PC Advice Please

[cguil_uk]

Well its personally preference to an extent, What you think looks good.
If your spending money on a spec like that then it makes sense to put it in a good quality case with good cooling too.

Something like....

Arctic Cooling T1 Pro Case - £50.51
Thermaltake Soprano - £51.69, Or with side window and side fan - £51.69
Antec Nine Hundred - £65.79
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream - £71.66, Or with Window and Fan - £75.19
Antec P180 - £81.06

I could go on but you get the idea, have a look here, and post a link to one you like.

FWIW, i Got the Tsunami Dream, with window, and i an seriously considering upgrading to the Antec 900.

Speakers....

You want a 2.1 system with a sub or just the two stereo speakers?
Have a look around here (2.0) and here (2.1)

Again post back and we'll have a look.

UR a Star!! Thanks once again.

I think with my hearing problems I will stick with 2 speakers. I am not sure that I will benefit greatly with more - it will only confuse my poor old hearing aid.

 

[cguil_uk]

UR a Star!! Thanks once again.

I think with my hearing problems I will stick with 2 speakers. I am not sure that I will benefit greatly with more - it will only confuse my poor old hearing aid.

I have just looked at the speakers and I do not have a clue which one to go for. I do know that I have difficulty in hearing high frequencies - which is why I cannot hear some phone ring tones and smoke alarms. Perhaps something that will help me to hear the higher frequencies? What do you think?

 

[muckshifter]

I have just looked at the speakers and I do not have a clue which one to go for. I do know that I have difficulty in hearing high frequencies - which is why I cannot hear some phone ring tones and smoke alarms. Perhaps something that will help me to hear the higher frequencies? What do you think?

It won't matter ... your not having a hearing test.

Not trying to be flippant here, I am deaf also, well they say I need a hearing aid and I tried one once ... I don't like them.

Just get a set of 2.1 with a nice sub and crank up the base ... don't spend any more than £20

The "trick" for the likes of us is to use a graphic equalizer software ... plenty of free ones if your sound card software is lacking.

 

[cguil_uk]

It won't matter ... your not having a hearing test.

Not trying to be flippant here, I am deaf also, well they say I need a hearing aid and I tried one once ... I don't like them.

Just get a set of 2.1 with a nice sub and crank up the base ... don't spend any more than £20

The "trick" for the likes of us is to use a graphic equalizer software ... plenty of free ones if your sound card software is lacking.

Thanks

Any particular speaker recomendations?

How about the -
Logitech S200 2.1 Black/Silver Stereo Speakers - OEM? £14.04 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-038-LG&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=173
OR
Altec Lansing XA2021 2.1 Speaker System - Retail £23.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-027-AL&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=173

 

[muckshifter]

Thanks

Any particular speaker recomendations?

How about the -
Logitech S200 2.1 Black/Silver Stereo Speakers - OEM? £14.04 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-038-LG&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=173
OR
Altec Lansing XA2021 2.1 Speaker System - Retail £23.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-027-AL&groupid=702&catid=22&subcat=173

Nope, not an "expert" but, the Logitech look a better "spec" set ...

Is there a PCWorld near you ? Not suggesting you buy from them, although the price may be simular, but to use them as a "sound test" with a CD of music you know.

You can always buy another set, that you find suits your ears, later.

 

[cguil_uk]

I'm going to jump in here, as I usually do, and mention one item I regard as the most important component of any PC ... the Motherboard.

I'm all in favour of supporting "local system builders" providing they can show good customer re pore and will take time to explain any aspect of your PC ... my trust is not easy to gain. Do they have any Net presence ?

V_R has some excellent suggestions which I would endorse fully ... I am not up with the times of the current Graphics cards, but I would buy the best I could get and will probably be more expensive that any other one single item. Even if you have no intention of being an avid gamer, it is the sort of card to take a look at.

LCD/TFT monitors should be seen, by yourself, working ... PCWorld is pretty good to pop into and having a "look" at what is on offer ... you're more than welcome to throw any prospectives our way to scrutinize.

If you take a looke at some of the members "sigs" here, you'll get a good idea what to look for.

RE: "I'm all in favour of supporting "local system builders" providing they can show good customer re pore and will take time to explain any aspect of your PC ... my trust is not easy to gain. Do they have any Net presence ?"

Yes they do - Greenpoint Computer Services Ltd. http://www.gpoint.co.uk/Home/index.html

 

[muckshifter]

OUCH!

Well, I only checked a couple of "standard" items and I was taken aback over their pricing ... err, a little on the steep side.

The "site" does not inspire me at all ... you do have one advantage over me though, you can walk into the shop, yes/no ?

Having said I don't like their site, I was the original instigator to 3BSytems ... their site was abysmal at one time, they have since made an effort to "fix" things. They ain't the best for prices, they ain't the best for variety, but I know them personally, hence my recommendation. However, I will not twist anybodies arm, feel free to choose any "supplier" you like, there are others I also use.

I would stick to OCUK ... prices & products are good.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've heard both of those sets of speakers, the Logitech are definitely better, I wasn't at all impressed with the Altec Lansings.

 

[Abarbarian]

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/cat/Hard-Drives/subcat/SATA-Drives

You might find some stuff cheaper here and they do free shipping if you spend more than £50 , good to deal with aswell .

For a couple of quid more you can have this

512MB Sapphire X1950PRO
512MB GDDR3
PCI-Express
Dual-DVI / TV-Out
Compare Code# VGA4434 Sapphire
#11095-03-20R

In Stock Now​

£114.95
£135.07from here
http://www.cclonline.com/product-categories.asp?category_id=440

They are quite competitive for DVD writers too

http://www.cclonline.com/product-categories.asp?category_id=121

It can pay to shop around .

It can save you a lot too if you look in the "B" grade section of sites aswell .

 

[cguil_uk]

I will concur with Mucks and say get a good quality motherboard and build from there - something from Asus will generally be fine, and like V_R I would suggest going for an Intel Core2Duo CPU as it will be excellent for multitasking, and if you need to save a few £££ to keep within budget then go for the E6400 rather than the E6600.

If you go down the Intel Core2Duo route, I would suggest the Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775).

Both those graphics cards by V_R and Abarbarian would do you fine, but if the money is available within your budget, then as Mucks said maybe splash out a bit more.

Another vital consideration is a good quality power supply (PSU) - a 500W+ jobby from a maker like Tagan/OCZ/Hiper/Seasonic/Enermax should provide you with a stable and reliable supply.

According to Cyber Power -

1. P5B does not have a good future upgrade ability, 2. Please choose the Enermax or Hiper PSU for a better performance.

Any comments please. Any one got an alternative suggestion to the P5B please?

 

[Adywebb]

According to Cyber Power -

1. P5B does not have a good future upgrade ability, 2. Please choose the Enermax or Hiper PSU for a better performance.

Any comments please. Any one got an alternative suggestion to the P5B please?

1. What explaination do Cyberpower give for saying that, and what are they suggesting as an alterative?

2. Agreed, but the others I listed are good too!

 

[cguil_uk]

1. What explaination do Cyberpower give for saying that, and what are they suggesting as an alterative?

2. Agreed, but the others I listed are good too!

They did not say, I will ask them.

 

[cguil_uk]

1. What explaination do Cyberpower give for saying that, and what are they suggesting as an alterative?

2. Agreed, but the others I listed are good too!

According to Mark from Greenpoint - "The P5B runs 1006FSB which is all that chips go up to at the moment. Everything else out there will be the same as the Chip denotes the Upgrade ability. In this case The Skt Core 2 Duo is the limiting factor. Bios updates in the future will push it up to a higher end chip. The board also take the maximum amount of memory readable on a Standard home operating system."

 

[Adywebb]

Yep, Mark at Greenpoint is correct - will be interesting to see what Cyberpower say

 

[cguil_uk]

Yep, Mark at Greenpoint is correct - will be interesting to see what Cyberpower say

Response from Cyberpower

"For the P5B board, it does not support crossfire or SLI. Not all DDR2 RAM is compatible."

Comments?

 

[Adywebb]

The P5B Deluxe which you have specified DOES support Crossfire should you ever wish to use it, and as for not all DDR2 Ram being compatable, that is the same for any board

Methinks they are trying to put you off because its not an option they supply



PS. I have removed your other thread regarding this to keep things in one place..

 

[cguil_uk]

Thank You!!

I would just like to say a big thank you! to everyone who responded to this thread and especially to adywebb for giving me some great advice.

I am now having my new computer built at local computer store that is down the road from where I live, and even they are impressed with it.

Again many thanks!

My system -

CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) Mother Board: Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard RAM: GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) HD1: Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM HD2: Samsung SpinPoint P HD160HJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM Monitor: Viewsonic VX922 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Silver Video / Graphics Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ULTIMATE SILENT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Modem: OcUK Value V.92 PCI Modem - Retail Card Reader: Akasa AK-ICR-01 Internal Card Reader Floppy Disk Drive: Sony Floppy Drive - Silver CD/DVD Writer: NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM CD/DVD Drive: Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM (Silver) - OEM Speakers: Logitech S200 2.1 Black/Silver Stereo Speakers - OEM PSU: Seasonic M12 Modular 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply Case: Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Black) KB & Mouse: Logitech Cordless Desktop EX-110 - Retail OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (E85-04026)