Tiggs

Ok...after a whole day faffing about i now know what i want my new PC to do:

It needs to run all my office type apps that i use without any delay, i often have 3 or 4 word docs open, internet, adobe, etc, etc

It needs to be fine for editing my kids dv home videos (current pc cant even play them without stuttering!)

Thats about it, too busy for games and stuff.

So it needs to be a FAST home work pc....i dont want it taking ages to switch from itunes to word and back again like this thing does!

and it needs to run TWO monitors because thats just sex on stick and will make me look very cool (imo )

budget is up to £900

what do i buy? my brother is an IT geek but with limited time.....if i can save LOTS by buying bits then i can slip him £50 and he'll build it - but if i only save £50 by doing that its easier to get it ready built.

help please!

T

ohh...and monitors will be 17's i think because 2 x 19 sounds too big? (opinons?) ok - sounds like 19' s maybe ok?

Tiggs

ok...looking at sites like Mesh and looking at prices up upgrades....say adding 512 more ram, they charge £50 yet a quick search shows it for £25 on other sites.

is there somewhere i can get a spec of "parts" and i just google all the bits to find the cheapest?

another example is they want £175 to upgrade the graphics card yet the card is worth £135...let alone upgraded!!

Tiggs

£600 built from vantage...sound ok?

System Case: Vantage Evolution Inspire Case
Power Supply: 400W Zoostorm PSU (26-32dB)
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLi Premium Motherboard (Skt 939)
Processor: AMD 64-Bit 3200+ (Skt 939)
System Memory: 2Gb DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Memory (2x 1Gb)
Hard Drive One: 160Gb Serial ATA300 7200RPM
Hard Drive Two: Please Select
Removeable Storage Devices: FDD and Digital Card Reader
CD Device One: DVDRW Drive (16x +/- Dual Layer)
CD Device Two: Please Select
Video Card: GeForce 6600GT 256Mb DDR +DVI/TV PCI-X
Video Card Two in Sli:: Please Select
Audio Device: 8 Channel Audio Integrated


I will add to this bits i have already (or will buy)

second 80gb HD
second DVD drive
firewire USB ports
LAN card
speakers
OS XP pro
Twin 19's

that plus the cost of the two screens makes about £900....decent priice?

jpor

iTrader: (1)

If your looking for a Fast PC then I would consider a DUAL-CORE CPU such as a AMD-ATHLON XP 4200+ X2. And 2GB RAM.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_64_X2.html

Tiggs

but is 2 X 2ghz better than 1 X 3?

TopBanana

You don't save money by buying your own bits, but you will get a better PC for just a little more

Scooby Dooby Blue

All from Microdirect:

1x ATX Case (take your pick) 30.00
1x 550W Titan Silent PSU 19.60
1x MSI K8N Neo4 Motherboard 52.60
1x AMD Athlon64 3200+ 91.99
1x Geil Value 2GB PC3200 Dual Channel Kit 101.30
1x Western Digital 160GB SATA HDD 45.50
1x Sparkle 6600GT 256MB PCI-X 82.00
1x NEC 4570 DVD Writer 24.00
2x Suyama 19" TFT 134.45

Plus VAT gives a total of £841

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Interms of having a dual-Core processor. Yes.

Tiggs

worth it for my home office use?


current set up is a celeron 2.6 with 1gb ram


is that pretty crap so a dcent single core is all i need?

jpor

iTrader: (1)

You did say Fast. With a dual core you can multi-task more.

TopBanana

The reason is takes so long task-switching is because you don't have enough RAM it's having to ship everything off to disk. 2GB of RAM is better if you like to have lots of apps open

jpor

iTrader: (1)

I think I did mention that as well.

Tiggs

so if i cant afford dual cpu will i still see a huge improvement over the current set up?

"current set up is a celeron 2.6 with 1gb ram"

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Yes you should. But I would opt for 2GB of RAM. The Celeron is a cut down version of the Pentium 4. So instead of 512K - 1MB Cache and the all singing and dancing bits found in the P4 such as Hyperthreading. You're getting probably 128 - 256K Cache.

I take it your existing system cannot be upgraded? for example a P4 chip tahts 3Ghz with hyperthreading, another 1GB RAM and a decent Graphics card? It would work out cheaper than a full blown second system.

Tiggs

not really....my fan was squeaky so i sprayed WD40 on it and fried the MB.

im on wifes PC at the mo

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Okay

Would still recommend the extra RAM for your non-oily new product.

Tiggs

System Case: Coolermaster Cavalier3 Black Case
Power Supply: 480W Thermaltake Xaser PSU (17-45dB)
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLi Premium Motherboard (Skt 939)
Processor: AMD 64-Bit Dual Core X2 4200+ (Skt 939)
System Memory: 2Gb DDR400 PC3200 Memory (2x 1Gb)
Hard Drive One: 160Gb Serial ATA150 7200RPM
Hard Drive Two: 160Gb Serial ATA150 7200RPM
Removeable Storage Devices: FDD and Digital Card Reader
CD Device One: DVDRW Drive (16x +/- Dual Layer)
CD Device Two: Please Select
Video Card: GeForce 6600GT 256Mb DDR +DVI/TV PCI-X
Video Card Two in Sli:: Please Select
Audio Device: 8 Channel Audio Integrated


this looks like final spec....i will add a few bits to this from the old one (2nd dvd, firewire, usb2 ports, etc)

and twin 19's

look ok?

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Looks good to me. I take it hard drive 1 & 2 will be set-up as a RAID then? Which by the way is a good thing. I take it you didn't want to use Raptor Hard Drives? Those babies are fast.

Check this out:

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/02/06...mance_lead_uk/

Tiggs

raid 1 for back up saftey

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Good. But it doesn't mean that you should'nt keep a back up routine as well for that data.

Will you be getting Raptor disks?

Tiggs

dont know??? should i? why are they so much better.

i will have various off site back ups as well....raid was just in case one HD falls over

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Have you not read the link I posted about them? If you want fast load ups, and Applications to load up faster then these are a must have. Especially if your miroring data as well.

Here is the link again:

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/02/06...mance_lead_uk/

Tiggs

sorry- just read....but WAAAAAY too much money! thats about £200 more than a "normal" HD! even a non-x raptor is £100+ for only 70gb!

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Okay doke. Apart from that the spec you have looks good to me. What make are the hard drives you are having?

Tiggs

i'll check! hang on!

Tiggs

ok....no idea!

I was looking on vantage.co.uk as they have a sort of "build it yourslef" thing where you select the bits and they put it togeher.....they dont say anything about the HD beyond what i listed.

is that a good way for me to buy? or should i buy seperately? seems there is little saving in it?

jpor

iTrader: (1)

You might as well get them all together. I would of thought The HDD's would be either, samsung, western digital or Maxtor. If I had a choice I would go with western Digital. How much are the 160GB hard Drives each?

Tiggs

40 for 160 and 47 for 200

does seem a pretty simple way to buy- i'll get it in one, my brother can slap on the OS and my extra bits and then i just plug in the screens

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Good prices. Just to giveyou some comparison if buying elsewhere:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...subcat_uid=379


I would consider spending the extra £7 and getting the 200GB Hard Drives. You have to bear in mind that you don't get the space as advertised. For example a 160GB drive will only hold around 130-140GB of storage and a 200gb will be around 180GB storage. This due to how the drives are formatted by Windows and other operating systems and other over-heads.

Tiggs

ok...twin 200's it is.

vantage say the stuff is only avalible as part of a "built by the deal"...you cant just buy a single item at that rate hence its cheaper??? spin??? they then add on £50 to build it all.

seems simple enough.

for future reference i assume WD40 is not the way to stop a squeaky fan ?

final spec:

System Case: Coolermaster Cavalier3 Black Case
Power Supply: 480W Thermaltake Xaser PSU (17-45dB)
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLi Premium Motherboard (Skt 939)
Processor: AMD 64-Bit Dual Core X2 4200+ (Skt 939)
System Memory: 2Gb DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Memory (2x 1Gb)
Hard Drive One: 200Gb Serial ATA300 7200RPM
Hard Drive Two: 200Gb Serial ATA300 7200RPM
Removeable Storage Devices: FDD and Digital Card Reader
CD Device One: DVDRW Drive (16x +/- Dual Layer)
CD Device Two: Please Select
Video Card: GeForce 6600GT 256Mb DDR +DVI/TV PCI-X
Video Card Two in Sli:: Please Select
Audio Device: 8 Channel Audio Integrated


for £877 built (inc VAT)

plus i will add my other spare bits