Spec meh please! :D

Greenlizard0

Greenlizard0

Greenlizard0

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My computer has finally decided that after 5 years or so, it's lost the will to live :(

I am going to recycle some components e.g. my raptor hard drive. I need ideas for CPU, Motherboard, Ram, PSU, Optical drives and Graphics card (s).

My budget is about £650, I don't need a monitor, a mouse, keyboard, hard drives, case, speakers, just the stuff listed above. I have decided that I'm going to get a Creative Fata1ty sound card because that reflects my biggest use of my machine i.e. listening to music. I also wish to use it for movies and general surfing the web.

I don't play games ever, so I don't really require a top of the range graphics card, just something that'll last a year or two and not be too noisy.

Does anybody have any suggestions?
 
£650 is a mega budget just for surfing and listening to music. You could easily get a conroe w/ 2gb ram in there.

How about this?

CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN) 1
£129.95 £129.95
MY-012-GS G.Skill 2GB DDR2 LA PC2-5300 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-5400PHU2-2GBLA) (MY-012-GS) 1
£99.95 £99.95
MB-011-IN Intel DP965LT 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-011-IN) 1
£74.95 £74.95
CA-007-EN Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN) 1
£49.95 £49.95
GX-049-HT HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1300 ICEQ 256MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX1300-256ICEQ) (GX-049-HT) 1
£59.95 £59.95
SC-032-CL Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Edition - Retail (SC-032-CL) 1
£114.95 £114.95
CD-029-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Beige) - OEM (CD-029-NE) 1
£21.95 £21.95
Subtotal £551.65
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £98.11
Total £658.71

£8 over budget but thats only because of postage :p.

You might even be best not to get a conroe, wait until the X2 3800+ go down to £110 maybe?
 
If it's only music you're intrested in then the fatal1ty is a waste of money. You want the Extreme Music edition of the X-Fi. Either that or the Platinum edition.

You have to be a crazy gamer to go for the fatal1ty. I am quite a big gamer and I only went for the Platinum!

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£144.95 £144.95
MB-120-AS Asus A8N5X nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-120-AS)
£44.95 £44.95
MY-005-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL)
£59.95 £59.95
CD-038-PO Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-038-PO)
£21.95 £21.95
CA-000-SS Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.2 Power Supply (CA-000-SS)
£44.95 £44.95
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£136.95 £136.95
Subtotal £453.70
VAT £79.40
Total £533.10

Not a bad spec really. I went for a 3800+ because dual core is the way to go, the 3800+ also clocks rather well. I also went for the x1800 because it isn't overly expensive and it also ensures you shouldn't have to worry about your graphics processing for a few years - especially if all you do is watch movies :)

The spec is below budget, done mostly on purpose because I don't know if the X-Fi was included in the budget. If not then you have another £100 to play around with. I would probably go for more RAM and a new CPU cooler [if you plan to overclock] such as the AC Freezer 64 Pro. You could have course go for a better CPU or Mobo instead.

SiriusB
 
Id have to go with the first spec but I would get a cheaper sound card and change the GPU for a 7600gt ...as this will handle what you wanna do comfortably..

Alternatively even a 3800 x2 chip is not bad as UKtopgun suggests....
 
xirokx said:
Id have to go with the first spec but I would get a cheaper sound card and change the GPU for a 7600gt ...as this will handle what you wanna do comfortably..

Alternatively even a 3800 x2 chip is not bad as UKtopgun suggests....
Click to expand...

3800 would be great. With prices soon to be dropping you should be able to pick up a very capable system for your budget.

The only reason I didn't go Intel Core 2 is because it isn't available yet! If you can wait then go for it, but I am of the understanding that you need a new PC pronto. Also, the fact that my spec is below budget means you can easily add more RAM, better cooler or better mobo, or combination of the three and still keep the X1800 which would last you far longer and allows you to play pretty much most games should you ever wish to.

SiriusB
 
X1800 which would last you far longer and allows you to play pretty much most games should you ever wish to.
Click to expand...

so would a 7600gt...

as I understand it gameplaying wasnt stated however if required a 7600gt means even more money for RAM, better cooler and better mobo if the need arises...

decisions decisions...
 
I prefer the Sirius spec personally, makes more sense to me, along with the x1800 which will last longer, and for general use won't make any noise.

AMD spec is better value imo. Gives more head room for extras to.
 
xirokx said:
so would a 7600gt...

as I understand it gameplaying wasnt stated however if required a 7600gt means even more money for RAM, better cooler and better mobo if the need arises...

decisions decisions...
Click to expand...

That it does indeed, however he is only after a system that can basically surf the web and play music and video... so the only real big components he will need is RAM CPU and HDD - one of which he already has.

Most motherboards have excellent on-board sound so you could argue the X-Fi isn't needed. I think its a case of having a budget much larger than really needed and I am trying to use it :D

To be honest I bet my Cyrix 366MHz system could do what he wants :p

SiriusB
 
Explicit said:
Do you want the sound card in that budget too?
Click to expand...

I did mate. I think that one of the reasons I chose the Fata1ty rather than a X Fi Extreme music because I really want a front bay of some sort (for headphones, Ipod and other things), but I hadn't realised that there were others in the range with one!

I think therefore the platinum maybe a good idea and I'm liking a spec as follows:

SC-036-CL Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum - Retail (SC-036-CL)
£104.95 £104.95
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£136.95 £136.95
CD-038-PO Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-038-PO)
£21.95 £21.95
CA-007-EN Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN)
£49.95 £49.95
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£144.95 £144.95
MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
MY-041-CS Corsair 1GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS2.5 Kit (2x512MB) (VS1GBKIT400) (MY-041-CS)
£62.95 £62.95
Subtotal £576.65
VAT £100.92
Total £677.57

What do you guys think? I know I'm about £30 over but that should be ok. Will there be any incompatibility problems there? It's taken me ages to choose a motherboard :(
 
x1800xt is really unnecessary for a game where you 'dont play games ever'. Just get yourself a second hand passive 6600gt or something. Not a bad card and come in passive form so nice and quiet.
 
Is it really worth getting the X2 3800+ considering its skt939 and its worth £30 more? (assuming your going to buy it now)
 
Conroe is only slightly more expensive and a considerably better chip, i dont see any reason not to get the E6300 over the 3800+.
 
sargatanas said:
Conroe is only slightly more expensive and a considerably better chip, i dont see any reason not to get the E6300 over the 3800+.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point, but the trouble is I've got work to do and I really need a system up and running by this thursday (6th July ish). Otherwise I'd probably get an Intel, or even go back to AMD if their prices drop :(
 
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