This Week's Hot Purchases

[dysfunction]

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.

Does your PC take PCI-Express cards?
You may be in the same boat as me and still be on AGP...

 

[Yaka]

i ve been using a epia based mobo for over 6 years now for my second pc , which was minly all wired up in the top desk drawer, its servered me well but just noticed an atom based mobo for £52+vat with £10squids off

Tranquil PC Limited Motherboards

im gonna get this

 

[Kryten]

Looking at it, there's not going to be much performance loss from that little system; I've heard a lot of good about the Atom platform, it'll no doubt have a lot of good implementations in the near future.

 

[Kryten]

Been a while, sorry

AGP Graphics card for those wanting some juice and can't get an upgrade, £105:
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3850 512MB AGP - Aria Technology

500gb WD external HDD, £57.99
Western Digital Elements 500GB USB2.0 External Hard Drive - Retail - Ebuyer

Old favourite processor, £139.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

Internal 750gb Samsung 32mb cache HDD £67.99
Samsung HD753LJ 750GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM - Ebuyer

Another old favourite, 8800GT 512mb £101.99
Point Of View 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 256bit Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

1tb Spinpoint HDD, £92
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ)

2gb DDR2 800 Corsair RAM, under £30
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB)

Need some more serious gaming juice?
9800GTX, under £180
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Tell you what, looking at my own list I'm shocked at some of these prices - especially the last one there. £180 for a 9800GTX is bugger all. 2gb of ram for under 30 notes? 1Tb of storage under 100 notes? I know I was saying previously that I wouldn't expect prices to hold out like they are, but I was obviously wrong, which is certainly a good thing for all of us lot

 

[Yaka]

Looking at it, there's not going to be much performance loss from that little system; I've heard a lot of good about the Atom platform, it'll no doubt have a lot of good implementations in the near future.

holding back until mid june now, tranquil replied to my mail saying omne with hdmi and dvi built in whould be out by then with fanless nortbridge and below £100 mark

 

[Trem]

I can vouch for the Samsung HDDs. Got a 500gb here and it is faultless has already pissed on my previous WD efforts that always seem to die. Sammy is quick, quiet and rock solid.

 

[inactionman]

Some nice deals here. I'd be tempted by the Q9450, but I'm waiting for the P45 mobo's to come out and the GT200/RV770.

Mega Bank Holiday Weekend Deals - Huge discounts, UK Leading prices, check these out! - Overclockers UK Forums

 

[Yaka]

impressive prices.


also i know someone who got into trouble checking out the lcd monitors while he was at werk. they have pr0n stars pasted into em

 

[Kryten]

Getting some very interesting hits from BigPockets in my inbox.
Remember, I'm taking the spam so you don't have to

Iqon Celeron 336 full PC.
BigPockets.co.uk: IQON QUINTAL 2021VX - Intel Celeron D 2.8Ghz, 512Mb, 160Gb HDD & Vista £124.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery
It's no powerhouse but if you need a second box, your mother needs something to email you quicker on or just need to recommend a workhorse for a friend, £125 isn't much to ask!

4gb Sandisk memory card, steal at £8.99
BigPockets.co.uk: Sandisk 4GB SD Memory Card £8.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery
Also if you're into these, shop around here too - 2gb is £4.99, 1gb £3.99.

Running out of space on your laptop?
BigPockets.co.uk: 160GB HITACHI 2.5IN PATA HDD 30087 £39.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery - PATA
BigPockets.co.uk: 120GB HITACHI 2.5IN SATA HDD 30565 £34.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery - SATA

 

[Kryten]

And to update our old favourites:

Geforce 8800GTX 768mb only £175
Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card OEM - Ebuyer

8800GT currently at £108. These aren't going to drop in price much, they're getting harder to come by as stores sell of the last of their stocks in favour of the 9xxx series.
Inno3D 8800GT 512MB DDR3 256bit Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card includes GRAW2 PC game - Ebuyer
Or a superclocked version here, samish price
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

On which note
9600GT 512mb by Inno3D: under £87 it's an outright bargain.
Inno3D 9600GT Armor Edition 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

4gb Corsair TwinX DDR2-800 £64
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

 

[Kryten]

Couple more gems:

Netgear DSL Router, £39
NETGEAR DG834G Wireless ADSL2+ Modem Router **Great Price** - Ebuyer

OCZ Platinum DDR2 Memory £31.99
OCZ 2GB DDR2 Memory - Cheap at Ebuyer!

18x Pioneer DVDRW Drive £10.99
Pioneer DVR-212 18X SATA DVD±RW DL Int Beige - OEM - Ebuyer

Core2Duo e8400 £122
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

Please note quoted prices may differ from eBuyer there - clicking them the prices are a fair bit higher but those are prices inc vat from my email rounds, eBuyer would have to honour them.

 

[inactionman]

Yeah get your 8800GT while you can, unless you are looking at getting a 4850. They are killing the 8800GT to replace it with an almost identical, but slightly higher clocked and more expensive 9800GT. Nvidia are idiots atm, thier naming scheme fills me with nerd rage.

It looks like I will be upgrading to a 4870, at the same time as getting a Q9450 and a P45 mobo.

 

[Kryten]

Yes, quite agree, the new ATI series is looking good.
But, no matter how quick they are, they mean you need to install ATI software on your system. Nasty stuff :/

I think nVidia have made the mistake of thinking they're untouchable at the moment, and frankly they're not.

 

[Kryten]

Couple of great bargains.

I know I've said they're not great but a few folks on here have similar screens of the same make and are pleased with them.

22" Viewsonic Widescreen TFT monitor, £125
BigPockets.co.uk: Viewsonic 22Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - VA2216w £124.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery

160gb Freeview PVR £39.99
BigPockets.co.uk: Nichiem PVR - PVR1622 with 160Gb HDD £39.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery

8gb Maxell pendrive £20
BigPockets.co.uk: MAXELL 8Gb Pendrive Branded Retractable USB Flash Drive £19.99 - Blank Media - Gadgets - Ink Cartridges - Free Delivery

 

[Kryten]

Until I get some prices and availability on the Radeon HD 4850,

8800GT at £95 inc VAT
Zotac 8800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

 

[Yaka]

hmmm tempted as i am now buildign a new pc, wonde rif it has noisey fan or not

btw that pen drive from your ealier post is now £14

 

[Kryten]

Aye, cracking price for 8gb of usb storage. Just forked out for one myself

 

[Raven]

I do wish they would start putting the power requirements on these things. reckon 700w would be enough to run a couple of those overclocked puppies?

Scan Computers UK: 512MB EVGA 8800GT Superclocked, PCI-E 2.0, Mem 1900MHz, GDDR3, GPU 650MHz, 112 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I

edit: bleh never mind, sold out

 

[Kryten]

Yeah, 700w is more than sufficient assuming it's a decent brand with enough current on the 12v rail(s)

 

[Kryten]

ATI HD4850 graphics card, £130.
Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

That's easily £200 worth of graphics card, and that's a "just released" price. Getting more and more of these on the market and the prices are going to be comparable to peanuts. Overclockers have the same one for a couple of quid more. The same will soon apply to the 4870 series boards, and there's some serious performance to be had. There's a couple of those going for around £200:

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

The 4870s are nearly all pre-order currently though.

Core2Duo e8500 3.16ghz, £140
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz (Retail 775) - Aria Technology
It's not a big name processor, not one of the buzzwords but it's a stonking performer and that's a very good price. Everyone else, Ebuyer included are asking another 20-30 quid on top of that.

Our old favourite the Q6600 is still a worthy buy at £117
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 95W G0 Stepping (Retail 775) - Aria Technology
Ebuyer have it at £119 also, if you're bulk buying.


We're in that limbo period now, ATI have delivered one hell of a double punch with the above couple of cards at staggering prices. Nvidia's only punch with clout is the GTX 280 - £360 is a lot of ask. Is there £200 of difference between the GTX280 and 4870?

Crossfire, anyone?

 

[Deacan]

I was just about to build a new PC then I seen the benchmarks for the 4870.

Seems to be a cracking card, and the 4850 seems to be a powerhouse for its price.

 

[Kryten]

Indeed.

If they get back in stock:

BigPockets.co.uk :: Edge 10 19 Inch W190 Widescreen TFT Monitor - Black £74.99

19" TFT for 75 quid. Aint gonna be a stonker I'd imagine but specs are fair, may be an ideal second screen or one for casual users.

 

[Kryten]

Some more crackers courtesy of Scan:

Asus P5Q Motherboard (new P45 chipset) £80 inc Vat
Scan Computers UK: Asus P5Q, iP45, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1200/1066/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog edition (?) £115 - hang on, not sure.
Scan Computers UK: 512MB XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog, PCI-E 2.0, Mem 1800MHz GDDR3, GPU 625MHz, 112 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I
That's the 4th time I've found a link from Scan like that. Front page advertises a decent deal, click info/buy/checkout and it's far more money. Hohum.

SilverStone 560w PSU £59 (although link says 69, same problem as above)
Scan Computers UK: 560W Silverstone Zeus ST56ZF Quiet SLi 2xPCI-E + 2xSATA EPS12v ATX Dual 12v v2.01 80mm Fan PSU

Need a decent backup source? 1tb USB2 from Lacie
LaCie Black 1TB USB2.0 External Hard Drive (301301K)
Or if you prefer Dabs, cheaper still:
dabs.com - LaCie Desktop HD 1TB 7200RPM 16MB USB2 (301301K)


Nothing else really catching the eye. If there's anything anyone want's me to keep an eye open for, let me know.

Also I'd just like to point out a mark of respect as we've lost Komplett UK. They're continuing to trade in other european countries however it appears they've been unable to keep up in the UK marketplace - or more likely, they've been buggered left right and centre by our laws, regulations and taxes.
Shame, they were a fairly good source.

 

[Kryten]

You need a second PC or building some basic boxes for offices etc?

Go have a look see:

BigPockets.co.uk Blank Media, CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, DL+, Dual Layer, 8cm, Recordable Discs, Epson, HP, Cartridges, PCs, Laptops, DVD Cases, LCD HD TVs, Free Delivery

Entire PC systems (no screen obviously) from £110 upwards. £130 gets a Pentium D model, they're not particularly slow

 

[Kryten]

Powercolour ATI HD4850 Graphics card £117 inc VAT
PowerColor HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

320gb WD Laptop (2.5") HDD £60 inc VAT
Western Digital 320GB 2.5" Laptop Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 8MB Cache - OEM - Ebuyer

 

[Kryten]

1tb Seagate FreeAgent USB hard drive - £96 inc VAT.
Ebuyer - Cheap Computers, Laptops, Digital Cameras, TVs & more!

22" LG Widescreen TFT monitor, £134
LG W2242S 22" TFT Monitor 1680x1050 8000:1 300cd/m2 5ms VGA Silver/Black 3 Years Warranty - Ebuyer

Gigabyte AM2 motherboard, great for a bargain system at £34
Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2 Onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

 

[Kryten]

AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.6GHz Black Edition Socket AM2+ Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer
Phenom 9950 Black Edition, £147 - Still not a great overclocker but if you've an existing AM2 system that'll support it, this could be a good value upgrade

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

www.videocardshop.co.uk

 

[Bob007]

Intel Celeron D331 2.66GHz, 256M, 80GB, XP Home £99.00

OK its not a great machine i admit. but at 99 quid, pop in a gig of ram and you have a nice machine for surfing/office type stuff. Hell at that price. drop on server2k3 and some extra hdd space and use it as a file server.

 

[Kryten]

Aye, BigPockets are getting good for things like that

Not much else around at the moment, but it's worth noting Intel have made some price cuts which should see the Q6600 drop below £100 and some cheaper Wolfdale processors too.

Otherwise,

OCZ 2gb ram kit, £28.
OCZ 2GB DDR2 Memory - Cheap at Ebuyer!