New Build - Advice Please!

[nvening]

Im about to build this PC for a mate, the only intensive thing it will be used for is gaming.



I think the price would be better at around £1500, however i think i may drop the games and he can just buy what he wishes as he has been given the budget by his parents.

However any spec suggestions/ cheaper prices would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[Merlin4458]

would switch the psu for a hyper 580, and also the mx1000(although a great mouse) would switch for a logitech G5 as i got both and G5 is unreal.
http://www.cocc.co.uk/Itemdesc.asp?ic=LOGG5&eq=&Tp=
stupidly fast deleivery and cheapest i found it

[NightshadowUK]

My thoughts:
- The Logitech MX518 and a SteelPad QcK+ mousemat.
- The Zalman VF900 over the VF700.
- A Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 is supposedly faster than a Samsung Spinpoint, although mine's pretty quick and oh so very quiet (shame about the noisy Raptor).

[nvening]

i still dont trust hiper (infact im becoming a Tagan fanboy ) they are both at the same price and 480w is more than enough right?

Thanks for the advice on the GPU HSF, shame arctic cooling wont have tier cooler for some time yet.

Apparently the Hitachi is slightly faster (nothing he will notice lol) but it is quaite a bit quieter (which he will) so i believe thats the better choice imho.

I think he wants a wireless mouse but ill ask him also is the Steelpad QcK better than the one i put on the list? Its cheaper however its not instock, however i probably wont be ordering for 3 weeks, but obviously he wants to see it first, i can make changes before i buy.

[arthurleung]

Why split the mouse/kb?

Buy something like MX3100 which includes both the kb/mouse with the same transceiver

Use something like Media Player Classic to (free) play DVD

He can buy a refurb 2005FPW for less than 300 (still there I think from AUT)

Usnig a cheapo speaker set and not at least an A2ZS mean the sound will be crap (IMO).

[nvening]

The mx3100 is not sold anymore, and all the other sets suck or cost loads.

He is not an audiophile, on the system he has at the moment the only speakers he has are the ones attatched to his el cheapo monitor!! (although thats not a gaming pc) He just wants something to use, i think a soundcard/ £90 speaks is a waste on him.

The Belinea monitor is top notch according to CustomPC (Belinea are improoving apparently) And a new full warrentied with no backlight bleed monitor for £30 more is got to be worth it? I also dont think that he would want a second hand one.

Afaik you still need a dvd decoder for media player classic?

[RavenNight]

Looks great, minor changes, the Hitachi will be slightly faster, another vote fo the Hiper and I'd go for a fUnc 1030 instead of the Steelpad, very cheap from alienware. Also if you can strech ti it you won't regret getting a Logitech G5.

[MSIC]

Nice specs, will be a really great system.
I'd actually keep the Samsung hard drive, i really like them.

The only thing I would chnage is the wireless side of things - you have a wireless (G) PCI card, but a wired-only router. Is that what you want? (Just checking). If so, fine, but i'd still change the G spec to a pre-N. I know that it may not be 100% certain to work at full speed in the future, but it will also work at regular G speeds, plus the range on the Netgear pre-N's is SOOOO much better, which for me matters more than outright speed - have 20 Mbits per second all the time is better than 50 Mbits on/off/on/off ...
I would advise you change the DG834UK wired router to something like the DG834PN. It's £100 (inc Vat, free Scan delivery and a free notebook PCMCIA card). Did a quick froogle search and nowhere (that i've ever heard of) is doing a better deal.

[arthurleung]

The mx3100 is not sold anymore, and all the other sets suck or cost loads.

He is not an audiophile, on the system he has at the moment the only speakers he has are the ones attatched to his el cheapo monitor!! (although thats not a gaming pc) He just wants something to use, i think a soundcard/ £90 speaks is a waste on him.

The Belinea monitor is top notch according to CustomPC (Belinea are improoving apparently) And a new full warrentied with no backlight bleed monitor for £30 more is got to be worth it? I also dont think that he would want a second hand one.

Afaik you still need a dvd decoder for media player classic?

You don't need a dvd decoder for MPC (unless you're taking about the one came with windows) It already got it built in.

[johnny02004976]

another vote fo the Hiper

i agree id go for the Hiper as well there a great piece of kit.

EDIT: plus by dropping the games and power DVD you've got a saving of £45 - which could be added to your budget for the monitor and get the Dell 2005

[bright_]

I'd disagree on the hiper, I have one in my current system and I wish I'd gone for a Tagan. Admiottedly I overclock, but the 12V rail wavers a heck of a lot considerign I'm noway near the voltage limit

[nvening]

See, tagan rules

I dont really get this DVD decoder stuff. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...02april15.mspx
According to that you can hardware and software decoders? Has the drive i specified got one?

EDIT: hang on, so prgrams like windows media player classic have a decoder built in you say? Why the hell does windows media player 10 not?

And i didnt realse that that router was wired only lol, i thought it was the dg834g, which is wifi.

Are there any cheap wirless router/pci card bundles around, like linksys? I have always bought netgear so i am not sure what to get.

EDIT: [QUOTE]Window Media Player Classic is an enhanced version of Windows Media Player 6.4. This program can play DVDs with help of external decoders like WinDVD and it can also play Realmedia files, if realplayer one is installed. [QUOTE] Im still confused lol, i always thought you had to buy one.

EDIT: How about this
http://www.savastore.com/productinfo...=0&rstrat=7834

EDIT: Whats best, the alineware mouse pad or the one i listed?

[NightshadowUK]

Whats best, the alineware mouse pad or the one i listed?

A mousemat is a mousemat generally, as long as it's made out of the same-ish material. That's why I recommended the SteelPad QcK, it's cheap and is made from a nice cloth with a rubber base so it doesn't slide anywhere on your desk - spending big bucks on a mousemat is crazy.

[menthel]

I have that router and pci card and it is fine!

[nvening]

Ill get that router then. Are you a gamer nightshadow? My mouse mat was £20 and i consider it money well spent. Im using an alienware one on my mates pc and its OK, i think the steelpad sounds better.

[NightshadowUK]

Aye, mainly BF2 and CS:S... although BF2's taking priority at the moment.

Logitech MX518 + SteelPad QcK =