[serverguy]

Right, I am meant to be building a PC for a mate and have a good idea of what I am going to use. But I just want to see what some other people would come up with for the money.

Basically:

• £400 max budget
• Needs to have relatively good gaming performance
• Needs to be upgradeable as more funds are available

His current system is a P4, 8600, 1 GB RAM roughly.

He thinks he want to keep his current graphics card (8600) and then upgrade it again in the future.

I say that it is best to get a 8800GT now because it will be so much better.

Happy to buy from most reputable stores, Novatech, Overclockers UK, Ebuyer, Scan.

Vista Home Premium will be needed as well. No monitor, keyboard, mouse I don't think.

What do you suggest?

[thingie2]

I would say a p35 motherboard, 2GB of ddr2 8500 ram, Core 2 duo, possibly the 8800gt depending on the ammount left. Just say if you want me to find good specific products, also I was assuming he's not upgrading hdd's, but I could look for them too if he is, then I would need to know size required too.

[serverguy]

Originally Posted by thingie2 I would say a p35 motherboard, 2GB of ddr2 8500 ram, Core 2 duo, possibly the 8800gt depending on the ammount left. Just say if you want me to find good specific products, also I was assuming he's not upgrading hdd's, but I could look for them too if he is, then I would need to know size required too.

Yep, thats basically what I was thinking.

I'm going with 6400 RAM, no need for 8500.

It needs everything, the old base unit is going to his parents.

Try pricing a system like this up for under £400, its surprisingly difficult lol.

[serverguy]

Qty Product QuickFind Stock Price Line Total
MSI P35 Neo2-FR iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 140205 21 in stock £63.90 £54.38 £63.90 £54.38
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler 105994 355 in stock £15.40 £13.10 £15.40 £13.10
Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Case With CM eXtreme Power 460W PSU *SPECIAL OFFER* 135101 163 in stock £49.99 £42.54 £49.99 £42.54
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY 116755 422 in stock £35.60 £30.29 £35.60 £30.29
Optiarc AD-7200S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM Internal SATA Bare Black Drive - OEM 139414 337 in stock £14.99 £12.75 £14.99 £12.75
Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache - OEM 130454 692 in stock £45.00 £38.29 £45.00 £38.29
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium -SP1- Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 32-bit - English 123052 212 in stock £58.30 £49.61 £58.30 £49.61
Arctic Silver Ceramique 2.5g tube 139174 87 in stock £2.48 £2.11 £2.48 £2.11 Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor 139967 223 in stock £108.99 £92.75 £108.99 £92.75 (click if you have changed any details) Cart total inc vat: Cart total ex vat: £394.65

[Macmac508]

Hi guys, sorry long time no post.....

Your friend is planning on overclocking i assume? AC7 might be an overkill otherwise

Also, isn't the reccomended wattage for an 8800GT 500W? If he is upgrading to this in the future will it be worth sorting that out now?

[serverguy]

Sorry, kind of thinking out loud here.

I think we are going with this. Sorry for the appalling formatting...

I have changed to 2 x 2GB sticks instead of 4 x 1.


MSI P35 Neo2-FR iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 140205 21 in stock £63.90 £54.38 £63.90 £54.38
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY 116755 422 in stock £35.60 £30.29 £71.19 £60.58
Optiarc AD-7200S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM Internal SATA Bare Black Drive - OEM 139414 336 in stock £14.99 £12.75 £14.99 £12.75 Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor 139967 223 in stock £108.99 £92.75 £108.99 £92.75 Maxtor STM3250310AS 250GB SATAII 8MB Cache - OEM 131214 562 in stock £30.79 £26.20 £30.79 £26.20
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case - With 500W EarthWatts PSU 128045 117 in stock £75.78 £64.49 £75.78 £64.49
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit - English 123067 78 in stock £59.06 £50.26 £59.06 £50.26 (click if you have changed any details) Cart total inc vat: Cart total ex vat: £424.70

[thingie2]

no need for 4GB of RAM, unless he is using the 64 bit version of vista.

[serverguy]

Originally Posted by thingie2 no need for 4GB of RAM, unless he is using the 64 bit version of vista.

Yeh, its 64 bit Vista. Might as well use it now.

This is basically what we are going for:
http://www.swanmoor.co.uk/chemistry/pc01.htm

You have to scroll down a bit to get to the basket.

[thingie2]

all looks ok, and probably as good as your going to get for around £400, Oh, and you were right, 2x2GB is better than 4x1GB because 2x2GB is much faster than 4x1GB of the same speed sticks.

[serverguy]

Originally Posted by thingie2 Oh, and you were right, 2x2GB is better than 4x1GB because 2x2GB is much faster than 4x1GB of the same speed sticks.

I'm not sure if its necessarily faster, in fact I am sure some people would say the opposite. But it does mean it could be upgraded again in the future if necessary.

Thanks anyway, it is ordered now. I am quite pleased with what were getting, and will update the thread with how it goes.

This was the final spec (scroll down for the basket):
Link
I will update this thread with how the build goes.