£750ish build..

Hey guys.

Ok im looking to build a PC for Gaming and some 3-d work for university next year. i have ben trying to put a system together on scan etc but am finding it hard. basically it would be helpfull if anyone can come up with some suggestions for me.

i am trying to make a 8800GTS 320mb build but problem is that i also need to buy a monitor included in that price:undecided which takes a fait chunk out of the money. also cases are very difficult to get into the price, escpeccialy having wanted an antec 900 but thats well out of the price:( so basicically its everything but the keyboard and mouse..

anyway. i would prefer not to overclok aswell as it seems quite scary.

i came up with:

LN15048
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, Socket 775, 2.13 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail £118.49 £139.23

LN17508
320MB XFX 8800GTS, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1600MHz, GPU 500MHz, 96 Streams, 2x Dual Link/DVI HDTV £159.88 £187.86

LN15258
Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £55.29 £64.97

LN16645
Microsoft Windows XP MCE 2005 URP2 SP2b OEM Single Pack £60.99 £71.66

LN11005
580W HiperPower Type-R Modular Black PSU Quiet Dbl Fan aPFC ATX2.2 20/24 Pin (RoHS) £49.00 £57.58

LN11461
250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ £38.73 £45.51

LN17097
19" LG L194WT Silver/Black LCD, VGA/DVI, 1440x900, 5 ms, 2000:1, 300 cd/m2, Widescreen 16:10, VESA £113.49 £133.35

LN15713
NEC ND-5170A-0B Black x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM UK

Giel 2gb pc-6400 RAM from OCUK

Comes to: £890.something :|

still too expensive as i cannot seem to lower it :\

You could save about £20 by getting Corsair Value Select PC5300, and £15 by getting XP Home..... not much though I know. Only other way I can see would be to go for a cheaper CPU/mobo combo, or buy 1 GB of ram then more when you have the money. Waiting for Scan's today only offers would save a few quid also.... the weekend ones tend to have the broadest range of components. EBuyer is also a bit cheaper on some stuff.

Drop to an X1950Pro for the time being ?

And don't get a Hiper Typer R, I've had nothing but problems with it and my friends has blown up aswell.

May I suggest a monitor change to a daewoo I've got the old ones scan did in solid black and there pretty good for the price.

You can save £40 by going for an E4300 instead of the 6400 (£100 at Ebuyer including delivery). I know you said you'd prefer not to overclock, but you'll be able to get the 4300 running at 6600 speeds with very little effort - and then push it even further afterwards if you want.

Unless the 8800GTS is a must, I'd also suggest looking at a 1950 Pro instead - this will knock another £70 - £80 off the price.

Quote:

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LN16718
Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case no PSU
£68.02

LN15048
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, Socket 775, 2.13 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail
£139.23

LN15258
Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
£64.97

LN14408
530W Hiper HPU-4M530 SLi Ready Black ATX2.2/BTX SATAx2 PCI-Ex2
£46.87

LN11461
250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ
£45.51

LN17354
19" Daewoo HL920W, Widescreen LCD, 1440x900, 5ms, 1000:1, 300 cd/m2, White/Black, DVI/D-Sub
£114.43

LN13548
Samsung SH-S183A/BEBN Black SATA 18x18 ±R Dual Layer DVDRW Writer OEM UK inc Nero 6.x
£21.14

Net Total £425.67

Carriage £16.71

V.A.T. £77.42

TOTAL £519.80

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Buy the OCZ 2GB kit instead on the GEIL, its on special this week and they (apparently) have better customer service.
That brings you to ~£615, so add the 8800 and, for the cheapest one, it comes to £800... I don't think a system at a lower spec than that is going to do an 8800 justice, even though i would personally rather get a different card. Adding windows is also going to bump your price up.

Cut corners on things you can later upgrade, what about getting a smaller HDD and then buying another later and running them in RAID or something? Or get an E6300 and overclock the socks off it.