Another "I'm buying a new PC" thread!

[The fish]

As you may be able to deduce from the thread title, I'm buying components for an all-new PC.

 

The specady-specs are:

 

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache (£136.59)

Graphics Card: 8800GTS G92 512MB (£127.23)

RAM: Crucial 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz Non-ECC Unbuffered (£33.19)

Motherboard: Asrock PENRYN1600SLI-110DB Nvidia 650i SLI Socket 775 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard (62.59)

HDD: Maxtor 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache (£40.23)

DVD Drive: Samsung SH-S202J 20X DVD±RW /DL/RAM IDE Int Black Bare Drive (£14.99)

Case: Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Case With CM eXtreme Power 460W PSU (£58.41)

Cooling: Built-in 120mm casefan + Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro (£15.76)

OS: Vista Business 64-bit with SP1 (free!)

 

All told: £488.96

 

I'm getting a wireless network card, HDTV for use as a monitor, and DVI cable separately soon, and don't need speakers.

 

What I want you lovely, lovely people to do is point out if I've missed anything obvious, buying anything at too high price or am buying something wont work with the other components.

[McPhee]

Why an 8800GTS?

[The fish]

It had the best ratio of performance in performance charts to price, as far as I could tell.

And it keeps the whole thing sub-£500.

[Nolan]

For slightly less you could get an ATI4850, or 9800GTX+ both better preformers.

 

You may also want to up your PSU, even if you stick with the 8800GTS.

 

Other than that looks good, your motherboard is an older model, but should be fine.

[Konfucius]

That Radeon 4850 is actually cheaper and should be quite a bit faster as far as I remember.

[The fish]

For slightly less you could get an ATI4850, or 9800GTX+ both better preformers.

 

You may also want to up your PSU, even if you stick with the 8800GTS.

 

Other than that looks good, your motherboard is an older model, but should be fine.

 

According the the performance charts I've looked at, the 8800GTS actually out performs the other two in games, especially when the filters and other additional stuff is off, which is how I generally play games.

 

Also, I've heard that they're both good for overclocking, which I'm going to do a little of.

 

That Radeon 4850 is actually cheaper and should be quite a bit faster as far as I remember.

 

By what I've read, it's sometimes slightly faster, but more often noticeably slower. However, at that price, it's very tempting...

[Nolan]

You not playing correctly.....those filters and other stuff (I'm assuming you mainly mean AA and AF) dramatically increase image quality. :p

 

Anywho, here are the 3 in question, sometimes the 8800GTS wins and other times it doesn't.

In all honesty though, the 9800GTX/GTX+ are just refabs of the 8800GTX/GTS series. They run cooler, and more efficiently due to their smaller die size.

 

Is your HDTV 720p or 1080p?

[The fish]

You not playing correctly.....those filters and other stuff (I'm assuming you mainly mean AA and AF) dramatically increase image quality. :p

 

Anywho, here are the 3 in question, sometimes the 8800GTS wins and other times it doesn't.

In all honesty though, the 9800GTX/GTX+ are just refabs of the 8800GTX/GTS series. They run cooler, and more efficiently due to their smaller die size.

 

They also trash the framerate - I play FPS games online a lot, and every frame counts...

 

I'm having trouble finding 9800GTX's for below £150, which breaks my budget. As before, for some games, the 8800GTS still out does the newer cards.

 

I spent far too much time looking at performance charts...

 

Is your HDTV 720p or 1080p?

 

Haven't got it yet, probably only 720p though. Can the 8800GTS not output 1080p?

[Nolan]

~130

 

I can't speak for the site though, being in the US I've never used it and I've heard mixed things.

 

How high do you want your framerates?

 

99% of cards on the market right now can output right around 2560x1600(some higher, especially when adding more), not all(most) of them are capable of really doing anything at this resolution though. It's just that 1080p is a taxing resolution for a card it would perform fine, you'd just have to fiddle with settings depending on the game (CoD4 would still be over 60 at max everything(including AA, AF) Crysis would run like poo at high-very high)

 

720p however is less than half the pixels, so you'll be fine.

[The fish]

~130

 

I can't speak for the site though, being in the US I've never used it and I've heard mixed things.

 

How high do you want your framerates?

 

That's almost £30 more than the current card, which pushes me over my limit. Again, though, it's tempting...

 

It's less a case of how high I want the framerate and more about the lowest I want it to go when things get busy on screen. Call me a perfectionist bastard if you want, but for something like CoD2, anything below about 50fps (60 obviously being preferable) makes shooting fish in a barrel other players at range annoyingly prone to glitching.

 

Oh, and I haven't said this yet, but thanks for putting so much time into lil' old me! I appreciate it! :awesome:

[Nolan]

Well, in CoD2 or CoD4 you don't have to worry at all.

 

I just realized that,

Anywho, here are the 3 in question, sometimes the 8800GTS wins and other times it doesn't.

In all honesty though, the 9800GTX/GTX+ are just refabs of the 8800GTX/GTS series. They run cooler, and more efficiently due to their smaller die size.

I forgot the link to go along with that XD Here.

 

Hmmm, if you can get in on the deal here is a really low priced GTX+. I wouldn't go for it unless it's at the lower price.

 

Well, before I get more sidetracked, any CoD game can be maxed at 720p and stay well above 60fps with any of those cards AA/AF on or off.

 

Oh, and I hope you don't feel like I'm pressuring you, I', just trying to help with the best bang for the buck.

[Caris]

Do not buy a Maxtor HDD, they are the worst make and if a HDD fails it causes all sorts of problems. Get a Western Digital or Seagate, there about the same price anyways.

[The fish]

Hmmm, if you can get in on the deal here is a really low priced GTX+. I wouldn't go for it unless it's at the lower price.

 

Shit, I came within a hair's width of buying the Super Special one there for £99.99, then I realised there was vat. Still, only £5 more than the other card, so I hit buy, but I've decided not to buy as it's shipping is £10. I know it sounds stingy, but I'm a student - squeezing every penny is the name of the game...

 

Do not buy a Maxtor HDD, they are the worst make and if a HDD fails it causes all sorts of problems. Get a Western Digital or Seagate, there about the same price anyways.

 

I've heard that from a few friends, too. I'll change it. Thanks for the heads up!

 

EDIT: Ok, I've swapped the HDD for a Western Digital one with the same specs. Cost me £7 more, so I'm afraid that 9800GTX+ is out of the question. I'm impressed by your bargain hunting skills, though, Leetpants.

[Sheikah]

Do not buy a Maxtor HDD, they are the worst make and if a HDD fails it causes all sorts of problems. Get a Western Digital or Seagate, there about the same price anyways.

 

I've had my 500GB Maxtor for a good few years inside an external media caddy. It's always worked absolutely fine and transferring anything between hard drives is incredibly quick. It kind of goes to show that you shouldn't just believe everything you hear.

[RoadKill]

I'd get a Radeon 4850 over an 8800GTS in a picosecond

[The fish]

I'd get a Radeon 4850 over an 8800GTS in a picosecond

 

Random computer related fact: I read in New Scientist once, some time ago, that someone calculated that the average tub of vanilla ice cream is about as useful for surfing the internet as a computer with a picobyte of ram.

 

On a more serious note, I'll consider that. I've heard that ATI cards have gone a bit downhill in recent years, though... Anyone know anything about that?

[Nolan]

You've got to squeeze every penny!

*squeezes until penny is absorbed into hand*

 

Truthfully I just like doing this kinda of tech oriented thing so I end up being semi helpful to others.

 

Oh dear, you ninja posted in before me

 

ATI cards of the 2xxx series (R600) were bad compared to any Nvidia equivalent. The refabs 3xxx series(R670) were a notable thorn in Nvidia's side, but nothing they were truly worried about. However, with the 4xxx series (R770) all of their cards were priced lower than Nvidia while performing the same or better. As a result Nvidia was forced to cut prices across all cards to compete, unfortunately in ATI is still performing the same or better at the same or lower prices. The 4870(flagship low-highend (X2 varients are high range) card) launched at ~$300(don't know about UK prices) half the price of the GTX280 yet it performs anywhere from the lower-same-better.

 

That's in a nutshell, there is a bit more to it but less exciting details.

[The fish]

You've got to squeeze every penny!

*squeezes until penny is absorbed into hand*

 

Truthfully I just like doing this kinda of tech oriented thing so I end up being semi helpful to others.

 

Hehe, it's really helpful, actually. That Radeon HD 4850 Konfucious posted looks very, very tempting....

 

I've had my 500GB Maxtor for a good few years inside an external media caddy. It's always worked absolutely fine and transferring anything between hard drives is incredibly quick. It kind of goes to show that you shouldn't just believe everything you hear.

 

There are often exceptions. For example, my laptop is an Acer, who have a reputation slightly worse than George Bush's, and yet this laptop has worked without a hardware-related hitch to date. However, I know people with the exact same laptop who've had it fail awfully.

 

Oh dear, you ninja posted in before me

 

ATI cards of the 2xxx series (R600) were bad compared to any Nvidia equivalent. The refabs 3xxx series(R670) were a notable thorn in Nvidia's side, but nothing they were truly worried about. However, with the 4xxx series (R770) all of their cards were priced lower than Nvidia while performing the same or better. As a result Nvidia was forced to cut prices across all cards to compete, unfortunately in ATI is still performing the same or better at the same or lower prices. The 4870(flagship low-highend (X2 varients are high range) card) launched at ~$300(don't know about UK prices) half the price of the GTX280 yet it performs anywhere from the lower-same-better.

 

That's in a nutshell, there is a bit more to it but less exciting details.

 

I'm so much of a Ninja, I'm posting this from the very same computer you're using.

 

I've more experience with ATI cards, so I'm really, really tempted to change. Gahh! I'm torn between recommendations and being tight with money!

[Sheikah]

There are often exceptions. For example, my laptop is an Acer, who have a reputation slightly worse than George Bush's, and yet this laptop has worked without a hardware-related hitch to date. However, I know people with the exact same laptop who've had it fail awfully.

 

One of my mates bought the exact same one as we bought it at the same time from Maplin, and his is fine too. On the other hand I know a friend of mine who has an internal in a caddy from Seagate that corrupted after using it for about 3 months. To be honest though, with most big brand hard drives I can't really see much happening unless the user is literally throwing the thing around while in use or allowing it to heat up in a small space.

 

I think of all the memory 'systems' I've had in the past and none have corrupted except a PS1 memory card, and that was due to the power cutting out as I was saving (insanely unlucky). I wouldn't worry!

[Nolan]

Get offa mah laptop!

 

If you go with the one Konfucious posted it'd be less than the 8800, even after shipping. The last reservation about getting the card is your PSU. I don't see anywhere else that you can really cut down enough for the PSU either, unless a cheaper case sans PSU...

 

Also, I'd say the same things about the PSU even if you deffinantly stay with the 8800GTS. Although I think at most they may be rated 450-500W it' never bad to be higher.

[The fish]

Get offa mah laptop!

 

If you go with the one Konfucious posted it'd be less than the 8800, even after shipping. The last reservation about getting the card is your PSU. I don't see anywhere else that you can really cut down enough for the PSU either, unless a cheaper case sans PSU...

 

Also, I'd say the same things about the PSU even if you deffinantly stay with the 8800GTS. Although I think at most they may be rated 450-500W it' never bad to be higher.

 

I'll look into it. If, however, I can get a case/PSU for little additional cost, I'll have to rule out that ATI card...

[McPhee]

Drop the CPU to an E7300 and up the GPU to a 4870. Even with the WD HDD you'll be under the £500 mark, you'll also get a HUGE performance boost in games

 

There's just that Case/PSU combo to tackle then, will look in to it for you and see if there's a way to squeeze something better in.

[Nolan]

Alright, it appears that both the 4850 and 9800GTX+ only require 450W or greater. So in the short term you'll be fine, but I'd suggest upgrading at a later point.

 

Although, since I'm me....

 

600W £20+shipping At such an abnormally low price.....I'm just not sure about that. IIRC it's a decent brand though, but I'm not sure.

 

Used in conjunction with this case though it'd be similar in price to what you've choosen....I think, just stick with what you've got so long as you upgrade when the cash flows again.

 

I just remembered something that may be dire about your motherboard. Let me check before I say anything I may regret.

 

EDIT:

 

Whats wrong with the mobo? I have the older version and it OCs fine. Only thing is that there is only 1 pci-e slot =\

 

anything older than P43/45 or newer x48 mobos usually requires a bios update to run the new 45nm cpus, if you dont have a spare 65nm core 2 lying around, then things are gonna be a little hard.

 

From a different forum, and I asked in a thread about whether or not the same applies to 650i mobos(since there on/past 750i). You have selected a 45nm CPU so if the same applies you could be in a bit of a pickle. I don't know yet if it is the same seeing as how they're different brands and whatnot. I don't know how long a more knowledgable reply will take.

[The fish]

Alright, it appears that both the 4850 and 9800GTX+ only require 450W or greater. So in the short term you'll be fine, but I'd suggest upgrading at a later point.

 

Although, since I'm me....

 

600W £20+shipping At such an abnormally low price.....I'm just not sure about that. IIRC it's a decent brand though, but I'm not sure.

 

Used in conjunction with this case though it'd be similar in price to what you've choosen....I think, just stick with what you've got so long as you upgrade when the cash flows again.

 

I just remembered something that may be dire about your motherboard. Let me check before I say anything I may regret.

 

EDIT:

 

 

 

From a different forum, and I asked in a thread about whether or not the same applies to 650i mobos(since there on/past 750i). You have selected a 45nm CPU so if the same applies you could be in a bit of a pickle. I don't know yet if it is the same seeing as how they're different brands and whatnot.

 

I did some hunting around and found this PSU calculator. According to it, I'll be fine, even running all out. I'll take you advice and see how I look money wise come Easter .

 

As for that motherboard thing, that's a bugger, I hope that doesn't apply for this model...

[Ten10]

My two cents, for your dvd drive maybe spend an extra few quid and find one with light scribe support, can be quite a cool feature if you ever find a need for it.