Need me a new PC! Suggestions?

[-shaggy-]

My PC is oooooold now but its never bothered me really, it plays asherons call, champ manager, q2, q3 and jk2 fine, and as these were the only games i wanted to play i've never thought about getting a new one.

atm ive got a p3 450, 128 ram, 8gb hd, gf2 gfx card, sb live.

thinking bout getting a new machine because i fancy giving sw galaxies a go. from the sounds of it that isnt too processor dependant so i was thinking of getting something along the lines of a:

p4 1.5ish, 512 or 1gb ram, 40 gig-ish hd, gf4 fx

so really id need a new box with a cpu, ram, hd and gfx card. i don't mind keeping my cd/dvd drives, sound card, monitor, kb, mouse, speakers, isdn card etc.

been looking round at a few websites, but im out of touch knowing where to look, where to avoid etc so hopefully you lot can help me out!

what would the price of a new box with the new cpu, hd, gfx card and ram? obviously the cheaper the better, I'm a poor student!

thanks for reading.

 

[Testin da Cable]

do not get the fx

 

[-shaggy-]

i thought fx's were better than mx's? have i got that backwards?

 

[Testin da Cable]

damn, my mistake. I'm kinda out of the nvidia scene tbh. get an ati 9600 or summat inasmuch as I'd advise getting a heavier cpu and a 'lighter' gfx card.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Since you're not looking for high end gear ditch the P4 and stick in an Athlon/Duron. You can get a 1.3 gig Duron for about £25.

 

[-shaggy-]

duron = celeron for amd isnt it? never liked the idea of shitty versions of chips. but its true i'm not looking for a high end pc.

sccoby give more advice to an old mate! soc from aq here

any websites i should take a look at?

 

[vofflujarnid]

Amd is the s00k in my oppinion. Average AMD processor is around 50-60 degrees while average p4 is around 24-30 degrees. I find AMD also unstable and I have had nothing but trouble with my AMD in the past.

Stick with Intel P4 and intel chipset, ViA chipsets are crap in my oppinion. Newest P4 processors offers 0.09 micron transistors which have very low vcore (0.025 if I remember right ) which leads to very high overclocking whilst maintaining stability.

 

[Will]

Blah blah blah....He's a poor student, so Intel wouldn't suit his pocket to be honest. When it comes to mid-range/low-end, AMD are far cheaper than Intel.

I'd go for a Shuttle system based on the nForce2 mobo, with a mid-range AMD, 512MB of RAM, and someone else should choose the Gfx card since I'm a little out of touch.

Get it from Overclockers.co.uk. I've always found them pretty good.

 

[-shaggy-]

thanks. that was the type of web site i was looking for.

 

[Jonty]

Hi there

Just a quick note: stay away from Durons! hehe. AMD will be releasing a new 'budget' CPU codenamed Thornton soon (possibly called the Athlon FX), so AMD's Duron chips will become even more outmoded than they are now. That said, AMD's lower end processors are now relatively cheap, so you might not be saving that much, and just like a Celeron compares to a Pentium when it comes to games, paying that little extra is undoubtedly worth it, as neither Intel's Celeron CPUs, not AMD's Duron or Thornton processors, are really designed to be used in intensive applications, such as games. Not very helpful, I know, but I just thought I'd mention it.

As for your new system, -shaggy-, try searching this forum as there have been quite a few threads with discussions like this one, so you may be able to find some useful information in those topics too (don't feel bad about starting this thread, though )

Kind Regards

Edit ~ Overclockers are a cool store, on the whole

 

[-shaggy-]

cheers jonty, i'll keep that it mind.

 

[smurkin]

Originally posted by Jonty
Hi there

Just a quick note: stay away from Durons! hehe. AMD will be releasing a new 'budget' CPU codenamed Thornton soon (possibly called the Athlon FX),...

Made of toffee, no doubt

 

[throdgrain]

Overclockers fucked me about no end to be quite honest, but maybe they had a bad day

 

[-shaggy-]

box - shuttle = 203.16 (with vat)
cpu - athlon 2400+ = 62.86
ram - adata 512mb pc 3200 = 70.38
hd - maxtor 80gb 8mb cache = 69.21
gfx card - asus fx5600 128mb = 117.38
total = 522.99

hows that look? all prices from that overclockers place.

anything I'm missing that I should take into account? there's no OS, cd/dvd drives, monitor, speakers, kb and mouse obviously but I've got those already. do I need a floppy drive as well? they're about a tenner?

any recommendations you can make about what parts to put in would be appreciated if the ones I have listed aren't the best choices

 

[Jonty]

Hi -shaggy-

That seems like a cool system Personally I'd go for the AthlonXP 2500+ Barton, as it only costs a little more (£70.44 inc. VAT) and yet would yield better performance. Whatever CPU you decide to get, if you have the option, go for the OEM version (the retail version comes with a heatsink, which as you're buying a Shuttle, you won't need, and a three year warranty, which again, you're unlikely to need).

Apart from that, all the prices seem okay, apart from the RAM which seems rather expensive to me, but perhaps others on the forums will be able to share their views on that.

Good luck!

Jonty

P.S. I'm not sure about that graphics card, perhaps a Radeon 9600 Pro may be worth the bit extra, I'm not sure. The 5600 certainly isn't a bad card, though, and ASUS are a good make.
P.P.S. Personally I've never bother with floppy drives on the systems I've built, but that's only because I know that I am very unlikely to use them. If, of course, you think you're going to be using them, then I guess it's worth the extra, otherwise don't bother. You can always upgrade later, or even save up buy a USB pen drive

 

[xane]

I don't think there has been a Duron version of the Thoroughbred or Barton range of Athlon CPUs, so any Duron is going to be quite an old design. As Jonty said, AMD will be releasing an "Athlon Lite" CPU soon.

Unless you are a "power user" I'd continue to recommend AMD over Intel simply because some of the chipset/motherboards for Athlons are really nice deals, both in performance and pricewise, the nForce2 is a good example.

If you want ultra-high performance at any price I would certainly consider Intel, otherwise budget performance is AMD.

 

[-shaggy-]

thanks for the help guys, that barton cpu does look better. got one more question though!

I emailed overclockers and they don't offer a build service so i'd be getting the box and all the parts seperate. Most i've done inside my PC is change pci/agp cards and put a cd burner in. Don't think i'm up to the task of building a pc from scratch. What would be the thing to do here? take all the bits round a local pc shop and get them to do it? how much do you reckon that'd cost? £50 or so?

would be way easier if they could just send you the pc all made up!

 

[ECA]

It really isnt very hard to build a pc yourself, anyway thats half the fun spending a morning building it :-]


If you can change CD drive etc you should be fine, it really is easier than it looks.

 

[Panda On Smack]

believe it or not building a pc is really is quite simple.

Give it a go, you will be suprised.

 

[Clowneh!]

Originally posted by -shaggy-
Most i've done inside my PC is change pci/agp cards and put a cd burner in.

thats really all there is to do
the putting the cpu in is easier than installing cards or drives

 

[-shaggy-]

i'd break it!

haven't ever fiddled with a hd or cpu. this thermal paste stuff i keep hearing about scares me! paste in a pc! crazy!

even if everything did clip into place (do these things even clip?) i wouldn't know what to do seeing as none of the essential drivers are on and neither is windows.

i'll ask around, i think a friend has put one together before.

 

[ECA]

Windows etc boosts off CD nowadays mate its just changing the right bios settings and once thats done your away :-]

 

[xane]

He has a point.

I've been building PCs for around 12 years now, to me and many others the stripping out of various components is all old hat.

Two weeks ago I changed my motherboard, the week before that I changed the motherboard on the kids PC after stripping down the old one and put it back together (it was an unusual problem).

To me, popping off a heatsink/fan unit, changing or moving the CPU and putting all back on is nothing, but I remember a time when I installed an Athlon Slot CPU and couldn't get the heatsink to fit.

Heatsinks are a good case in point, they require an ungodly amount of strength to push them on tight and get those damn clips into place, far more than the average person would expect when dealing with "precision electronics". How do you explain on one hand making sure the careful setting of components to avoid static electricity shock and then describe how you use two big screwdrivers, a hammer, an industrial carpet cleaner and the involvement of several family members to slap Thermotake's latest offering on the CPU ?

 

[-shaggy-]

ok so i could go with the shuttle and find someone who knows what theyre doing to set it up for me.

or i could go for the "primo plus" they offer as a full system.

- AMD Athlon XP2400+ CPU
- Globalwin CBK-II58 CPU Cooler
- 512MB Crucial PC2100 DDR Memory
- Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 40GB Hard Drive
- Asus 52X CD-ROM
- 3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive
- On-Board 2D/3D Graphics
- On-Board AC'97 Audio
- Integrated 10/100Mbps LAN
- 165W PSU

thats £370. stick an fx 5600 in (i reckon i can do that!) and we're upto £490ish. 30 quid difference. Positives - ready to go. thats it.
Negatives - slower ram, 40gb less HD, not a little spiffy case, shitty mobo? whats the deal with onboard gfx and sound? can you just turn them off and put your own in?

just rang big red up and theyre gonna get back to me with a pc based on one of their ready made ones.

getting well bored of flicking through pc websites now

 

[-shaggy-]

aha microdirect.co.uk will put everything together for £35. prices very similar to overclockers, looks like theyre in the lead.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Change the Fx for a Radeon of some kind.

 

[ECA]

Ignore Scooba ^_^

Seriously build your own, if you dont do it now you never will!

Its really simple, the PSU has all the wires etc on it the rest is all do by numbers stuff that a child could do :-]

 

[Jonty]

Hi -shaggy-

I'm not trying to advise you either way, as only you know what you're confident in doing, but if you were considering building your own computer, you should be aware that all Shuttle systems come with a colour manual to guide you through the whole process. It's not perfect, but it got me through building my first PC, so I can't complain

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. If you do go with MicroDirect, you may want to wait until the weekend, as they sometimes run special offers where everything on the site is available at trade prices. Not every item is always much cheaper, but when you're building a whole system the savings can soon mount up.

 

[lovedaddy]

Jonty - are Microdirect open to regular Joes? I've always been asked a company account number before they would even take my order? (hence always just got the bird on reception to deal with it =)

 

[Jonty]

Hi lovedaddy

Yeah, MicroDirect except orders from the public as well as companies. Personally, I've always ordered via their website as a private individual. Their site isn't great, and their account and transaction system is only basic, but it is secure, and I've never had any problems with them (apart from being shocked by their £8 postage on even small items ).

The only thing I could think of is: are you trying to get the items delivered to work? Perhaps that's why they may be asking you for a company account number. If not, then I guess all you have to say is when you ring them/visit them is that you're just a ordinary customer ordering for your own private use, or words to that effect. You may still need an account with them (you have to have one to order via the web) but apart from that you should be fine.

Sorry for waffling on

Kind Regards