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

:) 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

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

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 :)

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

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er no

there are plenty of agp socket 939 boards out there

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Originally Posted by YorkieBen

er no

there are plenty of agp socket 939 boards out there

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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 :cool:



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.

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?

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

^^^^ Agree with above post too

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?

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.

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

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

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 :rockon: 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!

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by unreal

REGUARDLESS

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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 ;)

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...