Spec an Xmas PC for my son..

pegasus1 said:
Best ask Yewen on the Cases thread, he will be able to point you in the right direction.


You missed the point of that dig.

I didnt rubbish your spec, the spec if fine, i just think that 2 gig would be worth it if his budget allowed, my opinion not yours.
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well, if he HAD had the budget then i WOULD have spec'd 2GB RAM for gods sake, however, it happens to be just about the single most expensive part in a computer (not counting the new DX10 stuff) so i cut down on it a bit.
 
Magic Man said:
Just a quick check.

Is the Sonata II a decent case/PSU combination? The only issue I have is that you need to open the door to power it on?

Any other decent looking case/PSU combinations for around £80 or less?

Cheers..!
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i have a sonata II, it has POOR cooling, not saying the stock fan is crap, but that the case is bad for cooling, and the PSU doesn't seem to be as good a quality as some of they're other stuff, mine had issues in the summer with overheating, and even when the exhaust came on it still overheated, working fine now though(now it's cold).

I'd look elsewhere to be honest.
 
bringerofdecay said:
well, if he HAD had the budget then i WOULD have spec'd 2GB RAM for gods sake, however, it happens to be just about the single most expensive part in a computer (not counting the new DX10 stuff) so i cut down on it a bit.
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He said price AROUND £500 so £500 isnt an absolute is it.
Before you go and get so upset that you get sent to bed early, go back to the very start of this thread and look at how many people said get 2 gigs long before i mentioned it, then look at some of your quotes

bringerofdecay said:
well, as its his 1st computer he WONT know the difference between 1 gig, and 2 gigs, stop bitchin' about nothing and get on with your life.
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As an example.

Magic man wants some advice and thats what people are doing, if you cry every time people give an opinion that differs to yours then your visit to these forums will probably be short.

Magic man
Like i said, ask Yewen and he will give you some very good advice on case choice.
 
pegasus1 said:
He said price AROUND £500 so £500 isnt an absolute is it.
Before you go and get so upset that you get sent to bed early, go back to the very start of this thread and look at how many people said get 2 gigs long before i mentioned it,
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uhhm, actually, you mentioned it second, in the 3rd post (not including the OP)

and as i had already gone £55 of budget, i couldn't justify adding another £100 odd could i, just for a second GB of RAM? around doesn't mean £150 more does it?

and don't be so silly, i don't have a bed time ;)
 
Hogthrob said:
...The door hinges right back so that it lies (almost) flush with the side of the case, so you can leave it open and it doesn't get in the way that much. It's not that much of a faff to open it, to be honest.
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Ah, good, thanks.
 
Quick check again... :)

Looking like this at the moment:-


Case: Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case £78.71
CPU: E6300 (Retail) - £129.24
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 - £62.26
Memory: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - £93.99
Graphics card: OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB - £117.49
HD: Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £30.54
Optical: Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - £19.96
OS: Windows XP Home - £62.26

Total: £594.45

Forgot the OS so had to add that...

Does the Sonatta II PSU have a PCI-E graphics power connector? Any other issues?

Any idea when the Sonatta II will be back in stock?

Also, after reading some reviews on another site, are there any issues with the PSU supplied in the Sonatta II...?

Thanks again all...
 
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Magic Man said:
Quick check again... :)

Looking like this at the moment:-


Case: Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case £78.71
CPU: E6300 (Retail) - £129.24
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 - £62.26
Memory: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - £93.99
Graphics card: OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB - £117.49
HD: Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £30.54
Optical: Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - £19.96
OS: Windows XP Home - £62.26

Total: £594.45

Forgot the OS so had to add that...

Does the Sonatta II PSU have a PCI-E graphics power connector? Any other issues?

Any idea when the Sonatta II will be back in stock?

Also, after reading some reviews on another site, are there any issues with the PSU supplied in the Sonatta II...?

Thanks again all...
Click to expand...


PSU has got a PCI-E cable

yes there are issues with the power supply, i myself suffer with one, but antec have the best customer support, so should a problem develop with it you will have no trouble getting a new one (as long as you keep proof of purchase :()

dont know when it will be back in stock...best to drop an e-note or whatever the hell those things are called :p
 
How about a nice little Antec P150 like mine :D

Well constructed case, front connectors (usb, audio +firewire), no front door to worry about, 430w modular psu, no cooling duct thing to faff about with, sexy stealthed drive bays, etc
And yes, it has PCI-E graphics power connector included.
I had my heart set on the Sonanta II until I read some reviews on the P150. Cant see it for sale on ocUk site so google around for it if you like the look of it.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page1.html
 
I've got a SonataII myself, works fine with the system in sig. Whilst at his age, your son may not appreciate it IS 1GB vs 2GB, he would appreciate the diffence. When I was young, (8) I was lobbying for my parents to buy more 72pin FPM Simms for our Pentium 1 PC, as although ram may not seem the most obvious thing, the increased loading times, stuttering, and slower performance when multitasking do become apparent when gaming, and he may well notice a difference.
(and yes I succeeded, god how a P1 90Mhz with 72MB RAM seemed fast at the time)
Now those were the good old days, playing Tie Fighter, Theme Hospital and Magic Carpet. :D
 
Re. the case, may just get a good separate PSU (e.g. enermax 400W or the like) and a no PSU case, e.g. the Akasa Zen looks quite good.

I'll wait on the 2GB, adds too much to the cost atm to be honest. Always an option in the future though.
 
snowdog said:
Sorry, but who said its his 1st pc, al i can see its his new pc i didnt see 1st pc anywhere...




Me too , just every evening (from 8 pm when i had to be back home) i was always gaming till 11 pm... (well not always , mix of tv and pc).

That i noticed it was probably because my dad builds pc's from when i was 4...


Just tbh (i correct myself), 2 gigs insnt really needed, bf2 needs 1280 mb ram exactly ( 900ish for game itself, about 200 for background apps) , the 2x1 gig thing is probably because ppl want dual channel...



Why not, ** underestimating young ppl, 9yrs old are smarter as you may think...

Also dont tell me what to do, open forums, as long as i dont break the rules i can post whatever i want, just giving my opinion 1 gig isn't enough for a gaming pc...

Where does it say its his 1st pc??
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If they could spell any better than you, it could possibly indicate that 9 year olds are, inevitably getting smarter? :rolleyes:

1gb ram is adequate enough, he is not going to burn this pc into the ground.. he is 9 years old..

When he matures an decides he may need a ram upgrade, then he can do it as and when he chooses. In a £500 budget, £200 of it could be better spent than on ram in my opinion.

Just ordered myself:

E6300
DS3
1gb OCZ 2.1v 5-5-5-12 PC6400
X1950 Pro
+ All other bits for under £650.

I will let you know how it goes.. The ram is prerfectly adequate.

Tyler
 
I would say 1gb ram so then he can upgrade later on an notice/apritiate the difference. I myself am 13yhrs old and I am jst going from:

Opty144
1gb GeIL pc4400/ddr550
nVidia 7600GT 256mb
40GB hard drive 7200rpm
DFI LanParty nF4 Ulra-D
ThermalTake 430watt PSU

to

Core 2 duo E6300
hopefully 2gb ram if i get enought money :D
ATI X1800XT 512mb
120gb hard drive. 1*80gb 1*40gb both 7200rpm
Gigabyte DS3
Not sure about PSU would like to be over 500watts though so I need to decide on that :D

and I will be overclocking it.

So I would say 2gb ram if its his first PC. And get a nice case with cathodes and lights ect :D
 
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Down to this...

Case: Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £31.71
PSU: Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU - £46.99
CPU: E6300 (Retail) - £129.24
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 - £62.26
Memory: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - £93.99
Graphics card: OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB - £117.49
HD: Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £30.54
Optical: Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - £19.96
OS: Windows XP Home - £62.26

Total: £594.44

Should do him well... :D
 
Magic Man said:
Down to this...

Case: Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £31.71
PSU: Enermax Liberty 400W ELT400AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU - £46.99
CPU: E6300 (Retail) - £129.24
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA_945PL_S3 - £62.26
Memory: GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit - £93.99
Graphics card: OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB - £117.49
HD: Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - £30.54
Optical: Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - £19.96
OS: Windows XP Home - £62.26

Total: £594.44

Should do him well... :D
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Good spec. If you can afford an extra 20, go for the x1950pro though. Its capable of more features than the nvidia (HDR+AA) and is also a bit nippier at stock :) Might make the system last that little bit longer :) You might also want to swap the mobo to the Asrock Conroe945G-DVI I believe it is, which costs £50. The reviews all state its very reliable and fast at stock, comes with onboard video incase you ever have any issues with your gfx card, and I've heard some iffy reliability statements about the gigabyte board, although I might be mistaken.
As its £10 cheaper, you'd also be able to afford to spend the extra tenner on the x1950, putting your budget at £605 :)
 
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TylerB said:
If they could spell any better than you, it could possibly indicate that 9 year olds are, inevitably getting smarter? :rolleyes:

Tyler
Click to expand...


Im not english and i think i'm dislectic too... I'm also the rush type person who hates typing process and tries to rush it off, as long as its readable just ignore it pls...

At that time i didnt see it was his first pc, it it isnt then 1 gig is enough...

However im just trying to give my opionion ( having 1 gig in my own pc and whiel borrowing ram sometimes to make 2 gigs), 2 gigs is one of the sweetest upgrade's i'd choose, even above a good gfx card..., but anyhow nvm...

To magic man: Spec looks ok, should indeed do him well ;) .
 
Thanks again guys for all the comments, very grateful.

May go for the 1950 then if it's better than a 7900GS.

Anybody else had issues with the Gigabyte board? Never tried an ASROCK before...
 
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As a follow up to this and after a few concerns (mainly to do with the 945 chipset) I upped the budget and changed the PSU to a Corsair 520W, the mobo to a Gigabyte DS3 and, wait for it... upped the memory to 2GB of Geil 6400 ULL. :)

So my £500 original budget ended up around £750...

I'm fairly sure this will do him well though, and if not, I'm having it :D
 
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Magic Man said:
As a follow up to this and after a few concerns (mainly to do with the 945 chipset) I upped the budget and changed the PSU to a Corsair 520W, the mobo to a Gigabyte DS3 and, wait for it... upped the memory to 2GB of Geil 6400 ULL. :)

So my £500 original budget ended up around £750...

I'm fairly sure this will do him well though, and if not, I'm having it :D
Click to expand...

One answer/question to this dilemma - How quickly can you xmas wrap your own old system? ;)
 
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