[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by alex

Firstly, very well spec'd by Grush, thanks for taking the time on that.

The first one isn't bad at all, well balanced, but it would also need to include the cost of a new windows disc (about £60 for XP now). Taking you well over your budget.

Yeah, I'm liking the first spec. The Asus P5 does accept IDE hard drives. The 945 chipset is an older mainstream one but still rather good too be honest, only supports 8 usb's but you'll never need more than that anyway. If you do, just get a usb hub.

The second spec ain't so good as the Motherboard on that one has a VIA chipset, something best left alone to be honest. The second spec also has an AMD X2 3800. Not a bad cpu in of itself but when compared to the core 2 (or any core 2 for that matter) it will be found wanting. And again, you'll need a windows disc, taking you well over your budget.

Your current motherboard does take AGP graphics cards.

Gotta ask, what is the absolute maximum you can spend?

There is no absolute maximum because I can always save and get more. But if I wanted to upgrade soon which is what I want to do...about £300. Ok..so should I just go for that RAM and Graphics Card and see where we go from there??

[alex]

If you want it now, then yes, go for the graphics card/ram.

If you want a much better system, then save up. Purchase the components and build it up.

Even upgrading the card and ram now is still going to leave you with 'last years' technology.

If you save for a new mobo/cpu etc then you'll get bang uptodate tehnology, meaning a needed upgrade will be put off that much longer.

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by alex

If you want it now, then yes, go for the graphics card/ram.

If you want a much better system, then save up. Purchase the components and build it up.

Even upgrading the card and ram now is still going to leave you with 'last years' technology.

If you save for a new mobo/cpu etc then you'll get bang uptodate tehnology, meaning a needed upgrade will be put off that much longer.

Let's say my budget was more...what would you recommend I do then? Just so I know what I would need to get my budget up to. So let's forget about budget for a minute and just recommend me something (still cheapish) to do that will make my system up to date and fast.

[alex]

Originally Posted by Jakkoff

Let's say my budget was more...what would you recommend I do then? Just so I know what I would need to get my budget up to. So let's forget about budget for a minute and just recommend me something (still cheapish) to do that will make my system up to date and fast.

I'll come back to you in a little while Jakk. I'll go have a nosey at some bits and I'm also shutting up shop here at work in a little while. Will probably be back online about 11pm.

[grush]

They're not complete systems. I figured that an OS would be available ditto peripherals. Second spec was on price to try to get a HDD in on or around budget. Personally I'd go with the Intel.

[Jakkoff]

Originally Posted by grush

They're not complete systems. I figured that an OS would be available ditto peripherals. Second spec was on price to try to get a HDD in on or around budget. Personally I'd go with the Intel.

Ok thanks for those specs. What things would you say I could take out of my current system and use in there?

[Jakkoff]

Ok just one question. For you Grush too if you know....would changing the CPU in my computer make much difference?

[alex]

Originally Posted by Jakkoff

Ok just one question. For you Grush too if you know....would changing the CPU in my computer make much difference?

Think i mentioned that before matey. On a performance for money basis it wouldn't be worth it. Definately.

The only way, using your current motherboard, would be to get a pentium 4. These do run much fast than your current cpu. But to be fair they're lousy chips for gaming and they do tend to run hot. Still expensive as well. But if you do just upgrade the graphics card and ram, and can get a cheap (as in second hand) P4 running at around 3, 3.2, or 3.4GHZ it might be worth it with the other items you're adding as it will give more of a balanced system over the Celeron.

[alex]

Originally Posted by Jakkoff

Ok thanks for those specs. What things would you say I could take out of my current system and use in there?

Just the hard drive to be honest from the main components, but also any pci peripherals you may have (sound card etc) and as you'd be changing pretty much the whole system your windows license would become invalid, so you'd have to format it anyway.

[alex]

Regarding a quote for a new spec:

Ram

Graphics card

Hard Drive

Motherboard

CPU

And obviously a windows disc.

Now use the spec i've put as a guide. I've spec'd it all from the same place so if you were to buy from here you'd save on carriage charges. But you may be able to pick a particular component up from a different site for less money.

If you do go this way you'll need to check your psu power connections. Motherboards nowadays require more power from the psu. So you'll no doubt need a 24-pin power plug on the psu, plus a 4-pin 12volt power plug as well. If you don't have these then you'll have the added expense of purchasing a new psu. The one Grush recommended is a very good power supply, and just the wattage needed.

The spec above without a windows disc comes to around (I havn't counted the cost exactly) 330 quid.

But again, you may be able to get a particular component much cheaper somewhere else. As an example the cpu i've quoted is 109.28 using the site i've used above. I've seen it on another site at under 100.00. This saving would be worth it as carriage can sometimes be free on some sites, and even if it isn't to get a cpu despatched to you via courier would only be around a fiver, so you'd still make a saving overall.

Some sites for you to browse should you go this route:

www.scan.co.uk

www.tekheads.co.uk

www.ebuyer.com

www.dabs.com

www.novatech.com

These are all sites i've used and can personally recommend.