quick spec check

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02-01-2009, 11:23 PM
RoBe

quick spec check

My brother's pc has packed up in the last few days, and it's getting on a bit so i think it's time to replace it. It's going to be used for the usual stuff, email, internet, IM, word processing, as well as some gaming; mainly fsx.

Here's what i've got so far:

E2200 here 56.29
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 here 81.19
Samsung SH-S223F here 14.93
450w corsair vx here here 51.76
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 here 37.95
Arctic cooler freezer 7 pro 15.97
Windows Home Premium OEM x64 88.42

Total: £346.52

and i've got 2gb ballistix pc2-8500, a 250gb samsung sata drive along with a 7800gtx that i'm going to use

Any suggestions/criticisms?
The budget's about £350, less if possible.

Cheers
02-01-2009, 11:25 PM
SiM

Re: quick spec check

Get this instead:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...B-Cache-Retail
02-01-2009, 11:32 PM
staffsMike

Re: quick spec check

agreed with above and a P45 board
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Biost...-SATA-RAID-ATX

Coolermaster CM-690 can often be had for around £45 - £50 as well which is a nice case.
02-01-2009, 11:37 PM
RoBe

Re: quick spec check

thanks guys, and i'll look into the cm-690. It does look rather nice for the price
02-01-2009, 11:40 PM
Kurshu

Re: quick spec check

My CM-690 arived about 3 days ago, it is lovely. The only problem I have with it is that the side is much harder to get on than my old Antec Sonata II... But this is purely because I used that case for so long and got used to the way of taking it off and putting it on.
02-01-2009, 11:46 PM
RoBe

Re: quick spec check

I think i'll probably go for the 700w fsp700-80gln that's usually on todayonly for ~£30, along with the suggestions
02-01-2009, 11:50 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

is it supposed to be a budget system??
02-01-2009, 11:57 PM
SiM

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoBe

I think i'll probably go for the 700w fsp700-80gln that's usually on todayonly for ~£30, along with the suggestions

I would actually go for this PSU:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/385W-...uard-SafeGuard

or if you want a bit more juice (which you don't really need), this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/425W-...uard-SafeGuard

The Enermax 82+ range are solid PSUs and should be more efficient than the Corsair or the FSP.
03-01-2009, 12:06 AM
staffsMike

Re: quick spec check

Yeah I'd grab the enermax as well :) I have a modu82+ and apart from the cables being a little shorter than I would like it's pretty good.

There aways Antec combo's. There is the NSK3480 (or 3840..) which is a uATX. There is a full atx version which both come with 380W earthwatts which are good on a budget as they they can be (or could be) had for £55 all in.
03-01-2009, 12:16 AM
TAKTAK

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by staffsMike

There aways Antec combo's. There is the NSK3480 (or 3840..) which is a uATX. There is a full atx version which both come with 380W earthwatts which are good on a budget as they they can be (or could be) had for £55 all in.

If you want to save money then that is a good way to do it :)

i would reccomend them having used one (reccomended by Mike at the time :P)

It's a case of "It does exactly what it says on the tin", no more, no less

and one other thing, was in PCworld the other week bargain hunting (blommin crud sale :rolleyes:), and came accross the COSMOS S, and jeez louise that thing is huge :surprised:, i never realised that it was THAT big.

^^no idea why that is relevant :confused:
03-01-2009, 12:25 AM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

PC world is probably the worst place for people who know anything about PCs to go lol
when i see people going to buy things there i soo feel like telling them, i can make a better computer for them for a much lower price!!
03-01-2009, 12:20 PM
RoBe

Re: quick spec check

Right, here's the revised spec:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual/Quad Core Ready £15.97

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)£88.42

Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £14.93

Intel Pentium Dual-Core, E5200, Socket 775, Wolfdale Core, 2x2.5 GHz, 2MB Cache, Retail £64.85

Biostar TP45 HP, iP45, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/12006/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £90.24

and the antec nsk4480 ATX case with the 380w psu here: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130947

All coming to a grand total of £337.40
03-01-2009, 12:23 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

wait wait wait, you are dropping down to a P4 now? what is the stick for the P4?
that looks like a pretty crazy overclock (not seem much people risk going more than 4GHz you prob need a better Heat Sink?
03-01-2009, 12:24 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

what you are also getting the E5200?? or was you just saying that the AC7 CAN make P4 go upto 4.4??
03-01-2009, 12:26 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

also for gaming and a decent future upgrade e.g. a high end card. that PSU is cack!! 500 seems like the norm with gaming rigs..
03-01-2009, 01:17 PM
RoBe

Re: quick spec check

no, i'm still getting the e5200, that's just the name that i copy-pasted off of the scan page.

Also, was there much need to triple post? Just use the edit button
03-01-2009, 01:27 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

oh i didnt know that. sorry. kinda new ;)
03-01-2009, 01:36 PM
PeterStoba

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincent.m

oh no, i am trying to increase my post count as well ;)

Thats not gonna go down well when a mod comes along.

He's copied and pasted the names, and the Freezer 7 Pro supports P4 upto 4.4GHz it says, he isnt getting one. The PSU is also fine, it's branded and has all of the connectors to power his system, which won't use near 380w whatsoever. I suggest before giving advice you make sure it's correct next time :)
03-01-2009, 01:38 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterStoba

Thats not gonna go down well when a mod comes along.

He's copied and pasted the names, and the Freezer 7 Pro supports P4 upto 4.4GHz it says, he isnt getting one. The PSU is also fine, it's branded and has all of the connectors to power his system, which won't use near 380w whatsoever. I suggest before giving advice you make sure it's correct next time :)

so yoru telling me, that if he wanted to go for 8800 gtx SLI (hardcore i know) then thats going to be enough power?

i think he mentioned that it was his brother's gaming rig no?
03-01-2009, 01:43 PM
PeterStoba

Re: quick spec check

1. 8800GTX are old cards now anyway. Why he'd use them I don't know...
2. He hasn't got an SLI motherboard so even if he had a 1500W psu he couldn't use them.
3. His main gaming use is said to be FSX, he can't be too bothered about the fps/details if he's using a 7800GTX anyway, if he does decide to upgrade it'd happily take a 4850 anyway.
03-01-2009, 02:01 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

haha oh yeah i keep referring to 8800 gtx because i have that one. well if hes on a budget then i guess his current card is acceptable :)
03-01-2009, 02:01 PM
RoBe

Re: quick spec check

yeah, the 7800gtx is an upgrade from a 7600gs which he seemed pretty happy with. Even if he suddenly needs a good gpu, there's plenty for <£100 that'll do perfectly. It's only a 19" screen he'll be using anyway
03-01-2009, 02:07 PM
SiM

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoBe

Also, was there much need to triple post? Just use the edit button

He looks like a n00b :mrgreen:
At least he is trying to help lol...
03-01-2009, 02:09 PM
vincent.m

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiM

He looks like a n00b :mrgreen:
At least he is trying to help lol...

haha i usually just buy whatever i can afford at the time, looking at my system i probably spend too much for basic exceling and word :shaun:
03-01-2009, 04:19 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: quick spec check

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoBe

Right, here's the revised spec:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual/Quad Core Ready £15.97

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)£88.42

Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £14.93

Intel Pentium Dual-Core, E5200, Socket 775, Wolfdale Core, 2x2.5 GHz, 2MB Cache, Retail £64.85

Biostar TP45 HP, iP45, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/12006/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £90.24

and the antec nsk4480 ATX case with the 380w psu here: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130947

All coming to a grand total of £337.40

I would save some money on the motherboard and get a Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148802

This could be paired with 4gb of PC6400 memory which costs under £35.

For a budget build £90 is a bit too high especially since the system is going to be used with middle end and low end components.

It has got a good review, is a decent overclocker and is also an all solid capcitor motherboard:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/575

A user review:

http://www2.custompc.co.uk/phpbb/vie...142936#1142936

It also supports most of the current socket 775 CPUs:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...ProductID=2779

Also check out the Akasa AK965 as a CPU cooler as it has got good reviews and is quite cheap:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15387&page=2

http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=362