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Thread: Hardware Advice

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    Hardware Advice

    Hey Guys,

    I have been out of the computer scene for some time now and have lost touch with all the latest products and things and am in desperate need of a new computer for a home office i would like some help and advice if you guys wouldnt mind.

    What i want to use the computer for is multitasking keeping lots of applications running at one time i also want to be able to connect 3 monitors up to the computer aswell, iam looking for something with speed but nothing to exsesive.

    I have had a look around the web already but not really sure which motherboards offer performace for the money.

    Many Thanks
    Richard
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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    Amateur photographer Hans Voralberg's Avatar
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    How many applications you want to have up and running ? background of all active at once ? If multi-tasking is vital then go for dual-core perhaps ? AND X2 3800 is good value for money and fast enuf. I have no idea how to run 3 mo with vid so you might want to go Sli/Crossfire route. Mobo wise Abit/Asus are quality stuff and they have heatpipes for chipset so bit less noise.
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    Thanks for that the X2 looks really good, could someone maybe make up a breakdown of all the hardware required so i could go off and have a look.

    I really have lost touch and not really sure about SLI etc.

    Richard
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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    • [DW]Cougho's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Crosshair VI Hero
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 3600 @ 4.3 1900 FLCK
      • Memory:
      • 16GB Team Group DDR4 @ 3800 C16
      • Storage:
      • 512GB Samsung 870 EVO NVME & 1TB Samsung 850 Evo
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      • BenQ XL2730Z 1440p 144Hz
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    Basically you want a dual core CPU, either an Athlon 64 X2 as mentioned or an Intel Pentium D 900 series. For the 3 monitors you want almost any old graphics card and then one of these http://www.matrox.com/graphics/offhome/th2go/home.cfm

    Then just fit the rest of the stuff around the CPU you choose, as you probably wont be overclocking for an office generally the cheaper the better

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    What i came up with

    Processor

    AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 Dual Core 3800+ Retail
    £215.47

    Motherboard
    Asus A8N-SLi Premium NF4 S939 DDR400 PCI-E SATA Raid Gbit Lan 8Ch Audio
    £114.55
    Iam not sure if this board is overkill maybe someone can point me in the right direction

    Memory
    1GB Corsair XMS PC4000 (500) 184 Pin DDR Non-ECC Unbuffered , CAS3-4-4-8
    £92.24

    Hard Drive
    80Gb SATA300 Samsung SpinPoint P HD080HJ (7200rpm,8mb) - NCQ
    £37.82

    Powersupply
    430w Seasonic S12-430 aPFC PSU Silent ATX2.0
    £43.46

    Operating System
    Windows XP Pro OEM
    £98.89

    Case
    Akasa Eclipse-62 Midi Tower Case - Hi-End
    £82.12

    DVD Writer
    LiteOn SHM-165P6S-09 Black AllWrite 16x16 Dual Layer DVD±RW -RAM
    £29.12

    CDROM
    Asus Black x52 Speed CDROM Drive IDE

    Graphics Card
    256Mb XFX GeForce 6200 PCI-E with TurboCache (64MB)
    £34.89

    Monitor
    Dell E196FP 19'' mainstream LCD Flat Panel
    £260.85

    Some of this kit might be over kill for the needs, i have chosen a low end graphics card becuase i dont really have any use for games, but i have tried to choose some quality components to keep speed to a max, maybe some of you guys could tweak the spec above.

    Many Thanks
    Rich
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

  6. #6
    Senior Member cptwhite_uk's Avatar
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    • cptwhite_uk's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450i Gaming plus Wifi
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 3700X
      • Memory:
      • 16Gb DRR4 Trident Z 3200 C16
      • Storage:
      • Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 1Tb NVME SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • RX 6800 16Gb
      • PSU:
      • Corsair SF600 Gold
      • Case:
      • Ncase M1 v6
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell S2721DGF (2560x1440 144Hz Nano IPS)
      • Internet:
      • Bt 500 Mbps
    If you're wanting maximum power on a budget. Conisder an opteron 146 (single core) £125, ASrock 939Dual Motherboard £42, 2Gb Corsair Value Select RAM £110, Antec Silnetium 350W Seasonic PSU case - they're extremely quiet and psu is powerful enough (top brand!) £50, Arctic Freezer 64 Pro for the CPU fan/heatsink £20, i'd treat yourself to something half decent vid card wise - 256mb x800gt powercolour

    That's your basic set-up for £425 (compared to the £582 in the prices you outlined above)

    These are all available at Scan.

    You'll get a processor that will overclock to Athlon Fx-55 / Fx-57 speed (2.6Ghz), 2Gb of stable RAM, a quiet pc, a decent graphics card and a PSU which you can rely on to be stable.

    Recommend samsung/seagate hard drive, whatever dvd-rom you prefer and don't forget to buy an A drive you need it for installing onto a SATA hard drive when you install windows XP.


    Note motherboard isn't sli/crossfire but it does have AGP and PCI-E - supports upto 4 monitors.
    Last edited by cptwhite_uk; 05-03-2006 at 11:56 AM.

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    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
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    If you aren't going to overclock then PC4000 isn't needed, 3200 is fine.

    For very little more (£15-20) you can double your HDD capacity (you may not feel that you need it or you may be carrying over an HDD).

    I would probably go for a slightly higher rated PSU (but then I like to have a safety margin/reserve for future expansion).

    You can probably get an equivalent TFT for £100 cheaper.

    Quote Originally Posted by cptwhite_uk
    and don't forget to buy an A drive you need it for installing onto a SATA hard drive when you install windows XP.
    Actually you don't for single drives as long as the chipset has native SATA support
    Last edited by BUFF; 05-03-2006 at 12:02 PM.

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    Thanks for all that guys i realy appreciate it

    What monitor would you reccommend? Maybe somehthing with DVI out if possible, also on that motherboard would it be possible to install a Decent PCI-E card then a secondary AGP card and use both for more monitors??

    Richard
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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    Getting older teachmech's Avatar
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    • teachmech's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Foxconn P45A
      • CPU:
      • Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.2 Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4 GB Corsair PC6400
      • Storage:
      • Samsung F1 500 Gb + 500 Gb Seagate
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      • ATI 4870
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      • LG 19 inch Widscreen
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    If you are going to multitask then 2Gb would smooth out the process how about
    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=217959
    Corsair value select 2 x 1Gb pc3200 £110.

    Edit two of the cards you have chosen will work as the mb has two pci-e slots

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    Amateur photographer Hans Voralberg's Avatar
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    What monitor size do you want ? Any preference over Wide aspect ? Pick up a Dell 2005 or 2405 if you have money to spare, they're good
    Primary kit:
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    Looking for 3 19" monitors it will only be for office use, so no gaming or anything, wide aspect isnt really a great advantage.

    Rich
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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    Senior Member sawyen's Avatar
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    3x19'' Acer WS LCD... the one on Scan and Savastore.. They're 181quid, not DVI.. but it looks better than my LG on DVI...
    Me want Ultrabook


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    Senior Member Dark Horse's Avatar
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    Most of the stuff suggested above is a pretty good start.

    Processor:
    x2 3800+ would be a better bet if you're multitasking, especially if you've got enough windows open to need 3 screens

    Ram
    2gb of value ram is more than adequate, the amount of ram is far more important than the timings.

    HDD
    You'll be looking for silence so the Samsung p120s series are your best bet. They perform well and are the quietest drives around

    Case
    A good looking case is always nice but no point in spending the earth on it if it will just sit under a desk

    PSU
    Something 400-500w from a quality company. Hiper psu's are quiet and a good compromisde between quality and value for money

    Graphics
    Go for something silent heatpipe cooled, you can get some good 6600gt's and x800xl's if you want to get some performance or something like an x300 or 6200 if you're not.

    Dvdrw, cd and os
    Your call, hard to go wrong

    Monitor
    I'd have a look at aria.co.uk, they do some good deals on dell monitors. http://www.aria.co.uk/dell/

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    Thanks all some really helpfull stuff coming out of this

    Rich
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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    Sexual Force johnny02004976's Avatar
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    take a look at the Viewsonic one on Scan - its 19" and DVI output, or also the AG Neovo ones, im lining up 2 of them for my new Rig, again its DVI

    Viewsonic:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=326965

    AG Neovo:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=116230
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnny02004976
    take a look at the Viewsonic one on Scan - its 19" and DVI output, or also the AG Neovo ones, im lining up 2 of them for my new Rig, again its DVI

    Viewsonic:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=326965

    AG Neovo:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=116230
    That is great i think iam going to go for a AG Neovo aswell

    Rich
    - Trust Me - My Current Desktop - My Rig -

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