Difference between ATI Radeon 9800 and the ATI Radeon HD2400?

[DaveyB]

I have contacted a few suppliers and the oofers I have had so far are :

Intel G31 Multimedia (G31-D2)

Customizations:
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200
CPU Cooler: Standard CPU heatsink & fan
Motherboard: MSI G31M3-F (Intel G31 chipset, onboard video)
Memory: 4GB DDR2 800mhz (2x 2GB)
Hard Drives: 500GB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 20x DVD±RW DL
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 1GB
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Software: Nero, PowerDVD, McAfee Virus Scan
PSU: 400W
Case: Asus TA-210
Warranty: 3 Year Bronze Warranty

Product Subtotal: £391.70

iBUILD™ AMD Home/Office Entry Level£354.85 inc VAT

Black and Silver ATX Micro Tower Case
400 Watt Power Supply Unit
ASUS M2N68-CM
AMD Athlon 6000+ X2 Dual Core 3.1GHz 1MB Cache
Samsung 2GB DDR2 800MHz
160GB 7200RPM SATA II
Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD RW Black SATA
nVidia GeForce 9500GT 512MB
Microsoft Windows XP SP3 Home
Built-in audio
2 Year Return to Base Warranty with Free Collect & Return


and

• Microsoft Windows Vista Home
• Intel Dual Core E2220 Processor
• 4096MB DDR Corsair II Memory
• 320GB SATAII Seagate Ultra Fast Hard Disk Space
• NEC 7200 Multi Format DVD/CD ReWriter
• Intel 3100 256MB GMA Graphics
• 5.1 High Definition Surround Sound
• Intel Deluxe Motherboard
• 10/100 Ethernet LAN
• 8x USB2 Ports
• Hanns G 19” Widescreen TFT Flat Panel
• Logitech Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
• Logitech Wireless Optical Mouse
• Logitech S220 2.1 Speaker System
• 12 Month Classic Warranty

£399.00


All of which are a bit over my budget but have been recommended as what I need.

What do you guys think?

 

[muckshifter]

I have no knowledge what so ever about adding extras to the unit at home.

Oh yes you do, you may not know it, but I can assure you, just adding a graphics card is quite an easy task.

If Mesh Monkeys can, anybody can ... oh, no offence to monkeys working at Mesh, Dell, Gateway, HP, Comcrap and anyone I forgot to mention.

I won't twist your arm.

Don't forget to get a DVDRW as opposed to just a Rom drive. Oh, and a wee bit better OS than V-Basic please ... I'll even add this, any company recommending or even just offering Vista basic should be shot, plonkers in my book.

I will, as I said before, leave the search for others to do ... you may have to wait till most come home from work.

 

[DaveyB]

I have always wanted to learn how to build my own PC its just never been something i`ve tried. Its seems quite daunting when you dont know where to start.

 

[muckshifter]

I have always wanted to learn how to build my own PC its just never been something i`ve tried. Its seems quite daunting when you don't know where to start.

Oh that's easy ... you start with the MB.

You add the CPU, it can only go in one place, just make sure you line-up the "arrows" and just shut the lever.

We then add the memory, again, can only go in the memory slots, but there is usually four of them and we usually only buy two sticks, however, the MB manufacturers have coloured two slots the same, just pick the prettiest colour. You will need to use a wee bit of force, one reason we do this out of the case, on a stable flat surface, using the bag as a cushion and listening for the "click" ... make sure you have the guide hole lined up with the guide lug.

Reminds me of someone who brought back some memory, saying very angrily so all the other customers could hear, "it will not fit my MB" ... I took the memory off him, turned it around, and said, "it will now" ... I've never seen anyone go that red before.

Now we open the case we bought, and despite them (95% of 'em) being exactly the same inside, we spent more on the case than any other component, it doesn't actually make a squat of difference to the way our system works, including all that hype about how efficient the air flows

anyway, we open the side panel and continue.

First take hold of all them cables that come out of the fitted power supply, if the case came with one that is, and tape them out of your way, I usually tape them to the top outside of the case.

If you bought a nice overly expensive branded power supply then you could fit it now and follow the above instruction, or fit it later, this is good if the case is a nice BIG one.

First, we need to insert some brass stand-offs, only system builders have the right tool, but you can use a pair of pliers, DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN ... only need to make sure you use the stand-offs that match the MB holes.

Now we put the MB into the case ... yes, we have already added the CPU & memory BEFORE mounting the MB ... it is so much easier than after. Believe me, I've built a few (hundred)

You will see there are some cables that need to be attached to the MB from the case, or your power button won't work etc: ... the MB manual will tell you what goes where, the MB is even etched with words that one can read, given the right pair of glasses.

Now add the Hard Drive, no, leave the graphics card for now, it will/may get in the way on some of them £1,000 cheapo cases, slide the HD in any bay that allows you to actually attach the IDE cable the MB, if using IDE HD, or SATA cable leaving room to slot in that huge graphics card ... screw it into place using the screws supplied by the case ... it was that bag you put to one side, honest, they are in there, you did get a bag of bits?

OK, now do the same with the DVDRW ... if you chose IDE, here is where most people get frustrated, 'cos you actually could do with two cables & the MB only supplied one and ideally you want the HD to be on the master of the IDE cable ... yes, one of the two of connectors are called master and slave, plus the one that goes to the MB, which is usually a pretty bright colour from the BLUE & Black/gray connector.

OH Bugger that, buy SATA HD & DVDRW and you'll have no problems with the cable not reaching the HD, Rom drive & MB, and they'll be a bit faster.

Now we can fit the Graphics card, once again, these days anyway, it will only fit the one slot ... this is where you find out that the bloody thing is too big ... It may need a little force to push it down, a little force. Use one of the supplied screws to hold it into place ... if your case came with one of them silly "quick release" thingies, then they fooled you with gobbledygook, it takes me more time to figure out how that silly thing works I always bin it ... I can unscrew a screw in 3 seconds, and anyway, once you've attached all the things that use that rail, you ain't gonna be changing parts every week.

Add any other bit's-n-bobs as per manual ... oh, yeah RTFM ... no really they even have pictures that show you what to do.

Connect the power supply to ALL relevant connectors, do make sure you bought a reasonable PSU, or all your hard work is in vain. Double check, now check your check. Good.

Connect monitor, keyboard & mouse, now the power supply mains lead ... push the button on the front of the PC

Now, if all is OK, you should see the screen spring into life & hear ONE beep ... anymore than one and you goofed. Call us, we will fix it.


Done!

Next year I'll tell you how to load the OS.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Sorry to disappoint but I know next to bugger-all about ready made computers

I could probably, just about build one for 300 but I wouldn't know where to buy one already built.

I did look at a few suppliers out of interest, e-buyer included, but all ready made machines had built in graphics, were vague about the manufacturers of the motherboards and power supplies (the two most critical components in my opinion) and although they came pre-loaded with Vista Home Premium, there was only a recovery disc to access data on a hard drive partition.

And I expect the peripherals (mouse etc) were a bit crap.

If Football Manager 2009 is the only game going to be played, although I'm not familiar with any of the Football manager games (as about as interesting as watching paint dry, imo, lol ) as I understand it it's played mostly on a point and click interface which is not graphically demanding.

Therefore decent onboard grafix will probably be ok. It would be wise to find out if the machine has a pci-e slot so that a good grafix card can be added at a later date should the need arise.

So, sorry, but I can't hand on heart recommend anything prebuilt for 300 quid.

Somebody did e-mail me the other day with a Core Duo 2 machine for £270.00 and it looked good but I deleted the e-mail and can't remember who it was now.

Possibly Aria or Big Pockets.

 

[floppybootstomp]

This might do you

Upgrade memory to DDR2 800Mhz and buy Vista Home Premium OEM Disc and licence and the whole deal comes to £315.00

No peripherals but it does have onboard Nvidia Geforce 6 grafix and a pci-e grafix slot for upgrade.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Last one....

And for 370 this is perfect

Assuming you like the case design that is

 

[DaveyB]

OK thanks alot, you have all been a great help. I will mull over what i`m going to for a few days and then make a decision. I am intially thinking about buying a system for around £300 and then possibly look into upgrading the unit with the eventual aim of then building one from scratch.