PC Build

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I'm looking at replacing my aging PC. What do you think of the build I've arranged? Ordered through Dell, including special offers and delivery, it'll set me back about 900 Euro, plus applicable taxes, of course.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6300 (1.86GHz, 1066 FSB)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium

MONITOR 22" E228WFP Widescreen Flat Panel Display

MEMORY 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs

HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW

GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro

SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.

FLOPPY DRIVE & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive Included

KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard

MODEM No Modem

MOUSE Dell Optical USB Mouse

FIREWIRE IEEE 1394 Adapter

DELL PICTURE STUDIO No Digital Imaging Software Requested

Accessories
SPEAKERS Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer

[Whacker]

Ermmm... Not bad, with two exceptions. First, that CPU is pretty weenie, BUT those Intel CPUs can be overclocked to insane speeds even with stock cooling. Might want to look into that. Second, that video card is going to get old and tired pretty fast. If you game a lot, you will notice it sooner than later. If it's replaceable then even better, in a pinch you can just get an upgrade down the road and be good for awhile longer.

[Husar]

If you are going to play games on that 22" screen, don't go with that X1300.
For very high resolutions I'd even take an NVidia 8800 series card. Or take a smaller monitor and a decent graphicscard. Depends on your need though, what you put together would be a nice office machine.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

How much is 900 euros in dollars?

Ermmm... Not bad, with two exceptions. First, that CPU is pretty weenie, BUT those Intel CPUs can be overclocked to insane speeds even with stock cooling. Might want to look into that. Second, that video card is going to get old and tired pretty fast. If you game a lot, you will notice it sooner than later. If it's replaceable then even better, in a pinch you can just get an upgrade down the road and be good for awhile longer

Ditto. Thatt cards ols now. The cpu isnt bad thought. Its better than anything other than the better Core 2 Duos however.

If your going to use it mainly for games a good vidcard is one of the most important things to have. You can get an 8800 for only (only ) $269.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

If you are going to play games on that 22" screen, don't go with that X1300.
For very high resolutions I'd even take an NVidia 8800 series card. Or take a smaller monitor and a decent graphicscard. Depends on your need though, what you put together would be a nice office machine.

The monitor comes free. I don't pay a cent for it. I'll take your advice and upgrade the graphics card at the first opportunity I can. At this stage though, anything's better then what I have now.

[Slug For A Butt]

I recently spent some hard earned cash on building a decent pc for M2TW. My wife has taken a liking to it and it now sits in her little play room getting used for solitaire and emails... DOH!
So, I've decided to spend a little cash on upgrading my old pc but want to do it on a budget this time.
Just want reassurance that I'm not building a complete dog of a system just because I'm doing it on the cheap.
I'm looking at
> AMD San Diego 3700+.
> Arctic Cooling (AC-FRZ-64P) Freezer64 Pro
> ECS KV2 Lite Socket 939 AGP LAN 6 channel audio ATX (cheap...will this restrict my ability to overclock? And yes... I know it's AGP but thats because I want to use my 9600XT to keep the costs down)
> 2* Crucial 1GB DDR PC3200 400mhz 184-pin Unbuff Memory

It's only going to cost about 180 pounds so I don't expect wonders as it will only be my second choice pc. Any major balls ups anyone can see?

Cheers in advance.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

What would you guys recommend for another graphics card? It has to be fairly cheap, but last me quite a while.

The other option given by the website for that computer is a 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache. It's cheaper, so I'll go with that if I'm going to upgrade my card by myself. I'm going to go through other PC Builds that they have there and customize to see if I can get any better for around the same price...I'll post some here, as I really need your advice.

Thanks a lot,

Evil

[BlackAxe3001]

7300LE? LE = Lame Edition(not really, but you get the idea). Don't get that or the x1300 These are entry level cards that are not really meant for gaming at all.

You would be better off to build your own computer IMO.

If that is the case, I have a parts list already made up for someone else on a under $1000 budget, I can sent it to you if you want.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

7300LE? LE = Lame Edition(not really, but you get the idea). Don't get that or the x1300 These are entry level cards that are not really meant for gaming at all.

Well to be fair it means the light edition. But hes right it is the bottom of the barrel and its what comes on most pcs in places like comp usa and best buy. It will barely do the job. You need to spend at least 150- 200 bucks on a decent video card, An ati 1900 or nvidea 7900 series fits that bill I believe.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

If that is the case, I have a parts list already made up for someone else on a under $1000 budget, I can sent it to you if you want.

I'd appreciate it, thanks.

The only reason I'd get the 7300 would be because it was cheap, to upgrade myself later.

[BlackAxe3001]

A lot of the time you can't upgrade Dell's desktops because they use proprietary crap that the standard stuff doesn't work with. Just something to keep in mind.

Also, I can't seem to find my parts list. I know it is on my computer at work, so I will get it on Tuesday when I go back to work.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Does anyone know any good websites I can use to customize and build a PC that I can upgrade easily later on if I need to?

[BlackAxe3001]

Where are you located? That will affect which websites you can use. I use newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com and a couple others occasionally depending on what I want to buy and I live in the USA. I wish I had that list for you... grr... stupid me deleting crap I shouldn't...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I can use websites in either Germany or Canada, as I can order to both places.


EDIT: For clarification, I only need SHIPPING to Germany or Canada. Website can be located anywhere, so long as I can trust it with my money.

[Dave1984]

I have a bit of a question I was hoping someone could help me out with.
Just split up with the mrs, and she's taking the shiny powerful PC.
I want to build a nice new one, then. Who should I go to, who is the best at getting decent kit together for a reasonable price, with good customer service, and so on. I'm in the UK.

[Ja'chyra]

Try Novatech

I've recently bought a laptop and PC from them as well as some other components and they were very good, they also answer post purchase queries which is getting all too rare these days.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Any good sites that can ship to my area?

[BlackAxe3001]

linky to my other post for the parts list:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...19&postcount=9

EDIT: I know its a US site, but at least you will have the parts and rough cost.

[Slug For A Butt]

I've been offered a 7600GS for little cash. I was going to hang on to my 9600XT for a bit longer, but is the 7600GS up to M2TW on decent settings?

Cheers.

[BlackAxe3001]

The 7600GS is a large step up from the 9600XT. Definitely take it if you can get it for free or very low cost. How much btw?

[Slug For A Butt]

Heh, free would be nice. If anyone has a free one I'll give it a great home.
No but really... I've got a friend who is thinking of upgrading and hopefully will sell me his for about £50. We've only chatted about the possibilities while half pissed in the pub so far though.
Good or bad deal?

Edit: sorry about the 'p' word people.

[BlackAxe3001]

Hmmm, it doesn't seem like a great deal really. You can get a new one for about £65 it looks. If you really wanted to grab a card with some horsepower for around £115 then the x1950pro would be a great choice, but it depends on what your current computer has in it for hardware.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102071

US site, I know, but at least you will know what you are looking at. I got this card for my dad, and let me tell you, it rocks! It added at least another year or two onto his agp system. Let me know what you think.

[Slug For A Butt]

You have seen a new one for £65 including delivery? I'd appreciate a link BlackAxe.
Cheers.

EDIT: dammit, I'm falling into that trap of spending money that my wife won't appreciate me spending if I'm not careful. Now if it was money for curtains and cushions that would be different... I decided I was going to hang onto my 9600xt for a while but I suppose I could actually swap cards between her and my system with her never knowing. After all her tower will remain the same colour.

[BlackAxe3001]

I assumed that prices were the same as here in the US. That was probably silly of me. I just converted to pounds for you because I can. I don't know any sites in the UK, sorry for sort of misleading you. 50 probably isn't a bad deal, but it doesn't really seem worth it imo. I guess it really depends on what your goals are. The 7600GS is no doubt a nice upgrade from your 9600XT. What does your wife have for a card? Curious of course.

[Ja'chyra]

Check the prices here Slug

[Judge]

hey SLUG i think you will find that the 7600GT is better than 7600GS,
and you can get for about 70 quid on Ebay, ive seen them.

or try www.novatech.com, thats where im getting my new system so i can play mtw2, as im stuck in mtw/vi

[Whacker]

If you guys want to wait a bit, I think within a month on the outside, Nvidia is going to release their mid- and low-range 8x00 series cards, and ATI is putting their latest schtuff on the market. Should be good for price drops all around on older hardware, at the very least.

[Slug For A Butt]

Blackaxe she has a X1900GT which means she can shop on ebay and play solitaire in luxury.
I'd have to steal all the innards of her pc to make this work as I'm on AGP atm.
And you were right about the 7600GS, I found one for £72 inc delivery at Misco. It's a INNO3D GEFORCE 7600GS 256MB, the memory is running at 667Mhz. Good deal?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

And you were right about the 7600GS, I found one for £72 inc delivery at Misco. It's a INNO3D GEFORCE 7600GS 256MB, the memory is running at 667Mhz. Good deal?

Isnt the 7600gt a bettwer deal ? I saw it for under 100 dollars. Also you can get a 7900GS for under 100 dollars.

[Slug For A Butt]

Probably a better deal if you are in America.
One thing, which would people think is the better card X1650PRO or 7600GS/GT?