help with hardware for a new pc.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Si
  • Start date Start date
S

Si

Can someone give me a good combination of hardware for a new pc that i will
try to build.

Ive never made a pc from scratch but ive added or updated just about every
part so i would say my next chalange would be to build one from scratch.

I would like to build one for around £350 because you can buy a new 2.4Ghz
at around £450 - £550 with all the trimmings.

This is what i need:

1) Main Case (Mid range)
2) Motherboard with (AGP port, 5 PCI slots, 3 ddr ram slots, intergrated
sounds
3) Processor (2.4 AMD or better).
4) RAM (2 x 512Mb DDR Sticks)

Could Someone tell me some good modals of the above that will go together
well.

I already have the following:
1) Creative dvd drive
2) ATI Radeon Graphics Card 64Mb.
3) HP CDRW Drive.

Hope someone can give me some idear`s

Regards
Simon

P.S sorry about my Spelling
 
" Could Someone tell me some good modals of the above that will go together
well. "


Do you also need a hard drive (RAID? Serial-ATA?), operating system? floppy
drive? What is the exact model of the Radeon card you have? It could make
a difference to the motherboard, depending on the 1.5 or 3.3 voltage needed.

Anyway, if you only need what you stated, then you could build yourself an
Athlon 64. For example, this will cost you £369 without a case or PSU:

- AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (ADA3000BOX) (£163)
http://tinyurl.com/348b8 (Dealtime)

- Gigabyte GA-K8N PRO motherboard (£82)
http://tinyurl.com/3xjwc (Dealtime)

- 2 x 512MB Kingston DDR-SDRAM (KVR400X64C3A/512) (2 x £62 = £124)
http://tinyurl.com/2lafz (Dealtime)

If you dropped your memory to 512MB, then you could get yourself a case and
a (nicely-branded?) 400W+ PSU for under £400 in total.


If you aren't ready to step up to an Athlon 64, then a high-end 400Mhz FSB
Athlon XP setup is your next option. For example, this will cost you £343
without the case or PSU:

- AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (AXDA3200BOX) (£153)

- Abit KV7 motherboard (£52)
http://tinyurl.com/3x5l5 (Dealtime)

- 2 x 512MB Kingston DDR-SDRAM (KVR400X64C25/512) (2 x £69 = £138)
http://tinyurl.com/2v5ry (Dealtime)


If you need the hard drive, floppy drive and operating system, then your
options are a lot more limited. An Athlon 64 or a 400Mhz FSB Athlon will
generally be out of the question, so it's best to look at a lower-end 333Mhz
FSB Athlon XP. For example, you can get this for £363 without a case or
PSU:

- AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 333Mhz FSB (AXDA2500BOX) (£59)
http://tinyurl.com/34cql (Dealtime)

- Abit KV7 motherboard (£52)
http://tinyurl.com/3x5l5 (Dealtime)

- 2 x 512MB Kingston DDR-SDRAM (KVR333X64C25/512) (2 x £56 = £112)
http://tinyurl.com/yuk4b (Dealtime)

- Western Digital Caviar 80Gb 8MB Cache hard drive (WD800JB) (£49)
http://tinyurl.com/2hzbz (Dealtime)

- Sony floppy drive (MPF920-E/131) (£6)
http://tinyurl.com/2phly (Dealtime)

- Windows XP Pro Academic Upgrade Edition (£85)
http://tinyurl.com/27hbt (eBay UK)
(You will need an older Windows operating system CD to insert for a few
seconds when you do a clean install of this XP Pro upgrade. A license key
isn't necessary for the older CD)

All are prices from www.dealtime.co.uk (except for the Windows XP Pro
upgrade). I'm sure you can find most of the stuff a little cheaper with
some hunting. Whichever case you get would need good cooling, and you can't
guarantee getting round cables with any of the above.
 
Hi
The Radeon card i have is a 64Mb VIVO AGP but i will be updating this to
sometime but not just yet.

Does the PSU make a lot of diffrents cause i was thinking about useing the
old ATX case and power and just buying the following.
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (AXDA3200BOX)
Abit KV7 motherboard
2 x 512MB Kingston DDR-SDRAM (KVR400X64C25/512)
80 - 120Gb Hard Drive

Kind Regards
Simon
 
Does the PSU make a lot of diffrents cause i was thinking about useing the
old ATX case and power and just buying the following.
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (AXDA3200BOX)
Abit KV7 motherboard
2 x 512MB Kingston DDR-SDRAM (KVR400X64C25/512)
80 - 120Gb Hard Drive
Click to expand...

The short answer is, yes, the PSU makes a lot of difference.

The longer answer is that it depends on exactly what PSU you have. If
it's a name-brand 300W you'll probably be OK but if you need to buy one
you might get a 350-400W (again, quality name-brand) for a little more
margin, capacity for upgrades.
 
" Does the PSU make a lot of diffrents cause i was thinking about useing
the old ATX case and power..... "


Your current ATX case may well be fine, but it will need good cooling to
supply the CPU fan for a high-end Athlon. As for the power supply, you can
calculate the minimum output needed by using this calculator:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

You'll probably need a minimum of 350W to support your components and any
small upgrades, which you may well not have on your current PC. It seems
that 90% of cheap power supplies don't match up to their rated wattage, so
you really need to get that extra security with something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/27kv6 , but if you feel you don't wish to spend that
amount, then you can get a much higher-rated generic power supply, like one
of these: http://tinyurl.com/39odh

You would be wise to also buy a Belkin SurgeMaster Surge Suppressor to
protect your system.
 
As for the power supply, you can
calculate the minimum output needed by using this calculator:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
Click to expand...

That linked page cannot calculate the minimum output needed, it is
impossible for it to do that even theoretically.

It might calculate the MAXIMUM theoretically possible if every component
were somehow forced to run at it's max capabilities simultaneously, which
in itself is extremely unlikely if not impossible.

Taking the estimate that site produces then multiplying by 0.65 might be
closer to accurate, with a bit of reserve power left over, not even
considering peak power capability of a decent name-brand unit like PC
Power & Cooling, Delta, Antec, Fortron, et al.
 
That linked page cannot calculate the minimum output needed, it is
impossible for it to do that even theoretically.

It might calculate the MAXIMUM theoretically possible if every component
were somehow forced to run at it's max capabilities simultaneously, which
in itself is extremely unlikely if not impossible.

Taking the estimate that site produces then multiplying by 0.65 might be
closer to accurate, with a bit of reserve power left over, not even
considering peak power capability of a decent name-brand unit like PC
Power & Cooling, Delta, Antec, Fortron, et al.
Click to expand...

Here's another one to confuse you even more...lol
http://takaman.jp/psu_calc.html?english
RedBack
 
Ive taken your advice and ordered a 450w psu with atx case.
Thanks to everyone for helping me.
I didn't know about the power side of computers so im pleased i asked you
guy's.
 
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