Comments on potential new system please

Hiya,

Just run across this forum and it seems pretty busy and knowledgeable so I thought I'd post the probable spec of my new PC and ask for any comments anyone has, please.

If I've made some dumb mistake or missed something that should be on there, please do comment (max budget is £1500 though, so please no wild ideas) :)


PRICE DESCRIPTION

£ 129.95 AMD Athlon 64 3200 (Socket 754) - Retail
£ 69.95 Asus K8VSE Deluxe (Socket 754) Motherboard
£ 195.00 Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XLPT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2
£ 46.50 Sony DWU-18A 8x DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£ 14.80 Sony DDU1612 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM
£ 324.95 HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 XT ICEQ II 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail
£ 57.95 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 160GB SATA 8MB Cache - OEM
£ 31.50 Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu Ultra-Quiet CPU Cooler - Retail
£ 69.95 Antec Sonata Piano Black Quiet Case - 380W TruePower Silent PSU
£ 29.95 AcoustiPack Pre-cut Kit For Antec Sonata
£ 8.50 Vantec SF12025L Stealth 120mm fan - Retail
£ 5.75 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
£ 4.50 Belkin Cat5e Network Patch Cable 10m - Grey
£ 64.95 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX - Retail
£ 81.75 Creative Inspire 7.1 T7700 Speakers - Retail
£ 62.95 Logitech Cordless Desktop MX - Retail
£ 53.00 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - OEM
£ 6.50 OcUK Value Floppy Drive - Black

£ 1258.40 Subtotal
£ 20.75 Shipping (Amtrak Next Day (Mon-Fri) - UK Mainland)
£ 223.85 VAT
£ 1503.00 TOTAL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaKid

Hiya,

Just run across this forum and it seems pretty busy and knowledgeable so I thought I'd post the probable spec of my new PC and ask for any comments anyone has, please.

If I've made some dumb mistake or missed something that should be on there, please do comment (max budget is £1500 though, so please no wild ideas) :)


PRICE DESCRIPTION

£ 129.95 AMD Athlon 64 3200 (Socket 754) - Retail - Get OEM if your buying an after market HSF and save some dough
£ 69.95 Asus K8VSE Deluxe (Socket 754) Motherboard - Look at the K8N Neo Plat, i'm running one and runs at 270FSB all day long :) can do 300FSB but a little flakey :)
£ 195.00 Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XLPT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2
£ 46.50 Sony DWU-18A 8x DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£ 14.80 Sony DDU1612 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM
£ 324.95 HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 XT ICEQ II 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail - Good choice
£ 57.95 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 160GB SATA 8MB Cache - OEM
£ 31.50 Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu Ultra-Quiet CPU Cooler - Retail
£ 69.95 Antec Sonata Piano Black Quiet Case - 380W TruePower Silent PSU - Fantastic case you won't been disappointed :)
£ 29.95 AcoustiPack Pre-cut Kit For Antec Sonata - It's pretty quiet with out it tbh and me thinks be overkill
£ 8.50 Vantec SF12025L Stealth 120mm fan - Retail
£ 5.75 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
£ 4.50 Belkin Cat5e Network Patch Cable 10m - Grey - Might be able to grab one cheaper on eBay
£ 64.95 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX - Retail
£ 81.75 Creative Inspire 7.1 T7700 Speakers - Retail
£ 62.95 Logitech Cordless Desktop MX - Retail
£ 53.00 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - OEM
£ 6.50 OcUK Value Floppy Drive - Black

£ 1258.40 Subtotal
£ 20.75 Shipping (Amtrak Next Day (Mon-Fri) - UK Mainland)
£ 223.85 VAT
£ 1503.00 TOTAL

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Would this all be from Overclockers.co.uk? Just from personal experience and numerous other people avoid em like the plague!

I personally use Komplett, MicroDirect and Over-clock.co.uk and never ever had an issue...

BTW see the quote for my comemnts :)

Well, apart from the fact that I'd never order anything from OcUK (read a bit of the feedback on them on this site as well as http://www.romulus2.com/feedback), I'd say that you are in for a pretty long wait on that order, as the X800XT orderers on OcUK's forums have been waiting months; and they are now being told an additional month or more may not be out of the question. Oh, and their credit cards were debited on the day they placed their orders...

Apart from that your spec. looks OK. Although do you really need a second DVD-ROM? And I hope that the 380w PSU would be enough to power the A64 and the X800XT (which it probably will...)

Nomadd

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nomadd

Well, apart from the fact that I'd never order anything from OcUK (read a bit of the feedback on them on this site as well as http://www.romulus2.com/feedback), I'd say that you are in for a pretty long wait on that order, as the X800XT orderers on OcUK's forums have been waiting months; and they are now being told an additional month or more may not be out of the question. Oh, and their credit cards were debited on the day they placed their orders...

Apart from that your spec. looks OK. Although do you really need a second DVD-ROM? And I hope that the 380w PSU would be enough to power the A64 and the X800XT (which it probably will...)

Nomadd

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The 380w is a very good unit :) Built a machine based on a A64 3000+ standard K8V, 1GB DDR400 etc etc and held voltages extremely well :) at the end of the day if it is a problem it could be ebayed and a tagan or like could be brought :)

I have a DVD Writer and CD Writer and wish I had DVD ROM and DVD Writer... Much easier and saves wear on the DVD Writer laser :)

Thanks guys,

I never knew anything bad about Overclockers. Used them quite a few times before in the past and never had any problems. Will look around using Romulus as my guide :D

Kustom PCs are very good too :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaKid

Thanks guys,

I never knew anything bad about Overclockers. Used them quite a few times before in the past and never had any problems. Will look around using Romulus as my guide :D

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In case you want to know, the stores I use are Komplett, CPUCity and Watford Electronics. Heard nothing but good things from Scan as well.

I have used overclockers many time only problem had is i recieved a faulty cpu/mobo and had to RMA it. Not their fault but shame they couldn't cover the shipping costs though.

I would say you are wasting your money on the RAM.

you are spending more on that then the cpu.... to me that doesnt make sense esp as its only 3200. Which im guessing means your not going to be over clocking it... do yourself a favour and get a faster cpu.

Several months back Custom PC did a test between bog standard cheapo ram and superfast low cas ram... at like for like freqs the diff was at best 3% or around that.. (thats the diff between the cheapest and the supposed best)
This is common knowledge long before they even did the test.

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Also when i used Kustom PC my case came through, the whole of the plastic front had sheared off. Emailed kustom and they picked it up and brought me a new one within a couple of days.... and they DIDNT charge me money for this. not being funny but surely it is illegal for OCUK to expect you to pay money to send something back which doesnt work. I would have been livid if they tried that on with me.

3200 is the fastest isnt it?

Also Most of that stuff in your spec there can be found much cheaper on www.ebuyer.co.uk they are so cheap and very good. Those network cables are under a pound. They stock massive amounts of those kinds fo things so they cna sell them at good prices.

Ebuyer will do most of those things, apart from any specialty modding things, possibly not the case. But the rest!

The thing to remember is that, in my opinion, really high quality RAM is only worth it if you're overclocking. If you're not going to be overclocking, then it doesn't make much of a difference, and you're better off with some cheaper stuff (but not the generic stuff, best is something like Crucial RAM - cheap, but reliable, and, apparently, with excellent support)

3400 is the fastest S754 CPU and 3800 is the fastest AMD CPU overall (S939)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mblaster

3400 is the fastest S754 CPU and 3800 is the fastest AMD CPU overall (S939)

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i thought that there was a 3700+ 754 now too & FX-53 fastest overall (same clockspeed as 3800+. more cache)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BUFF

FX-53 fastest overall (same clockspeed as 3800+. more cache)

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Here it is: http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk/catalo...roducts_id=498

The people telling you to not waste all that money on RAM, and get some nice, reliable Crucial instead speak the truth. Listen to them. :D

or even better if you DO want to overclock, get some GeIL value pc3200 £120 for a gig from microdirect....this stuff loves FSB, mine does 215 but my board wont go any higher with any ram and my mates does 245 :)

http://www.teamxf.co.uk/geil1.jpg


Also, i think it might be worth it if you're spending that much on the system to try and get an s939? itll cost u another £100 or so but you'll get a faster CPU and at least you'll be able to upgrade the CPU later

Yeah great timings on that Geil! 2.5-8-4-4! my grannies faster than that!

The memory you've chosen is great quality memory if you wish to overclock :) if you don't wish to overclock but wouldlike to later then check out the new Crucial Ballistics range :)

eBuyer memory is total crap and don't get any please. It will only give you problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vaul

The people telling you to not waste all that money on RAM, and get some nice, reliable Crucial instead speak the truth. Listen to them. :D

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Hmm, from crucial.com it'd only cost me £180.91 including VAT and Delivery for 1.5GB ... compared to £195+VAT+Del for 1GB from Overclockers for this special memory.

As a relative n00b to the ultra-high performance end of computers .... what differences can I see without overclocking between these two types of RAM? I'd probably be happy overclocking to a small extent, by following simple instructions, assuming I was very unlikely to permanently damage my system. Would this change that difference by much?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Firelord

Yeah great timings on that Geil! 2.5-8-4-4! my grannies faster than that!

The memory you've chosen is great quality memory if you wish to overclock :) if you don't wish to overclock but wouldlike to later then check out the new Crucial Ballistics range :)

eBuyer memory is total crap and don't get any please. It will only give you problems.

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we've already been over it in this thread that timings make barely any difference in real world.....either way @ 215 mine is 7 - 3 - 3 - 2.5, same as my friends @ 245

Its also a damnsite cheaper than that corsair, paying double for a 3% performance increase? no ta

its best timings ive seen for anywhere near the price, and it is DEFINITELY overclockers ram, if you got that corsair 3200 to 245 I'd say well done, never mind value ram...also this isnt a one off, every review i've found of it got the FSB over 240

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tom

we've already been over it in this thread that timings make barely any difference in real world.....either way @ 215 mine is 7 - 3 - 3 - 2.5, same as my friends @ 245

Its also a damnsite cheaper than that corsair, paying double for a 3% performance increase? no ta

its best timings ive seen for anywhere near the price, and it is DEFINITELY overclockers ram, if you got that corsair 3200 to 245 I'd say well done, never mind value ram...also this isnt a one off, every review i've found of it got the FSB over 240

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I beg to differ. It depends what you do that makes the difference. If your browsing IE play a few games then yes not much difference. Start doing something heavy like video encoding for me the difference between 1-2FPS was quite simply changing timings from 2-7-3-3 to 2-5-2-2 on my P4 rig. Over a period of time that makes a difference.

Things like CAD love tighter timings as well so yes I do believe paying the extra is worth it. If it didn't make a difference would these companies still be in business no! Don't see Crucial hitting 270FSB 1:1 at 2-5-2-2 do you?

Anyway, yes you may be able to afford 1.5GB vs 1GB but it depends with what you want to do with it and currently on A64 boards if you fill the 3rd Ram slot (on 754 this is) it drops straight back to 166FSB negeating performance for RAM. Better to go 1GB of decent personally.

wheres that RAM from, that blue ram? That looks wicked! Is it as good as it looks? Where you get it from? :rockon:

Its from MicroDirect, as stated in his post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kumagoro

Also when i used Kustom PC my case came through, the whole of the plastic front had sheared off. Emailed kustom and they picked it up and brought me a new one within a couple of days.... and they DIDNT charge me money for this. not being funny but surely it is illegal for OCUK to expect you to pay money to send something back which doesnt work. I would have been livid if they tried that on with me.

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According to the distance selling regulations, the onus is actually on the customer to pay for the return of faulty goods :(

Man that is bull****e isnt it... having to pay for something that is broken....
are you absolutely sure (some evidence would be nice) that you have to pay if its broken and not just if you dont want it....

I still think you would get better returns on spending the money on a better cpu then on the ram. When i worked at a computer repair place for a year hardly any computers came in with faulty ram, and most of that was dog cheap stuff.

Ram then cpus had the lowest failure rate by far.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/support.htm

See number 5 on the list.

OK but is that actually in line with the law?

Well ill never be buying anything from OCUK now then....

All i have to say is YAY to Kustom PC and Watford Electronics as they didnt charge
me for things which were faulty.

I have no idea about what the law is but I'm they do, and won't be breaking them.

I'm so curious about this that I've sent an email of to the Office of Fair Trading. Research on the web is inconclusive. Some of it says that the consumer is responsible and some says the supplier. I'll try and remember to post when I get a reply :)


[edit]As an aside ... I've yet to find anywhere apart from Overclockers who even list the GFX card I want and I'm incredibly reluctant to go for one other than that ... it seems like a fantastic card to me.[/edit]

Ordering from overclocker.co.uk is not a problem at all, just gotta hope you don't have to RMA anything...

Ok, I've been trying to understand what people are saying on here and have come up with two alternatives that I think represent approximately my two main choices near enough ... could people please offer opinions if they have any? :D

£ 129.95 AMD Athlon 64 3200 (Socket 754) - Retail
£ 69.95 Asus K8VSE Deluxe (Socket 754) Motherboard
£ 195.00 Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XLPT TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2
£ 394.90 SUBTOTAL
£ 69.11 VAT
£ 464.01 TOTAL

OR

£ 214.95 AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Socket 939)
£ 89.95 MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (Socket 939) Motherboard
£ 114.00 Corsair 1GB DDR Value Select PC3200 Kit (2x512MB)
£ 418.90 SUBTOTAL
£ 73.31 VAT
£ 492.21 TOTAL

There obviously is a small price difference, but as long as it doesn't increase it ought to be coverable ... IF it's worth it to me???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaKid

Ok, I've been trying to understand what people are saying on here and have come up with two alternatives that I think represent approximately my two main choices near enough ... could people please offer opinions if they have any? :D

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I think the second option is better. It has a faster CPU, which also leaves more room for upgrading to better processors in the future. Also, the lower quality RAM shouldn't make much of a difference, especially if you are overclocking.

Wasn't intending to overclock ... don't know anything about it, which is always a good reason not to do it in my book ;)