sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Whats best? do I buy an off the shelf jobbie from Pc world ? (as much as I dont want to

Or do I get one built?

It need to be quite fast with a very good graphics card, its used mainly for browsing and games so what do you suggest ?

I dont need any cd/dvd burners as i've got a few of them already

Thanks
Sam

suba

read up a couple of PC magazines in the newsagent for some reviews. i would say go by them as they know best!

Myk

If you've already got some of the bits CDRW etc then just buy the rest of the gubbins , m/b processor etc

Much cheaper than PC world.

If you want to PM me I can give you spec and price for whatever you need

Mike

Leg@cy

iTrader: (2)

Build one yourself...... lazy get!!!

BlkKnight

WWW.ARIA.CO.UK

will build your PC for you for £50

Cheap components without the grief of making it your self

ex-webby

Sam,

Build it yourself mate. You won't get any issues as long as everything is matched.

I have just done Simon's new PC and my new one as well (mines faster ). All depends on your budget mate.

Regards,
Shaun.

Trashman

Just remember to save your emails though

ex-webby

lol

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

If you want a top-notch gfx card then you pretty much have to build your own, or get someone you know to do it for you, 'cos that's how PC Pants and the like make a lot of their money: by putting real cheap gfx cards in their rigs.

I'd always advise a homebuild as long as you have the courage. You learn a lot of useful stuff, and it makes future upgrades far easier. Fialing that, pay someone else to put your spec together. Third choice for me would probably be Alienware who do make fast rigs for only slightly inflated prices. But I've heard they can be a little slow to deliver or deal with problems.


M

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Ok -i 'll give it a go (although phil or Shaun I may have to call you for help )

What parts should I have on my shopping list? got about £800 to spend and already have a case with plenty of fans

ex-webby

Ok....

Have you got anything else you cam rape from an old system?

Monitor?
Keyboard?
Mouse?
Floppy drive?
CD/DVD Rom - Writer?

Regards,
Shaun.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Got a 19" tft, mouse, keyboard, floppy and two DVD writters a 106 & a 107

ex-webby

ok...

For a kick *** system...

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ CPU
MSI K8N Platinum nForce3 250 Motherboard (has onboard 7.1 DD Sound)
Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XL Platinum CAS2 Ram
Connect3D ATI Radeon X800 Pro "OcUK 16 Pipeline Special Edition" 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI Graphics Card
Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 200GB ATA-100 8MB Cache Harddrive

Total Price £895 inc VAT.

Slightly over your budget mate....... but this thing will SERIOUSLY fly and will handle Doom 3 (probably the most intensive GPU/CPU game out) easily.

Regards,
Shaun.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Actually as Doom3 is OpenGL you'd be better off with a 6800GT, as ATI OGL drivers are pants. In DX9 games it's a lot closer, and seems to mostly depend on the type of shader instructions used in the game. The 6800Ultra is the dogs until the x800XT finally arrives.


M

Andy S.

Shaun where is the best place to buy the bits from?

jase555

i have never had any issues with

www.overclockers.co.uk

ex-webby

Meridan,
Unless your eyes can tell the difference in anything over 60fps, I suggest a x800PRO is sufficient! Since x800PRO's can now be brought with all 16 pipelines and clocked to the same speeds as x800XT's, there is no need to wait for the x800XT (I know as I have one ).

Andy,
Unfortunately I am not allowed to recommend places to buy "bits" from, but others have commented.

Regards,
Shaun.

Andy S.

No worries

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Dell all the way.


www.dell.co.uk

'Lest Design Your New Computer Together'

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

They can, but your advice is otherwise sound enough! Personally I belong in the "100fps or more!" school of gaming: I consider 60fps bare minimum for a shooter. But ATI still can't write OpenGL drivers...


M

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Where's the best place to get these parts ?

cong

ebuyers good!

Andy S.

Just ordered my stuff from them and they have ballsed it up!


only half the bits turned up

case could not be picked (whatever that means) and on the web site they have 17 in stock lol

got the motherboard from Simply and arrived next day on a free delivery


PS sammy sorry for hijacking your thread but looked like a good spec so i copied it

Andy S.

Cheers Shaun

Got my bits and pieces at long last
I have impressed my self at putting it together Thanks for the advice I went for the same system bar the processor (went for the 64 3200+) and the hard drive went for a western digital version.

I am now posting from my new 'putor

Only thing is I cannot get the front usb's to work, may be in the bios?

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Go in Device Mangler: anything got a yellow "!" next to it? I suspect that you've not got the USB 2.0 drivers loaded yet. And stupid question: but the front ports are plugged onto the motherboard correctly aren't they?


M

Andy S.

Think it is the USB 2 Driver but where do I get it from?
It is running XP Professional
The rear USB ports are working OK!
Yes the wires are plugged in LOL

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

If you have yellow "!"s then use the "Update drivers" option by them. Otherwise there should be a download from the motherboard manufacturer's website.


M

Andy S.

Sorted, Bloody card reader I bought from ebuyer was the problem, looked on the comments page and sombeody had posted that with MSI motherboards you need to take out the OC wire, did that and everything works great!

Thanks for thew help

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Got mine sorted, went a slightly different route to the one suggested ;

64bit AMD 3400
Soltek kl8an-rl
Gforce 6800 GT
1 gig of kingston ram
Pioneer 108
Sound blaster card - forget which one but it not cheap
Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 200GB
Total cost £900

Going to test it out fully this weekend

DrEvil

Hope it goes well Sammy,

Cos of the likes of Mr Footlong and Meridian and others.. I'm hooked on the custom build front now....

Just got a coolermaster stacker from DABS, then some tarty bits form Overclockers.co.uk and finally some case mods from overclock.co.uk.

Moving my AMD 3500/6800GT/1GB OCZ3700/Audigy2ZS into it this weekend