A New PC

[Leifde]

I'm wanting to get a new PC for around £400. I would like it to run LFS at 60fps+

Can anyone recommend any components for it?

Would I be better building it myself or buying a pre-built one?

Thanks.

[Jakg]

hmm, well ive got an 9600 XT and that runs LFS at 80+ fps with AA & AF, im using a 2.8 Athlon, 1 Gb of PC3200 DDR Ram and a ASUS A7N8X-X mobo, shouldnt cost you to much, though im sure you could make one waay cheaper, just make sure it has a graphics card!

[bobbfwed]

This is my setup, run at highest settings plus 2x FSAA at 60-80FPS:
ASUS Mobo socket A
AMD 2500+ barton (over clocked to 2.18Ghz)
X800 Pro (over clocked to 447Mhz core, 565Mhz mem)
1.5GB RAM

you could buy this setup plus hard/optical drives, and case/PSU for $800 probably if you bought it all off ebay.

[franky500]

is it just the tower you want?
if so i would recommend buying components from www.dabs.com should be able to get something above 80 FPS from there (suggesting AMD 64 3500 nvidia 6600 GT- 6800 GT, new mobo, shouldnt cost more than £400 if you get the right bits

[mrodgers]

is it just the tower you want?
if so i would recommend buying components from www.dabs.com (http://www.dabs.com) should be able to get something above 80 FPS from there (suggesting AMD 64 3500 nvidia 6600 GT- 6800 GT, new mobo, shouldnt cost more than £400 if you get the right bits
I can vouch for the AMD 64 3500. I only have onboard and can squeeze out 80 FPS at lower res/gfx options. At higher res with AA/AF on I still see 40-50-60 with the onboard. My next step is gfx card and I can forsee easy 80+ FPS.

[Leifde]

Just found this on ebay (C&P'ed from the ebay listing):

· MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PACK 2

· AMD ATHLON 64 3400+ PROCESSOR

· 2.4GHZ PROCESSOR SPEED

· 1GB RAM

· 400GB HARD DISK SPACE

· ATI RADEON 9800XT 256MB GRAPHICS CARD

· NEC DVD_RW DRIVE

· IDE DVD ROM 16X

· 6X USB PORTS (4X REAR, 2X FRONT)

· ETHERNET SOCKET

· 2X FIREWIRE PORTS (1X REAR, 1X FRONT)

· MODEM

· 7-IN-1 CARD READER (SD, MMC, MS, PRO, CF, MD, SM)

· 3.5” FLOPPY DRIVE

That looks good to me, does it to you?

EDIT: It comes with a 15" TFT monitor, keyboard, mouse & 4 games. The buy it now price is £575. It's in my general area so delivery shouldn't be a problem. :)
EDIT2: It's 18 months old.

[Jakg]

Just found this on ebay (C&P'ed from the ebay listing):

· MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PACK 2

· AMD ATHLON 64 3400+ PROCESSOR

· 2.4GHZ PROCESSOR SPEED

· 1GB RAM

· 400GB HARD DISK SPACE

· ATI RADEON 9800XT 256MB GRAPHICS CARD

· NEC DVD_RW DRIVE

· IDE DVD ROM 16X

· 6X USB PORTS (4X REAR, 2X FRONT)

· ETHERNET SOCKET

· 2X FIREWIRE PORTS (1X REAR, 1X FRONT)

· MODEM

· 7-IN-1 CARD READER (SD, MMC, MS, PRO, CF, MD, SM)

· 3.5” FLOPPY DRIVE

That looks good to me, does it to you?sounds good, how much?

[Leifde]

£575 is the Buy it Now price.

[Leifde]

Ok, I'll send the seller a message.

£400 was my flexible budget for the base system only, I should be able to stretch to this. :)

[Leifde]

A monitor is included, it's a 15" TFT monitor.

[Jakg]

BTW: To get a quick idea of whether a computer is good value or not, I sometimes try buying a similar system from Dell's website. I wouldn't actually buy a Dell computer, but their prices are usually competitive so they make a useful comparison.yes, but Dells usualy only use Intels and almost never have Graphics cards

[Leifde]

The graphics card is 8x AGP. I can live with having to buy a new motherboard if I want to upgrade my graphics card in a few years so that's not a problem. I just gotta hope my parents will let me buy it now. :)

[Leifde]

I'm not allowed to buy a used PC for some reason. :shrug:

I tried dabs but the total came to £745.06 with a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It could be that I just chose things too good for my budget.. :(

I've just found www.eclipsecomputers.com I'll have a look there.

[Leifde]

Eclipse Computers do a DIY kit, I've configured this to what I want and it came to just over £600 with a monitor, Windows XP, a keyboard and a mouse. I'll probably go with that. I just gotta wait until I'm allowed. :)

Specs of the PC I'm (probably) getting:

Motherboard - Biostar TForce6100-939 Skt939,PCI-E,VGA,SATA,Lan Motherboard - £52.95

Processor - AMD Athlon64 3500+ Socket 939 (Venice) CPU - £124.95

Memory - 1024Mb 400Mhz PC3200 184Pin DDR Memory Module - £47.20

Graphics Card - 256Mb GeForce 6600LE PCI-Express16 VGA Card - £47.95

Primary IDE Master Device - 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA 8MB Cache 7200rpm Hard Drive - £48.25

Secondary IDE Master Device - NEC ND3540 16x+R 16x-R Dual Layer DVD Writer - £24.95

Secondary IDE Slave Device - Black 52x Record 24x ReWrite 52xCD Rom IDE CD Writer - 12.95

Floppy Drive 1 - 3.5 1.44Mb Floppy Disk Drive - £4.45

Floppy Drive 2 - 33-in-1 USB2.0 Card Reader 3.5 Internal/External - £6.95

Case - X8804 Black ATX Case, 350W PSU, Bubble Lights & LCD Display - £18.95

Monitor - 17 SVGA Monitor - £61.15

Keyboard - MicroSoft Wired Keyboard 500 - £6.95

Mouse - MicroSoft Wheel Mouse Optical with Scroll Wheel - £6.95

Operating System - MicroSoft Windows XP Home Edition - £57.95

Total Price - £613.99

[Leifde]

Nope, that's including VAT, it's around £500 without VAT.

[mrodgers]

BTW: To get a quick idea of whether a computer is good value or not, I sometimes try buying a similar system from Dell's website. I wouldn't actually buy a Dell computer, but their prices are usually competitive so they make a useful comparison.
I get a supplier's discount from Dell (I make the computer packaging for them). Their prices are so competetive, that my 10% discount ends up equating to around $30 more in their EPP program than I can buy straight off the main website.

[Dygear]

Bare Bone Computers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2000030003+4019&Subcategory=3&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=&ATTR1=2000030003+4019&ATTR2=&ATTR3=&ATTR4=&ATTR5=&ATTR6=&ATTR7=&ATTR8=&ATTR9=&ATTR10=&ATTR11=&ATTR12=&ATTR13=&ATTR14=&ATTR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=&ATTR18=) - 300 to 400 USD Range.
Video Cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010380048+4026+70000739&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=48&ATTR1=2010380048+4026&ATTR10=2010380048+70000739) - 50 to 75 USD Range.

[J.B.]

Eclipse Computers do a DIY kit, I've configured this to what I want and it came to just over £600 with a monitor, Windows XP, a keyboard and a mouse. I'll probably go with that. I just gotta wait until I'm allowed. :)

Specs of the PC I'm (probably) getting:

Motherboard - Biostar TForce6100-939 Skt939,PCI-E,VGA,SATA,Lan Motherboard - £52.95

Processor - AMD Athlon64 3500+ Socket 939 (Venice) CPU - £124.95

Memory - 1024Mb 400Mhz PC3200 184Pin DDR Memory Module - £47.20

Graphics Card - 256Mb GeForce 6600LE PCI-Express16 VGA Card - £47.95

Primary IDE Master Device - 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA 8MB Cache 7200rpm Hard Drive - £48.25

Secondary IDE Master Device - NEC ND3540 16x+R 16x-R Dual Layer DVD Writer - £24.95

Secondary IDE Slave Device - Black 52x Record 24x ReWrite 52xCD Rom IDE CD Writer - 12.95

Floppy Drive 1 - 3.5 1.44Mb Floppy Disk Drive - £4.45

Floppy Drive 2 - 33-in-1 USB2.0 Card Reader 3.5 Internal/External - £6.95

Case - X8804 Black ATX Case, 350W PSU, Bubble Lights & LCD Display - £18.95

Monitor - 17 SVGA Monitor - £61.15

Keyboard - MicroSoft Wired Keyboard 500 - £6.95

Mouse - MicroSoft Wheel Mouse Optical with Scroll Wheel - £6.95

Operating System - MicroSoft Windows XP Home Edition - £57.95

Total Price - £613.99

Graphics card is crap. For a completely new machine you should get at least a 6800 GS. CPU is good, make sure you only buy stuff you are actually going to use (Floppy drive, card reader, second DVD drive).

[Bob Smith]

May I suggest looking on ebay for the monitor, I'm assuming that's a CRT job, in which case you could get a 19" or a 21" for the same price second hand. I bought my current monitor from ebay for £99, retails at £750 new. The one good thing about TFT monitors is that they dropped the bottom out of the second hand CRT market. Some real bargains to be had.

[Leifde]

Graphics card is crap. For a completely new machine you should get at least a 6800 GS. CPU is good, make sure you only buy stuff you are actually going to use (Floppy drive, card reader, second DVD drive).It's a hell of a lot better than my Geforce 4 MX 440SE. :)

[Leifde]

Ok, I have configured another one, this time with a 6800GS card.

Motherboard - Biostar TForce6100-939 Skt939,PCI-E,VGA,SATA,Lan Motherboard - £52.95

Processor - AMD Athlon64 3200+ Socket 939 (Venice) CPU - £99.95

Memory - 1024Mb 400Mhz PC3200 184Pin DDR Memory Module - £47.20

Graphics Card - XFX 256Mb GeForce 6800GS XXX Edition PCI-Express VGA Card - £140.95

Primary IDE Master Device - 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA 8MB Cache 7200rpm Hard Drive - £48.25

Secondary IDE Master Device - NEC ND3540 16x+R 16x-R Dual Layer DVD Writer - £24.95

Secondary IDE Slave Device - Black 52x Record 24x ReWrite 52xCD Rom IDE CD Writer - 12.95

Floppy Drive 1 - 3.5 1.44Mb Floppy Disk Drive - £4.45

Floppy Drive 2 - 33-in-1 USB2.0 Card Reader 3.5 Internal/External - £6.95

Case - X8804 Black ATX Case, 350W PSU, Bubble Lights & LCD Display - £18.95

Monitor - 17" Dell Monitor off ebay - £20

Keyboard - MicroSoft Wired Keyboard 500 - £6.95

Mouse - MicroSoft Wheel Mouse Optical with Scroll Wheel - £6.95

Operating System - MicroSoft Windows XP Home Edition - £57.95

Total Price - £618.23

The final price is with VAT, the other prices are without i think.

[mr_spoon]

I have recently just ordered a bundle of stull to upgrade my PC, so here's my suggestions for a half-decent gaming system:

Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4-F SKT939 nForce4 chipset Dual DDR400 PCI-E ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15871944686&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=98137
£51.99

CPU: AMD (Venice) Athlon 64 3500+ 939pin 512Kb L2 Cache 90nm Retail Boxed Processor With 3 Year Warranty and Fan Included.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=88107
£119.87

RAM: Corsair (VS1GBKIT400) 1024MB (2 x 512MB Matched Pair), DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, Unbuffered, CL2.5, Lifetime Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15871686614&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52057
£48.92

Graphics: Gainward 6600GT 128mb Powerpack! Ultra/1960PCX TV-DVI PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15872177604&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=94363
£80.84

HD: Western Digital WD1600JS Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 8MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15871739949&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=94406
£46.94

CD RW: Sony CRX320E 52x32x52x16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO Internal IDE (Black) - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15871808427&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59332
£18.69

DVD RW: NEC ND3550A 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15871827543&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=98443
£24.29

Floppy (Black): Sony OEM 3.5 Floppy Drive Black
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=74629
£3.67

Case + PSU: Asus TA-210 Mid Tower Case Black/Silver with 360W PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=98548
£29.77

Keyboard: Logitech OEM Value Keyboard Beige PS2
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15872238101&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59175
£3.20

Mouse: Logitech Black Pilot PS2/USB Optical Mouse
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15872807051&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=66603
£10.62

OS: Microsoft OEM Windows XP Home Edition inc SP2 - 1Pk
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=66489
£50.20

Screen: Samsung Samtron ST78E 17" CRT 0.25dpi (1280 x 1024) Ivory Monitor 3 years Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15872378745&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=103110
£59.99
--------------------
£548.99 ex. VAT.
--------------------
£645.07 inc. VAT.
--------------------
I'm not promoting eBuyer or anything, other good shops I've used before: Dabs, Savastore, Chillblast. Delivery would likely be £8, seeing as my recent order included two ATX tower cases and it was £8.

Also note: I've not researched any of these parts to see how good/compatibe they are.

mr_spoon. :)

Edit:

I just saw you would like a better graphics card, so here's one:

Point of View 6800GS 256mb TV/DVI PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15873285420&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=99318
£116.58 ex.VAT.

This takes the total to £584.73 ex.VAT, £687.06 inc.VAT.

I didnt include that crazy floppy/multireader thing, and I also wouldnt advise two optical driver, unless you copy stuff like CRAZY! I doubt anyone needs to write to DVDs! and 160GB HD is rather a lot also; you can easily get a second one at a later date when necessary.

PS: If I'm doing anything wrong/disallowed by posting links to a shop on this forum, please let me know/delete them.

[Leifde]

The one I posted just before your post is probably the one I'm gonna go for. Thanks anyway. :)

[mr_spoon]

No problem. The motherboard on your system is MicroATX, but that's not a problem I suppose. :)

[Leifde]

I'm guessing it doesn't matter as it's the preset motherboard for the system. :)

[keiran]

I'd recommend http://www.meshcomputers.com - You can get very good budget system there with 3 years back to base warranty. Still got a computer from them which is now 15 years old and it still works fine :p

Sure I saw this one in a magazine as being the best value PC on a budget http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=56236
Keiran

[mrodgers]

mr_spoon, what currency is that all listed in? I don't know all the currency symbols, is it pounds or euros? I'm guessing euros. Just wondering because if it is pounds, then converting to USD it would be over $1000 usd. That list is pretty much the system I bought minus the graphics card and I paid a little over $500 usd. If in euros, then that would be $775 and would be more comparable in price to mine.

Also, for a website you can check out www.ibuypower.com (http://www.ibuypower.com). I've visited there many times, but never bought anything.

[mr_spoon]

It was all in British pounds. £££££ moneh! I just spent over that on my AMD X2 system upgrade, arrives on monday... cant wait! :thumb:

£584.73 British pounds = $1030.64 US dollars.

Maybe stuff is cheap in America, quite possibly. eBuyer is a pretty cheap place here in the UK, to my knowledge anyway. But it is probably now always the case that buying a pre-built system is cheaper, the above list is all for separates to do a self-build with. I prefer to self-build my own PCs. Fingers crossed my new one will work ok...

But, using the ibuyingpower ValuePro configurator thing-ama-jig to make up a similar system to my one comes to $1016 USD, and that's with a 6800XT rather than a 6800GT, so my system was similar in price, but the mobo I chose maybe wasnt quite as good. But then there's VAT...

Anyway, I hope Leifde has some fun with his new PC. :)

mr_spoon

[WIGGA]

My Tipp is!

CPU:Amd Athlon64 3700+ 200€
GraKa:PowerColor X850XT 200€(or better is the XFX 7800GT Extreme Gamer 310€)
Ram: Corsair Xms2 1024DDR2(577Mhz) 150€
PowerSuply:Be Quiet! DarkPower 520W 120€
Harddrive:Samsung 200GB 120€
Thermaltake Tsunami: 100€
All other little things:100€(floppy,DVD...)
=990€(1100€)

And then LfS works on 1248*1024 with 8xAA 16xfssa on 100Fps
;)

[ut2k4wikichici]

Eclipse Computers do a DIY kit, I've configured this to what I want and it came to just over £600 with a monitor, Windows XP, a keyboard and a mouse. I'll probably go with that. I just gotta wait until I'm allowed. :)

Specs of the PC I'm (probably) getting:

Motherboard - Biostar TForce6100-939 Skt939,PCI-E,VGA,SATA,Lan Motherboard - £52.95

Processor - AMD Athlon64 3500+ Socket 939 (Venice) CPU - £124.95

Memory - 1024Mb 400Mhz PC3200 184Pin DDR Memory Module - £47.20

Graphics Card - 256Mb GeForce 6600LE PCI-Express16 VGA Card - £47.95

Primary IDE Master Device - 160Gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA 8MB Cache 7200rpm Hard Drive - £48.25

Secondary IDE Master Device - NEC ND3540 16x+R 16x-R Dual Layer DVD Writer - £24.95

Secondary IDE Slave Device - Black 52x Record 24x ReWrite 52xCD Rom IDE CD Writer - 12.95

Floppy Drive 1 - 3.5 1.44Mb Floppy Disk Drive - £4.45

Floppy Drive 2 - 33-in-1 USB2.0 Card Reader 3.5 Internal/External - £6.95

Case - X8804 Black ATX Case, 350W PSU, Bubble Lights & LCD Display - £18.95

Monitor - 17 SVGA Monitor - £61.15

Keyboard - MicroSoft Wired Keyboard 500 - £6.95

Mouse - MicroSoft Wheel Mouse Optical with Scroll Wheel - £6.95

Operating System - MicroSoft Windows XP Home Edition - £57.95

Total Price - £613.99

The Grafics Card will drag the rest of the system down and the 3500 is overkill

get a 3200 and spend the rest on a 6600gt 256mb,6800gs,6800gt,7800gs

[Leifde]

Read the post I made after that, I have changed the specs.

[banshee56]

To those that have posted specs on new computers: most of you have posted that you are getting either WinXP Home, or OEM versions. Keep in mind that later this year when Windows Vista is released, Microsoft is dropping support for XP Home, which is the case already for OEM versions.

[the_angry_angel]

I'm sorry to disagree, but the end of life for MS XP Home has been extended to 2 years after Vista is launched (it was changed from end of 2006, since Vista's taken so long). This works out as roughly 2008. Since XP Pro is a corporate thing its obviously going to be longer.

If you're buying a PC, which you *may* use to work at home from, and are clever enough to con work into buying some stuff for you, consider the selling idea of Software Assurance to your bosses next time they bulk buy windows licenses. Since Vista is only around the corner its an ideal time to actually use the damn thing - plus you'll get a cheaper upgrade to Vista.

[P5YcHoM4N]

Motherboard - Biostar TForce6100-939 Skt939,PCI-E,VGA,SATA,Lan Motherboard - £52.95

All I'll say is drop that for a better board. You'll end up paying more (most of the good board are close if not over £100 a pop), but they are worth the extra.

[mosquito25]

Not sure it has been posted : be careful with Maxtor Diamondmax : there's a big
compatibility issue (http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2685&p_created=1136595488&p_sid=w-3dmF_h&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX 3Jvd19jbnQ9MSZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N 2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfc GFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9bmZvcmNl&p_li=&p_topview=1) with NForce4 based mobos.