Finally, the time has come...

[Sar]

For me to upgrade my PC bits.

Memory: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=75522

1Gb Corsair DDR

Mobo: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=72403

Gigabyte GA-7VT600 - will this take DDR2? Is DDR2 much faster than DDR?

CPU: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=63673

AMD 3200XP

Basically I want to know if anyone knows of parts either cheaper or faster for the money.

I've got about £300-£350 to spend (yay for free BT & mmO2 shares coming to fruition at last), so I want as much bang per buck as possible.

I'll be keeping the storage (100Gbs across 2 Hdds) and gfx card (newly purchased 9800 Pro) I have atm.

Only other thing is Sound. Is the onboard sound on the mobo any better than my current SB Live! Value I have atm. Sound is the one component of my system that's been greatly overlooked over the years, and that mobo has onboard 6 channel sound.

The Value card does reasonable surround sound - I have a 4.1 speaker system atm, although the rear left is beginning to play up a bit.

Any recommendations?

Muchas gracias.






And I ask here, cos of the greater "footfall" here as opposed to the HW forum.

 

[nath]

OMG FFS WRONG FORUM FFS PLZ!!!!!!!!

I clicked on this expecting it to be general in nature but it's technical in nature, you have damaged me and must be punished!!!!!! >:|

 

[Frizz]

Surely this reasoning is counter productive these days. Sar, you're bound to get responses in General, but tbh they're more likely to be unhelpful. The HW forum isn't as derelict as you may think.

Anyway, i don't have clue, just to prove my point a little bit.

 

[nath]

I could check my usual haunts to see if any are cheaper, but I can't be arsed . However, my usual haunts are as follows: aria, dabs, scan, overclockers, komplett, ebuyer. Check all them and if you've got the best price I doubt you'll get anything significantly better.












FFS WRONG FORUM ADMIN PLZ.

 

[Cyfr]

The tech forums are very busy and much more helpfull, they just dont look busy because people actualy help instead of discussing sweet nothing

 

[Paradroid]

Don't get hardware, spend the money on something general. Buy a pipe and a pair of comfy slippers to celebrate, then fritter the rest away. Or, just purchase a series of self-help tapes to overcome your compulsion to buy new hardware, it'll be easier for you in the longer term (*we got him just in time*)...

:touch:

 

[Jupitus]

Hey Sar, ya c**t (*winks at Sar*)

I really do think you'll get a better response in here matey, and the redirect will be in general for a day or more at current flow rates

 

[jaba]

sar...planetprices.co.uk is the daddy for finding stuff thats cheap like a budgie.

 

[Uriel]

Tbh I think you'd be better off getting an A64 setup if you're prepared to spend £300.

You can keep the ram (you might want to upgrade it to some lower latency stuff in the future but it should be ok for now) but I'd get an A64-3000+

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=1549609662&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=58431

and a suitable S754 mobo

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59993

On the sound front...

Apparently, according to an article at Anand there wasn't any noticeable difference between onboard sound and an Audigy 2 ZS in Doom3. Also, I think HL2 is using a proprietary 5.1 sound system too so, again, I don't know how much of an advantage a new sound card would give you over an on board setup. However, if you're planning to play DVDs and output via analogue then you might want to consider buying a soundcard as I think the sound quality/decoding options are generally better than most motherboard solutions.

Oh, and I think DDR2 support is currently only found in the new intel motherboards.

 

[Sar]

Cheers guys. Will look into an Athy64 system, likely a 3200 with a gig of ram.

I'll probably leave it for a month, and go for a new hdd (200Gb+) and 7.1 speakers and sound card (Audigy 2 ZS).

Prolly end up forking out about £500 altogether.

 

[TdC]

can someone explain what 7.1 speakers are? my knowlege of such things grinds to a halt after 5.1

 

[JBP|]

7.1 surround is exactly the same as 5.1 but with 2 extra speakers that you locate at the side (thus giving true "surround sound")

id draw a diagram but i cant be arsed

 

[TdC]

oh, like in cinemas? ok, I get it cheers

 

[Sar]

Yah, tis rather lush by all accounts.

Going to set my PC up as a full on media and gaming centre, in it's own room in the house once we get this place sorted.

All I have to do is tell the wife.








I'll book my spot in casualty early, so as to miss the rush.




Also going to try and get my bank account set up with a Switch facility, so I don't keep having to use my dad's card all the flaming time

 

[Sar]

Got the Audigy 2ZS today, plus a new keyboard and new headphones. About £130 all told.

The SCard sounds fantastic, really pure sound and clean bass with no distortion.

And the surround with my current 4.1 Cambridge Soundworks is groovy.