Home build p.c's - any views?

T4i

Would a home/office/net user see any difference betweeen a 3000 and a 3500?

Again the Nvidia chipset, I know what your are saying......that chipset is a big yes yes to gamers/overclockers but is it really needed for a office user?

There current system is a AMD 500Mhz with 128MB PC100 running XP and they think its a good computer

The only drawback to the system I posted is the PSU, I know how important the PSU is as it powers the whole system, but I don't think the PSU will be put under much stress as I can't see them doing anything that would be mega resource hungry and demanding on the CPU/RAM/GPU.

I would maybe spend that little more on the HDD but again is it going to be an important factor as they don't even have/want BB. They are both auditors so I'm pretty sure the only files to be saved are .docs/.xls's/.pdf's and it would take a mighty long time to fill a 80GB with those type of files.

hmmmmmmmmmm

wolfman

Yeah, maybe leave the motherboard, although it's only £7 more. Asus are generally very nice though. Nicest boards I've ever used (had MSI, Gigabyte and an Abit).

I'd go with the cpu. I don't think they'd notice a huge difference, but for £12 I'd find it too hard to resist. You'd be fine with the 3000+ though. The 3500+ might just future proof it fractionally more.

Would they put music on the systems?

T4i

lol, I don't think they would know how to put music onto there system.

No plans to upgrade to BB so the only way they could do it is by either ripping existing CD's or borrowing a MP3's on disc.

I think I need to ask more questions, they get scared though, very scared!:eek:

CAT-THE-FIFTH

Have you tried looking for new bits off Ebay?? Sometimes they can be significantly cheaper.

I would try to get at least a Nvidia 6600. Considering the Nvidia 7XXX cards are coming out they should BE cheaper now!!

Poppycat

Novatech has some cracking barebones system, I been tempted to get one for our server but am also wanting to update our main rig which is 3 years old. I am getting most fo the bits from Novatech but the case is the problem

I am looking for ages for a Dual core 2 system for around £500ish.

Wolfman what mobo did you get? I am in a state of flux on what to get, I may just get one of these

Asrock ConroeXfire-eSATA2 945P 775 DDR2 GB LAN

I also need a new case I got a lian li case and wnat something similar but a little cheaper as money is tight, and I need to get one soon as OH keeps dipping into my savings

wolfman

Poppycat wrote:

Wolfman what mobo did you get? I am in a state of flux on what to get, I may just get one of these

Asrock ConroeXfire-eSATA2 945P 775 DDR2 GB LAN

I went for the Gigabyte DS3. It's about £100. Some of the boards are stupidly expensive. From looking around you need to spend around £100 to get a decent board. You could always wait for the nVidia based boards to come out.

The best, from what I can remember are:
- Asus P5B
- Gigabyte DS3/4/6
- Abit AB9 Pro

I went for the Gigabyte DS3. It's got good performance, and is very overclockable. I've played around with overclocking, but at the moment have it set at the stock speed. I did get my E6300 running at 2.5Ghz @ 42C idle / 50C load, which is nearly as fast as an E6700 and faster than any AMD available. Only bad point about the DS3 (and I think it applies to other boards) is that the chipset gets very, very hot. To the point you can burn yourself. I had to order a small fan (from dorothybradbury.co.uk, excellent service) and screw it to the heatsink.

Make sure you pick your memory carefully. See what others have used on forums. Some memory requires more than 1.8v to POST, yet many boards default to 1.8v. So you often find people that have to buy more cheap RAM just to get it to POST so that they can then upgrade the BIOS or put the voltage up so that their original RAM will work.

Oh, and from what I've read the stock cooler is quite noisy and generally quite poor. I went for an OEM cpu, and got the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. It's not as nice as my old ThermalAlright, but for £17 it's very good. Worth considering if you either want something more quiet of plan on overclocking.

Poppycat

Thansk Wolfman I check it out

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?GIG-965P

I forgot to say I need firewire but I suppsoe if it doenst have one I coudl get a pci/firwire card. Plan to do some video editing

Where did you get yours from and what ram did you get? Thanks

CAT-THE-FIFTH

Mesh are doing some excellent deals at the moment also

This is their 400 quid system:

Elite² Essential (SO)


Key Features:

Intel® Pentium® D Processor 820
HT Tech.(2.80Hz ,2x 1MB Cache, 800MHz)
Genuine Windows® XP Home
ASUS ATI Xpress 200 PCIe Mainboard
512MB DDR2 533MHz Memory
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
256MB ATI Radeon Integrated Graphics
17" LCD Display(Multi Media, Digital, 8ms)
Sony 16x DVD-ROM Drive
5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio
6 USB 2.0, GB LAN
Logitech Desktop KB & Optical Mouse
Classic Warranty-3Years parts & lab.

This is their two 500 quid systems:

(1) Elite² D820 (11)


Key Features:

Amazing Value Intel Dual Core PC
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 820
HT Tech.(2.80GHz,2x1MB Cache,800MHz)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center
ASUS ATI Xpress 200 PCIe Mainboard
1024MB DDR2 533MHz Memory
250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
256MB ATI Radeon Integrated Graphics
19" LCD Display(Multi Media, Digital, 8ms)
Sony Super Format 16x DVD Writer
5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio
6 USB, GB LAN
Logitech Desktop KB & Optical Mouse
Classic Warranty-3 Years parts & lab. Gr.Icon
£499.00 inc VAT

(2)Matrix² Inspire (11)

Key Features:

The Ultimate - Best Buy PC Offer
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 3800+ AM2 Processor
with HyperTransport™ Technology
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center
ASUS PCIe Mainboard - nForce 430Chipset
1024MB DDR2 533MHz Memory
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Graphics
19" LCD Display(Multi Media, Digital, 8ms)
Sony Super Format 16x DVD Writer
5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio
8 USB, 2x Firewire, GB LAN
Logitech Desktop KB & Optical Mouse
Classic Warranty-3 Years parts & lab. Gr.Icon
£499.00 inc VAT


Upgrade the graphics card to a 7600GS or 7600GST and you will have a powerful system for under 600quid!!

Andy_Davies

Looks pretty reasonable, although I tend to buy Intel rather than AMD these days...

Will they really need 1GB of RAM - I've got a Celeron with 1/2GB of RAM in it an it runs XP fine (apart from the odd bit of film capture)

Best reason for building your own box is you can make it quiet...

wolfman

If you're buying a newer machine, the Intel Core is the way to go.

If you're buying something in the range of a Pentium D/4 or Athlon64, then AMD is the superior cpu in virtually every way.

Given the prices there's no reason not to go for a nice Athlon64 these days.