Spec me up

[P.Jackson]

Hello all im looking for a decent gaming rig.

Heres what im looking for and there from www.scan.co.uk

• 1 Gig ram
• Hard Disk
• Gfx Card (Pref ATi X800)
• Motherboard
• PSU

Would appreciate some help and input

Regards,
Paul

[mike_w]

For the PSU, make sure that you pick a good brand, rather than just high power ratings. Stick to Antec, Tagan, etc. and you should be okay. I went for the Tagan 480W, so it should last far longer than any other of my components (I hope!)

For the RAM, I personally prefer going for ordinary RAM. You can get more expensive RAM with tighter timings, but I don't think it is worth the price premium. Again, stick to decent brands and you should be fine - Corsair Value Select, Crucial.

For hard disks, I always go for Seagate - relatively quiet and reliable, along with a five year warranty.

[Dark Horse]

San Diego 3700+ has a pretty good rep if you can afford it otherwise look at the lower 3000-3500+ venices.

If you're not looking to overclock then any of the main boards will do you well, everybody has their own preferences:
MSI K8N Diamond
Abit AN8 Fatality
Asus A8N Sli

Are all fairly similar in spec and price. If you're looking to overclock the DFI Lanparty NF4 ULtra D series are more or less the best right now.

The X800XL is the best value price/performance right now but I'd think that 6800ultra prices are about to drop with the release of the 7800gtx which of course would be great if you can afford it.

Tagan psus are top quality and well worth the price.

Unless you're looking for fast 10krpm drives there isn't a massive disparity between the big manufacturers, just make sure you get a newer SATA drive. Seagate are good as previously mentioned.

Most of these points depend on your budget so it'd be useful if you could give a range to base it around.

[P.Jackson]

Thanks ill go for the 3700 was going to get the 4000 clawhammer awhile ago but bit the bullet and i waited a bit to see if anything new popped up price range


£500 / £1000

[P.Jackson]

Heres my suggestion anyone have any thoughts on it?

QTY Price (ea) Ex VAT Total Inc VAT Remove
LN7539 AMD Athlon 64 3800 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty £213.38 £250.72

LN9709 160Gb Samsung SpinPoint™ P80 ATA-150 (7200rpm,8mb) - SATA £52.33 £61.49

LN8944 Akasa Maxi-View Side Panel for Eclipse-62 Case £8.99 £10.56

LN8282 Akasa Eclipse-62 Midi Tower Case - Hi-End £73.99 £86.94

LN9034 460W Akasa Ultra quiet aPFC PSU with Blue LED 12cm Fan ( 24Pin connector ) £45.65 £53.64

LN10294 1GB Corsair XPERT (2 x 512MB) PC3200 2x64Mx64, non-ECC 2x184, unbuffered, 2-3-3-6 £119.50 £140.41

LN9576 MSI K8N SLi Diamond NF4, ATX, DDDR400, PCI-E, 2xGbit, USB 2+FW, 7.1Ch Creative Aud, 4 x SATAII, Raid £105.87 £124.40

LN10146 Akasa Evo 33 (AK913) HeatPipe Cooler for AMD Athlon 64 & Athlon FX CPUs - S754/S939/S940 £17.99 £42.28

LN10415 256M Connect 3D PCI-E X800XL GDDR3 TV/DVI ViVo £165.63 £194.62




Net Total £821.32

Carriage £15.00

V.A.T. £146.36

TOTAL £982.68

[Lee H]

If you check the following link the CPU is on a special this weekend and should save you a bit

http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/

[Dark Horse]

Heres my suggestion anyone have any thoughts on it?

QTY Price (ea) Ex VAT Total Inc VAT Remove
LN7539 AMD Athlon 64 3800 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty £213.38 £250.72

LN9709 160Gb Samsung SpinPoint™ P80 ATA-150 (7200rpm,8mb) - SATA £52.33 £61.49

LN8944 Akasa Maxi-View Side Panel for Eclipse-62 Case £8.99 £10.56

LN8282 Akasa Eclipse-62 Midi Tower Case - Hi-End £73.99 £86.94

LN9034 460W Akasa Ultra quiet aPFC PSU with Blue LED 12cm Fan ( 24Pin connector ) £45.65 £53.64

LN10294 1GB Corsair XPERT (2 x 512MB) PC3200 2x64Mx64, non-ECC 2x184, unbuffered, 2-3-3-6 £119.50 £140.41

LN9576 MSI K8N SLi Diamond NF4, ATX, DDDR400, PCI-E, 2xGbit, USB 2+FW, 7.1Ch Creative Aud, 4 x SATAII, Raid £105.87 £124.40

LN10146 Akasa Evo 33 (AK913) HeatPipe Cooler for AMD Athlon 64 & Athlon FX CPUs - S754/S939/S940 £17.99 £42.28

LN10415 256M Connect 3D PCI-E X800XL GDDR3 TV/DVI ViVo £165.63 £194.62




Net Total £821.32

Carriage £15.00

V.A.T. £146.36

TOTAL £982.68

I'd go for the San Deigo 3700+ over the Venice 3800+

Unless you are really serious about cases there is no need to spend £86 on a case, something like £40 would get you virtually the same.

Again unless you are a serious overclocker there is no need for the corsair xpert ram, 1gb brand name ram for £70 would give you the same performance +-10%.

If you're not overclocking just get the retail cpu and you will get a heatsink and fan and have no need for better cooler.