Best Value item in your system

[Swafe]

i use a bog standard generic PSU, came with my Case from ebuyer for 12 quid


which is quite value in itself, not gone bad in about 4 years now

[yamangman]

Good question, it's a choice between either my

Creative 5300 that I use on one of my computers, only £15 and they really do rock nicely.

Or my 1GB Kingmax RAM, who needs the expensive stuff? This stuff is fantastic.

[Swafe]

i had some kingmax ram, really good value

[the insaan]

50p for a second hand packard bell keyboard from a car boot sale, had it 5 years now, and 2 years ago i bought an optronix usb optical mouse for £6 from komplette and i'm still using both items

[rajagra]

Best value "thing" in my systems? Ghost software. Does proper backups to disk images, none of this flaky file-by-file nonsense. Copies between hard disks. Backs up to CDs. Loads up different OS copies to muck around with. There are alternatives to Ghost, some are even free, but Ghost is what I have/use right now. Bargain at twice the price.

[eldren]

Same as Daymonkey, my Compaq keyboard that I got for free. Been using it for about 5 years now, though it's getting a bit on, what with having accidentally dropped it on a pavement, cracking the corner.

[malfunction]

Sticking to hardware - I could give you a top 3:

1. Lian Li PC61 (black version of the PC60). Has lasted ages, will probably last through the next upgrade and beyond. Looks cools (*I* like it more than the best Coolermasters - though I was VERY tempted by the black widow). And everyone knows black computers are faster.

2. CWT / Meridian 450W PSU. I'm 100% convinced that they are the same PSUs as the much rated Antecs (in fact I ranted on about it on these very forums a while back) and they are cheap as chips. As above - will probably keep up for the next upgrade (though I might upgrade to the next one up anyway).

3. Zalman CNPS 7000a AlCu. The aluminium + copper version. Good performance without the noise.

As far as software goes #1 has to be Java - or more specifically the JDK - it's free, it keeps me employed, and IMO it's a bloody good language.

[Ceryndrion]

has to be the cheap trust keyboard that I picked up a few years ago, has had a few new sets of keys, and a couple of new shells, but is the same one as I bought years back

[BAcon]

mine is my A64 3700 and xfx Gt with doom3

£270 and £220 respectivily thanks to the pcw componant store code

GT clocks to 425/1.15 easily with more room on the core

edit: agree with cheap keyboards being great, i bought a trust keyboard for £10 and it feels so much nice to type on than my cordless logitech MX

[iranu]

sony trinitron e200e flatscreen 17" monitor - paid about £100 extra on a 1200 quid pc for this over the generic no-name one.

(athlon slot a 750Mhz, 128mb ram, dvd rom, 20gig hd drive etc wow)

It's lasted 4 1/2 years and still going strong with an image as good as the day I bought it.

[IceWebb]

I would say my unlocked Barton XP2600+ running strong at 2400Mhz (200*12) which I bought for 67 Euro.

[Spunkey]

well the current system i'm using has been going for around 3 1/2 years so i guess i've gotten my money's worth out of it. plays most new games, although its starting to show its age now. Desperately after an upgrade but i have a missus nicking all my cash

It wasnt cheap when i bought it back in April 2001, IIRC...
AMD 1.2 Thunderbird - £240
Asus Geforce3 Deluxe - £320
Crucial 2x256 PC133 - £180
Abit KT7A - £90
TDK 16x12x40 CDRW - £115
Samsung 16x40 DVD - £70
Tornado Case - £115

Just shows how quickly prices come down

[Aaron]

This is going to sound silly but it has to be my 18" TFT monitor, despite paying a ridiculous amount for it 2.5 years ago (£700 ).

Whilst I've upgraded every single other component in my system, this has stayed. Why? Because I still love it. The size, the styling, the sharpness, the brightness, the fact that it doesn't strain my eyes....

I'll probably still be using it in 5 years time.

[DR]

My Dell keyboard

[Russ]

1700

or my audigy which zak gave me last christmas

[Russ]

My Dell keyboard

/looks at davids sig

i think some one is either telling porkies, or is high (on life of course)