Totally confused!

pwcollins

pwcollins

pwcollins

Associate
Joined
28 Dec 2007
Posts
7
Hi all,

I am looking to upgrade my existing system, which is getting on a bit now! I must admit looking at the different specs around now I am confused!

My current spec is -

Mainboard : Asus A7N8X-E
Processor : AMD Athlon XP @ 2083 MHz
Physical Memory : 1024 MB (2 x 512 DDR-SDRAM )
Video Card : ATI Technologies Inc Radeon X800 Series 256MB AGP
Hard Disk : SAMSUNG (160 GB SATA) SP1614C
Operating System : Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium Home Edition 6.00.6000

I have a budget of around £500 and I want to reuse my existing case, DVD Drives, keyboard, monitor and Hard Disk (if worth it) to save money.

So I think I need the following -

Mobo
Processor - I was thinking of a quad core Intel
Gfx card
Power Supply
Memory
64 Bit Windows Vista
+ Anything else I have forgotten!

I do occasionly play games, my favorite tpye of games are flight sims.

Please can you give me some ideas of what I could get for my budget.

Thanks in advance

Paul.
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Value IP35 Pro Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz (800FSB) - Retail £51.99
(£61.09) £51.99
(£61.09)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Sub Total : £403.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £72.26
Total : £485.15

i am only guessing here but you may be able to call microsoft and get your current version of vista upgraded to 64 bit to safe some money.

no 3rd party cooler in both specs as i assume OCing will not be an option however if OCing is desired try the artic cooler pro 7 in either spec

i put a dual core in as quad was out of the budget although if you dont get a 64 bit OS the quad may fit in with a bit of adjustment to the spec

edit. if you are willing to loose the 64bit OS
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Value IP35 Pro Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £144.99
(£170.36) £144.99
(£170.36)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £142.99
(£168.01) £142.99
(£168.01)
OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply £44.99
(£52.86) £44.99
(£52.86)
Sub Total : £419.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £75.06
Total : £503.96
 
Last edited:
If you really do need quad core then....

spec1.PNG
 
Thanks for the prompt replies.

Do I need a 64Bit OS or canI reuse my existing 32Bit Vista?

Also looking at the comments - do I really need a quad core? Would i notice the difference with a dual core?

I dont plan to overclock at present, but I can upgrade cooler at another time.

Paul.
 
Is your current version of Vista retail or OEM!
If OEM you can only use it on the motherboard you activated it with.
New motherboard new license.

Rob
 
pwcollins said:
Thanks for the prompt replies.

Do I need a 64Bit OS or canI reuse my existing 32Bit Vista?

Also looking at the comments - do I really need a quad core? Would i notice the difference with a dual core?

I dont plan to overclock at present, but I can upgrade cooler at another time.

Paul.
Click to expand...

Nope you don't need 64-bit unless you plan on using 4GB ram. 32-bit can only see between 2.5GB to 3.5GB of ram.

I doubt you really need a quad core cpu, not many applications take use of all 4 cores. So I think you would do fine with a dual core CPU.

If you don't plan on overclocking then you wont really need to upgrade the cooler at all unless the stock intel one is too loud.
 
unless you have more then 4GB of ram i say you should be able to reuse your 32bit OS, whether or not it is "legal" will depend on if its OEM or Retail.

with most games the quad will make little difference but on a few it will, i would say go dual and get a better graphics card instead as that will be more benificial. also can you tell us the res you game at and if you plan to change monitors any time soon so we dont spec you something so powerdul that you will never be able to take full advantage of now or in the forseeable future
 
If its retail then you wont need to buy a new one. If you have an OEM license then you can only use it with one motherboard but you can change any thing else in your PC accept the motherboard.
 
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