£750ish build..

[tigerboyce]

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 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 :\

[GSte]

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.

[Sprite]

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.

[daza]

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.

[max99]

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.

[DecomposingStar]

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

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.