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Thread: Good X-Mas System or not?

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    Good X-Mas System or not?

    Well for christmas, i have roughly £500 to spend on a new system, im a gamer, mostly MassiveMultiplayerOnlineGames (MMORPG's)so the recomended specs on the back of there boxes never really mean anything, and ofcourse the occasional FirstPersonShooter.
    My current PC specs are under my name to the left <<, its a four year old system which has only had the gfx card upgraded in the 4 years. Getting a bit old now, so new system it is, ive had a look at the prices and heres what ive dug out.

    Before i go into it and you all reply, heres some information about my general knowledge of PC's etc. This will be the first system ive ever built, ive had a read over many sites explaining exactly how to do it, and printed off one for when the time comes. Im no expert at most things, overclocking i have no clue at all on, cooling is something im pretty clueless about as well.

    Here i go, im going to be buying off of EBuyer as it appears to be the cheapest UK site, if you know a better site, feel free to say .

    PCICASE CS2600-SL Hyperline II Silver ATX Tower Case - No PSU
    Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI SKT939 NF4 SLI SATA USB2.0 retail
    AMD (Venice) Athlon 64Bit 3200+ Socket 939pin 512k L2cache 90nm Retail Boxed Processor
    Xfx GeForce 6600GT PCI-E 128MB DDR3 TV+Dual DVI
    Kingston 1GB DDR PC3200 400MHz Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) 184pin DIMM's (Kit of 2 x 512mb)

    Western Digital WD1200JS Caviar SE 120GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 8MB Cache - OEM
    Antec PSU True Blue 480w Blue Led Fan
    Ebuyer Extra Value System Exhaust Blower Fan
    80mm blue case cooling fan (sleeve bearing)3 Of these
    Ebuyer Extra Value Fan Filter In Blue 3 Of These

    And finally an Anti-Static Wrist Band for safety when building.

    All of this comes to around, &#163;424 + &#163;74 VAT + &#163;6 p&p, so &#163;500.

    Here comes my questions.
    Is this a good system for the money im paying, is there any changes i should make to it?
    Will the harddrive being OEM be a problem, will i be short any cables?
    In this pc i have a 60gb harddrive, if i connected this as a slave drive would there be any problems starting up as this has a version of windows xp + all installed hardware and software of this pc, should i format/parition it before putting it in the new PC.
    Will the cooling fans etc be suffeciant to cool the system if its not overclocked?
    I have a soundcard in this pc, but its pretty old now, will the onboard sound be good enough to beat this old soundcard?
    How long would this CPU be expected to last non overclocked? Im thinking of overclocking a bit, but would need to know the CPU would last atleast 4 years.
    Can u overclock gfx cards and ram, im sure i read you could, if so how long would they last if overclocked.
    I read that most fans just circulate the air inside the case, not really cooling it much, is it possible to have some fans blowing cold air in, and others taking hot air out? After reading this i ordered the System Exhaust Blower.

    Any good reads on overclocking anywhere?

    Thanks.
    Last edited by Duncan_Mon; 01-12-2005 at 07:51 PM.


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

  2. #2
    Yeah dude! NightshadowUK's Avatar
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    The anti-static wrist band... save yourself the fiver 'cause those things went out years ago. I know this now as a result of going into my local computer store and asking for one... I got laughed at, the tech hadn't used one since '95!

    Also, the cables you need for the Hard Drive will come in the Motherboard box.

    The CPU will do fine with a little overclock, you MAY however, need to get some more expensive RAM and a better CPU cooler if you want to push it further.

    You can overclock graphics cards but it depends on the model.

    Finally, air flow in a case. A general rule of thumb is pull air in through the front of the case and push it out the back.
    Last edited by NightshadowUK; 01-12-2005 at 08:01 PM.

  3. #3
    Pony Fiddler Madafwo's Avatar
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    I think the best bet is loading windows XP on to the new drive, and taking what you can off the old drive, as there have been a couple of threads on here lately where people have been having problems using an old hard drive on a new motherboard.

    With regards to the wrist band, get one, £500 is a lot of money, and yeah there are precautions you can take, but its good to have that connection. I don't know of a single place that would say otherwise to be honest. Its a bit like a seat belt, you wear one every day you drive a car and you dont crash, then the day you don't wear one you crash and die. Ok so you wont die, but your Graphics card could.

    You should have enough airflow in that case, just remember to have the fan on the side of the case blowing into it, lovely fresh air over your CPU and Graphics card. It might be a bit noisy though as cheap 80mm fans can whine.

    Apart from that the spec looks ok, but if possible in the future get another gig of RAM.

    From what i have heard ebuyer are cheap but if you have a problem with anything they can be a bit slow with getting it sorted. The only time I had a dealing with them was when I bought two of their cheap fans, on one of them the LED's went up in smoke the first time it got power to it and the second one wouldn't let my system switch on with it facing one direction but would facing the other.
    "I've heard there is a common problem with this item from forums" - If you read some forums they believe Elvis was abducted by aliens, doesn't mean it's true.

  4. #4
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    • Duncan_Mon's system
      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
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      • 120GB Sata, 60GB IDE
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      • X800GTO
      • PSU:
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    Quote Originally Posted by Madafwo
    I think the best bet is loading windows XP on to the new drive, and taking what you can off the old drive, as there have been a couple of threads on here lately where people have been having problems using an old hard drive on a new motherboard.

    With regards to the wrist band, get one, £500 is a lot of money, and yeah there are precautions you can take, but its good to have that connection. I don't know of a single place that would say otherwise to be honest. Its a bit like a seat belt, you wear one every day you drive a car and you dont crash, then the day you don't wear one you crash and die. Ok so you wont die, but your Graphics card could.

    You should have enough airflow in that case, just remember to have the fan on the side of the case blowing into it, lovely fresh air over your CPU and Graphics card. It might be a bit noisy though as cheap 80mm fans can whine.

    Apart from that the spec looks ok, but if possible in the future get another gig of RAM.

    From what i have heard ebuyer are cheap but if you have a problem with anything they can be a bit slow with getting it sorted. The only time I had a dealing with them was when I bought two of their cheap fans, on one of them the LED's went up in smoke the first time it got power to it and the second one wouldn't let my system switch on with it facing one direction but would facing the other.
    Thanks for that, i know the wristband isnt essential, but for a fiver, its definetly a precaution im taking.

    How do i change the direction of airflow from a fan?, do i just fit it the opposite way around?

    I was thinking of getting another gig of ram in the future anyway, thanks


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

  5. #5
    Pony Fiddler Madafwo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Mon
    Thanks for that, i know the wristband isnt essential, but for a fiver, its definetly a precaution im taking.
    Exactly, £500 is a big investment, protect it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Mon
    How do i change the direction of airflow from a fan?, do i just fit it the opposite way around?
    Yup, no voodoo magic required, should be a little arrow showing you which way the air flows, just make sure that arrow ponts towards the inside of your system.
    "I've heard there is a common problem with this item from forums" - If you read some forums they believe Elvis was abducted by aliens, doesn't mean it's true.

  6. #6
    Yeah dude! NightshadowUK's Avatar
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    I may sue the owner of Leapfrog for telling me that about wristbands...

  7. #7
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    • Duncan_Mon's system
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    Quote Originally Posted by NightshadowUK
    I may sue the owner of Leapfrog for telling me that about wristbands...
    I thought it sounded funny when someone told you not to use one, an extra precaution must always be better!

    Quote Originally Posted by Madafwo
    Yup, no voodoo magic required, should be a little arrow showing you which way the air flows, just make sure that arrow ponts towards the inside of your system.
    Thanks .


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

  8. #8
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    • Duncan_Mon's system
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      • Huge Green Metal Thing - God knows the name!
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    Just had a thought.

    The reason im getting this gfx card and that mobo, is so in around may i could slot in a another of the same card and take advantage of SLI. Would i be better getting a mobo such as this (Sapphire PURE CrossFire Advantage skt 939 8 channel audio) and a gfx card like this (Sapphire X800GTO 128mb DDR PCI-E VGA/TVO/DVI-I) then buying a crossfire edition x800 in May?

    Would that sapphire x800gto be better than a single 6600gt untill may?

    I know that SLI can only be done using 2x the exact same model etc, but what can you pick and mix with crossfire, isnt it any X800 model, with a X800 crossfire editon, or any X850 model, with a X850 crossfire edition?
    Last edited by Duncan_Mon; 02-12-2005 at 08:39 AM.


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
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    I fit the PSU in the case and plug the power lead in to earth the chasis and touch metal... no problems with static during the build.

    The otherday mind I shuffled my way accross a half mile of office carpet and reached down to plug in an external USB2 hard drive... I felt the static discharge as I connected the hard drive and now it doesn't work.

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    Senior Member Dark Horse's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Mon
    Would that sapphire x800gto be better than a single 6600gt untill may?

    I know that SLI can only be done using 2x the exact same model etc, but what can you pick and mix with crossfire, isnt it any X800 model, with a X800 crossfire editon, or any X850 model, with a X850 crossfire edition?
    An x800gto will beat a 6600gt easily. If you're happy unlocking and overclocking it then you will get a nice speed boost for free taking you to x800xt speeds fro £100. Overclocking a graphics card is incredible easy and is almost impossible to do wrong so is definatly worth doing.

    As far as crossfire goes you're right there but Crossfire for x800/x850 series cards will be fairly expensive for what you get and at the moment is unproven technology. It will almost certainly be more expensive than a single graphics card of equivalent performance. I'd just get an x800gto now and then sell it on ebay next year and get the best value of next years mid range unlockable/overclockable cards.

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    • Duncan_Mon's system
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Horse
    An x800gto will beat a 6600gt easily. If you're happy unlocking and overclocking it then you will get a nice speed boost for free taking you to x800xt speeds fro &#163;100. Overclocking a graphics card is incredible easy and is almost impossible to do wrong so is definatly worth doing.

    As far as crossfire goes you're right there but Crossfire for x800/x850 series cards will be fairly expensive for what you get and at the moment is unproven technology. It will almost certainly be more expensive than a single graphics card of equivalent performance. I'd just get an x800gto now and then sell it on ebay next year and get the best value of next years mid range unlockable/overclockable cards.
    I wasn't going to be able to go crossfire now anyway, itd be nearer may when i got the crossfire edition x800. What do u mean by unlocking, is this unlocking the 16 pipelines when 4 of them are disabled in the gfx card bios? I read something about this in the reveiws on ebuyer.
    Is this card unlockable / overclockable? If so how do i go about doing so?
    Connect 3D X800GTO 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E DVI VIVO
    Last edited by Duncan_Mon; 02-12-2005 at 02:39 PM.


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

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    Senior Member Dark Horse's Avatar
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    The details are here:

    http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/.../vidcard/127/1

    I unlocked one a connect 3d x800gto for a friend and it went fine . He bought his from ebuyer about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen that update about them the unlocking being harder so I'm not sure it is worth it in light of that. The x800gto2 still unlocks although it is &#163;150.

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      • 120GB Sata, 60GB IDE
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • PSU:
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      • Case:
      • Huge Green Metal Thing - God knows the name!
      • Monitor(s):
      • 17" CRT
      • Internet:
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Horse
    The details are here:

    http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/.../vidcard/127/1

    I unlocked one a connect 3d x800gto for a friend and it went fine . He bought his from ebuyer about 2 weeks ago. I haven't seen that update about them the unlocking being harder so I'm not sure it is worth it in light of that. The x800gto2 still unlocks although it is £150.
    Ill buy the connect 3d version, even if it fails to unlock (this wont damage the card would it?) id be more than happy with it.


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

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    You need to gonsider whether sli or crossfire is worth it, currently a 6800gt is faster, if you can find one, than 2 6600gts in sli, so, unless you plan to upgrade fairly soon, the best value might be from saving some omey of the mobo and saving it for a nicer graphics card when you do upgrade, have a think,

  15. #15
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    • Duncan_Mon's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus A8N-E
      • CPU:
      • AMD 64 sk 939 3200+
      • Memory:
      • 2GB Corsair Value
      • Storage:
      • 120GB Sata, 60GB IDE
      • Graphics card(s):
      • X800GTO
      • PSU:
      • Hiper Modular 580W
      • Case:
      • Huge Green Metal Thing - God knows the name!
      • Monitor(s):
      • 17" CRT
      • Internet:
      • Upto (sigh) 8gb with BT
    Quote Originally Posted by fredered
    You need to gonsider whether sli or crossfire is worth it, currently a 6800gt is faster, if you can find one, than 2 6600gts in sli, so, unless you plan to upgrade fairly soon, the best value might be from saving some omey of the mobo and saving it for a nicer graphics card when you do upgrade, have a think,
    I think id rather just have a SLI / Crossfire motherboard now, then look at whats out and the prices when ive got the money, it looks like ill have about £150 in may, and another £300 in august next year.


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

  16. #16
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    • Duncan_Mon's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus A8N-E
      • CPU:
      • AMD 64 sk 939 3200+
      • Memory:
      • 2GB Corsair Value
      • Storage:
      • 120GB Sata, 60GB IDE
      • Graphics card(s):
      • X800GTO
      • PSU:
      • Hiper Modular 580W
      • Case:
      • Huge Green Metal Thing - God knows the name!
      • Monitor(s):
      • 17" CRT
      • Internet:
      • Upto (sigh) 8gb with BT
    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Mon
    I have a soundcard in this pc, but its pretty old now, will the onboard sound be good enough to beat this old soundcard?
    How long would this CPU be expected to last non overclocked? Im thinking of overclocking a bit, but would need to know the CPU would last atleast 4 years.
    Can u overclock gfx cards and ram, im sure i read you could, if so how long would they last if overclocked.

    Any good reads on overclocking anywhere?
    Thanks.
    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan_Mon
    Ill buy the connect 3d version, even if it fails to unlock (this wont damage the card would it?)
    Any idea on these last few questions?


    Needs new monitor / speakers / headphones / keyboard.
    Before that i need money :s

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