Need help choosing a computer

Ashok_2

Just to note, I edited spec from what it was before.. ^

GoofyGAT

• Motherboard, is it okay? - It's excellent but a lesser P35 motherboard like this MSI P35 Neo-F Socket 775 FSB1333 at £80 would be sufficient
  
• RAM.. I originally went for OCZ Gold edition, but was told performance wise this would be just as good.. Is this good enough, or is it worth paying more? - I'd go for the OCZ as it's only £10 more
  
• GPU.. probably pay another £10 and get superclocked.. Not sure if it will make much of a difference...- Probably not to the majority of us (much less if you're not a hardcore gamer I'd imagine)
  
• PSU, I was going to go for 750W, but was again told (by a PC builder) that it would be overkill, and even 400W is more than enough? IS that true? I did want it as silent as possible. - Yes, 400W of an excellent make & model, but I would say min 500W+ of the same would be the safer & better option. Also, as you've gone for a case that requires longer than standard PSU cables an Antec PSU* may be the best option (they have longer cables), but an inexpensive cable extension would be enough (*I was thinking of this Antec NEO HE500GB 500W Modular, but it's £15 more than the Coolermaster you've selected!)

TOTAL (ebuyer): £944.03+ delivery + building cost - delivery & building cost? G

dazed

I am building a pc for myself that would cost between £2800 -3000 in the shops ready built. If you build one yourself you could save lots of money and get more for your money as you would get better components. I am sure others and myself would advise if you are looking to do this. Its not as hard as peopole think and is also very enjoyable to do
HTH

GoofyGAT

Edit: dazed, thanks for editing out your spec, etc . G

---

dazed, don't take this the wrong way, but I feel you're 'hijacking' Ashok's thread. First, as your spec is way over the top of his budget, they are not very related. Second, the OP started this thread for his benefit, not yours - if people started giving opinion on yours too it could become very confusing & frustrating indeed - not least to the OP .

I would request you to delete your post* & start your own thread, asking for people's opinions. I'll be pleased to add by two pence worth - in fact, I've already written a few points in response , G

*Before that, don't forget to save a copy of your post in this thread to paste in your new thread

dazed

It was posted to see what is available if you build it yourself and how much money you save ...... I have edited it

GoofyGAT

dazed wrote: »

It was posted to see what is available if you build it yourself and how much money you save ...... I have edited it

I think we've done that already several times in this thread - I'm glad you also agree. May be you should pm your order pics to the OP?

Sorry, your original post also said that 'opinions are welcome', & me being me :rolleyes: couldn't let it go without pointing out some potential savings, improvements & problem spots. I felt it would be unfair to the OP to do it in his thread, but I can pm you these if you like. G

Ashok_2

Hi guys,

The person who won laptop refused to pay again, but I emailed a bidder on the 2nd auction, and another bidder of the last auction (the one who ended yesterday), and one offered £850 (incl. postage) and the other £900 (+ postage).

So hopefully if the person who has offered £900 pays up today, then I can order the actual system soon, but will have to raise money for the monitor.

I know we've been through specs over and over again, but just wanted to double check they were okay before actually buying anything!

The seller I've chosen is a reputable one from eBay, and he offers a one year RTB warranty. You can check his feedback here . He's given me a few different quotes, but not one for the exact spec below yet, so hopefully it's in price range!

Spec:

Intel E6750 Core 2 Duo
Inno3D 8800GTS 320Mb - As you know I'm more of a casual gamer, and a lot of movies.. But I read in another forum that mid-range cards e.g. 8600 are better than 8800 for movies?
MSI P35 Neo-F - I know we've spent a lot of time discussing mobo, but just wanted to make sure it's fine.. There are plenty of betters ones around, but not sure if it would be worth me getting them, e.g. P5K
2GB OCZ Platinum Series 800MHz RAM - Not sure if this should be changed yet? To something better or something cheaper?! Need opinion on that please. Also was wondering if it's better to go for a cheaper more less known brand, if it works just the same? Need advice on this.
Antec P180
CoolMaster eXtreme Power 500W - In previous quote from this seller, he said he'd change to a Huntkey True 550W, and said they're his standard units and are fine. Is this okay?
Liteon SATA DVD+-RW x2
Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB
Samsung 20” SM206BW - open to recommendations to change this to something else, but looking for a nice specced monitor that also looks good, and has to be black. May not order this for a couple of weeks though.
Vista Home Premium 32bit
Wifi Card

And I know I've said this many a time, but we are actually getting near the end, I will be ordering something very soon!

Thanks!

GoofyGAT

GPU: As you cannot get a 8800, I'd go for the much superior X1950XT (superior over the 8600GT anyway). £80 saved here over the 8800GTS

Motherboard: P5K is excellent as I've already said, but at £45 extra you have to ask yourself if it's really worth it. Have a look at the features again & see if you need them all. If you get the P5K, don't forget to drop the Wifi card & get the money off too

RAM: Again, I'd say go for the much better memory as it's only £10 more (the OCZ Gold is anyway). From post #61, I'm unsure whether you're going for 2/4Gb?

PSU: The Huntkey True 500W costs £41 - could be good enough, but if you really must save £15 I'd go for a better known make for around the same price as the Huntkey (the first couple being Antecs won't require an extension cable for the case):
Antec SmartPower II 500W Modular PSU = £30 (£11 less)
Antec Basiq Power 500W PSU = £36
Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU = £42

Monitor: Don't really have any other recommendations

How much is he quoting? Please post when you know this. G

Ashok_2

Hey. I'm still going to stick with 8800, I know I don't need it, but I still want it..

Motherboard, Going for P5K Deluxe with Wifi.

PSU, stuck with the Coolermaster.

RAM: The person building told me it wouldn't make any performance difference if I just stuck with Corsair? So it's been changed to "2xCorsair 1GB DDR2 675MHz/PC2-5400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4(4-4-4-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty"

It saves £30, so unless you think it's going to make a noticable difference I'll stick with this.

He says that adding another cooler would make system completely silent, which is well worth £15 in my opinion.

I've got 2 people to choose from for the system, both good, so just depends which is cheaper. The first quote I have is below.. It's not including the monitor though.

Was wondering, if in a couple of years a part stopped working and I wanted to use the manufacturers warranty, do I need the original packaging or is just the part okay?


Quote:

Asus P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP, iP35, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
2xCorsair 1GB DDR2 675MHz/PC2-5400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4(4-4-4-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty
Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache 7200RPM - OEM
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
2xLiteOn LH-20A1H 20x DVD±RW-RAM DL Lightscribe IDE Int Black - Bare Drive
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 500W PSU - ATX 12V V2.01 120mm Fan 20+4pin
Antec P180 Black SPCR Advanced Super Mid Tower - No PSU
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Socket 775 CPU Cooler
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x32Bit OEM 1PK DVD

Price w/ VAT £803.41
Ebay Fees £29.43
Paypal Fees £27.75
Delivery Cost £13.00
Total Fees £70.18
Selling for £950.00
Possible Profit £76.41
Return 9.17%

GoofyGAT

RAM: The person building told me it wouldn't make any performance difference if I just stuck with Corsair? So it's been changed to "2xCorsair 1GB DDR2 675MHz/PC2-5400 XMS2 Memory...It saves £30, so unless you think it's going to make a noticable difference I'll stick with this. - Yes, it probably won't make any difference even though it's the slower variety. It's saves £18 over the OCZ btw, not £30

He says that adding another cooler would make system completely silent, which is well worth £15 in my opinion. - Yes, good choice. But I'm not too sure about the claim regarding making the system 'completely silently'. It's a relatively quiet case anyway.

Was wondering, if in a couple of years a part stopped working and I wanted to use the manufacturers warranty, do I need the original packaging or is just the part okay? - I'd say original packaging most probably not required, but do package it well & send a copy of the original receipt (so hold on to this) with the claim. Request seller to place original antistatic covers of all components

Price w/ VAT £803.41 - really is £20 less if I'm allowed to nitpick!
Ebay Fees £29.43 - ouch, but may be possible to keep eBay out of the equation?
Paypal Fees £27.75 - ouch, but unavoidable I suppose
Delivery Cost £13.00 - not bad
Possible Profit £76.41 - possibly £20 more? See above

G

But I read in another forum that mid-range cards e.g. 8600 are better than 8800 for movies? - Did they say why?