Yet another "Spec Me" Thread

Dodge777 · 24 Jul 2006 at 11:37

Hey all

Done a lot of work this summer and have lots of money to burn so was wondering if you guys could help me out with an upgrade. I have a good idea of what I want but just want to see what you guys reckon. My current system is a P4 3.2 GHz Prescott, Asrock S478 mobo, 1 GB Corsair XMS 4000, Radeon x800 Pro, 120 Gb SATA Harddrive and a 80 GB SATA Harddrive as well as a DVD R/W drive.

I've got £1200 ish to upgrade all that. Don't worry about monitors or keyboards or anything. Just the system. So we're looking at mobo, CPU, GPU, Memory, perhaps a Raptor harddrive?

Thanks for the advice.

Dodge777 · 24 Jul 2006 at 13:45

£1200 is quite a bit I suppose. Will probably have to factor in a case in there as well and a PSU, so if you guys have any ideas on that, that'd be cool as well.

With regards to monitor, I've already set aside £300 ish for the ViewSonic 20 inch Widescreen. So The total upgrade will cost around £1500. If you want to debate that, go ahead I suppose! My currently soundcard is an Audigy, and satisfies my needs perfectly in conjunction with a 7.1 sound system.

Dodge777 · 24 Jul 2006 at 15:34

I have the Audigy 2, which I'm pretty sure is better than onboard sound! Although correct me if I'm wrong. I have the Creative T7700 speakers to go with them.

Dodge777 · 25 Jul 2006 at 10:21

Can you guys also recommend a PSU to go with that system? TO me, a PSU is just a PSU. I'm not so good with brands, etc. Obviously I know that system is going to require quite a bit of power. So I'm thinking something over 500W? I guess it's also got to support PCI Express of course!

Dodge777 · 25 Jul 2006 at 13:40

I like all your specs. A lot of common themes running through them, e.g. G-Skill memory! GhostRider, I notice you put in the Seagate Barracude drive in rather than a Raptor. Will that give a greater performance?

Dodge777 · 25 Jul 2006 at 13:47

Obviously I need a mobo which supports SATA 2, is that correct? And I take it that won't cause a conflict with my existing 2 Sata1 drives?

Dodge777 · 25 Jul 2006 at 14:01

Cheers Stelly! A couple more things - sorry to keep going on! I see a number of people are recommending the new Geforce 7950. Not heard much about it as I thought I'd always go for an ATi Radeon X1900XT, but having read the product description I'm intrigued. Does it need any special requirements to make it run properly or is there anything crucial I should know about it I'll have a read of the the graphics card section in a bit.