spec my dad a pc

[geeza]

This aging laptop with 128mb memory with windows 2000 on and norton is finally grinding to a halt. My dad wants a pc that is reasonably cheap but will play games like battlefield 2 and COD 2 (dx7 mode, he wont tell)

I play BF2 fine on a 2400xp, 2gb memory and a 9800pro. What sort of money would say £500-£600 buy (I have a new hard drive so he wont need one of those. )

im thinking something like a 6600gt not sure what processor/board/memory but it would be better if it could be slightly future proof (ie 2gb mem)

 

[mysticsniper]

Will the this have to include a monitor, keyboard, & mouse as well???

 

[ACESHIGH]

Hyundai ImageQuest Q995 19'' Perfectly Flat CRT Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-004-HY) £129.19
Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-023-AN)
£46.94
OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK) £105.69
Samsung SH-W162C 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-068-SA) £26.44
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM) £117.44
Asus A8N5X nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-120-AS) £61.04
PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-PC) £105.69
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-011-LG) £10.52
Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Black - OEM (KB-046-LG) £6.46

Total £609.41 including VAT

Otherwise if you want a smaller monitor you could then get this, with faster graphics card ...

Hyundai ImageQuest Q770S 17'' Perfectly Flat CRT Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-006-HY) £76.32
Antec SLK1650B Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-023-AN)
£46.94
OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK) £105.69
Samsung SH-W162C 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-068-SA) £26.44
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM) £117.44
Asus A8N5X nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-120-AS) £61.04
PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO16 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-055-PC) £123.32
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-011-LG) £10.52
Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Black - OEM (KB-046-LG) £6.46

Total £574.17 including VAT (this way your under budget also)

 

[geeza]

thanks

I was sort of going on a budget of -

cpu -£150
motherboard -£80
ram -£150
graphics £150
monitor -around £100

meaning an opteron setup with 6600gt and 2gig ram could almost be had

 

[semi-pro waster]

Will your dad be overclocking? If not an Opteron seems like a bit of a waste because those CPUs are almost begging to be overclocked. Out of the systems posted I'd probably go with the top one as your dad doesn't sound like too much of a gamer and 19" opens up higher resolutions.

You will probably need an adapter for the PSU in the case, 20-24pin and maybe also a molex-PCI-E connector for the graphics card. I'd also change the DVDRW to an NEC 4551

 

[geeza]

he wont be overclocking.

will that psu and case combo not just work 'out the box'

the 2nd spec will be better i think because a 17" screen will be big enough and a better graphics card will be better.

What is the 6800XT card like is it better than the X800GTO cards because im sure its cheaper?

thanks for the ideas by the way people

edid- wont the ATI Radeon X1600 XT at £129 be a better card?

 

[ACESHIGH]

he wont be overclocking.

will that psu and case combo not just work 'out the box'

the 2nd spec will be better i think because a 17" screen will be big enough and a better graphics card will be better.

What is the 6800XT card like is it better than the X800GTO cards because im sure its cheaper?

thanks for the ideas by the way people

edid- wont the ATI Radeon X1600 XT at £129 be a better card?

psu & case will work out of box, but you need the adapter to connect it up

6800XT & X1600XT are slower than the X800GT016 (note the 16 on the end, meaning it has 16 pipes unlike normal GTO cards with 12))

 

[geeza]

K, i will be ordering soon, do the connections that i need come with it or do you need to buy them seperate? could you point me in the right direction for a 20-24pin and maybe also a molex-PCI-E connector

thanks

 

[semi-pro waster]

The Akasa 6pin to 4pin plug on this page is the molex - PCI-E one you need but unfortunately OcUK don't appear to sell the 20-24pin adapter so local electronics store is the best bet.

 

[geeza]

wouldnt it be easier to get a powersupply that worked without all these adapters? if so which one?

 

[BigDom]

the Antec Cases come with ATX2.0 PSU's which have correct plugs ( at least both my 350w cases did ) so no need for adapters .

 

[ACESHIGH]

wouldnt it be easier to get a powersupply that worked without all these adapters? if so which one?

Original PSU didnt state it was ATX 2, but above comment could be right.. THis ones is better though.

But here is a case with ATX12V v2.01 powersupply.

Hyundai ImageQuest Q770S 17'' Perfectly Flat CRT Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-006-HY) £76.32
Antec SLK3800BUK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case - 400W SmartPower PSU (CA-048-AN) £64.57 *****
OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK) £105.69
Samsung SH-W162C 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-068-SA) £26.44
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM) £117.44
Asus A8N5X nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-120-AS) £61.04
PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO16 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-055-PC) £123.32
Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard (Black) - OEM (KB-011-LG) £10.52
Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Black - OEM (KB-046-LG) £6.46

Total £591.80 including VAT

 

[geeza]

thanks, im gonna get him to buy some Gskill pc4000 memory, then ill give him my geil value and a 160gb hard drive. then ill be sorted for clocking my new opteron and he will have better memory also. cheers ACESHIGH