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[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

I was asked sometime ago to put together a system for a family member, one in which the only definate things were that it needed lots of storage space, and also a DVD/RW... Oh.. and it had to be able to play at least a few of todays modern games... I've been given no budget, but can expect to drop half of these items down to something with less power as I go along... but hey... aim high...

Since my time has been limited I've only recently got around to putting an idea together for such a system, so after a clicking session at Overclockers (May not buy everything from there, just used them as they had almost everything I needed in stock)

AMD Athlon "Barton" XP3200+ 400FSB (Socket A) CPU - OEM (CP-058-AM)
Sparkle GeForce FX 5900XT 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (AGP)
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 (Socket A) Motherboard (MB-050-AS)
Asus DRW-1604P 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - OEM (CD-012-AS)
Lian-Li PC 3077 Aluminium Midi-Tower (No PSU) (CA-025-LL)
Zalman ZM400B-APS 400W PSU (CA-001-ZA)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-019-MD)

Which leaves the heatsink/fan combo and around about a gig of RAM that needs adding - any recommendations?

Also, anything that I really shouldn't get (bad make/model, etc), and cheaper places to buy from - if you'd be so kind...


Cheers

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Ignoring my original question entirely (no, please do) I've gone for cheaper options, but would appreciate some guidance on the cheaper range of graphics cards and cases - which mid-spec cards are worthwhile? And are there any particular case brands to avoid (as lovely as Lian Li is - there's many cheaper a case out there)

Are any of the cases on sale in Maplins worth trying? They're reasonably cheap...

[DanMaggot]

Ignoring your second question completely and just noting what you said about space make sure you have either firewire or usb2 cause then you can stack in external hard drives as required and so add on space ad infitum. :P

What kind of games the person plays should surely effect how chunky a graphics card is required.

Is the PCI Express relevant etc?

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

I think the graphics card is restricted by the budget somewhat - I can't afford to spend vast amounts on that, as it'll bring the overall price of the computer to an unacceptable amount (make no mistake, this can't be a top of the line machine - not with the low-cost ideal)

I think 200GB should be more than enough for... a while... at least...

[DanMaggot]

I've got and use the graphics card you mention in your lineup and like it very much. The only think I might have gone for would have been the 256mb version (though it's quite a bit more money i think)

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Hmmm.. disappeared from Overclockers listings now...

Anyway, I can't remember how much it would've cost - but since this is an exercise in cost reduction from the original quote, I think the graphics card would've gone down a notch... How good are GeForce 5700? Or the ATI equivelent?

[DanMaggot]

Hmmm. Agree the Sparkle's not there though there are others by diff manufacturers

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/FX5900_Series.html

Don't know zip personally about the 5700. but here's a review

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/vide...cle.php/3098251

and here's a little curiosity item

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14006

[Spook Tooth]

Radeon 9800 Pro for £119.99.

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Nice find Mr.Tooth, very nice find indeed...

I'm wondering about CPUs - would it be necessary to go for a 3000XP - or could I settle for something lower 2800/2500 maybe? It's all in the scheme of lowering the overall price y'see....

[PilchY]

I would stay with the 3000 or drop to the XP2500 (Clockable) or even go upto the XP3200 for even more clockability..

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

Don't really want to go for the overclocking option - but have a need to drop prices, meaning that going for the 3200+ isn't an option, a gig of RAM has been halfed to 512MB, and the Lian Li has to be replaced by a cheap (and not Zorro) case...

It's no fun making PCs on a budget, you can't buy half the fun stuff you want to...

[DanMaggot]

Drop the size of the hard drive and rely on adding on stuff after via usb if it is necessary? After all, who really needs 200gb? Especially if you're including a dvd rw drive.

(I've got tons of psd files on the 2nd drive and even so it only takes up 10gb. My main 80gb drive is maybe 2/3 full and the second 80gb isn't half full.)

Make the 512mb ram only take a single slot and then more can be added as savings/budget allows post build.

This post has been edited by DanMaggot on Oct 9 2004, 12:59

[The Ghost of Inept Pig]

True - consider the HDD size dropped to a more reasonable one, still may keep it over 100GBs though - but consdering I only use 33GBs of mine (as I tend to uninstall games I don't play, and have very few other apps that I require) maybe an 80GB would suffice? With the 2nd HDD an option for later... I shall have to find out how much space is currently on offer - as I was told it would need 'loads'.. We shall see..

I am going for the one stick of 512MB - to make future upgrades that much easier.

[wags]

I have read that with an Nforce 2 MB you should use 2 sticks of ram rather than 1 ie 2X256 or 2X512, as they are supposed to run better that way.

80 to 120 gig HD would be ample for most ppl, especially if you adopt a good housekeeping regime.

[PilchY]

Mr Pig.... Where are you!!

Just found this on today only at scan, a bit late i know, but chances are it will re-appear again soon..


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