Unsure as what to buy for next computer :|

[Alex]

Mostly from www.overclockers.co.uk and www.cpucity.co.uk

[Shogun]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm, why p4, people say its better getting an AMD

If you have the cash defo get the p4. Much better in my experience but you pay for it.

[Stewart]

I've just completed an upgrade like this; didn't need a monitor, or sound system, just the base unit.

I went for:

Coolermaster Centurion II Silver. £37.
Asus A8VDeluxe Wireless Edition. £90.
939 Athlon64 3500+. £337.
X800XT Platinum Edition. £320.
NEC2100a Dual Layer DVD Writer. £50.
1gb Crucial DDR400. £125.
Razor Boomslang 2100 + Black Ice Mat. £65.
76.4gb Raptor. £130.

Comes to about £1100 odd.

Already have a decent Iiyama 19" CRT and a £350 Philips 5.1 Surround Sound System, so I didn't upgrade those.


The Centurion has taught me not to spend £90 odd on a case, when quality is avalible for £40. I'll be sticking to this pricing area in future, unless I go for a Vapochill unit or something.

[Scorchin]

hmmmm, might go with Vaul setup, just without the v. expensive HD and get 2 larger one's for the money. cheers mate

[Stewart]

Yeah, Raptors aren't for everyone; you have to get around paying 250gb drive prices for 75gb of storage.

Still, its a fine rig; or will be when I've buit it. Waiting for Scan to give me to nice, big boxes Monday morning.

[Howard]

Raptors are uneconomical IMHO... I'd rather have the storage than it be a bit faster. I'd fill 74Gb in no time. Lol

[Stewart]

True, but then, I've never owned a hard drive bigger than 60gb before, and never had to delete anything to fit something else on either, so for someone like me, a nice fast drive, that is big enough, is a good deal.

I can always add another Raptor if I fill the first. For another £130 of course...

[Scorchin]

still a bit much, surely if you wanted more space, you would go for a larger spaced hard-drive?

[Stewart]

I'd only need a bit more space, if I ever filled that drive, another of that size would be enough. A 250gb monster would be over the top, and slower of course.

Horses for courses.

[Goreblast]

Raptors aren't for storage they are for use as uber fast system drives - either stand alone or in a raid setup. They are the fastest drives you can buy, period. They are aimed at server market which is dominated by the SCSI 15,000rpm hard drives (most of which are smaller in size than 74gb) which are about 3 times the price that the raptors sell for. Therefore for their main and intended use they are a bargain at only £135 ish.

The enthusiast and hardcore gaming community caught on to the speed of the drive, especially for loading large gaming maps and large graphical files and started to snap them up. Great for benchmarking too. They also have a 5 year warranty!

If you want storage you get a big 200gb drive instead (or as well).

[Scorchin]

but will it really improve my performance that much? is it worth paying the premium?

[Alex]

Bear in mind that the Vaul setup doesn't include windows, a PSU, or any cooling though, so about another £100 at the minimum really, probably more like £150 if you get a decent PSU and HSF...

[Stewart]

On the subject of Raptors - Indeed, they are for a niche market, of high end gaming systems (as well as servers etc), and used for their speed. If storage was an issue, then as Goreblast says, a Raptor wouldn't be the best choice; a 250gb monster would be. I don't fill much space, so the 74.6gb is plenty, and I get the speed advantage; so for me, its the best choice.

What ab1385 said: Yep, no copy of Windows, no PSU, no cooling (fans, HSF etc), no Monitor, no speakers or general sound system, etc. And no keyboard, if you want to be picky. I already have all these.

So its a grand for the base unit really.