Advice on Buying

[Aph3x]

As the title suggests i'm in need of a little help purchasing a new (almost) whole computer. I will freely admit i dont know a great deal about hardwear and although both myself and a friend build the comp im using at the minute he did all the buying.

I'll be looking to buy pretty much everything apart from keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers, although if theres some spare change then i may consider a mouse and decent set of speakers.

I currently have an AMD Athlon CPU and have had no problems with it in the few years i've had this comp so if possible i'd like to stick to AMD. The current motherboard i have is an A-Bit wgich again i've had no problems with but if anyone can suggest a better make tha works well with certain CPU's then im all ears. Harddrive is a pretty easy one, i was planning on something around the 80-100 gig size but the manufacturer is something i could use some help with.

Graphics card is another one im going to need help with, im after something to use mainly for gaming but apart from that theres no other needs for it.

Sound card is another i may keep as it seems to be quite a decent one and again i've had no problems with.

I'll have around £500 maybe more but thats the current figure im looking at, so if anyone has any suggestions on what to buy and the benefits of buying certain things over others then please let me know, god knows im going to need all the help I can get.

 

[Vae]

http://www.meshcomputers.com/updated/essential_m_2_order.htm

The Matrix A power comes in at £514.65 inc VAT & Delivery.
It has no floppy and no monitor.

You could swap out the Gfx card for something a bit beefier but it'll increase the prince.

Case: MESH ATX MidiTower +350W PSU - Black (new style)
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nVIDIA nFORCE2 with 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Motherboard Features: 2x (1394 Firewire, Serial ATA, 10/100 LAN) & S/PDIF
Processor: AMD Athlon XP (TM) 3000+ with Quantispeed Technology
Memory: 512Mb PC3200 DDR Memory 400MHz
Hard Drives: 80GB Serial ATA (150Mb/s) Ultra Fast Hard Drive
Video Card: 128MB nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 - TV Out + DVI
Optical Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive (40x CD-ROM)
Sound: Onboard Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Modem: 56kbps V92 Modem, featuring data and fax.
Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Internet Keyboard & Optical Mouse (Black)
Warranty: 3 Years - Parts & Labour - Back-to-Base Warranty (Mainland UK only - Terms Apply)
Delivery: Insured Del within Mainland UK (+ £39) at £39
Price Excluding VAT: £ 438

Price Including VAT + DEL: £ 514.65

 

[Aph3x]

Cheers Vae, nice looking bit of kit there mate, anyone else care to throw some sugestions at me so i can get a couple of things to compare ?

 

[Xavier]

Have a look at Summos thread, on a similar topic matey... I'd steer WELL clear of the nForce2 personally now, it's just too old, but rather than repeat myself clicky.

Xav