advice please , as usual new system build :D

[MSIC]

And btw, im hoping that this spec will blow my current 2800xp out of the water?

Yes, getting a Core2Duo board with an 805 isnt a bad idea (as a stop gap), and it will be somewhat better than your current system.
The benefits will be measurable in benchmarks, and windows will feel 'snappier' just by having a multi-cored system.
As for blowing your XP, i wouldnt use as dramatic a term as that.

[ricflairandy]

Well my latest headache filled browsing session has come up with the following 3 options

Option A (the cheap option)

805d retail - 67.55
Asrock 775Twins-HDTV ATI, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR 400, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX - 40.71
1gb1Gb DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz non-ECC 240 DIMM unbuffered CL4 Retail - 63.44
250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ - 49.97
pioneer 111dblk 22.30

And then a case on top of that.


Option B (the quieter , but a bit more expensive option)

Athlon x2 3800 - 102.21
Asrock AM2NF3-VSTA, NF3 250, Socket AM2, AGP 4x/8x, DDR2 800, SATA I, SATA RAID, ATX - 42.99
1gb1Gb DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz non-ECC 240 DIMM unbuffered CL4 Retail - 63.44
250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ - 49.97
pioneer 111dblk - 22.30


Option C (the wembly option)

Core2duo e6300 - 126.65
ASUS P5V-VM DH, VIA P4M890, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 400/533, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX - 50.64
1gb1Gb DDR2 PC2-4200 533MHz non-ECC 240 DIMM unbuffered CL4 Retail - 63.44
250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ - 49.97
pioneer 111d black - 22.30


Again , would need a case.


So if im not mistaken my options are


pd 805 - 243
athlon x2 3800 - 280
e6300 - 313



Unless any of you geniuses can advise me on any more cuts i can make!

[ricflairandy]

Also, for those specs, what psu would you guys reccomend?

Someone on ebay is selling refurbished 9800 pros , do they need alot of power?

[MSIC]

Of course it still comes back to what you can afford, but the Core 2 Duo is 130% the cost of the Pentium (even better when you factor in the cost of case, PSU, mouse and keyboard, speakers etc) but far far more than 130% as powerful.
Of those three options, for the money the Core 2 Duo is the best value.

PS I would strongly advice against buying an AGP motherboard - you may not need seperate graphics now, but who knows what tomorrow may bring. A PCI-Express based motherboard (for surely only a few quid difference) leaves more options open.

[ricflairandy]

ok, Out of option wembly, can you see anything that i can knock down the cost? or is that all the min?

Ive gone for 1gb ram for now instead of 2x512mb. Does the dual channel make noticable difference?

[greektony]

ive been wondering this as well. What with RAM prices looking to be excessively expensive compared to a few months back. A 1 Gb stick works out a lot cheaper than 2 512 ones

[ricflairandy]

Greektony, there is that, aswell as once ram comes back down(if it does) id be able to stick another 1gb stick in.

[MSIC]

You could shave a few quid here and there with for example an 80GB hard instead of 250, but the the price of a couple of pints(if you live in London ) I really wouldnt.
Your 'Wembley' option is the bare minimum that I would personally build in your shoes. Go for it.

[ricflairandy]

Ill go for that one then providing i sell my pc.