Spec for a new PC - anyone got any suggestions before I buy?

H

Harry

Hi all

I am looking to build a PC for my kids to use.

Money is very tight so I am on a struct budget of under £400 for the
whole system

Here is the spec (see bottom of message) I have thought of

Can anyone suggest possible changes I should/could make to save a bit
or get more performance?

cheers

Harry


Excelstor ESJ340 40gb 7200rpm ATA100 OEM IDE with 3yr Warranty
£29.20

Samsung 512 Pc2700 DDR333 184pinn Original Module
£44.66

MSI KT4AV-L SKT A 8X AGP DDR/Sound/lAN/USB2.0 Motherboard
£37.24
AMD ATHLON XP2000+ 266MHZ FSB 256Cache Thoroughbred - OEM
£35.82
Coolermaster CP5-8JD1F-0L Silent Skt A Heatsink & Fan
£5.87
XFX Geforce Fx5200 AGP8x 256MB DDR DVI TV-Out Retail box
£52.05

2 x Coolingfan/80mm 3pin Double Ball Bearing
£9.68


CTX VL700 17ins Monitor FST 0.27 Dpi
£67.79
Harry Potter Optical Mini-Mouse and Mouse Pad
£1.99
Creative SBS 250 Speakers OEM
£6.49
Deluxworld Dalmatian ATX Computer Case 350w Psu
£14.99
Panasonic Floppy Drive 1.44mb - OEM
£4.52
LG 16x48 IDE DVD-ROM Drive - OEM
£17.54
( I have a spare keyboard - so money saved)


Total cost £327.84

Add on shipping and VAT = £396.89
 
D

Dave C.

Harry said:
Hi all

I am looking to build a PC for my kids to use.

Money is very tight so I am on a struct budget of under £400 for the
whole system

Here is the spec (see bottom of message) I have thought of

Can anyone suggest possible changes I should/could make to save a bit
or get more performance?

cheers

Harry


Excelstor ESJ340 40gb 7200rpm ATA100 OEM IDE with 3yr Warranty
£29.20

Samsung 512 Pc2700 DDR333 184pinn Original Module
£44.66

MSI KT4AV-L SKT A 8X AGP DDR/Sound/lAN/USB2.0 Motherboard
£37.24
AMD ATHLON XP2000+ 266MHZ FSB 256Cache Thoroughbred - OEM
£35.82
Coolermaster CP5-8JD1F-0L Silent Skt A Heatsink & Fan
£5.87
XFX Geforce Fx5200 AGP8x 256MB DDR DVI TV-Out Retail box
£52.05

2 x Coolingfan/80mm 3pin Double Ball Bearing
£9.68


CTX VL700 17ins Monitor FST 0.27 Dpi
£67.79
Harry Potter Optical Mini-Mouse and Mouse Pad
£1.99
Creative SBS 250 Speakers OEM
£6.49
Deluxworld Dalmatian ATX Computer Case 350w Psu
£14.99
Panasonic Floppy Drive 1.44mb - OEM
£4.52
LG 16x48 IDE DVD-ROM Drive - OEM
£17.54
( I have a spare keyboard - so money saved)


Total cost £327.84

Add on shipping and VAT = £396.89
Click to expand...

I've got a suggestion that might save you money AND improve performance at
the same time. If possible, get pc2100 RAM instead of pc2700. While this
is slower RAM, it is cheaper and will improve performance on this system.
That's because running the RAM asynchronously (266FSB, 333RAM) will actually
slow down system performance. If the system is really for the kids, I
wouldn't suggest anything else. If you will be using it at all, consider a
different (silent) power supply and replace the generic cooling fans with
silent cooling fans such as vantec stealth or similar. The only thing is, a
silent power supply will up the cost of the system. But your ears will
thank you. -Dave
 
H

Harry

I've got a suggestion that might save you money AND improve performance at
the same time. If possible, get pc2100 RAM instead of pc2700. While this
is slower RAM, it is cheaper and will improve performance on this system.
That's because running the RAM asynchronously (266FSB, 333RAM) will actually
slow down system performance. If the system is really for the kids, I
wouldn't suggest anything else. If you will be using it at all, consider a
different (silent) power supply and replace the generic cooling fans with
silent cooling fans such as vantec stealth or similar. The only thing is, a
silent power supply will up the cost of the system. But your ears will
thank you. -Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks Dave

I shaved off another £1.67 off the cost.

Harry
 
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