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XIR.bountykilla
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Joined: 03 May 2005
Posts: 243
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 Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:03 am Post subject: New PC......some input please! |
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Hey every1,
OK, so I know I'm not back in the UK yet but I do know that I need a new PC to be able to play the new games like UT3, Crysis etc etc when I get back. I've been looking on the net and through magazines over here in NZ and below is a list of parts for my possible new system. Please can any1/every1 give me their input on each part (i.e if it's any good, worth the money, too expensive, better alternatives etc etc and most importantly if they are all compatible with each other....this is the bit I'm really stuck on!)
ok, so below is the list of components:-
Case - Thermaltake Tsunami Dream £73.90 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=763580
PSU - Tagan 600W TG600-BZ £88.11 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=756671
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 £105.74 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=598571
CPU - Intel Core2Quad Q9550 45nm £361.07 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=743029
RAM - Corsair 2x1gb TwinX XMS Pro DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz £70.08 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=427440
(am not sure about this RAM, whether it's good or not, maybe suggestions for a better/cheaper alternative?)
GFX Card - 512MB XFX 8800GTS Alpha Dog XXX Edition £234.99 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=745804
HDD - 500 GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 £64.99 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=530765
DVD Drive - Pioneer DVR-215BK £20.43 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=755658
(Don't need a BluRay player yet, DVD will do for now)
CPU Cooler - Coolermaster GeminII £25.72 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=569503
(will this even fit in the case, on the cpu, on the motherboard???) 
Sound Card - Is this necessary, or will the onboard sound do??? I don't have surround speakers, only a Logitech 2.1 setup. Maybe some suggestions?
Monitor - 22" Samsung SM-226BW V2 Black Widescreen LCD £210.31 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=604046
or
22" Samsung SM-2232BW Black Widescreen LCD £223.12 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=679564
(whats the difference? which is better? is it just cosmetic?)
Ok, so that's it, I think....if I'm forgetting something please let me know 
HOLY CRAP, I just added it all up....I'm looking at about £1250 - £1300 
Ummm....maybe some cheaper alternative suggestions please!!!
All input is greatly appreciated, thanks guys
Andy
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XIR.Scout109
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Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 639
Location: UK - Southampton
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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best people will be alex and arne on this imo!
but from rememebring that you don't need to pay extra for the GTS apaprently the GT plays just as betetr and less hungry?
do you really need the quad 9? go for a quad6 if its saving money?
didnt check on the screen although its samsung at that price i hope its HD monitor! 
You can get cases around £50 which will do just as good as job and lok sleeker like a thermaltake and knock £20 off the price tag for it. its the name.
But all in all! sorry to all but its a 'sex wee' of a spec! im not sur eon compatibility though mate!
*awaits* the pro's hehe
oh and ahve you tried novatech mate? they are really good!! good prices
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XIR.bountykilla
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Joined: 03 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:22 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the input Gav,
| XIR.Scout109 wrote: |
best people will be alex and arne on this imo!
but from rememebring that you don't need to pay extra for the GTS apaprently the GT plays just as betetr and less hungry? |
I have had a chat with Arne in regards to some stuff, I was originally looking at the 8800GT with the g92 gpu but Arne told me that the new GTS with the g92 gpu would kick the GT's ass, hence the reason I have changed my mind 
| XIR.Scout109 wrote: |
| do you really need the quad 9? go for a quad6 if its saving money? |
Umm, again Arne told me to look at the new "yorkfield" CPU's with the 45nm thingy  I have NO idea the diff between them and the Q6600 CPU's (apart from the Q6600 being about £200 cheaper
| XIR.Scout109 wrote: |
| didnt check on the screen although its samsung at that price i hope its HD monitor! |
Ummm, it's got a res of 1680x1050.....does that make it a HD monitor? If not then maybe some1 can suggest an alternative?
| XIR.Scout109 wrote: |
| But all in all! sorry to all but its a 'sex wee' of a spec! |
LOL, I guess a thanks is in order
Thanks again for your input Gav, it's much appreciated
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XIR.Sticklyman
Badge f. Mastering Adverse Circumstances
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 864
Location: Swansea, UK/Southampton, UK
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| Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:08 am Post subject: |
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Hey Andy, nice to hear from you again! Hope you are fine.
OK, first of all: I think that the motherboard takes DDR3 RAM whereas you have get DDR2 RAM listed (Please check this and don't just rely on what I say). They are not interchangeable as far as I know and sadly DDR3 is a lot more expensive than DDR2.
Personally I would get a sound card (even if it is only a 'cheap' £20-£30 one) as on-board sound is generally not as clear and often has 'pops and clicks'.
Regarding the CPU: The difference is that the new CPUs (ie the one you have) are built using smaller scale technologies. They are technically capable of greater speeds. Although the Q6600 (for example) would probably be more than enough (they easily overclock to over 3GHz) you would be buying only technology. Sadly I don't know what other advantages the 9 series has. *insert Arne's/Alex's comment here*
Good luck choosing
EDIT: Also the newer CPU has 3x the onboard memory. Never a bad thing.
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XIR.bountykilla
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Joined: 03 May 2005
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 8:53 am Post subject: |
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| XIR.Sticklyman wrote: |
| OK, first of all: I think that the motherboard takes DDR3 RAM whereas you have get DDR2 RAM listed (Please check this and don't just rely on what I say). They are not interchangeable as far as I know and sadly DDR3 is a lot more expensive than DDR2. |
Apparently this motherboard takes both DDR2 and DDR3 types, so I should be good with the RAM I mentioned, or maybe some faster 1066mhz DDR2 instead of the 800mhz?? I dunno, but I heard that the DDR3 is really expensive and doesn't give much gain over the fast DDR2 type at the mo, so is kinda pointless splashing out for the DDR3!
| XIR.Sticklyman wrote: |
| Personally I would get a sound card (even if it is only a 'cheap' £20-£30 one) as on-board sound is generally not as clear and often has 'pops and clicks'. |
I do have a sound card on my old pc, only a cheapy one...and I dunno what brand it is either.....maybe I'll just stick with tha instead! Hmmmm
| XIR.Sticklyman wrote: |
| Regarding the CPU: The difference is that the new CPUs (ie the one you have) are built using smaller scale technologies. They are technically capable of greater speeds. Although the Q6600 (for example) would probably be more than enough (they easily overclock to over 3GHz) you would be buying only technology. Sadly I don't know what other advantages the 9 series has. *insert Arne's/Alex's comment here* |
Yeah, I've been reading into the Q6600 and that it is easily overclockable (although I have no ida how I would do this  ) and that it's pretty stable running at over 3ghz.....that, plus it's £200 cheaper is pushing me towards getting one of those instead of the newer 9 series ones!
Any ideas for maybe a cheaper monitor that looks nice and performs well? All suggestions welcome
Thanks for your input Sascha, it's much appreciated.
Andy
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XIR.[L7]
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Location: plymouth UK
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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| XIR.bountykilla wrote: |
Any ideas for maybe a cheaper monitor that looks nice and performs well? All suggestions welcome
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i have the LG flatron 19 inch monitor. its a good monitor and a lot cheaper than the samsung, some older games dont suport widescreen yet.
http://www.saverstore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?product_id=20014500&bskad=1
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~XT4S3R~
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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Uhm sascha. There are big differences between the old and new cpu's. First the yorkfield is 45nm. To it's cooler and don't need the power like a 65nm cpu needs. The chach is way bigger. The 45nm has 12mb chach and the 65nm only 8mb. I saw already a few tests and can say that the 45nm are a lil bit faster.
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XIR.Sticklyman
Badge f. Mastering Adverse Circumstances
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
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Location: Swansea, UK/Southampton, UK
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| XIR.~xTaSeR~ wrote: |
| Uhm sascha. There are big differences between the old and new cpu's. First the yorkfield is 45nm. To it's cooler and don't need the power like a 65nm cpu needs. The chach is way bigger. The 45nm has 12mb chach and the 65nm only 8mb. I saw already a few tests and can say that the 45nm are a lil bit faster. |
I knew about the 45nm part but was not sure about anything else. Also, I was sure my CPU had 4mb cache....oops  I had just got out of bed when I wrote that anyway
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XIR.bountykilla
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| Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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Arrrggghhhhhhh......I just typed out a long message and obviosouly took too long and it told me the message had been sent to hell 
Well, what it basically said was that I had been continuesly look for new components for my new pc for when I get back. I've changed my mind on a few bits and prices are constantly falling, which is a good thing.
The one major problem I'm having is deciding which monitor to get. I've read various reviews of the Samsung 2232BW and seems there is an issue with the panels on some of them. Apparently it's a bit of a lottery as too which brand of panel you will actually get as Samsung use 3 different companies panels, one of them is actually there own and this is the best one to get. But like I said it's a lottery as to which one you'll get and you wont know until you get the screen home and dig into the hidden menu to find out. I'm not sure if that's what I really want!!! See link http://www.digitalversus.com/article-358-2683-36.html and http://www.behardware.com/articles/689-10/22-inch-lcd-monitors-the-3rd-wave.html
I'm also thinking about the Dell 2208WFP Ultrasharp, any1 know if this is any good? I know Dell offer a 3 year zero dead pixel warranty (which I dont think Samsung do) plus the stand on the Dell is more versatile, it tilts, swivels and evon pivots so you can have the monitor in portait mode. The Samsung only tilts!!! Hmmmm I'm really stuck to which one to go for!! Any info would help me greatly.
Thanks
Andy
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XIR.bountykilla
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:13 am Post subject: |
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OMFG....I just done it again!! I typed a message but got distracted as I was writing it and when I clicked to post.....pooooof off it went to hell again 
Any way, this time I was asking about graphics cards. I was all set on getting the (newer G92 GPU) 512MB XFX 8800GTS Alpha Dog XXX for £215 but I've also seen that I can get (an older G80 GPU) 768MB XFX 8800GTX XXX (i think this is the 8800 Ultra, right?) for £235 from here ( http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=519994 )
A couple of questions though:-
Which one is better, I'm guessing the older GTX is....but by how much?
Will the GTX fit on the Gigabyte GA-P35T-DQ6 Mobo ok? ( http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=598571 )
And if it would, would the Thermaltake 750W Toughpower been enough to power it? ( http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?TT-W0116 )
Or should I just stick with my original choice of the newer gpu 8800GTS?
Sorry to be a pain and ask all these questions but I just wanna make sure I get the best at what I can afford as It'll prob be a long time again before I upgrade it again!
Thanks
Andy
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XIR.Xanton
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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I wish I could answer your questions m8 but I
don't consider myself a hardware guru...
Maybe Alex or Arne? Some help for Andy plz?
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XIR.MacAlex
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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Andy,
sorry, but work kills me right now 
Graphics: Any G92 card is a good choise. Best price/value right now: 8800 GTS 512 MB (G92). G80 (old GTS/GTX) is outdated.
CPU: Q9550 way to expensive. The Q6600 G0 is the best Quad choise RIGHT NOW. If you can wait a few more weeks, get the Q9450 - best price/value of the new Quads out there (I'm waiting too)
Any Q left?
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