system help wanted...

AnimalAnimal
edited September 2003 in Hardware
i want to upgrade my system but i don't want to spend very much £.

i was thinking maybe an XP 2500 but other than that i don't know.

What i need is a motherboard, CPU, PSU, memory, new hard drive and a decent graphics card...... think that is all i want for now... what do you people suggest i get?

thanks.

Comments

  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    if u wanna go cheap and eh overclocking...get the shuttle an35n ultra... that should cover u enough... what will u be using the graphics card for?....as for memory...ive heard very good things about mushkin, corsair, crucial, and kingston...if u want cheap ram..thatll perform just enough...get geil...it works alright for me..b ut dont expect it to run in dual channel mode on that mobo..there is not enough ddr voltage for it...and err.... harddrive..go for the seagate... 120gig for like 90 bucks or so...OEM from www.3edtech.com...i think its a very good deal....for the heatsink...u would wanna get an slk 800 and get an enermax adjustabvle fan to put on it...for cdrom...go liteon...dirt cheap...and it kicks ass...
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Animal...

    What's your budget mate ? :)
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    i think maybe somewhere in the region on 500-600 notes......
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Decent graphics card is going to be the largest dent in your budget to be honest.

    I managed to pick up a Radeon 9700 (flashed to Pro) for £150 on eBay and as far as I know the person has more of them so I will just grab the link for you....

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27387&item=2747883536

    Check out the rest of his auctions for some other cards too. When that one runs out he will put some more up, so don't worry about grabbing one stright away.

    NS
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Radeon 9800pro

    £279.64

    NF7-S

    £86.36

    Barton 2500+

    £71.68

    Maxtor Diamond 120gb 8MB cache HDD

    £86.36

    2 x Twinmos 256mb PC3200 DDR

    £74.02

    Total = £598
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    that looks like a good setup shorty.... i think for sure the barton 2500+, NF7-S and probably the maxtor aswell.... is a 9800pro worth the extra cash than say a sapphire 9700pro?
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Not worth the extra IF you can find a 9700pro about £50 cheaper than the 9800pro. That Crucial 9800 is a screaming bargain ;)

    That EBay link of NS's is awesome, if he has any pro's left. Serious bargain!
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    you have any suggestions for a power suply?
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Original Antec 412, Sparkle 400W+ is good and pretty cheap ones. Stay away from Enermax and Antec Truepower.
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Mackanz said
    Original Antec 412, Sparkle 400W+ is good and pretty cheap ones. Stay away from Enermax and Antec Truepower.


    whats wrong with antedc true power?? too expensive?
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    which harddrive is better, the Western Digital Caviar 120GB 8MB or the Maxtor DiamondMax +9 120GB 7200RPM 8MB ?

    i was also thinking about getting a case, what does everyone think to this one

    thanks, :)
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited August 2003
    -animal- said
    which harddrive is better, the Western Digital Caviar 120GB 8MB or the Maxtor DiamondMax +9 120GB 7200RPM 8MB ?

    i was also thinking about getting a case, what does everyone think to this one

    thanks, :)

    They're about the same...
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    ok, i will go with the maxtor then...

    thanks
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    The Antec Truepower (As some people are finally realizing, and I've been insisting upon for 9 months) aren't really true power.

    I have a 400w power supply, CompUSA brand, and it trashes the Antec 420 TRU that I've got sitting in a box in a dark, dark dark corner.
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    when buying rounded cables i see only ata133 cables and floppy disk ones..... i am guessing that you can use the ata133 ones for cd-roms etc or is there a special cables for cd, dvd, etc drives? bit of a newb question but still...
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    The ATA133 cables are fine for optical drives.
  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    ATA133 is just the max spec, right?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    I have a 400w power supply, CompUSA brand

    Thrax, he's in the UK. BTW, I'd never recommend CompUSA PSUs - it's the luck of the draw with their brand name.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    I wasn't recommending CompUSA brand. I was providing a comparitive illustration between the weakness of the Antec PSU to a brand people usually view as "Unfavorable."

    But, moreover, no, the CompUSA brand is not luck of the draw.

    To date I've purchased 94 CompUSA brand PSUs for the technology labs here at school.

    -31 P4 2.4Bs
    -20 Duron 600
    -15 Athlon XP 2100
    -28 P4 2.0Bs

    All of them give voltages OVER the name of the rail they're supplying (IE, 12v gives 12.2v, 5v is giving 5.2v). And none of them have failed. Mind you, these are computers on 24/7 192 days of the year, most of them don't even have fans in the computers.

    If you'd like a larget sample-set than 95 power supplies, we're ordering another batch of 25 for a new lab, and I'll let you know when we get them in.
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    strugling to find the sparkle or antec power supplys.... i have a choice of these ones http://www.tekheads.co.uk/site/browseCategory.do?categoryId=14 or if any ukers know of another good one from, scan, dabs, ccl etc can you let me know
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    The Zalman PSUs are pretty good there.
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    yeah but £76?!! currently i have an enermax 350w adjustable fan thingy... want something that is going to be better than that
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Just about any PSU is better than an Enermax for Athlons. Enermax PSUs traditionally operate with a low 5v rail (The one that powers the CPU), and even lower stability on that rail.
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    My enermax has never let me down yet and it's voltages hang nicely at 5v. Just the luck of the draw?
  • AnimalAnimal
    edited August 2003
    ok i found the sparkle power supplies, there is a 350W costing £47 or a 400W costing £59, which one do i go for? Will my system performance be affected much depending on whether i have a 340W power suply or 400W?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2003
    Maybe we are tossing in too many variables. Both of my bad experience with CompUSA PSUs were under overclocking conditions. Also that was two years ago. Perhaps CompUSA purchases from another manufacturer now before they slap their name on the unit.

    I think probably most PSUs, regardless of brand, are suitable for mild to moderate applications, meaning they will perform decently in factory setup-type computers.
  • Red-DawnRed-Dawn Been kidnapped and being held hostage in Edinburgh
    edited September 2003
    If ur still lookin at graphics cards, theres a 9700 pro up for grabs on ebay for £180 inc p+p
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2749604879&category=27387
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