New PC

[Gethin]

Hey guys, I'm really not a techy when it comes to computers... I know very little, my brother's the one who's good at all that stuff, but he's gone to bed so I can't ask him for his opinions on this system for another 15 or so hours so I want to ask you guys.

Sorry if this is the wrong forumby the way.

Motherboard: Asrock 939NF4-G
Processor: AMD64 Athlon 3700+ Socket-939 San Diego;
Memory: 2.0GB DDR 400mhz;
Hard Disk Drive: 250GB S-ATA2 3.0Gb/s 16MB buffer;
Optical Drive: 16x Double-Layer DVD+/-RW;
Graphics card: NVidia GeForce 6600GT PCI-E 256MB TV/DVI;
Sound Card: Audigy Soundblaster 7.1 24-bit;
Internet and Networking: Onboard 10/100 network card (Built-in);
Monitor: 19’’ TFT Monitor - Speakers, DVI, 12ms response;
Peripherals: Logitech Rechargeable Wireless keyboard, mouse;
Warranty: 3 Years Standard Warranty;
Case: Gladiator (500W PSU)

£684.00 (incl. VAT)

With my lack of knowledge I would this that this is a good price, but I want to know what you guys think

I will be using my pc for a mixuture of things, games (call of duty) now and then, but not often. Watching films (again, not very often). Music... almost all the time. Other than that I will be using the internet a lot and probably programs such as adobe photoshop and dreamweaver, flash etc, word etc.

Thanks in advance.

[MantisCSS]

tbh m8 that looks liek a faultless setup. could always look for an upgrade ont he Graphics card if possible but no worries if not its still a very nice card. but over all looks nice. especialy for that price, not bad at all.

[Gethin]

Thanks for your reply MantisCSS, I may be able to upgrade the graphics card I'll see what happens with the budget

[MantisCSS]

yeh, its not essential, its still a nice card but u cud maybe get a 7600GT which got good reviews.

[Steve B]

out of interest what speakers are you going to be running through the audigy?

[Gethin]

not sure Steve, and thanks Mantis I'll look into that.

[Steve B]

if you aren't going to be running an actual 7.1 surround system off the audigy, i would deem on-board audio to be more than satisfactory. Considering the board already has the 7.1 on-board audio controller, and you're not going to be using any music editing software, or have extra-sensitive ears, it might be worthwhile to invest the 20-odd quid elsewhere, perhaps upgrading the graphics card, like mantis suggested to one of the 7600 series, such as this (this card also achieved 3/3 stars on Scans website)

[MantisCSS]

good spot there steve, wha price rang u got for a GFX card m8, or is it a pre built system>?

[Gethin]

Ah thanks steve, didn't think of that

Mantis, this is a pre-built system but I changed the configuration on the site.

http://www.goldenelectronics.co.uk/i...-939A8X-2.html

The best gfx card I can get is the Nvidia 7600GT 256MB, which is an extra £45.
But, taking away the £18 and sticking with onboard sound as steve suggested, it's just an extra £27

So total would be £686, just £2 above the last price, but I'm considering leaving out the wireless keyboard and mouse as I'm unsure what set it is exactly. (without keyboard/mouse total = £655)

[Steve B]

i tell u, ive got a logitech media keyboard and an mx1000 laser mouse, but i'd be just as happy with a mx510 or a 518, both of which are wired, and a wired keyboard, as wireless isn't all that its cracked up to be.

A couple of points also to consider, with the imminent release of Conroe in early July, AMD are planning a large price drop on most, if not all socket 939 processors, so if you can hold of for another couple of weeks, u could be saving urself something like 50 quid

Also, at such time as conroe is released, this forum will have become ur second home, and you can take advantage of the scan free carriage offer once you hit 25 posts

Remember to read the T&C's about the offer though, and dont just spam to get the required amount

Cheers,
Steve

[Gethin]

This probably show's how much I don't know about the whole technical side to computers, but what's conroe?

And also, my brother already has free carriage but I'll probably stick around and get it myself anyway

[Steve B]

Conroe is the name of the new intel E-series dual core processors due for release very soon.

OK, so ive configured up a very similar system on the website you gave me, only leave the graphics as on-board and keep your ram at 1Gig, you can save a whole 3 quid if you buy it from scan hey, every penny counts. Also, with the current spec, imo, you'll only need a 400W PSU, so its not really worth spending an extra 15quid to upgrade it to 500W. If your only running one DVD, one HDD and one GPU, 400W should be plenty.

Post-purchase of this system, head along to scan and puckup that 7600GS and an extra gig of PC3200. Get your brother to order it for u, bringing the total purchase from scan to 132.68. Add this to the 485 spent on the barebones system, and thats a total of £618 or near abouts. This is considerably less than the price-tag which would initially be paid, however, this price doesn't include the logitech keyboard and mouse combo. I would recommend this bundle, as the keyboard has all the media keys you need, and I had that mouse for over a year before upgrading, and never had any problems with it. I think many people will agree that logitech make, by far, the best keyboard and mice.

Anyway, bedtime for me
If you've got any other questions or just need more advice just shoot me a PM and ill reply as soon as i can.

Cheers,
Steve B

[MadduckUK]

go for the 7600, its worth far more than the jump in price.

****. bed time for me too. better slurp a few pints of water first

[Gethin]

Thanks steve for your suggestions, but does the system you configured on scan include the 19" TFT?

If it does I'll look into what you've said

[MantisCSS]

i would personaly upgrade tot he 7600GT m8, its a much better card.