Someone please throw me a bone.

- Azure - · Jan 20, 2007, 05:14 PM

Greetings ladies and gentlemen I have a few questions for those in the know.

I am looking to build a decent PC with Vista in mind and to be used for gaming to include a monitor that has to double up as an HD panel for the 360 on a budget of £1200, at a push £1300 and I could really use someone's second opinion on the bits and pieces that I have pulled out at the moment... So, from scratch this is what I have pulled up so far...

Processor. Core 2 duo E6400 2.13 Gighz 2mb cache

Graphics. MSI Nvidia 7900GT 512Mb

HDD. Western Digital WD2500KS Caviar SE 250GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 16MB Cache

I am particularly stuck on, RAM, Monitor, Motherboard, PSU and sound cards. My head has been out of this PC thing for about 4 months which of course leaves me with almost no idea. Any suggestions are wholly appreciated, I will be intending to upgrade to a fully DX10 card and probably adding more RAM in about 6-12 months time for obvious reason. If anyone thinks I should reconsider what I have already picked out then please feel free to point that out to me thanks.

Also please can someone explain to me in laymens terms the difference between OEM vista home premium and it's retail version. There is an £80 difference, is this just a box and some useless spam material or does it go much deeper than that? Trawling the net is getting me conflicting messages and I really would rather not fuck this up if I can help it.

Thanks again.

Azure.

***temeteus82*** · Jan 20, 2007, 05:20 PM

I would recomed Seasonic's PSU for you. They are made to last.
For mobo any mobo that has P965 chipset and ICH8 shout bridge OR nVidia 680i.
1 GB kit of DDR2 800 MHz with tight timings.

nitrousoxide52 · Jan 20, 2007, 05:25 PM

Personally I would wait to get vista simply because directx 10 cards are outrageously priced. But if you really want to get vista than i definitely suggest grabbing a dx10 card as well.

- Azure - · Jan 20, 2007, 05:30 PM

Thanks guys, I was getting a 512 7900gt instead of a DX10 as I beleive the money is ridiculous for the DX10 cards at the moment and by the time anything is harnessing it there will be much more on the market, better, and for less outlay.

Necrosis · Jan 20, 2007, 06:25 PM

The Samsung or Acer 22" should be able to do that job. For ram any know good brands will work, PC6400 should do.

Lelisevis · Jan 20, 2007, 06:35 PM

Guys, Guys, Guys just hold on a minute LOL

Cheapest 7900GT DX9
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-028-GW
£199.74

Cheapest 8800GTS DX10
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-043-GW
£252.61

Care to compare them in benchmarks????? Try adding a second GT and you still will not come close to a GTS.

Just a thought mate, could save you money in the longrun.

Edit: just thought i'd help you reconsider

Prey 1280X1024 4XAA 16XAF
7900GTX yup GTX 78fps
8800GTS 95fps

- Azure - · Jan 20, 2007, 07:17 PM

Wow that is really food for thought. Though to be fair I have linked to a 7900gt for £17X. I was really hoping to find a monitor that was 1920 x 1200 so I could watch 1080p HD movies on it as well. Argh my head hurts.

Thanks though everyone I am furiously scribbling notes down on my pad lol.

Ooooook...

EDIT:>

This is what I have pulled up so far, any suggestions?

I have about £1200 for a PC to include a monitor and for gaming use. Monitor has to double up as 360 panel.

Any advice? [Specific advice, not "Conroe is teh good"]

Case

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/cases/p180 £89.01

Mainboard

ABIT AW9D-MAX, I975X, Socket-775,SATAII, Silent Otes,2xGbLAN,DDR2,ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16 £148.00

Processors.

Core 2 duo E6400 2.13 Gighz 2mb cache £145.20

Graphics.

MSI Nvidia 7900GT 512Mb £176.00

Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI £252.61

HDD.

Western Digital WD2500KS Caviar SE 250GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 16MB Cache £48.16

Samsung SpinPoint T133 400GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM £69.95

Sound

Dolby master HD onboard. £0

OS

OEM MS Win Vista Home Premium 64 bit DVD £70.92

---------------------------------------------
Current price so far : £677.13-£766.14 inc VAT.
---------------------------------------------

neezee · Jan 21, 2007, 05:29 AM

lol yea im lost now too after a couple months... wow never heard of "Bliss" manufacturer... anyways just a heads up with the case i have the exact same one... its reallyy tight in there and i had a problem with the PSU in that the 24pin power cable wasnt long enough so mite wanna give it another thought...IMO

bad cable management????

***temeteus82*** · Jan 21, 2007, 05:33 AM

Yeah I know how tight P180 is. So I recommend you to look the mobo layout that the ATX power connections (24 pin and 4/8 pin 12V) are in the reach of the cables. And second all IDE/FLOPPY/SATA connectors must be face up.

- Azure - · Jan 21, 2007, 06:50 AM

Wow that looks cramped.

Lelisevis · Jan 21, 2007, 02:00 PM

Case-wise i'd go for the Thermaltake Armor Jr which is in your price-range. I have it's big brother and it's an awesome case.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-038-TT

- Azure - · Jan 22, 2007, 04:40 AM

Ok does anyone have any experience with this?

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP (24")

Quote:

- 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA+) Optimum Resolution
- 16.7 Million Colours
- 1000:1 Contrast Ratio
- 6ms Response Time
- 450 cd/m2 Brightness
- One DVI-D Input w/HDCP Support
- One Analogue Input
- One S-Video Input
- One Composite Input
- One Component Input
- Height adjustable stand (100mm travel)
- VESA mounting compatible / Security slot : Yes (100mm) / Yes
- Integrated powered USB 2.0 hub : 4 downstream / 1 upstream ports
- Integrated powered 9-in-2 Card Reader
- Revision A03
- Warranty : 4 year next business day exchange supplied by Manufacturer (Call Dell on 0870 9080800 and have the work number from the original packaging handy)

The ms response time is 16 seconds from black to white and 6ms [advertised] for grey to grey. I was wondering do pretty much all manufacturers do the same sly way of advertising their "response time"?

In other words is a 16 ms black to white anything to worry about? I was looking at it because it is a good price for a 1080p panel, and has component inputs which I can then use for my 360 which is currently languishing in 480i. I also noticed the rather superb warranty as well, I just don't want to be seeing things that I want to see if you know what I mean, is there anything in there that is a nasty catch for the consumer?

Lelisevis · Jan 22, 2007, 08:58 AM

Thats an absolute beauty. Im jealous. Wish I had the cash for one, just like you I'd use if for my 360 and PC. Scan do them for £562 in stock, you don't fancy getting one for me too......please

. An alternative is the slightly more expensive Samsung SM 244T which is a better monitor but about £150 more. Personally i'd get the dell and spend the little extra on that 8800, you'd appreciate it a whole lot more at these resolutions. Either way these quality monitors would be wasted on a 7900GT.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jan 25, 2007, 12:02 PM

Actually the trick with the P180 is just measuring but you can always get stuff in by pre-bending the cables as far as they'll go in the direction you want, bend them then straighten then bend a couple of times then they're alot more malleable and they fit in better. (Not vouching for how good this is on the cables but I haven't had problems thus far)