Apr 2006 at 17:20

If you had two monitors, one 17 inch and the other 19 inch, would the computer struggle more to play a game on the 19 than the 17 on 1076x768?

And if so, is that only for TFTs or CRTs too?

helpimcrap · 18 Apr 2006 at 17:41

not worth selling a 17" monitor... i picked one up last year for £0.99 from an online auction. cost me more in petrol to go pick it up.