Buying a new Desktop, lmk What you think...?!

[Chazzer3]

Hi guys,

recently my laptop has given up the ghost after a year and two months of heavy use, and along with that being repaired, I'm going to buy a new computer. The specs I'm showing are preliminary and I would like to hear what you think about them, and opinions on upgrading. I'm not looking to spend more than £1000. But if something really important, (you think), is a good idea then a can possibly spend I tiny bit more....

I'm buying from a, (what I've heard), reliable, good company called Golden Electronics, who you may have seen on eBay, they sell a lot of stuff there...! I'm going to be buying the different parts seperately, (ie monitor and computer), and the computers specs are going to probably be:

Processor: AMD64 Athlon X2 4200+ 1Mb cache
Memory: 1.0GB DDR 400mhz
Hard Disk Drive: 200GB IDE ATA133 8MB buffer
Optical Drive: 16x Sony Double-Layer DVD+/-RW
PCI-Express Graphics card: ATI Radeon X550XT 256MB PCI-E TV/DVI
Operating System: Geniune Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2
Sound Card: Audigy Soundblaster 7.1 24-bit
Accessories: Firewire Card
Internet and Networking: PCI Wireless 802.11G card
Peripherals: Wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse
Warranty: 3 Years Standard Warranty
Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream (550W PSU)

That comes out to a reasonable: £844.95.

I think that that is a good price, and it would be coming in this case:

A Thermaltake Tsunami Dream, which from what I've heard is a solidly built good looking case.

I am then buying the monitor from SCAN computers, which is a very reliable, (reasonably well known), company based in Bolton. The monitor is a Hyundai B71A, (I think), and I feel it goes well with the Case, and it looks great, (previous experience).

I think that's everything. Please let me know what you honestly think, oh yeah, and I'd be getting the case without the window probably, (unless you can convince me otherwise), as I personally prefer it that way...

Oh yes, and if you think that XP Pro X64 is a good investment let me know, its only a £10 extra, but apparantly there are issues, (?).

Thanks again,

Charlie -

 

[FghtinIrshNvrDi]

Windows x64 is a mess as far as compatibility and drivers go. You'll be searching all day for drivers that don't exist.

As far as the computer goes, here's a few things I think...

That processor... You may as well get the 3800+ and overclock it a tiny bit to get it to 4200 speeds. The 4200 is just a mildly overclocked version of the 3800+. If you do want a speed increase, you may as well go for the 4400+. it has 2x1mb of L2 cache.

Video card... If gaming, that video card is not for you. If you're doing DVD's and regular applications, it'll be fine. But if you are gaming, I'd suggest going with the X700 at a bare minimum. The nVidia 6800GS would also be a good bet. It's $200 American.

Operating System... If you're not doing any heavy networking, then I wouldn't worry about going with XP Pro. XP Home offers everything a person needs for a PC. XP Pro just eases the pain when you're moving around from LAN to LAN.

Ryan

 

[Chazzer3]

Thanks very much for the advice, I have changed it slightly. I've changed to:

- AMD64 Athlon X2 4400+ 2Mb cache
- ATI Radeon X800GTO PCI-E 256MB
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2

Does that help would you say?

(because gaming would be a thing really, would the graphics card make a serious difference, because they are both quite large...?!) and the price is considerably different....

Thanks,

Charlie-

 

[Chazzer3]

Oh yeah, and would you reccomend this:

NVidia GeForce 6600GT PCI-E 256MB DDR3 TV/DVI

or this:

ATI Radeon X800GTO PCI-E 256MB

As they are the same price and I'd just like to know which one you'd reccomend....?!

 

[Chazzer3]

Okay, I hate to reply to my own thread repeatedly, but look at this spec and tell me what you think:

Processor: AMD64 Athlon X2 3800+ 1Mb cache;
Memory: 1.0GB DDR 400mhz (Recommended);
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB IDE ATA133 8MB buffer;
Optical Drive: 16x Sony Double-Layer DVD+/-RW;
SLI PCI-Express Graphics card: ATI Radeon X700 512MB DDR2 TV/DVI;
Operating System: Geniune Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2;
Sound card: Audigy Soundblaster 7.1 24-bit;
Accessories: Firewire Card; Internet and
Networking: PCI Wireless 802.11G card;
Peripherals: Wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse;
Warranty: 3 Years Platinum Warranty;
Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream;
PSU: 600W HiPoint PSU

I think that's better or am I wrong? good graphics? better PSU and Warranty?

And of course this model is SLI which is meant to be awesome....

 

[Rundat]

Go for it i love your build minus the graphic card

 

[Chazzer3]

Thanks for that, but which one?

 

[Rundat]

how much are you willing to spend?

 

[Lord Leviathan]

Windows x64 is a mess as far as compatibility and drivers go. You'll be searching all day for drivers that don't exist.

Logitech just releasde the compleate 64bit driver packaeg for all of theire curent devices at least according to an arical i read yesterday...
suposedly you can go to theire support page and download what you need

 

[Chazzer3]

Not much more than £1k....