Suggestions for a build please

[Londoner]

Hi,

I think I'm living on borrowed time with my pc. I bought it for £500 in 1999/2000 and have had alot of use out of it. My graphics card seems to have died on me and some time ago someone on this board suggested my MB was probably not going to last too much longer. I have been looking at prices of new systems and can't really afford more than £500 but need/want a system which can handle gaming.

So I began to think maybe I could build one cheap - or would I be better off buying a pre-built one?

I figure I could probably keep my power supply, perhaps, as it is new this year. I figure my two hard drives whould be ok as I have had no problems with them - and if I could use the case I have already then I could save still more money.

Anyone have any ideas for a MB, Proc, graphics card, etc, combo which I could put together? I don't mind going with last years models if they are cheaper since I have been happy with my current set up which is 6+ years old - so price and performance are important!

[lostplanet]

if i get a bit of free time ill try and help you on this. im in kent.
£500.00 is a tight budget but we should be able to suss something out around that.

couple of questions: what games do you intend to play?be specific (BF2 for instance is a real pig of a game on systems)
what is the brand, model and wattage of your power supply?

i priced up a potential system for my friend, it came to over £1500 with quite old tech but everything to get him playing games nicely.(but the monitor was £400.00 alone )

to get the best prices, youll be best buying from online retailers, which unfortunately are mostly up north.

for example:
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.scan.co.uk
www.ebuyer.co.uk
www.komplett.co.uk
www.overclock.co.uk
www.microdirect.co.uk
www.dabs.com
www.tekheads.co.uk
www.xcase.co.uk
www.aria.co.uk

[Chazell29]

is that L thingy euro's?
nope its pounds from like england?
ah im confussed
lol

[Chazell29]

ok so that L is United Kingdom Pounds and 500 pounds is = $944 USD right?

[lostplanet]

yep give or take a dollar. £1.00=$1.89

[Chazell29]

k that was confussing man lol i had to use google!
lmao
(i know little, but from what i have been recommended and told, i could give some suggestions)

[freakitchen]

How about these parts as a starting point:

ASUS A8N5X Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113992

AMD 3800+ Socket 939
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88104

1GB Kingston RAM (2x512)
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/49296

Antec Sonata II case + 450w PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/93403/rb/21263481405

Evga Nvidia 7600GT
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/114359

Western Digital 250GB SataII HD
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/94403/rb/21263529176

Lite-on DVD burner
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101321

Total Price under budget at £485, without delivery. That system should play the newest games well.

Building a computer is a rewarding experience, and a good skill to have! Here are some guides to hopefully show you it isn't that difficult

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/pc_parts_list.shtml

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/index.html

FK

[Londoner]

Thanks for the posts guys. And, yes, that £ thing is United Kingdom pounds which work out at about a dollar 89 in your United States 'S' things.

I know £500 (about $900) isn't a great amount but I figured I could get away with using my current power supply which is a 'good' make and is almost new, I have two Hard Drives which are both OK, so I figure I could keep them too. I hoped I could use my current case too, which isn't great but will do. And my monitor and keyboard are fine. And so are my speakers. And my CD and DVD drives are ok too. So really I'm focusing on a Motherboard, Processor and Graphics card combo, oh, and RAM. And I guess I'll need a sound card too but that isn't a priority so anything functional will do.

I can maybe do it in two phases and in amonth or two I can upgrade soundcard and drives. But the immediate need is as described. That or I'll buy a Dell for £500 - or not. Urm, not.

[lostplanet]

what games do you intend to play?be specific (BF2 for instance is a real pig of a game on systems)

what is the brand, model and wattage of your power supply?

what are the models and age's of the HDD's?

what brand and model of case do you have? if any

also do you prefer Intel or AMD for CPU?

and ATI or Nvidia for graphics?

[Londoner]

Hi,

thanks for your posts - I like the look of the spec Freakkitchen posted and I have been checking that out and it looks feasible but I thought that I would just ask if anyone has any other suggestions.

I want to try to keep as much of my current setup as possible so I guess I'm focusing of MB, PCU and Graphics card - although obviously I would need to get new RAM too, at least.

So my current spec is as in my sig. The case I'm using is just a bog standard non-descript case. The power supply is a Jeantech 450w and is only a couple months old.

I am a graphic designer so I always like to have a decent enough set up for photoshop work, I also like to do gaming - Doom 3, Fear, Call of Duty, some Everquest 2, not been playing BF2 although I may do although if that means more money, perhaps I'll do without - general stuff, anyway, and I like good graphics. But I have been getting by with a GeForce 6600, and before that an mx 440 so I don't need all the bells and whistles. Price is most important really but it would be cool to have the 7800 card.

My primary HD is the Excelstor, which is as old as my computer, 6 or 7 years old; but no problems with it. The Barracuda secondary is just 2 or 3 years old. I should probably upgrade the primary but perhaps in a month or two - as a 'second phase' of the upgrade.

I prefer AMD, just because that's what I've had and so I'm more familiar with the specs. I also know more about nVidia than ATI, but all suggestions welcome.

[jayb1234]

As far as the power supply, if it is 6 or 7 years old, it probably isn't going to be able to run those new components.

The Sonata II that Freakitchen linked above comes with a good quality PSU that will handle them with no problem, and is about the best deal you will be able to find for a case with a decent power supply.

Edit, missed the last post with the PSU while I was looking to see if a core 2 duo build would fit in your budget.

Looked like it might untill I checked the U.K. prices and saw that 17.5% VAT, ouch.

The specs on the Jeantech site, don't look too bad.

I'm not really familiar with Jeantech, so I can't really comment on the quality of that brand.

[lostplanet]

FK's suggestion looks good, if you keep an eye on prices you could pick up an OEM athlon 64 4000+ 1MB cache skt 939 for around £90 (prices up and down) but you would have to buy a heatsink and fan.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html

HSF prices from £7.00 to £30.00

the retail athlon 4000 (at the bottom)is actually an older clawhammer core they are selling of cheap, so avoid.

[lostplanet]

as an alternative VGC the ATI sapphire X1900GT 256(£140.00+delivery) is comparable with an Nvidia 7900GT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...00_Series.html

review here but connect3D version
http://www.trustedreviews.com/articl...ge=6889&head=0

if you like the nvidia card suggested, Scan have a bargain XFX 7600GT atm for £100+delivery

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/produ...oductID=459494

[lostplanet]

http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1...96&modelmenu=1

does the A8N5X support SATA 2?
i couldnt see it on the asus site, the A8N-E NF4 Ultra seems to,

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112232
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1...55&modelmenu=1

[cashman]

this computer is looking good