Onboard Vs old graphics card

[Metier9]

Nice little spec there aidanjt..

It would be my main machine, Vista/Linux.... hate to say it im getting a little old for games now But i do like the odd stratergy/tactic game.. but mostly on a realistic level.

Its either get a new pc or finish off a bigger part of my RAID array... will cost 700 - 1000 in the end...

Storage/learning = XP/2003 (maybe Linux)

This one im on at the mo (main system) = XP/2003 (maybe Linux)

I need two machines with 2003 on.

[aidanjt]

Up to yourself of course, my choice of nForce chipset was less to do with SLi and more to do with it not being ATi, at the present time ATi doesn't work well with Linux, neither their GPUs or chipsets, in some cases not at all because ATi isn't concerned with openness, while nVidia still keeps it's cards close in some areas, they help out with the core stuff like chipset drivers, even Intel is being skimpy with documentation lately, so no idea how well ICH7/8 works. The SLi option was just an added bonus so in a year or maybe two you could always get another GPU from eBay or retail if they're still floating about

Core 2 is sweet chip, thou the X2 still has plenty of life left in it for a bit less (although not as nice price/performance ratio). Just looking at ways to shave off the pennies.

[aidanjt]

I priced this for the hell of it, higher-end for 400 squiddies more:

Akasa Eclipse 62 Window Side Panel
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU
Zalman CNPS9500-AM2 Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754) CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA_M57SLi-S4 nForce 570 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Tagan TG600-U25 600W ATX2.0 Dual Engine Silent SLi Compliant Silent PSU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ 2.60GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC)
Total: £905

Might be a bit much over what you had intended, I would have went for the 500W Tagan DualEngine, but it's out of stock, £20 cheaper though.

I'll see how the bank balance fairs and how the market looks about summer time and I'll probably go for something like that myself

[Metier9]

I noticed the athlon is still there ^^

my turn on making an Scan (too used to scans system now )

will edit in

--------------------------------------

LN8282
Akasa Eclipse-62 Midi Tower Case - Hi-End w/o PSU £72.19 £84.82

LN16655
640MB Asus 8800GTS PCI-E (x16), Mem 1600 MHz, GPU 500 MHz, 96 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI-I HDTV £229.99 £270.24

LN17304
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300, Socket 775, 1.80 GHz, 800MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail £88.42 £103.89

LN11596
2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12 £113.99 £133.94

LN11601
500w Seasonic S12-500 SLi aPFC PSU Silent ATX2.0 2xPCI-E 4xSATA ATX12v-1.3 & ATX12v 2.01 £61.89 £72.72

LN17712
Asus P5B-Plus Vista Edition, iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £91.49 £107.50

LN11598
Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower Cooler (Socket 478, LGA775, 754, 939 and 940) £27.49 £32.30

TOTAL £805.42

some spare change for other things... + no idea how much the window costs

[aidanjt]

Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC)
Akasa Eclipse 62 Window Side Panel
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU
Tagan TG600-U25 600W ATX2.0 Dual Engine Silent SLi Compliant Silent PSU
Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler
Total: £892

Better performance Intel platform, slightly cheaper, better Asus board ( <3 Asus), still nForce chipset, same GPU.

Don't mind me, I'm just thinking out loud lol.

[Metier9]

The best way