Help With Computer Build

[Reefsmoka]

Hey dudes,

Sorry I havent been on PC Review properly for a while, works doing me over :\ .

Anyway, me sisters computer finally made its last beep the other day, the poor bugger's about 5 years old! She wants to upgrade to an ok'ish gaming computer with a maximum budget of £300. This is for the base unit only, she's still got a mouse, monitor, keyboard and speakers. She also has a decent graphics card to put in it, so theres no need for that either (an FX5600 for the nosey people out there ).

Anyway, I want to see what you thought of the system I've got planned on getting for her:

Processor: AMD Sempron 2800+ = £64
Motherboard: Abit NF7 V2.0 nForce 2 = £44 (4th one down on the link)
Memory: Crucial 512mb PC2700 = £48 (8th one down on the link)
Hard Drive: Maxtor DimondMax Plus 9 160 Gig = £56 (4th one down on the link)
Case/PSU: Cheap Case And PSU = £24

Ive got CD/Floppy Drives and a floppy drive.

Will it all be compatible?

 

[Kye]

Maxtor 80gb will save money, and is more then enough for just games and a few other things, depending if she knows how to manage her drive well, ie properly uninstalling un-played games etc. That will save a little bit.

 

[Reefsmoka]

Have to disagree with you there im afraid, i'd definatly pay the extra £15 for the 160 gig version!

Its obviously not just for games, she's gonna have alot of films/videos and music on it. 80gig fills up so quick nowadays!

 

[ChristopherP]

I would reccomend:

AMD Athlon 2600+ Barton Retail
Asus A7N8XE (??) - Deluxe
512Mb Kingmax PC3200 or PC2700 (whichever is cheapest)
SATA 80Gb HDD - Seagate or Maxtor or Samsung
Generic case/400w PSU
2x Akasa case fans 80mm

Would be faster than a sempron/IDE setup...

 

[crazylegs]

Here's a nice little bundle....

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=112188&cks=SPC Motherboard+Cpu+Ram+Fan...

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=302610&cks=SPK Harddrive.....

That little lot comes to 258 pound with the vat included....and that just leaves you to buy the case...with 42 quid left, you should be able to buy a half decennt generic case with 400watt psu......

And you should have yourself a sooper duuper games machine that should handle anything your skin and blister would throw at it.....keep her happy won't it....

 

[Reefsmoka]

I would reccomend:

AMD Athlon 2600+ Barton Retail
Asus A7N8XE (??) - Deluxe
512Mb Kingmax PC3200 or PC2700 (whichever is cheapest)
SATA 80Gb HDD - Seagate or Maxtor or Samsung
Generic case/400w PSU
2x Akasa case fans 80mm

Would be faster than a sempron/IDE setup...

A 2800Sempron is faster than a 2600+ Athlon XP :| .

Never heard of kingmax, so i wouldnt touch em .

Was thinking about S-ATA hd, but i dont know how hard they are to setup, so i just went with what i know.

Good thing pointing out the case fans though, completely forgot about em!

 

[Reefsmoka]

Here's a nice little bundle....

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=112188&cks=SPC Motherboard+Cpu+Ram+Fan...

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=302610&cks=SPK Harddrive.....

That little lot comes to 258 pound with the vat included....and that just leaves you to buy the case...with 42 quid left, you should be able to buy a half decennt generic case with 400watt psu......

I'm liking that 64 bit bundle very much sir .

 

[ChristopherP]

You are forgetting also about floppy and CD/DVD drives...

SATA hdd's easy to set up

Are semprons not reduced cache??? Check performance data against those 2...

 

[floppybootstomp]

You are forgetting also about floppy and CD/DVD drives...

S'funny, I could have sworn I saw in post # 1 he has optical drives and floppy drive.

Maybe it's me

Nope, t'ain't me...

 

[Reefsmoka]

Aww, leave Chris alone there flops, it was saturday night he posted, i think maybe the alchahol was flowing .

I think i'm going to go with that komplett bundel.

So a S-ata hd is just like sorting out a standard IDE hd?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Assuming you'll be loading Win XP, SATA drives need drivers, which will be included on the motherboard CD. That's the only difference in setting up, AFAIK.

 

[ReDtAiL_]

Yeah - that's right. You just get windows installed normally - then all the drivers etc.
Should be quite a nice machine, lucky girl - tho' I can't talk after what I got for christmas...

 

[ChristopherP]

S'funny, I could have sworn I saw in post # 1 he has optical drives and floppy drive.

Maybe it's me

Nope, t'ain't me...

Oh yeah... didn't see that bit.

Would have logged on sooner if an articulated lorry hadn't have snagged our phone line down our lane and snapped it in two, a limp cable thrown over a tree twig...

BT are aparently on their way to fix it...

 

[Alf]

Whats the difference between U-ATA and S-ATA?

 

[erebon]

U-ATA = paralell at 133 MHz
S-ATA = serial ar 150-300 MHz
SATA drives tend to have the better technology...