This Week's Hot Purchases

Tilda

Tilda

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
5,755
TdC said:
seriously considering getting a eee for teh girlfiend. you guys say it's ok?

edit and a quick question for you: it runs a linux...any idea if you have full access to the command prompt, and if you can install software. I'm thinking of using it as a terminal, but I'll need it to talk serial across the USB port to my adapter </nerd>
Click to expand...

It has full root access, very easy to install stuff even i'm picking things up! I've already put VNC and VLC on mine.
If you dont like the default OS there are now supported eeepc distros of plenty of other linux os's and windows is also possible although slightly harder.
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Bit quiet this week, nothing really jumping out at me.
Q6600 processor sitting at around £152 inc VAT mark nearly everwhere.
No real change in "favoured motherboards"

However, for those of you looking at new graphics cards, we have a new contender worth batting an eyelid at:

Zotac 9600GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

Point Of View 9600GT 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

Either way, £120 quid inc VAT (and delivery from there) gets you a card equalling the performance of the 8800GT at 20-50 quid less than the latter costs, so may open up options for those of us on a tighter budget.

"So, what am I missing, for that cut in cost?"
Not a lot. Think of the 9600GT as you would comparing the 8800GT and GTX. Up to semi decent resolutions the 9600 will be similar/quicker than the 88GT - start firing up more complicated games, shaders, anti aliasing, higher resolutions, and the 8800GT comes back into it's own.

Still certainly worth a look, it bridges the gap VERY nicely between the 8600 and 8800 - and Crysis won't be a no-no on that.

Looking forward to the 9800s and seeing what they can do.
 
dysfunction

dysfunction

FH is my second home
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,709
I wish they wouldnt do that with video cards.
I would like it if the 9600 would be better than a 8800GTX.

The higher the number the better the card. Not always the case....
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Not really possible to do, annoyingly. Only way they could is to give them each a single incrememtive number

"Geforce1"
"Geforce2"


But I'd feel a bit of an arse saying I have a Geforce 193 in my system.

Either that or just daft names with SLI/GTX/SRI on the back.

But it's never that easy :/
 
J

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
dysfunction said:
I would like it if the 9600 would be better than a 8800GTX. The higher the number the better the card. Not always the case....
Click to expand...
Hi dysfunction

To be honest, it's not too bad once you decode the numbering:
  • First digit: the series/generation. For example, '9' is the ninth generation (although in real-terms this doesn't always match the actual chips being used).
  • Next three digits: the 'tier'. For example, '800' is enthusiast, '600' is mainstream, '400' is value (sometimes more will be slotted in, e.g. 300, 500, 700 etc.).
So a 9600 is the ninth generation's mainstream card, the 8800 is the eight generation's enthusiast card etc.

Now of course this would be simple, but nVidia's marketing people thought otherwise, so they introduced suffixes. The best way to deal with them is to remember the higher up the alphabet they are, the better performance you're getting. So from best to worst:
  • Ultra (usually only for enthusiast cards)
  • GTX (usually only for enthusiast cards)
  • GTS
  • GT
  • GS
So a 8800 Ultra is the highest performance card, and the 8800 GS is really quite different. The problems come at the borders, e.g. is an 8800 GS better than a 8600 GTS? Usually the performance becomes very similar, especially when manufacturers overclock cards and change the default specifications.

The most important thing to remember is: always look at the actual specifications and the real-world performance. Sometimes an enthusiast card will have a mainstream price; sometimes cards will be overclocked or come with upgraded components that belie their marketing name.

I actually started this post thinking everything was clear, but having finished writing, I can see that's it not ^^

Kind regards

Jonty

P.S. There are other suffixes used by nVidia, such as GX2 (two graphics cores on one card), and M (for mobile versions, e.g. GeForce 8800M etc.).
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Samsung 750gb 32mb cache OEM hdd - £90 inc VAT.
Samsung HD753LJ 750GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM - Ebuyer

2gb kit OCZ Platinum 800mhz RAM £36 inc VAT.
OCZ 2GB DDR2 Memory - Cheap at Ebuyer!
Or, if you prefer Corsair:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=780717

4gb kit for £65:
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Due to the recently announced price cuts, Windows Vista Premium 32bit £59
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 32-bit - English - Ebuyer

Shopping for a cheap lappy? HP - £279
HP 530 Celeron M 440 /1.86 GHz 15.4" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ), RAM 512 MB HDD 80 GB DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM GMA 950 Vista Home Basic - Ebuyer

Not my usual pimp, but damned good - Wharfdale HDD TV Recorder £50 inc VAT
BigPockets.co.uk: Wharfedale 80GB DVD HDD Recorder £49.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery

Need an optical drive? £20 for a Pioneer is a bargain..
BigPockets.co.uk: PIONEER 20X INT. DVDRWRAM BLACK SATA BARE £19.55 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery

Cheap Akasa Zen case:
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
 
Reza

Reza

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
152
Found something decent to share. Samsung new 334GB per platter HD tech. The same as used in their 1TB Spinpoint F1, but now on their new 320GB.

So single platter, Samsung 320GB Spinpoint F1 HD322HJ :

SAMSUNG HD SERIAL 320GB UDMA 300 7200RPM 16MB OEM - Custom Built PC Base Units - 0871 230 7170

Initial tests are showing comprable performance to Raptors (slower access time, but faster transfer rates and of course quieter and cheaper with more space).

German review:
Samsung SpinPoint F1 mit 320 GByte - Review Hartware.net

Western Digital have 320GB per platter drives coming out also around now:

320GB : WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 (need to specify full product code to ensure single platter)
640GB : WD6400AAKS (up for preorder at a few places now)
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Nice find - with luck they'll make a 32mb cache version too, happy days :)
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
External WD 500gb USB2 HDD, £60:
Western Digital Elements 500GB USB2.0 External Hard Drive - Retail - Ebuyer

Samsung 22" Widescreen TFT, £168:
Samsung SM223BW 22"TFT Monitor Widescreen 1680x1050 3000:1 300 cd/m2 5ms VGA/DVI-D Glossy black 3 Years Warranty - Ebuyer

8800GT, usual suspect for a great buy : £130
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

LiteOn DVD burner, £14
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Looking to step up to BluRay?
BDRom Reader with DVDRW/CDRW combi, £125:
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

BDRW, £165
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK


24" Acer TFT, £191
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Heh, now theres a gimmick if I ever saw one :D
"Here's some discs with which to pirate our movie!" ;)

Not half bad pricewise though :>
 
Yaka

Yaka

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
4,421
i wouldnt recomend buying from scam no matter how good thier prices.

if something was not delivered and you complain you are treated to a whole new level of shit customr services
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
End of the day we've all got consumer rights and if something doesn't go well, regardless of who the company is, there's lots of protection and help available. I've never had trouble with Scan - in fact the only company I've had serious issue with is eBuyer, and look who's links I post the most :)
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Fucking stonking :D

SLI 8800GT's for 184 quid.
I paid that for my single one not too long ago :D

That's a HELL of a lot of bang for the buck for nVidia board users.
 
Kryten

Kryten

Old Cow.
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
3,351
Indeed, the prices are looking very good still, we're being spoiled.

Sorry I haven't been keeping you folks updated recently on some of the best deals but you lot are doing a fine job without me :D

Still no internet at home and as a result don't have the ability to hunt around for the best deals to advise upon.
 
inactionman

inactionman

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
1,864
That's a great price for that samsung drive!

I prefer the hitachi drives myself, but for a ~£40 price difference (or about 1/3 the price) I'd probably pick up the samsungs (if I didn't already have 2x terabyte hitachis).
 
Reza

Reza

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
152
Something else that should sell out fast, E8500 @ £182.13 inc. vat and free shipping option:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale

Has been a pain trying to find these in UK stock, and for one of the few places that has a some that's a good price (although on the whole the chip itself doesnt offer best bang for buck at the moment, as E8400 can be had at around £40-50 cheaper).

But if like me you were waiting for this and building now, then this is a good offer.

Edit:

Btw if anyone spots or knows how I could go about getting the Socket 775 Xeon equivalent to Wolfdales and Yorkfields please let me know. The 45nm socket 775 are E3110, X3320, X3350, X3360 I think. They should basically be identical chips to the Wolfdale and Yorkfield equivalent but they probably are binned for better thermal performance.
 
J

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
Hi Reza

I think you hit the nail on the head; the E8400 is a much better buy. The only difference between the two chips is a 0.16Ghz higher clock speed, which doesn't seem worth the price difference given how well these chips overclock. Still, the E8500 is very good value, but just not the best.

As for the Xeon processors, I guess it just depends where you shop. Some enthusiast stores could probably source one for you if you asked nicely (or if you're really desperate, I can post you one from Taiwan, but it'll be more expensive than buying in the UK). I heard the X3320 can be overclocked to 3.2Ghz with decent air cooling, so it's pretty good, although the normal Core CPUs are no slouch either.

Kind regards
 
Reza

Reza

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
152
Yeah 0.5 extra on the multiplier for £45 or so, is not great value. Effectively I paid a big premium just to see if I could get a stable system running at 4GHz on air. It's just a meaningless arbitrary target, but a goal I wanted to try and aim for nonetheless.

Around half my components are made by Taiwanese based companies, and some were quite a pain to source actually :). If I was there like you I would have probably chosen a couple of others also, but the idea of having to ship to Taiwan for RMA was enough to put me off a few.

Ive heard good things about the Xeon 45nms too. Especially the E3110 which is basically a E8400, but runs cooler and needs less Vcore it seems.
 
C

Cadelin

Resident Freddy
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
Messages
2,514
kirennia said:
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

down to under £100, that's a silly price!. Taken from krytens link so just an update really. Gonna have to start visiting techie forums a bit more often I think :) Could get two of them for under £200. That's seriously, ridiculous!

edit:£94 to be pricise
Click to expand...

I have been thinking of getting a new graphics card soon. I was planning on spending around £100. Is a better offer likely to come around in the next month or two? Is there anything specific to my computer that I need to look for? My computer is nearly 2 years old running XP.
 
J

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
Hi Cadelin

There are rumours of a 9800 GT coming out in the summer, which will replace the 8800 GT. However, don't expect them to be at or below £100 when they launch.

Given that your computer is two years old, either an 8800 GT or 9600 GT should offer a nice performance boost (the latter is not quite as powerful as an 8800 GT, but it has better HD video decoding, better DirectX 10 performance, and a fairly small price tag). Always check out some reviews on the internet before you buy :)

Kind regards
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Top Bottom