500 quid 'budget' Gaming Box replacement

[Odc]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=322310
That would be an excellent gfx card for the price, I have the GT and play 90% of games on max settings.

Edit: They also overclock pretty well with the stock cooler. If you buy a new cooler such as a Zalman then you can overclock it a lot more.

[atrull]

just been gandering at http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27655

[killkoy]

some of my results for overclocking my 6800gs
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=62378
i am using the stock cooler at the moment

[atrull]

so 6800gs vs x850xt - which is actualy the better card ?

finding reviews for these two is a pita and they both look rather clockable.

[atrull]

oh, and I don't mean to sound ungrateful - your responses so far have been very educational thank you!

[davethechamp]

Unless I'm mistaken the X850XT is not greatly overclockable, but the X800GTO2 in the article above is, if flashed and OC'ed. The new 6800GS (about similar prices) is also V overclockable.
I prefer the nVidia - it has SM3.0 and could potenially be used in a SLI setup.
EG
X800GTO2 = X850XT (pe) depending on clock
6800GS = 6800GT (ultra) depending on clock speed
Both around the £140 mark. there should be plenty of forum discussions and review comparisons on google if not here that compare the x850 and 6800gt.
Which ever floats your boat I guess

dave

[atrull]

this is painful - I see my 'strict' budget squeezing to £600 just to fit in the slightly better value products. aargh.

[atrull]

I've never really trusted ati either tbh, so it'll have to be nvidia..

I've updated my first post with what I'm thinking is best now - mostly due to dave's inspiration hah

[davethechamp]

Is there anything from your old system you could scavenge?
I.e. if you could use the floppy drive and optical drive (short term) theres best part of £40 saved (or put of till a later date).
When building a new computing beast its best to have quality core components. like:
Good solid, stable PSU (tagan, seasonic)
Solid and OC freindly Mobo (Abit, Asus)
Highest CPU you can afford / bang for buck and OC like crazy (opteron 144)
I gig memory (2x512) is good. Don't get cheapest!!
Best, fastest GPU / bang for buck and OC like crazy.

The case at the end of the day is just something to hold it all together in one convenient place, though decent cooling characteristics can have a bearing on your final OC.

If you keep your eyes on the today only section on scan you should be able to save a few more quid and keep nearer budget!!

dave

[atrull]

Is there anything from your old system you could scavenge?
I.e. if you could use the floppy drive and optical drive (short term) theres best part of £40 saved (or put of till a later date).
When building a new computing beast its best to have quality core components. like:
Good solid, stable PSU (tagan, seasonic)
Solid and OC freindly Mobo (Abit, Asus)
Highest CPU you can afford / bang for buck and OC like crazy (opteron 144)
I gig memory (2x512) is good. Don't get cheapest!!
Best, fastest GPU / bang for buck and OC like crazy.

The case at the end of the day is just something to hold it all together in one convenient place, though decent cooling characteristics can have a bearing on your final OC.

If you keep your eyes on the today only section on scan you should be able to save a few more quid and keep nearer budget!!

dave

:nod: (does this smiley work ?)
perhaps.
I'm going to go for all that and the writer since I don't have a writer at the moment (sacre bleu!)

I think the only thing I am leaving out at the moment is a decent HSF solution + fan for the case.

[davethechamp]

fair enough. A retail AMD HSF is fine for some moderate OC, and can be an easy upgrade at alater date if needed.
1 other question, is the need for SATA II a need or a want? if not needed there is the potential to save a few more quid..
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=293095 - £48.69
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=208593 - £53.93
could potentially save about £20-£25
Room for thought??

Dave

[atrull]

the sata2 thing is more a feint attempt to futureproof the motherboard.. and since an 80gb sata1 drive is a little more than half the cost of a 160gb sata2 drive.. well, maths is hard! 'doh.

I can afford it. repeat x550

[davethechamp]

How about this lot then? some of it is from the today only (weekend) section at scan
LN11722 Abit KN8 Ultra PCI-E S939 NF4 DDR400 SATAII Raid Gbit Lan USB2 7.1Ch Audio £57.00 £66.98
LN12173 AMD Opteron UP 144 1.8GHz 64bit 1Mb Cache S939 Retail with AMD Heat Sink Fan 3Yr £98.18 £115.36
LN9036 120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan, 3 Pin, 2 Ball Bearing , Ultra Quiet and Long life £6.89 £8.10
LN11240 1Gb (2x512Mb) Corsair Value Select PC3200 non-ECC unbuffered CL2.5 Lifetime Warranty £49.94 £58.68
LN8301 420W Tagan I-XEYE Blue Light Whisper quiet 21db aPFC 12v EPS/SATA/XEON 3rs Warranty ATX/BTX £40.39 £47.46
LN5291 1.44Mb Sony Black Floppy Disk Drive OEM £3.99 £4.69

(Today only Item)
256Mb ScanFX PCI-E 6800GS SLi Extreme Edition GDDR3 ViVo Tv Out Dual DVI HDTV £114.95 £135.07
1 LN12746 256Mb ScanFX PCI-E 6800GS SLi Extreme Edition GDDR3 ViVo Tv Out Dual DVI HDTV

(Today only Item)
NEC ND-4550A Black 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM UK<br>+ Ahead Nero Express Burning ROM Sui £25.50 £29.96
1 LN11813 NEC ND-4550A Black 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM UK
1 LN9628 Ahead Nero Express Burning ROM Suite 1 6.6.x OEM ** NEW**

(Today only Item)
XClio 3010B Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU Hi End Prescott Ready £16.50 £19.39
1 LN10142 XClio 3010B Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU Hi End Prescott Ready

(Today only Item)
160Gb SATA300 Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE (7200rpm,8Mb) - NCQ £49.75 £58.46
1 LN11543 160Gb SATA300 Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE (7200rpm,8Mb) - NCQ

Net Total £463.09

Carriage £0.00

V.A.T. £81.04

TOTAL £544.13

How about that then??

dave

[sgoaty]

Sorry to say but buying the 6800 gs would be a mistake in my opinion when the X850 XT is so cheap. Lets not forget this card is a 6800 ultra beater

[davethechamp]

Sorry to say but buying the 6800 gs would be a mistake in my opinion when the X850 XT is so cheap. Lets not forget this card is a 6800 ultra beater

True, in some apps and not in others. but overall fares well.
though don't forget to add about £9.00, if getting the card from OCUK. - sorry only just realised actually how cheap that card is compared to scan!!

Could still get system from scan with free delivery and then get card from OCUK?

[atrull]

I'm totaly thinking that dave

and I suspect ATI have gotten alot better in the last 4 years...