Kev's new pc?

Love them or hate them, we are all using them. Post your PC hardware related questions, comments and facts here.

Moderators: Andy, fac51, 117

117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

nearly bought a PC today:
Athlon64 3000XP Barton
AsRock K858X Mainboard
160Gb SATA 7200Rom HDD
512 DDR400 Crucial RAM
GeForce FX5700 256Mb 8x AGP
8x MSI DVD +/- RW
16x MSI DVD-ROM
5.1 Surround with 300Watt speakers
plus all the usual gubbins but no monitor and no OS
?649.00 inc VAT. any good? i can still get it if i decide i can afford it and it's a worthwhile deal
Image
Image
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

erm im not sure what cpu it has as there isnt such thing as an Athlon64 3000XP Barton. afaik its either an athlon xp3000 (with barton core) or an Athlon 64 3000. besides that it seems like a good deal but obviously you want the Athlon64. the graphics card is a bit crappy - very middle of the road - but thats the norm i guess these days for pre built systems. where was it from kev?
Image
117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

twas at a PC fair i went to yesty, a legit company that had a stand there, twas only a really small fair tho but there's a much bigger one in coupla weeks that i may go to. will see if i can find out about the Barton thing, i wont bother spending the money if it;s not the Athlon64 tho
Image
Image
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

the price sounds ok kev even if its not a amd64. just find out where the comanys shop is if you do buy it from a fair and make sure they will let you return to the actual shop if you have problems as some stalls wont let you do that for some reason
Image
117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

been looking on other sites tonight, coz seriously wanna new pc now, can go up to bout 800 bucks prolly, someone recommend me a half decent pc thats pretty futureproof pls :)
Image
Image
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

erm depends what you want one for but for gaming and all round badness without an stupid price tag demonite are the up and coming 'alienware' and have a good rep and some decent specced pc's and decent prices.

http://www.demonite.com/ :evil:

for future proofing you want a system with pci express and tbh they are few and far between atm so may be best sitting it out for a few months but if you cant wait try the demonite site. lets face it after a year or 2 you can change the mobo etc anyway

edit: maybe this new pc chat should have its own thread?

avoid any pc with celeron or duron processors etc. if you do see any others post their specs so we can have a look but for ?800 you should get a very decent setup matey ;)

also aria have some nice kit and you can configure your own.

some good stuff here but have a browse round:

http://www.aria.co.uk/NewDisplaySystems.asp?BrandID=15
Image
117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

if i build my own pc to save money, and come up with this:
MOTHERBOARD BUNDLE - AMD ATHLON 64 3400, HEATSINK AND FAN, 512MB 400DDR RAM, SOCKET 754 MOTHERBOARD
IDE DIAMONDMAX 120GB 8MB CACHE HARD DISK DRIVE ATA133 <9.0MS 7200RPM - OEM
NEC ND2510A DVD DUAL LAYER & 8XDVD+/-R & RW
550W ATX POWER SUPPLY FOR AMD, P3 AND P4 MAINBOARDS
THEMALTAKE A1838 K8-SILENT BOOST AMD OPTERON / ATHLON 64 COOLER
RADEON 9600XT 128MB DDR AGP 8X DVI TV AND VGA OUTPUTS
HAWAII BLACK PC CASE - 350W PSU
NOVATECH BLACK 17" TFT FLAT SCREEN MONITOR
NOVATECH MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD BLACK
LABTEC WIRELESS OPTICAL MOUSE
is there anything else i need?
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

well you don?t need the 350w psu with the case your getting and i would get a floppy drive for the sake of a tenner. not sure if the novatech stuff is any good, would personally go for decent keyboard, mouse etc from logitech or microsoft. would also check to see what make and model the mobo actually is and see if it has decent onboard sound or you will need a soundcard at some point.. oh and you are getting a processor with a heatsink and fan and then buying another heatsink and fan? get a oem processor or forget the extra cooler. apart from that looks pretty good.
Image
mr mixin
Guru In Trouble When Ed Finds Out
Posts: 3201
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:14 am
Location: Notts, uk
Contact:

Post by mr mixin »

you need a decent sound card mr

and wireless mouse arrrgh /me stabs
117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

ok well i'll get rid of the fan and get a soundcard instead :) not worried about the keyboard and mouse yet just wanna get cheap so i can use the pc, will get better stuff later :)
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

get a creative soundcard, audigy if you can afford
Image
leomax
Apprentice Guru
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:48 pm
Contact:

Post by leomax »

Any plans for overclocking? <br/><br/><i>*#06#</i>
~~
117
Lowly Janitor Guru
Posts: 12548
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 12:23 pm
Location: a destination a little up the road

Post by 117 »

is the gc any good? or is there better for similar money? <br/><br/><i>[i][color=#006688]So, i've decided to take my WAP back underground, to stop it falling into the wrong hands[/color][/i]</i>
User avatar
fac51
Gaming Guru
Posts: 14526
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 11:00 am
Location: Rapture
Contact:

Post by fac51 »

its mid range - get a radeon 9800 pro if you can as they can be picked up for under ?150 atm. dont think you will be overclocking will you kev?

oh and welcome to guru4u leomax :)
Image
leomax
Apprentice Guru
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:48 pm
Contact:

Post by leomax »

Oh,of course thanks guru. Well, 117,as our guru earlier said new techs are on mid roads. And regarding graphic card,id suggest 9800 pro atm (am a bit inclined towards ati) and upcoming nVIDIA 6600 will also be a great card ,it has a whole new design ( and ps 3.0 me course) , if you can wait , get that. <br/> <br/><br/><i>*#06#</i>
~~
Post Reply