Long time no see...

[(Shovel)]

So, I finally get back onto BW to find my password has been lost and my email changed. So, 450 posts down the drain - not that there is much point in competing - ahem TDC...

For those who know/remember me, hello again!
for those who dont, hello (read: well sod yah).

I now need to ask a little question.
As I am still using my Cyrix 166 - (the eternal are these good system specs debate wont be directly revived , yet), I have been keeping tabs on a simple spec which will see me by for a little while yet - cleverly planned to be upgradable when the prices come down.

Now, what I have planned is to get a Duron 750, and an Abit K77a (which I believe takes everything available in the AMD range) - the Duron only cost £45 - and then upgradable when the 1000Mhz+ chips go down to similar prices.
By mid summer, when I'm likely to buy - I will probably be able to get a 900 for that price, so may move it up to that.

My basic spec is to get the 750 (or 900), 133Mhz 128 meg, 20 gig HD. Then just drop new bits in as I go, when I need them as the motherboard will take it. I will of course get a 300 Watt PSU so as to actually get the thing moving .
I also intend to get a Geforce 2 MX - again cause I have no real need for anything quicker - being as I am only a casual gamer.

This I believe, will cost about 600 English pounds - quite nice I think - this with a DVD and 17" monitor.

Full spec will be
750 Duron
KT7a motherboard
Herculese Geffy 2 MX (or any other GF2, price dependent)
20 gig HD
300 Watt Case
Soundblaster Live Value - might get a better card than this, not sure - has it held up well?
DVD
17" monitor - this happens to be the OEM monitor currently available on Insight UK - anyone got any ideas as to its quality and any problems I might face? The alternatiuve is to spend and extra £40 to get a Belinea.

however, as I have lately been out of touch with the whole systems area (and as I now ignore Time and Tiny computer ads) I have no idea what the average spec is.

So, what are you people running nowadays? Have I made any huge lacks of judgement here?

Thanks.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Thanks to a recent upgrade I'm running a Duron 750@950, ABit KT7 mobo, 20gig 7200rpm (42.2 on way), TNT2 (although I have a GF that's not quite here...), SB Live! 1024 (Excellent card, I recommend the live series highly - don't bother using the software that comes with them though, they're coded by monkeys), DVD, 17" NEC MultiSync FE700 (excellent monitor for an excellent price).

What you've got down there seems to pretty respectable, not top of the range by any means but will certainly hold you up for a decent amount of time. CPUs are so cheap and being bettered so rapidly it's probably wise to stick around a gig for the time being, and upgrade when there are some more significant improvements made.

 

[(Shovel)]

Here's my actual price list, which is about 2 weeks out of date.. but gives a reasonably clost resemblance to what I'll end up with, hopefully.

CPU Duron 750 AMD D0750AST1B £47.59
Heatsink £10.00
Mainboard KT7 Abit KT7A £108.10
RAM 128MB 133Mhz Cube DP133-0641638 £37.60
Graphics Geforce2 MX Abit GF2 MX(C1) £74.02
Sounds SoundBlaster 128 PnP PCI Soundblaster £17.63
Case 300 Watt - 300 Watt - Blue SunTek TH-831X/PFC 300 £77.55
CD/DVD BTC DVD ROM x12 (x40 CD) IDE BTC £50.53
Floppy Floppy Drive Panasonic JU-257A606P £9.39
Monitor 103020 17" monitor fst .27dpi 1280x1024 @65hz Belinea 103020 £146.86

HardDrisk 20 GB Seagate ST320413A £70.49

Keyboard £5.88
BudgetMon oem 17" monitor fst .27dpi 1280x1024 @60hz Relisys TE770-OEM £117.49
Total £626.27

 

[Nibbler]

Sweet setup

 

[old.Kez]

LO MISTAR SHOVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111

 

[(Shovel)]

Ello Mr Kez. How be you these days?

 

[luap]

/me waves

 

[old.Cpl_Custard]

I'm saving for a Duron 900/KT7a for a little treat when i finish my exams.

 

[old.TUG]

Allo Shov.. still aint bloody got yer noo systam yet?

Just gonna give u me opinions on yer suggestion for parts..

CPU Duron 750 AMD D0750AST1B £47.59
Heatsink £10.00
Mainboard KT7 Abit KT7A £108.10 (now, instead of this you would be wise opting for the newer KT7E which is BLUE!!! And does exactly the same as the KT7A for only 85-90 quid... it uses a new chipset which VIA only certify for use at 100MHz FSB but it actually runs fine at up to 145ishMHz FSB which you'll probs never actually use anyway. Rumours have it, they're just KT133A chipsets which didn't run at massif FSB's that well)
RAM 128MB 133Mhz Cube DP133-0641638 £37.60 (for that much, buy some crucial PC133 cas2 ram, best in the UK and the same price essentially.)
Graphics Geforce2 MX Abit GF2 MX(C1) £74.02 (is this DDR? If so, it'll use a 64bit memory bus which is pap, so an SDRAM card with 128bit mem bus is betta... if its SDRAM then ignore this comment)
Sounds SoundBlaster 128 PnP PCI Soundblaster £17.63 (I have heard many stories that these manage to slow down peoples systems when u benchmark 'em in sisoft sandra.. if this means the card is causing a probs with sisoft sandra or it actually does fuck up your system performance, then I dunno.. just something to remember anyway)
Case 300 Watt - 300 Watt - Blue SunTek TH-831X/PFC 300 £77.55
CD/DVD BTC DVD ROM x12 (x40 CD) IDE BTC £50.53
Floppy Floppy Drive Panasonic JU-257A606P £9.39
Monitor 103020 17" monitor fst .27dpi 1280x1024 @65hz Belinea 103020 £146.86

HardDrisk 20 GB Seagate ST320413A £70.49 (I'd go IBM.. seagate aint quite the best m8 )

Keyboard £5.88
BudgetMon oem 17" monitor fst .27dpi 1280x1024 @60hz Relisys TE770-OEM £117.49 (the belinea above is better.. altho I'd get an LG monitor if you're buying a cheap one)
Total £626.27

there yer are.. not a bad lil system tho, probs faster than my present one anyway

 

[Testin da Cable]

m00
heya m8eh welcome back

 

[bodhi]

It will probably be faster than my P3 500/Radeon 64Meg DDR setup. But I tstill wouldnt touch AMD with a barge pole. Gonna get one of the new P4's out at the end of the year

 

[Wij]

/me is also waiting for new stuff to come out...

 

[(Shovel)]

If it werent for budget problems (eg - Student, A levels, cant work much). I'd prolly go for a bigger rig. My feeling is though that the KT7a will take a 1.5 ghz chip, which if I want, I could just drop in when the prices come down.

TUG - what's the max the KT7a will take mem speed wise - coz I dont quite understand this FSB shit.
I have listed 133 mem, but does the mobo take faster than that? if it does then is it ok running slower RAM, and how much more do I get out of it by getting 150Mhz instead?

 

[Wij]

The speed of the memory (100/133/150) is just the memory it is rated to run at. It will run slower easily (duh) and often will run a fair bit faster, especially if you get good quality ram (I like Crucial PC133 CAS2.) The speed it actually runs at is set by the BIOS on your motherboard. You can change that if you like. Changing it from standard speeds like 133 though may necessitate overclocking various bits of the machine. Have a word with someone before you try that

 

[(Shovel)]

makes reasonable sense

I have check the specs of the KT7e and it will do the job quite nicely so have gone for that instead - can get them for £80 it seems.
Also checked the specs of the Abit MX and it does use SDRAM so I will assume that is ok.

As a result of the money saved (I managed to find an LG monitor too - £120, that gonna be ok or do I want to be spending more?)
I have upgraded the DVD to a slot loading (mmmmmmm...) 16X/40X - as opposed to the 12x. Made by Pioneer too so I'd hope that'll be nice quality?
Also moved it up to an 800 Duron just to keep it up to date.
Also managed to find an IBM 30.1 gig HD for £85 to replace the Seagate. £10 for 10 extra GB seems reasonable

 

[Wij]

Originally posted by Shovel
makes reasonable sense

Also checked the specs of the Abit MX and it does use SDRAM so I will assume that is ok.

The MX ? Your graphics card has it's own SDRAM. It doesn't use the main memory of your PC so it's not gonna be a problem whatever you get

Just remember, it's Abit. Not scummy Asus OK. They can make all the good mobos and gfx cards they like from now on. I'm not buying them

 

[(Shovel)]

I woul dnot touch ASUS.

I say SDRAM as in the memory that is on the Card itself. TUG made a point about the type of RAM on the card, and that DDR is a bit iffy on the MX. The card has SDRAM, hense I assume it is ok.

 

[Wij]

Ah yeh. I understand now. My bad

 

[old.TUG]

lol@wij

don't worry about FSB's Shov, you aint gonna be OCing I take it so they aint supa important just yet

 

[Wij]

does everything i say amuse u tug ?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Of course it does, he like 3 year old girls ffs

 

[old.TUG]

3x5 is more like it

That means 15 yrs old, not 5 babies in one go.

You're the sick one for suggesting someting like dat

 

[Nibbler]

Originally posted by TUG
That means 15 yrs old

Yes I gathered that

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I see your girlfriends give you the maths tuition you need too

 

[Nibbler]

Hehe

 

[old.TUG]

She'll be doing her GCSE's soon, she knows her stuff