Need help choosing a computer

Ashok_2

Okay, the spec has been changed slightly, here it is below again. I think it is pretty close to the final thing, I don't know if the motherboard is good compared the one goofy recommended, but should be.

Case is also changed to Antex Nine Hundred, which has a lot of good reviews on ebuyer, even though lookwise I prefer the shark one that previously mentioned (it has hardly any reviews though so not sure whether I should risk it?!).. Advice needed on case still lol.

So I think everything is included now, and under budget. And I'm pretty sure there is nothing else to add on, unless a slight change..

Oh and also.. is PSU good or bad? Someone else said it wasn't really?

Full updated spec (nearly final):

XFX NForce 650i Ultra Motherboard £62.13
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 £127.44
2GB OCZ Gold Series DDR2 Dual Channel Kit X2 £101.00
320MB Inno3D 8800GTS £189.99
650W CoolerMaster eXtreme Power £43.95
Antec900 £65.00
LITEON SATA 20X DVDRW/RAM Black X2 £39.96
500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 £64.61
80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 8Mb SATA £27.99
Samsung Syncmaster SM206BW 20" LCD £170.38
Vista Home Premium 32 £64.97
Building and Shipping £75.00
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio £27.00
D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G510 Wireless PCI Adapter £16.00
TOTAL £1,075.42

GoofyGAT

Thanks for the concern Cerro - think I'm recovering well .

Ashok, near final spec looks great .

Read the independent reviews for the Antec Nine Hundred (ANH) - some eBuyer reviewers have posted links. I think it far outnumbers the other case's reviews because many more would have gone for it on account of its relatively low price. Always read independent reviews too - I cannot stress this enough.

Just to put your mind at rest, the case & PSU you've chosen are well up to the task & specs - probably will be hard to beat for price-performance. They're quality (not premium) & will not do any damage to anything, unless you're extremely unlucky.

There's also the excellent Antec P180 for only £5 more (google for independent reviews). While the ANH is more of a 'gamer' case & may look 'cheap' to some, the P180 is for the mainstream user &, from some independent reviews I've read, looks far from cheap (see post #3 for its newer model, the £80 P182). The former will have better cooling though, but may be a little noisier as a result. Sorry, if I'm only adding to your choosing woes!

I agree with Cerro about the CPU-GPU comments, & not getting secondhand stuff off eBay. If this was a bargain PC build you were after, then fine go for eBay. In any event it will be very difficult to get even close to a bargain for the spec you're after, even if you purchased the parts individually. However, for older hardware you may stand a good chance of a bargain (but not for your current spec).

I'm also now in favour of Cerro's suggestion of a dedicated soundcard - will agree to anything that's quality, meets your needs & fits in your budget. Cerro has been making excellent comments/suggestions about the majority (if not all) the components, but unfortunately we only have £1100 to play with. When I post about my next luxury PC build (if I come into some good money), I'll be eagerly awaiting his recommendations.

So the 4Gb OCZ Gold for £101 is not a pricing error then?

I've been recently tempted to do a new build, & yours would be very close to what I'd go for myself, with some changes to suit my needs & budget (of £600-800 - monitor, additional drives, etc not required). Cannot really justify it though for another year at least . G

Ashok_2

Thanks.. I think the system is pretty final, may make a couple of changes next week if prices lower by much but that's that.

Got other problems now...

1. This guy who's done spec has been extremely helpful, but I'm finding it hard to hand over £1100 to someone I don't know.. He could sell it to me through eBay, but he could send me a system with cheaper parts or nothing at all even, and PayPal only protects up to £500 I think. He said he is happy to still sell it to be through eBay, but I sent 50% first, and 50% once satisifed.. And to be honest, he's not given me a reason to doubt him at all up to now, but still, I was scammed of £800 on eBay once, don't want to do it again. I've sent out the specs to a few computer sellers on eBay, and they are all quoting much higher than this.. About £100-£150 more that current total price.
2. I don't have money for the system yet. The person who I sold my Alienware too is refusing to pay, saying I bugged him too much on MSN to pay, even though he used buy it now option, and didn't have funds (he was waiting for someone to pay him for an item he sold on eBay apparantly), and I waited a week and a half for payment! I've started a dispute, but doubt he'll pay up (which also leaves me £60 out of my pocket for 2 ebay listings). He used buy it now for £1100 + postage, and the bidding was up to £850 with 3 days left, I doubt it would have sold for £1100 though!

I will definitely be buying the system, but it depends on if and when he pays, and if not I'll relist, but I'm not expecting more than £900.. I have enough money saved to spend for the rest of the system anyway.. BUT still I would be £200 or so better off if it hadn't been for this buyer!

GoofyGAT

1. This guy who's done spec has been extremely helpful, but I'm finding it hard to hand over £1100 to someone I don't know.. - I think this was already raised before (in your deleted thread), & the general consensus was not to take this risk, build it yourself or buy a pre-built PC (Dell, etc). If you have concerns about handing £1100 to a total stranger, your options are to build it yourself, Dell/etc or a standard eBay purchase. If you think about it, it's a much bigger risk handing over money to a total stranger than building it yourself, isn't it?

2. I don't have money for the system yet. The person who I sold my Alienware too is refusing to pay, saying I bugged him too much on MSN to pay, even though he used buy it now option, and didn't have funds (he was waiting for someone to pay him for an item he sold on eBay apparantly), and I waited a week and a half for payment! I've started a dispute, but doubt he'll pay up (which also leaves me £60 out of my pocket for 2 ebay listings). He used buy it now for £1100 + postage, and the bidding was up to £850 with 3 days left, I doubt it would have sold for £1100 though! - That's a terrible situation to be in . Hope it works out in the end. G

P.S. Noticed you changed the mb to the XFX NForce 650i Ultra - any particular reason for doing this?

Cerro

That is a bit of a situation you are in with your old PC... i'd suggest just relisting it since you need the money and they're not paying. Hopefully that gets sorted soon.

I'm going to nit-pick here so feel free to ignore these suggestions but I have a few small reservations: 650i motherboard, I'd go back to a P965 board, as I have mentioned earlier. I bought a 680i board and although it is very nice and has all the bells and whistles it is not without its problems and intel boards just don't have problems (figures it is their processor they are pairing it with). I have all sorts of little gremlins, like my internet cutting off - no not the router, its the board's nic just cutting itself off, take out the cable, replace it and magically back it comes... I also had the earlier voltage problems with ram, which would prevent the PC booting at all and this can still happen randomly. As well as other unknown issues like sound coming out of sync with video (sometimes, when it feels like it) and once, frying my memory - I can't prove it but I have a hunch... of course, this is my experience for one particular board and its not the generic rebadged Nvidia reference board but still, given the choice, I would still with intel motherboards.

I'd also question the brand of the graphics card - i know, its £10 cheaper but i have a feeling that £10 would be a well spent £10... the EVGA card i recommended earlier is very nice, has slightly improved clock speeds and will be a very solid card, but since you are not a gamer it might not be of huge benefit...

And yes, the case and psu you have choosen are fine - they meet your needs without going over the top (although I simply have to take Goofy's word with the case - but his reasoning seems sound enough). I wouldn't go for the antec 900, but thats only because i don't like the looks of it - thats a personal choice and completely up to you. Even if it does look like something Hannibal Lector would wear on his face... Coolermaster are a good brand for power supplies btw, at least you know you can trust them. I did have a tiered list of PSUs by brand and model - tested hundreds of power supplies for their reliability and power output, need to dig that out.

I also used to hear people complaining about Seagate hard drives failing alot, so I have tended to avoid them but they are still a major hard disk supplier so they can't be that bad. I'd probably put Maxtor and Western Digital ahead of them (WD are very good, if a tad more expensive). Having said that the samsungs I am using are impressive. Here's a link to some hard drive comparison charts.

I'd be happy to spec out the worlds most expensive and powerful desktop for you Goofy - just leat me know when you hit the jackpot. I did manage to give a spec that was under £1100 earlier, so it is possible (you might want sit down now, shock will kick in any second). I just get lost in all this wonderful hardware, imagine the possibilities! Then all monetary value goes out the window! I'm pretty sure that is how I ended up with the PC i now have.

Ashok_2

Thanks guys. The MB was changed by the person who did the spec, said this was better.

After reading your last post Cerro, I'm really put off having anyone build this computer! If I had any of those problems I'd have no idea what to do, and there would be no telephone support like Dell or anything similar.

I was told Inno3D are the best make.. but it shouldn't make much of a difference if I change, so will do.

Ashok_2

Cerro, about the graphics card.. I looked on eBuyer and there are two EVGA 8800GTS.. Which one should I go for? They are both very similar in price, but one is "Superclocked":
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=125117
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=125105

GoofyGAT

My advice is: always the better one if it fits in your budget. G

P.S. Thanks for editing out that text from one of your posts that I asked you to

Ashok_2

Thanks, now just trying to sort out selling my Alienware. Thread here if interested.

Thanks for all your help guys, I may need a bit of advice before ordering, but I think that's about it.. Hopefully other people will find it handy as well.

Cerro

I would say this one because I don't touch ebuyer... but i suppose the first link (super-overclocked) would be the same one at much the same price.

Here's that tiered listing of PSUs (just for info, but it gives you an idea). They do some pretty extensive testing on PSUs there, so they know what they are talking about.

The MB is debateable, I don't like non-intel boards (from experience) and if you check Tom's hardware you'll find the P965 boards are secondly only to the P35 (in general - there are exceptions of course) both of which are intel chipsets.

I dunno about Inno3D, they tend to be one of the cheaper brands and less well known. EVGA and XFX would be my choices, failing that Gainward (at least they are cheap). I'd avoid brands like Club3D, super cheap and super nasty.

You know, I didn't actually list any problems - so what problems are you talking about? I just nit-picked in my last post.