Further from my question about SATA hard drives, I've decided a full upgrade is the only way to go.

I started with a component list (only the important stuff, cpu, mobo, graphics card, case, psu and hdd, no keyboard, mouse or monitor) that came to just over £620. After doing a bit of reasearch on computer forums etc, the budget has rocketed to over a grand. The missus will kill me if she finds out.

So, up to now, the list is as follows:

Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester socket 939
Seagate Barracuda 200gig SATA hdd
PCI-e 6800GT graphics card (was going to get a 6600GT, but was advised it would be the weak link in the system)
Tagan 480W silent PSU

Haven't fully decided on memory yet, either:
OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev2 Cas2
or
Geil Value PC3200 Cas 2.5

And as for the mobo, there are at least 6 in the frame:
Asus A8N nforce4
Gigabyte K8NXP nforce4
MSI K8Nneo4 nforce4
All these manufacturers do an SLi version and an Ultra version. Not sure which to go for yet, but as they aren't out yet, I've got time.

Anyone got any views on any of these parts, especially the bits I'm undecided about (good or bad)??

Thanks,

Andy.

 

couldn't you buy that spec PC already built for the same price?

 

Maybe. But which company?? I've heard bad things about the likes of Tiny, and I wouldn't go near PC World.

Plus, I've always wanted to build one myself (with a bit of help from a mate maybe). Should be a hoot.

Andy.

Edited to say just did a similar spec Dell dimension XPS (Intel mind you, not AMD) on their site and it came to over £1900!!! That is including a monitor and a keyboard, but they'll be £300 tops.

 

Just a thought about a high spec pc.... Buying the very latest of everything is often an expensive way to go about pc upgrades & you will kick yourself in 6 months when everything is half the price. Unless you're a really hardcore gamer, my suggestion would be to drop the spec a little on the graphics, motherboard & chip. However don't get a cheap PSU, case or RAM. The PSU & case will last you though several upgrades. Upgrade to 64bit in a year or so, when it's cheaper & there is more software available to take advantage of it. I just built my wife a good quality system for less than £500 including an Enermax PSU & Coolermaster case. (PIV 3.0 HT, MSI 865PE Neo2 PFS, 1gb Kingston dual ch RAM, 120gb Samsung SATA, MSI FX5500TD, Silver floppy, Enermax silent 420W, Coolermaster Praetorian.)

 

That's worth me thinking about Nick. But I've never had a real high spec PC before, I've always been 12 months minimum behind the times. And I know a 3500+ isn't the quickest availible, but £550+ for an FX55 is just TOO dear!!!

I just checked out a "pick what you need" system on PC Specialist, and although it wasn't nForce4 (as it's not out yet), a lot of the things I picked were the same (bar the RAM), and it came in at just under a grand. Maybe this is the way to go.

I know the missus wouldn't mind me toning down the spec a bit.

Andy.