New PC build...?

[pyromaniac_yeti]

Thinking about building a new pc as the old one has litterally fallen apart, has several blown/blowing major components and has basicly had it. plus the fact that its a pentium 1.5ghz...

so this got me thinking. on a budget of 600 quid...its gotta be AMD powered. Gotta have DDR2...and gotta be able to game pretty well. this is what ive come up with:

AMD 4200 X2 processor...
1024 meg of DDR2 533 RAM...
Asus AM2 Motherboard...
Sony Black DW-Q120AB Dual Layer 16X DVD+/-R/RW/ DVD Burner OEM...
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB SATA II 7200rpm 8Mb Cache 11ms 300Mb/s..
Novatech GeForce 7600GT PCI-E 256MB DDR3 DVI/TVO SLI...
Hiper 580W, Modular, ATX 2.2, 12 Device con., SATA, APFC, Silent...
Generic Black FDD...
ThermalTake Aguila Case black with Window....

then ive got a cathode tube and a few LED fans in my old machine. that amazingly still work....

so have i picked bits thatll give me an okayish gaming machine, or just a hunk of crap that i wont be able to run anything on? from what i read about the graphics card itll run HL2, which is what i play most anyway. and im going on the theory that if that doesent give me enough then i could just buy another card and SLI them (?)

but will it aswell as being able to run games be able to work quick for other stuff, like video editing, word, office all that crud?

sorry, just gotta ask theese questions - everything ive ever built before this one was built from broken PC's or spare parts. i just wanna check that this is one of the better ways of spending 600 quid - or can you guys suggest a better way? links would be good if so

cheeers :) and sorry for all the noob questions

[YoungBlood]

Get socket 939... Cheaper means u can spend more on a graphics card :)
Also u can pick up a seagate barracuda 7200.10 with 16mb of cache for 60 pound....

[rosecityracr]

yeah like he said...unless you have to stick with AM2, go with the 4000 X2...only .2ghz less but it has 1mb L2 cache instead of 512kb and costs less :) , hence more money for a 7900 or x1900xt :D

[pyromaniac_yeti]

yeah unfourtunately i have to stick with the asus mobo, its part of a bundle deal. having said that i worked some stuff around and found a 512 card for the same price as the 256, and if i scrap the flashy slimline IDE's and fan controller i can get an extra gig of ram, so im thinking go with that card, then if its too slow for my likings then i can just SLI it to another one...problem solved

[pyromaniac_yeti]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?EVG-73GT5 thats the card, bear in mind that its gonna be used more for desktop use, video editing that sorta stuff then it will for games. so im not gonna spend more then about 100 on a graphics card. if needs be then ill get a better card/cards once ive saved the cash

[DonS1mpson]

Why has it got to be AMD powered? Intel core 2 duos are faster than anything AMD have to offer for roughtly the same sort of price...

CP-126-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-126-IN)
£114.99 £114.99
MB-003-AK Asrock ConroeXFire-eSATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-003-AK)
£53.99 £53.99
CD-076-SA Samsung SH-W163 16x16 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) (CD-076-SA)
£23.95 £23.95
MY-030-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB5300DC) (MY-030-GL)
£79.99 £79.99
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£33.95 £33.95
CA-009-HP Hiper HPU-4M580 Type R 580W ATX2.2 PSU - Black (CA-009-HP)
£44.99 £44.99
CA-012-AN Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU (CA-012-AN)
£29.99 £29.99
GX-081-LT Leadtek GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-081-LT)
£139.99 £139.99
Subtotal £521.84
VAT £91.33
Total £613.17

Stay away from the 7300, it's a crap card for the price.

[a.Bird]

You poor thing... running a 1.5ghz cpu. Lol.

[rosecityracr]

Stay away from the 7300, it's a crap card for the price.
Yeah pretty much...at least get a 7600 if your on a budget...its a little more but it'll be worth it....and if your still unsatisfied with gaming, 2x7600's perform very close to a 7900gtx

oh, and just because it has 512 mem. on a cheap card doesnt make it a good card8) . With that card, you would never tell the difference if it had 512, 256, or 128 memory for that matter.

[klingelton]

amd chips (im my experience) are far better for over clocking than intel chips, which prefer it if you leave them alone!

the am2 4200+ windsor can be clocked to 2.8ghz easily if you have a zalman badass hs+fan. if you opt for water cooling, then 3.0ghz is safe and reliable.

i take it most people here are gefarce fans rather than ati.

[Airbozo]

amd chips (im my experience) are far better for over clocking than intel chips, which prefer it if you leave them alone!

the am2 4200+ windsor can be clocked to 2.8ghz easily if you have a zalman badass hs+fan. if you opt for water cooling, then 3.0ghz is safe and reliable.

i take it most people here are gefarce fans rather than ati.

It used to be true about the overclocking info, but with the new core duo procs that is not so certain now.

There are a mix of ati and nvidia fans here. I personally like the ati hardware but it really depends on the end project. If I am going to build a box to run linux I prefer the nvidia cards due to better driver support.

[klingelton]

If I am going to build a box to run linux I prefer the nvidia cards due to better driver support.

yeah, i gotta agree with that. ive had a whole host of problems with ati drivers recently

[klingelton]

hence i'm currently posting on my psp!