my mate needs a new computer D:

[Skiwan]

I said i'd help him out with what to get... by doing that i ment asking the peoples on here =P he wants to build it himself and he wants to order online, he loves his games and wants to get into the game development buisness too. His funding is around £900, though he doesnt need to buy a monitor or keyboard. Anybody wanna fix something up for him :x?

 

[Kaination]

I could help, if you mind transfering £900 to $

(unless they're the same : S)

 

[Skiwan]

that'd be $1,577.47 D:

 

[Jesus]

www.overclockers.co.uk

you should be able to get a pretty good system together from there, some of their mobo/cpu/ram packages are pretty good too.

 

[Skiwan]

any recomendations? >_> i mean hardware isnt something i know much about

cummon peoples, ive seen other threads like this before, but people actually helped in those ones. I need to give my mate some help, he's been working his ass off before he goes to uni next year and he's buying a computer, but it'd be nice to know how to go about it.

 

[Jesus]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Athlon_64_Bundles.html

go for the
amd 64 3500
1gb geil ram
asus a8n-sli motherboard
package, about half way down, £281.82 (inc vat).

then go for:
BFG GeForce 7800 GTX OC 256MB (2nd on the list)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7800__Series.html

that should leave about £200 for him to spend on a case and fans n stuff.

 

[|Overlord|]

AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-148-AM) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_Athlon_MP.html
If your friend has some knowlege on overclocking he will like s939 Opteron chips (& some of them are actually a little cheaper then the athlon chips & since they are intaillay work station/server chips they actually have there silcon thurthly checked by AMD, they also do fairly nice overclocks).

Personally I'd try getting a dual core chip for future proofing as with all the dual core patches for games & apps coming out these days (points at quake4).

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4200BVBOX) (CP-126-AM) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_64_X2.html

DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-018-DF) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html

Mushkin 2GB DDR HP3200 High Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS2 (991434) (MY-005-MK) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Mushkin.html

Leadtek GeForce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-069-LT) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7800__Series.html

Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-070-WD) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/westerndigital_sata.html

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Antec_Cases.html

Total cost comes in at about 824.7 (I don't have your currency sign on my keyboard). Imo I wouldn't bother with a 7800gtx & go with a gt instead because no one will really notice the difference between the two. In a few days nvidia should release the 7900 series (GT 24pipes 450core/1300memory, GTX 24pipes, 650core/1600memory). Ofcourse they were aiming for higher clocks but that's from nvidia's reference design for the cards & some partners will have factory overclocked versions that should ship at clocks of 690 - 710 on the core. These cards are a die shrink (90nm comapred to 7800series 110nm) & since it is smaller, it means it will produce less heat and consume less power (in theory atleast). My prediction is 7800cards will be discounted as most retailers will want to get rid of them when these cards are launched (nvidia is planning to launch them at cebit on march 9th, same day as my birthday :'). They should also have good supply of these cards at launch according to nvidia (just like 7800series did at launch, except for the GTX 512 with it's limited avalibility).

Personally though I would just go buy a 7800gt and wait for the next generation of cards considering what vista is going to do to us :'(.

 

[Smith|]

I agree with Overlord: Buy an expensive card to wait for another expensive card.

 

[|Overlord|]

I agree with Overlord: Buy an expensive card to wait for another expensive card.

7800gt isn't as expensive as 7800gtx (only a tad difference for about 100 euros difference?). I was origionaly going to suggest a 6800gs if he wants to save money - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/6800PCI_Series.html

But given the price difference between the two (I'm not sure on euro price difference from the rest of the world), That's why I suggested a 7800gt over the best 6800gs card they have lsited there. Considering that the 7900 cards were cheaper to produce, i'm not so sure on there pricing, but meh. 7800cards could well become bargins due to stores wanting to get rid of stock.

 

[Smith|]

7800gt isn't as expensive as 7800gtx (only a tad difference for about 100 euros difference?). I was origionaly going to suggest a 6800gs if he wants to save money - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/6800PCI_Series.html

But given the price difference between the two (I'm not sure on euro price difference from the rest of the world), That's why I suggested a 7800gt over the best 6800gs card they have lsited there. Considering that the 7900 cards were cheaper to produce, i'm not so sure on there pricing, but meh. 7800cards could well become bargins due to stores wanting to get rid of stock.

I didn't say the 7800GT was as expensive as the 7800GTX, I said expensive. Why go buy a card for ~270-300US only to have to sell it a few weeks later if you intend to buy a better one? Why not just hold out? Of course, if you're Overlord, you apparently have infinite money and everything is reasonable.

 

[|Overlord|]

I didn't say the 7800GT was as expensive as the 7800GTX, but it seems... a little strange to buy a card for ~270-300US only to have to sell it a few weeks later if you intend to buy a better one. Why not just hold out? Of course, if you're Overlord, you apparently have infinite money and everything is reasonable.

I myself don't have infinite money (you think i'dd be using a athlon xp setup if I myself had infinite money =P). I was considering he wait, but i'm not exactly sure on 7900 pricing. The specs I listed do fit in with his budget though. It would more depend if he wants to go out and buy it straghit away, but meh. He'd only think about getting a better card when vista is out (a DX10 card).

 

[Smith|]

I myself don't have infinite money (you think i'dd be using a athlon xp setup if I myself had infinite money =P). I was considering he wait, but i'm not exactly sure on 7900 pricing. The specs I listed do fit in with his budget though. It would more depend if he wants to go out and buy it straghit away, but meh. He'd only think about getting a better card when vista is out (a DX10 card).

Then that's all you need to say. Don't tell him to buy a card and then buy the next best one a few weeks later, don't give him information on stuff he most likely will never care about, such as the information on a certain card as to why the pixel pipelines don't fit in the sewer, just be helpful, not overly so. It's as though you're trying to prove yourself, or something.

For the first time I will say that the setup you've 'linked' together for him is decent, with the only thing I'd change at sight being the PSU, as you have it included in his case. A PSU in a case is just there for the manufacturer to say "WE HAVE A PSU IN OUR CASE", nothing else.

 

[|Overlord|]

450w should be enough for a setup like that, & it's an antec case/psu combo too (quality my friend, quality =P).

I guess what I was tryying to say earlier was don't bother with a better card till Vista & that 7800 & 7900cards won't have much of a difference between them in performance, but in power consumption and heat and the die shrink maybe making it a bit cheaper, and there only a few days away from being launched, however i'm not so sure on the pricing. Ethier way it not such a big deal, but always nice to have something that consumes less power, doesn't heat up as much etc (if the pricing is right).

 

[Smith|]

450w should be enough for a setup like that, & it's an antec case/psu combo too (quality my friend, quality =P).

It doesn't matter if it was made by God; a PSU in the case won't compare to if the PSU came alone. They cut the costs somewhere, and it'll always be the part you can buy another of while keeping the main section intact. Yes, Antec is good when it comes to their products, but they make money somewhere.

And as I've said so many times, it's not the wattage what is important, but the amperage.

 

[Devion]

Not totally true, Aopen, Antec deliver highend PSU with their cases.

Just wait 2 weeks and the 7900gt will be out for $300, which is just as fast as the 7800gtx($500).