My budget pc: what would you change

[ionicle]

Hey, im going to build a new pc after christmas and use all the money i have then to build a resonable pc. At the moment i think the budget might only get up to about £400.

Here's what i have so far: (everything from ebuyer.com at the moment, inc. vat)

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI SKT939 NF4 SLI SATA USB2.0 retail £76.30 link

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 (ADA3700DAA5BN) 3700 CPU Skt 939 San Diego *OEM* £148.98 (i dont think i will be able to afford dual core) link

PSU: Ebuyer Extra Value 500w PSU/ATX/P4 Ready in Black with dual fans £14 link

Case: Aspire Xplorer Black/Silver Neon Mid Tower Gaming Case £53.33 link

DVD-RW: LG GSA-4167BAL 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM £28.19 link

and as i mentioned in an earlier thread, i will be swapping a modified xbox (nothing on it pirate) with a few things for a:

200gb ide maxtor hdd

XFX 6600 PCI-E

1gb of generic ram

a few other bits and bobs.

Would you recomend anything different? Also, would it be benefitial to use a 2nd hdd (i have a spare 80gb) to just put windows on?

regards

 

[|3ourne]

get a 3200+ instead of the 3700+ and get a better psu

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=98565

that one is a good one.

if u are not planning to run sli , then look into the DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity. Great ocing board and cheap. I dont know the UK retailers so ur gonna have to search for it. Make sure u have BW at the end of the model no. for ur 3200+ and not BP.

 

[FarFarAway]

isten to |3ourne - those are good ideas

 

[passy]

You can get a 3200+ (ADA3200DAA4BP) for £95.74 free delivery: http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/DisplayInfoMain.asp?e=855E0D5E-9386-40EC-9611-3D84C7FF571A

(3700+ is 4£ cheaper than Ebuyer)

 

[Phnom_Penh]

I would say go for 939 over 754, allowing for future upgrades etc.

 

[ionicle]

why would you recomend me getting a lower cpu? i take it that one can just be clocked upto the 3700 speeds?

 

[FarFarAway]

Yep thats the one - just clock it up and save yourself some money

 

[diesel]

Or get the 3700+ and overclock it even further, maybe?

 

[Dav0s]

budget pc.....overclock to save money

 

[Phnom_Penh]

Or get the 3700+ and overclock it even further, maybe?

Not much point in doing that as iirc the 3200 is a better clocker than the 3700.

 

[ionicle]

im gonna get a job after christmas (i know, you dont get payed much when you're 15) or flog a lot of stuff so i can afford dual core (amd x2 3800)

 

[dude_1885]

tbh i think you would be better with the 3700+ because it has the extra 512k of L2 cache...1mb of L2 cache makes a noticeable difference, and you should be able to get a 3700+ from about 2400 to 2700....aslong as you get a nice cooler like a XP-120

 

[FarFarAway]

Nah Opty 146 goodness and get it to like 3GHz

 

[WC Annihilus]

If you get a happy stepping 3700+ like mine you can get 2.87 on stock air Most likely gonna get me a Big Typhoon and copy |3ourne with his 3 ghz on air (hopefully something more like 3+ ghz )

 

[dude_1885]

wow, you must have a good steping, i know someone with a 4000+ "CABGE" and with a XP-120 can only get it to 2700MHz, @ 270x10 @ 48*C @ 1.55 V

 

[WC Annihilus]

Happy stepping of KABCE 0542FPMW. Definately hoping this thing will go much higher with better cooling

 

[bloodthirst]

Happy stepping of KABCE 0542FPMW. Definately hoping this thing will go much higher with better cooling

use that abit motherboard and see how well you go lol

 

[WC Annihilus]

I already told you, I'm not going to. I'm too lazy and an unused retail packaged mobo will sell for more than a used one. This ASUS is running fine, 24 hrs prime stable at 260 HTT and I think it can do more, geez