New Computer Time


Steve-O

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Joined
Aug 28, 2003
Messages
4,054
Right, I have the Graphics Card ordered (Ordered this Baby just incase the price went up when it came instock -

XFX Geforce 7900GT for £199 Delivered

Now I need the Rest of the System

Already have a Case (Thermaltake Soprano) so just need Motherboard, PSU, Ram, Harddrive and Processor.

I want to spend in these price ranges on the parts -

PSU - £45 Max
Harddrive - £65 Max
Ram - £75 Max
Processor - £110 Max
Motherboard - £60 Max


After Reading reviews it seems MSI is one of the best to go with for Motherboards so is this ok? -

MSI K8N Neo4-F SKT939 PCI-E Dual DDR400 SATA & ATA Raid GB LAN
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MSI-K8N4F

Then for Processor I was wanting to go with a Retail AMD 64bit CPU as I have read some stories of them OEM ones (Them ones that usually just come in the Brown Box) being faulty or not working as good as the Retail Version which also comes with quite a good cooler. So I was thinking of this -

Retail Boxed AMD Athlon 64 3200 Venice Core 512k 90nm Socket 939Pin
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?AMD-64932V

Sata seems to be the latest thing to go for when getting a Harddrive so I thought maybe this? -

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATAII 250GB 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MAX-PS2250

Corsair seems good for Ram so I was thinking either this -

Corsair XMS3200 1GB (2x512MB) 400Mhz Non-ECC Matched Pair
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CSR-MP401G
or
Corsair Value Select 1024Mb (2x512Mb) Kit 400MHz 184Pin PC3200 CL2.5
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CSR-CL251G


Now for a Power Supply. I was going to go with a cheap £15 one, but worried about it dieing and taking half my system with it... so I was thinkign about this -

Hiper Type R 480Watt
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?HYP-4M480

Any comments / help would be greatly appriciated ... Or if you know any cheaper sites let me know

Thanks
 
That's a very bottom-of-the-line Processor in comparison to the serial killer of a graphics card you bought. If you get it, I hope you have a few bucks saved up to upgrade in the future.

Also, that hardrive sucks hard. I suggest you get Western Digital Raptors, at least one for your main drive. You can still get that Maxtor one for a backup/media drive.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-740GD
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-1500GD

I would also suggest getting 2gb of RAM, but that's just to offset the power you're expecting from your graphics card. It's not very important at the moment, and with that motherboard, upgrading is an option down the line.

Shopping from just one site is a very bad idea. You should at least take the time to look around on other distributors to see if you could get my recommendations while staying in your price range. Maybe it just comes with the territory, but here in the states, I could configure the same exact computer for much cheaper than compared to that site.
 
You can get your motherboard a fraction cheaper from lowestonweb with free delivery, same place you got the gfx card right? Other than that I support the retail CPU idea - the AMD stock cooler is pretty good. Not really worth getting a new one.

Personally my new PC is very similar except I'm getting a 3500+, so naturally I support all of those choices :D
 
getting a cheap psu is a big error, it can cause major stability issues and even fry your whole system, get a quality brand.
 
Vimacs posted on Mar 25 2006 at 03:43 PM said:
getting a cheap psu is a big error, it can cause major stability issues and even fry your whole system, get a quality brand.


thats why im getting the Hiper Type R ;)... Quality Brand and Excellent Reviews on All sites (Eg Toms Hardware)

Yup I got the Card From Lowest on Web :)...

Them Raptor Drives are too expensive for me.. £100+ for a 74GB is more than I was wanting to pay :)...

Will get an extra gig later on but for now I can only afford 1gb :)

Anyone know any more cheap sites in the UK??? Ebuyer is quite cheap but I have saw LOTS of bad reviews about them....


Been Recommened by people on another forum to go for a Seagate Baracuda -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SG-79S256

Also, Is Western Digital any good?? -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-2500KS
 
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Youre system seems good enough.

When I'm buying new hardware I normally end up buying from Overclockers or Komplett. Both are cheap and the people at overclockers really seem to know what they are doing. I also buy quite abit from Ebuyer. I've heard good things of Scan, although I am yet to use them.

Ebuyer have had a few dodgy reviews, but I've had little problem with them. They make the odd mistake, such as saying a laptop I ordered had an x600 in it, when it actually had an x700. One of my friends once ordered an mp3 player from them worth about £80 and they recieved a box of 10, although the less we say about that the better :unsure:.
 
iignotus posted on Mar 25 2006 at 03:24 PM said:
That's a very bottom-of-the-line Processor in comparison to the serial killer of a graphics card you bought. If you get it, I hope you have a few bucks saved up to upgrade in the future.
You're an idiot. There is no need to 'balance out' a PC for the sake of it - PC games require a good graphics card, but nearly none of them look for a processor above 2-3 Ghz and this is likely to continue. 3000-3500 will be more than enough to keep you until dual-core, and besides, once you go past that things become extremely expensive. But I guess iignotus can affort that.

iignotus posted on Mar 25 2006 at 03:24 PM said:
Also, that hardrive sucks hard. I suggest you get Western Digital Raptors, at least one for your main drive. You can still get that Maxtor one for a backup/media drive.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-740GD
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-1500GD
Yeah, go pick up "at least one" WD Raptor, oh, and go get that Maxtor, and while you're at it pick up a box of ten of them because YOU HAVE UNLIMITED MONEY TO PISS DOWN THE TOILET. £205 for 150GB? You have to be shitting me. When was the last time you thought 'Gee, this is loading kinda slowly, I better go blow a couple hundred pounds on a marginally faster hard drive!'? Exactly.
 
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Hanz, Rico: for someone spending £200 on a graphics card, I didn't think these prices for would be too exorbidant for the performance they offer.

And a specific aside to Rico: fuck you :) There's no need to overreact at the things I suggest. You can simply say that what I'm posting isn't a good idea, and provide a reason why. There's no reason to call me an idiot or suggest that I'm some prissy rich bastard. Top of the line graphics cards aren't only useful for games, and I was telling Steve-O the parts I recommend that are in the same line with his graphics card.

The only computer I have in my house is a 6 year old pentium 3 whose net worth is about $300, so I'm not the rich shit I somehow seem to be much like you're not the ignorant fuck you seem to be.

Like I stated a number of times in my first statement, these are obviously optional. The only thing I really suggest is that you go with a company other than Maxtor for your hard drive.
 
iignotus posted on Mar 25 2006 at 05:55 PM said:
The only computer I have in my house is a 6 year old pentium 3 whose net worth is about $300, so I'm not the rich shit I somehow seem to be much like you're not the ignorant fuck you seem to be.

Like I stated a number of times in my first statement, these are obviously optional. The only thing I really suggest is that you go with a company other than Maxtor for your hard drive.
So basically you're living out your dreams of owning stupidly overpriced hardware through other people. Got it. I'd be nicer, but come on, you told the guy to buy 'at least one' ridiculously expensive server-class hard drive for his home PC. There are perfectly suitable hard drives he could choose - good ones, too - that offer 2-3 times the capacity for the same price. I'd suggest Seagate.

iignotus posted on Mar 25 2006 at 03:24 PM said:
Maybe it just comes with the territory, but here in the states, I could configure the same exact computer for much cheaper than compared to that site.
Forgot about this: US prices for PC hardware are almost always cheaper, because you don't pay (much/any) VAT on them.
 
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Rico posted on Mar 25 2006 at 01:23 PM said:
iignotus posted on Mar 25 2006 at 05:55 PM said:
The only computer I have in my house is a 6 year old pentium 3 whose net worth is about $300, so I'm not the rich shit I somehow seem to be much like you're not the ignorant fuck you seem to be.

Like I stated a number of times in my first statement, these are obviously optional. The only thing I really suggest is that you go with a company other than Maxtor for your hard drive.
So basically you're living out your dreams of owning stupidly overpriced hardware through other people. Got it. I'd be nicer, but come on, you told the guy to buy 'at least one' ridiculously expensive server-class hard drive for his home PC. There are perfectly suitable hard drives he could choose - good ones, too - that offer 2-3 times the capacity for the same price. I'd suggest Seagate.
Possibly; I didn't know they were "dreams", I don't dream about a new computer when I'm asleep. I was only looking to recommend the best out there for someone looking to get a great new computer. You know, being helpful.

I'm sure Steve-O has already come to the conclusion that they are out of his price range and will not buy them. That was really the only reply I needed, instead of an incredibly rude one.

EDIT:
Hanz said:
Sorry I just remember you recommending some Shure headphones recently and...
You do? I was wondering why your comment seemed strange in the first place to me, but now it's completely foreign. I don't believe I ever recommended headphones to someone, especially not expensive ones... can you point to the post I made about them?
 
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I think Steve-O has probably come to the conclusion that any advice either of you offer him isn't terribly trustworthy.
 
You do? I was wondering why your comment seemed strange in the first place to me, but now it's completely foreign. I don't believe I ever recommended headphones to someone, especially not expensive ones... can you point to the post I made about them?
It was probably someone else then.
Edit: I was confusing you with Vimacs. You 2 are similar, lol.
 
Heres my price ranges again just incase you didnt see them ;) -

PSU - £45 Max
Harddrive - £65 Max
Ram - £75 Max
Processor - £110 Max
Motherboard - £60 Max


Oh yea,

Harddrive needs to be atleast 200GB
Ram at least 1GB
Processor at least 3200 Socket 939
Motherboard needs to be Good and PCI-E

:)

Think I will just go with that setup but with the Seagate drive :D


US Prices are Extremely Cheaper than UK prices... I could buy the parts from the USA and probably knock about £150 - £250 off the whole system but I run the risk or Import Tax, Faulty Hardware, having to wait a while, risk of it getting lost or damaged etc etc. You are very lucky living in the USA with them prices ;), wish it was the same over here :(
 
Think I will just go with that setup but with the Seagate drive
Probably the most intelligent thing any of us has said in this entire thread ;) I support that decision. That motherboard looks great, btw, and 939 will be around for a long time to come.
 
Javacat posted on Mar 25 2006 at 04:58 PM said:
When I'm buying new hardware I normally end up buying from Overclockers

Are they any good?? Asked a Question on their forum before and I usually got Stupid replies not even related to what I asked (Eg "no swearing on the forum" when all I said was crap :p :( :(...
 
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They are okay but I heard that they dont do too well in returns. Can be a bit expensive at times as well. That said, their weeks specials can be something to watch out for...
 
Think I will just buy it all from Novatech.... some things are £3 cheaper than other places on their and some or £3 more And I would rather get it all from the same place, Plus I have used them before and like them and I already have an account with them so its one less place that gets my Credit Card detaisl ;)
 
Steve-O posted on Mar 25 2006 at 10:33 PM said:
Are they any good?? Asked a Question on their forum before and I usually got Stupid replies not even related to what I asked (Eg "no swearing on the forum" when all I said was crap :p :( :(...
When I built a computer a couple of years ago I ordered through them. Unfortunatly the motherboard kept on failing the POST test so I had to send it back. They sent a replacement straight out.

I've not really looked around the forums that much, although from what I can tell a lot of the people on there are loaded.
 
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