Aarrgh not another "help me build a pc" thread lol

[dinoprime]

only joking

i'm looking to build a 939 system for my new place but i only have £600 to spend.

i'd really appreciate your vast knowledge to help me in this quest

ok so i have these bits from my old pc

ati 9800 pro 128mb
ms ergo keyboard
ms opti mouse

not alot i know

so i need a base unit and monitor for £600.

ive seen the amd 3000 bundle from komplett and have thought about building summat around it but i thought i'd seek advice first.

i'd be using the system for work, internet, gaming and online gaming.

now i dont need a wizz bang base unit but i would like to be able to play bf2 reasonable and hl2 and the like.

now i guess i could keep the 9800 but if u can sort a system around the pci-e boards then that would be great.

thanks greatly for you tips and advice

cheers

deano

[Dougal]

If you're going 939, unless you get a ULi based board you'll need a new PCI-E graphics card.

If you do go the PCI-E route, you'll have about £500 (and a bit) for the base unit if you go CRT, or £400 (and change) if you got 17"/19" TFT.

Let us know which direction

[dinoprime]

i guess going the crt route would give me a better base unit and i could then upgrade the monitor later

thanks for your help

[YorkieBen]

If you're going 939, unless you get a ULi based board you'll need a new PCI-E graphics card.

er no

there are plenty of agp socket 939 boards out there

[unreal]

er no

there are plenty of agp socket 939 boards out there

Yes, such as the Abit 3rd Eye one, which is what I would advise if you are going for a Socket 939 platform with a AGP card.



REGUARDLESS I would STRONGLY advise getting a PCI-E based motherboard, and slapping a 6600GT in there, especially since I've seen some for a tad under £100. And if you end up getting an SLi board, you can slap another in later to get 6800GT performance for a small addition more



I built a computer for under £600, which consisted of a 6800GT, 1gb RAM, DFI LAN Party mobo, Athlon 64 3400, DVDRW, 120GB HDD, 550w PSU, 802.11g, modded case..... drawback? Socket 754 - an ageing platform with no future.

[iranu]

The 9800pro is still a good card so why not try and sell it on Hexus. It should make £50+.

Deffo go S939 3000+ venice @ £80. Don't bother with SLi it's just added cost. 7800gt has just come out and R520 from ATI is coming so expect prices to drop on gfx cards soon. 6600GT is a good card - best bang for buck, when it's obsolete you'll be able to pick up a 7800GTX for 50p.

Sata 160g HD's are @ £60 - choose your flavour. Perhaps re-use HD's from old PC?

Gigabyte do some cheaper reliable boards @ £50 -60 - see Scan (free postage on all bits for Hexus forumites)

Thats about £300. PSU/RAM/CD-ROM/DVD Writer are they needed or can you reuse some bits?

[unreal]

He hasn't got 50 posts yet, so he can't sell or buy from Hexus yet really.

^^^^ Agree with above post too

[dinoprime]

i guess ive got some serious posting to do then lol

i have been pondering on going the pci-e route and seeing as the 6600 is a good card and that new ati card just been released quietly to compete with it i guess these prices mite drop slightly so i think the pci-e route is the way to go

so i'm thinking

3000 venice
1 gb of ram
mobo - not sure which
sata hd 160gb
dual layer dvd writer
prob onboard sound

so what would u suggest for the mobo?

and wheres the best place to get the bits from?

[krazy_olie]

939 with PCI-e IMO is the best route to go currently, as it is the best in terms of future proofing. I would even say go for a motherboard with 2 PCI-e slots so that it is SLI capable. If you buy say a 6600GT for a smidge over £100, then when you feel you need a bit more juice, buy another one. The price would have dropped and the advantages of SLI should increase over time, with multi threading and drivers improving.

[YorkieBen]

x800gt is faster than the 6600gt and can be got (or will be able to in a few weeks) for £110

[dinoprime]

do both nvidia and ati cards sli?

and which mobo will give me sli for the best price?

im not going to be uber overclocking but i would be get cl 2.5 ram so a little clocking mite happen but really i just want a stable system that i can play games on and other stuff without breaking the bank

[dinoprime]

ive been having a look on scan and come up with this little lot, what are your thoughts?

AMD Athlon 64 3000 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" 90nm Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty £85.30 £100.23

Asus A8N-SLi (Standard), ATX, DDDR400, PCI-E, Gbit Lan, USB 2.0, 1394, 8ch Audio, 4 x SATA, Raid £73.95 £86.89

2 x 512Mb PC3200 (PC400) DDR Memory (Major) Retail £27.48 £64.58

200Gb Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 10 (7200rpm,8MB) SATA NCQ - Lead Free £49.89 £58.62

400W XClio-SCF aPFC Super Silent (21Db) 12cm Fan 20/24 + SATA+PCI-E+Super Cooling Function £24.99 £29.36

17" Samtron 78E 7002FE CRT Monitor 1280x1024 0.23mm Ivory £46.89 £55.10

128MB Gigabyte GV NX66T128VP - GF6600GT (NV43 Ultra,1000/500Mhz,128MB DVI,TV Out-SLI,VIVO,PCI-E x16 £98.89 £116.20

Centurion 531 Silver Aluminium USB2.0 x2, MIC x1, SPK x1, IEEE1394 x1 (NO PSU) £32.99 £38.76

AOpen DUW1608-ARR 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer Chameleon (Sil/Blk/Ivory) DVD±RW, Retail with DVD Software £27.83 £32.70

Net Total £495.69

Carriage £15.00

V.A.T. £89.37

TOTAL £600.06

now once scan get rid of the del charge for hexus ppl that will be £585.06

plus i can get it on scan finance for £60 and pay in may so giving me 9 months to raise £500 sweet!

[GFiSH]

If you're going to be gaming you might want to go for some branded memory, like Corsair TwinX, it'll cost a bit more but should give you better performance. If you're going to get it on finance can you not afford a little more? If you can afford it put a faster CPU in, try to stretch for 3500+ if you can. I would also get a better quality PSU, look at an Enermax or Tagan, again this would cost more, but would be worth it.

[iranu]

Looks a little expensive from Scan even with free carriage - you might want to shop around a bit although I can vouch for the good service.

Cases are cosmetic (in the main) so on a budget go cheap as you can and spend the extra on a good PSU - if you have to, drop the SLi and spend the extra on a PSU. A good PSU will outlast a mobo and should see you right for your next system. The Chenbro gaming bombs look ok - anyone got one?

RAM - The most frustrating errors i.e. the most random come from dodgy ram. It's worth spending a fiver extra for known good quality ram look at this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=237278 - Lifetime warranty too.

[Michael]

REGUARDLESS

Putting bold and caps emphasis on a word you can't spell doesn't help you when you're trying to get your point across mate. Just a heads up

[sawyen]

AWWW.. give the guy a break... I do this kind of typo all the time..

6600GT should be the way to go if you're not looking to spend a fortune.. the new x800GT seems pretty promising as well, but the lack of shader model 3.0 and HDR is a real wooden hammer to the heart.

As long as its an aluminium casing with good enuf oreintation for airflow, its a good enough case. Deffo with the PSU, nothing is more frustrating than a smoking PSU...