PC's getting old - got money to spend

Lil306

Time for some bargain hunters out there. I'm retiring the current PC but keeping some parts in it to save money.....

Ideally I'd like a PC with similar specs to following

• Quad Core CPU (IDEALLY LGA 1366) - flexible on type (i7, i5, etc)
• 4GB Dual/Trip Channel RAM 1066 (ideally 1333 MHz)
• PCi express slots

Bonuses..... (USB3.0, SATA6.0, Dolby surround, eSATA, yada, yada)

I can get away with loosing the RAM because I have 2GB 1066 dual channel now which saves some money . System needs PCI express slots for graphics cards too. I've got an IDE HDD but I'm going to replace that so not fussed about IDE slots as I can get a card anyway

So all you hunters, find me a deal for ~ £200 please, barebones, full system, seperate components all accepted. I'm prepared to go for Athlon but I'd prefer the system to be Intel

Lil306

Just as a note, overclocking doesn't really bother me

So don't worry about skimping money by finding a board that has a locked multiplier etc.

As long as it comes with decent setup (chipsets, caps, etc) it's OK.

EDIT - Also, I realise money is most likely only enough for an average AMD system, in which case I'll do other methods for upgrades

turbobob

Unlikely to find what your looking for with your budget TBH. Your looking at about £300 for a Core i5 750, basic motherboard and 4gb DDR3. As far as I know these processors will not work with the DDR2 memory I guess you have at the moment, and unfortunately DDR3 memory prices are quite high (about 60% higher than when I bought my system a few months ago).

Cheapest quad core system I've seen recently which ticks some of the boxes - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/196614

enigma52

to dream the impossible dream................................

melorablack

Because you have dual channel RAM, LGA 1366 is out because it takes tri channel RAM.

The only parts you can salvage are generally the RAM, graphics card and any other expansion cards.

If you tell me what you have at the moment and what you want to use the computer for I'd be better able to give you some options. :cool:

(By me I mean my OH...he's the techie guy, I'm just the typist )

Lil306

turbobob wrote: »

Unlikely to find what your looking for with your budget TBH. Your looking at about £300 for a Core i5 750, basic motherboard and 4gb DDR3. As far as I know these processors will not work with the DDR2 memory I guess you have at the moment, and unfortunately DDR3 memory prices are quite high (about 60% higher than when I bought my system a few months ago).

Cheapest quad core system I've seen recently which ticks some of the boxes - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/196614

Yeah, I realised that after I made the post, did a search on Novatech and didn't realise how high the prices were

I been thinking of other methods anyway, I been debating about getting a new case to cool down the PC so been thinking of either getting a full tower + new psu, or getting a good £200 graphics card

Don't really wanna buy AMD stuff, I really don't like them for some strange reason even though my last 3 PC's were all AMD

enigma52 wrote: »

to dream the impossible dream................................

Meh

melorablack wrote: »

Because you have dual channel RAM, LGA 1366 is out because it takes tri channel RAM.

The only parts you can salvage are generally the RAM, graphics card and any other expansion cards.

If you tell me what you have at the moment and what you want to use the computer for I'd be better able to give you some options.

(By me I mean my OH...he's the techie guy, I'm just the typist )

Yeah thanks, I'm going to do a salvage and probably upgrade my current PC. It will do good as a server for backups and hosting my website on. Current webserver is a single core 1.6 with 512mb ram, this one is 2gb with dual 2.8ghz

I'll have a dibble

The PC will be used for video editing, games, etc. It's eventually gonna be a powerhouse but upgrading in stages, since I can't afford the i7 stuff atm I'll probably spend the money elsewhere as stated above like a new case (Zalman 1000+ GS Full Tower and PSU 80+) or a new card (Nvidia or ATi series) - £200 should get a good card capable of playing games. I think Novatech were selling something like an ATi 5570 for £190 it had 1GB of DDR5 ram so it's a fairly good spec for playing modern games (existing one is an Nvidia 8400GS)

Lil306

There's still a lot of options for existing PC, I can install a new quad core CPU and increase the RAM

Install a new operating system (I think Windows 7 is about £160) with some money spare for RAM

Swap over the case, install a new burner , etc, etc

Lil306

This is the case I was looking at buying btw....

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cases/Cases/Zalman/GS1000PLUS.html

Existing case has like 1 CPU fan and 1 Case Fan. Normal operating temperatures are like 60c which I'm not happy with. I'd much prefer 50c with additional cooling... also need to buy some arctic silver thermal paste since mine probably all gone now

spud17

Install a new operating system (I think Windows 7 is about £160) with some money spare for RAM

Just saved you £65, 64bit retail Home Premium should be enough, or you could go for the even cheaper upgrade and do the little hack trick.

Lil306

spud17 wrote: »

Just saved you £65, 64bit retail Home Premium should be enough, or you could go for the even cheaper upgrade and do the little hack trick.

TY,

I won't be doing any hacks to get an upgrade I prefer legitimate versions and don't wanna use any little sly bugs either to get the upgrade.

I've got the money just trying to think of useful ways to spend it

Any links to comparisons between the versions. I seem to recall the Windows XP versions had certain features disabled between the "home" and "professional" editions (like users + groups in computer management)

EDIT.... omg I'm ashamed...

2GB DDR667 (2 x 1GB) >.>

enigma52

you need to install noscript addon to firefox