New budget PC

Mutant_Fruit

I'm looking to get another budget PC. Recommend anything, but i want a resonable GFX card (at least a good Geforce4 standard) and a DVD burner.

I'm looking at a price bracket of between 500 and an absolute max of 600. It can't go above that. Whats the current recommendations for that price range? I'm looking for a whole PC, monitor, powercables and all. The whole shebang.

Hal1

Hey i recently setup a new budget system , I got most of my hardware from Jaguarcompsys.ie (behind tilestore in Ballymount), but have a look at marx-computers.com (Fairview) he has teh good sh|t. He stocks Geforce cards too. Good luck with teh system

Col_Loki

Well for that budget you have to decide where to cut corners.

Ie 256mb Ram, slower CPU, smaller hard drive. Do you need keyb & mouse & speakers?

For a decent Graphics card (9600) and a DVD burner & monitor your talkin €350 atleast which doesent leave you with much for the rest of your system. Give me a little more info and i should be able to put something toghter for you.

[edit] it also means you have to shop wisely and pick the best companies or you could end up with a very poor system.

Mutant_Fruit

Ok, this is what i have so far... let me know where i can cut corners to get a better system....

From Komplett:

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80GB. eur70

ePoX EP-8K9A7i eur 50

Sapphire Radeon 9600SE Atlantis 128M DDR EUR 78

Corsair XMS2700 DDR-DIMM 256MB PC2700 eur 60


From jaguarcompsys.ie:

17" SVGA Colour Monitor (Beige) € 96.00

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ € 89.00

E-Star Deluxe Midi Tower ATX (Including 300 Watt Power Supply) € 40.00

Keyboard, mouse, speakers are all taken care of. For my DVD burner i was thinking of the "MSI DVD recorder DR8-A" (about 114 euro) from komplett, but i don't know much about them. I also need a new printer... so recommend me something cheapish.

I've revised my budget, and i can stretch it to an abolute max of 650. Prefreably a bit less though.

EDIT: so far 288 for burner, Graphics and monitor... but feel free to change that if you think i can do better! and don't forget me printer!

Civilian_Target

MSI products generally seem to be cheap and flimsy. The NEC DVD burners on Komplett are much better, may i recommend them.

Also the SE in 9600SE stands for Shít Edition, it's definitely not what you're looking for. Strech to a 9600pro instead.

MisterAnarchy

Have a look here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152062

Col_Loki

jaguar prices are plus vat (extra 21%) not sure wheather you added that in or not?

You would do well to stay away from any of the SE versions as Civilian_Target said.
I wouldnt skimp on a motherboard as its a majour factor in overclocking (free performance boost). If you sort out your own case and monitor (jag arent bad on price but its cheap stuff) then ill work on the other parts.

Will post back in a little bit with some decent prices . Ohh and i wouldnt go for the MSI burner as the LG can be gotten for less and its a great drive. I have an NEC burner (DVD+R) and i havent had any problems with it but other people have (some of my mates). NEC dont have firmware upgrades and ignore your e-mails...... so i wouldnt be mad on advising them either.

Mutant_Fruit

Argh, i just noticed jaguar list prices EXCLUDING vat. Time to rejig those prices.... look like i'm back to getting everything from komplett again.

Col_Loki

Kühler SA Sharkoon CUS3 € 9,89
DVDR IDE LG GSA-4082B 8x +/- bulk € 98,98
HDD IDE 80GB Maxtor 6Y080L0 7200U € 63,95
Logitech Cordless Desktop Express € 31,95
MB ATX SA ASUS A7N8X-X, nForce2 € 66,99
DDR PC400 256MB TwinMOS/Winbond CH5 € 59,49
CPU AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Tray € 69,94


Sub-Total: € 401,19 (www.jes-computer.de - €18 delivery ish).

That setup should get you to Xp3200+ and perform very well (especially for the price). The LG burner is class and has been getting very good reviews, hard drive is decent and not too noisey, cooler should cool up to Xp3200+ and its quiet, cordless set is nice (have used them many a time - nice), Very good motherboard, Twinmos ram with winbond (always good when you see winbond).

Add €170 for monitor & case from komplett, thats €590. €60-70 left over for a second hand Ti4200 / 4400 and your set.

[edit] Just read you have a keyb & mouse so thats €30 extra. €100 for a graphics card, €129 will get you a 9600pro and make the machine a very sweet rig, €112 will get you a decent performing 9600..... under that and your talkin cream of the crap fx5200 / 9200 / 9600se which aint great for gaming.

If you can scrape an extra €10 then the 9600, an extra €29 then def the 9600pro, if you cant mabye look second hand and you will pick up a nice card...... loads of Ti's going round and there pretty cheap with decent performance.

Hope this is some help,


PS im not mad about cheap PSU's and im not saying its a good idea to get one but its a pretty low budget and you want a decent system..... take a chance i suppose (prob be ok , just get atleast a 350w PSU)

Mutant_Fruit

Ok, new rig, new prices. Here are the links, and a final price at the end...

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=112853&cks=PRL CASE

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=115425&cks=PRL Harddrive

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=122609&cks=PRL DVD Burner

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=116244&cks=PRL CPU

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=114951&cks=PRL RAM

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=112930&cks=PRL MONITOR

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=121703&cks=PRL MOTHERBOARD

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=119402&s=sc HEATSINK FOR CPU

Is there anything i've left out? Or anything i should change? Using this motherboard, should i be able to get a good FSB overclock on the 2500+? Total price: 573.90. EUR603 inc delivery.

EDIT: are the necessary cables included, so that i can hook up the DVD and HD?

savemejebus

don't know if this will help but the cheapest case i've seen (online or in any shops) is the Jeantech Light Fusion case, for €55 in PC World - cant say what quality is like, looks nice though (windows and neon fans but fans are quite loud )

monitors are generally cheap at dtl.ie, and currys and pc world sometimes do good offers of compaq and packard bell extras.

bus77

If you cant go for one of the new Radeons then keep an eye out for a cheap Geforce Ti second hand, will tide you over for (a little) while

edit: as Col loki said above:rolleyes:

maxheadroom

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
Logitech Cordless Desktop Express € 31,95

Only get your keyboard from jes if you like having extra letters, and the y and z keys transposed (you see, it'll be a german keyboard...)

Mutant_Fruit

savemejebus: my case is 45 eur .


And i just saw loki's specs now... looks damn cheap. I'll investigate that site more. It's looking good.

Thanks for all your help.

savemejebus

i was factoring in delivery (and the big window, and the non qtec psu):D

tribble

ePoX EP-8K9A7i eur 50

This board is FANTASTIC value for money and the most stable I have ever bought.
SATA, NETWORK, AUDIO etc..

BTW - THIS BOARD TAKES DDR 400 (2 sticks only) (despite what komplett tell you) check the EpoX website. I use 512MB TwinMOS DDR3200.

tribble

Mutant_Fruit

just wanna check one thing... postage from jes computers is ONLY 17 euro, regardless of how much the stuff weighs?

I tihnk i'm making huge savings coming from there.

EDIT: Tribble, how are the overclocking options on that board? Will i be able to accomplish much with a Barton 2500+?

Mutant_Fruit

OK.. yet another spammy post by me, here's the new (revised again) system specs.


From Jes:
Products
1 x 17'' Novita 80000, 72kHz € 99,00
1 x DDR PC333 256MB Mushkin Basic Green € 50,49
1 x CPU AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Tray € 69,94
1 x DVDR IDE NEC ND-2500A +-R/RW bulk € 88,27
1 x HDD IDE 80GB Maxtor 6Y080L0 7200U € 63,95
1 x GEH Midi ATX Standard 350 Watt € 29,70

Total Inc shipping: EUR436,35

From komplett:
EPoX EP-8K9A7i Mainboard for Socket A EUR49.61
119402 Spire CPU-Fan WhisperRock IV Socket A 10.77
120318 PowerColor Radeon 9600 PRO EZ 128MB 129.47

Total Inc shipping: 199.85

Grand total: EUR636

Is there any more economising i could do on that? Anything i can get for better value elsewhere?

And a tech question, jes seem to stock several different kinds of XP2500+, some which seem to be "Special steppings" for overclockers. I'm just wondering, if i pay and extra EUR10 to get one of these, will this greatly improve my overclocking powers? And if so, which one should i get?

Col_Loki

Only get your keyboard from jes if you like having extra letters, and the y and z keys transposed

Doh!! I always forget that, and will probably order one myself when i forget again.

DDR PC333 256MB Mushkin Basic Green € 50,49

For the sake of €9 get Pc3200 Ram and get the decent stuff like TwinMos with Winbond, theres not much point in getting slower ram if your overclocking.

DVDR IDE NEC ND-2500A +-R/RW bulk € 88,27

Personally id go for the LG, for reasons above.

jes seem to stock several different kinds of XP2500+,

TBH i dont think it will make much of a difference. If your getting a special overclocking Xp2500+ then look for the "mobile" Xp2500/2600 , they run on 1.45v , are multiplier unlocked and overclock very well. www.excaliberpc.com

Mutant_Fruit

One thing i forgot to mention.... My existing PC has 768mb ram (512 + 256) The 512 is 400mhz stuff, whilest the 256 is 266mhz stuff.

I'm gonna take the 512 (at 400mhz) out of this box, and put that in the new box, for overclocking. Then i'll put in the new (slow) 256mb ram into this box, as i can't overclock this box.

Then the new computer will have 512mb of fast ram, which will overclock well (hopefully) and my existing computer is no worse off whatsoever.