[samosan]

Hi all!

It's my first post here, so please try not to bite me .

I'm re-upgrading my secondary computer that's in the living room at the mo, and whilst I've done a decent amount of research, I'm not too stubborn to ask for help in finding a CPU+mobo combo that'll give me the most bang /buck ratio.

Considering it's my secondary PC, it doesn't need to be killer (my main rig does that, thanks :D), just enough to stream movies of a NAS, 'net surfing, etc. If it can be power efficient as well it would be a great bonus.

To point you guys in the area I'm trying to spend, I don't *really* want to spend more than £150 on both, though I've seen an AMD combo for about £110ish

Any help is much is much appreciated! Thanks!

Samo

[philthomas]

Are you looking to use an existing Graphics Card and/or RAM with the new combo ?
...... also what Optical And HDDs are currently fitted, as most new boards are SATA and often only provide 1 x IDE Controller.

[samosan]

seeing as almost all new boards use PCIe slots, I would go for the most cheap Nvidia G80 chip to get DX10 if I use Vista on it, and I would use a new optical drive seeing as the old one is FUBAR. As for RAM, I'm most likely going to pull a 1GB stick from my primary, seeing as 32Bit Vista won't use all 4GB, otherwise, a new 1GB won't too expensive to buy.

Having 1 IDE controller isn't much of a problem, as i can put both an optical drive and a local HDD, and the NAS will be use for heavy duty media storage.

to reiterate, for the CPU and mobo alone I plan to budget a max of £150, as the GFX and Ram will be simple choices once the barebone is decided... At least, Idon't think it will be a difficult choice ;)

[philthomas]

How about this.

It's £28 over your budget, but includes 2GB RAM, which brings you back on target.

The ASUS mobo is well regarded and the Athlon 6000+ should be able to eat anything you are likely to chuck at it.

[samosan]

That's probably a little too beefy for a secondary, especially if it's in the living room... Ideally, something that also has a low volt consumption as well.

having said that, that package is defo an eye-opener, and I'll keep it in mind if nothing more suitable comes up. Thanks Phil!

[philthomas]

You're welcome ..... there's a range here, some with cases as well, which may be better suited.

[Gazmondo]

I have a Motherboard and CPU bundle up for sale, though I think it may be too much for what you are after.

It is the highly overclockable ASUS M2N32 SLi WiFi with the 6000 x2 CPU you just mentioned. It also comes with a Zalman CNPS9700NT HSF.

Has been used for less than 3 months, with the Zalman brand new this month. Receipts to prove.

Cheers.

[samosan]

Yeah, I did have a peak at the range when you first sent me the link to the nice bundle... It's a pity all the Intel chips a Pent Ds, and not C2Duos...

Over here they have a cheapo E4500 2.2GHz £78, or an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ over here is going for £50... That's where I came up for a £150 max budget, as these were the best bang / buck I personally found, but I know more people = better deals found!

What do you guys think? That's the kind of clock speed I'm looking at, so would the 3.0 Pent D give me the same-ish perfomance?

Thanks for the help thus far guys!

[mcbee]

I built a system recently using an Asus P5L-MX, E2160 and 2G corsair PC2 5300 RAM for £112..00. It is running at 2.34Ghz with very little increase in temperature. You could use a P5K board and still be within budget.

[samosan]

Mcbee,

Where did you buy you kit from for that price? If it's online, can you post a link please?
Speaking of, this may not be the right forum to ask but it's related: How do I use integrated graphics on a mobo, such as the P5K? *blushes*

[samosan]

OK, I just browsed around some more and I found this:
E2140 Overclocked to 2.66GHz + Asrock 2CORE1333-2.66Gfor...£85!!! No fans or heatsinks inc, tho
It seems like a bargain, and I checked the specs, and it looks nice with integrated GFx as well

What do you guys think? Catch somewhere? Or a good deal?

[Dave Hybrid]

I'm no expert but ASRock stuff is budget and won't overclock well.

[mcbee]

I got the items individually from Aria .co.uk . One of the P5K series has onboard graphics but it hasn't the P35 chipset.

[samosan]

Thanks for the info Dave, so I guess that cheap deal was too good to be true, huh?

Mcbee, thanks for the heads up. I've decided to go for the P5B, as it's a mATX in case I want a small form factor case :). Turns out to be a few pence cheaper too...

[DanBex]

u could always got for the ASUS M2v-MX SE board with the AMD AM2 Athlon 64 duel core (4800+)

i will never look back on buyng that combo