advice required for new desktop

[bla]

Hi.

Let me start by congratulate you on an excelent and comprehensive site; you really go the distance.

I'm about to buy a new desktop and would like to know what 2000 / 2500 euros would get me. I realise asking through price isn't the best method but...
For what it's worth I'm in Ireland.

The gateway website seems to have nice prices but I probably won't be able to fit everything I want and I though I could get it cheaper by buying the separate components. Of course this may result in compatibility issues.
That's were someone can advice me.


Here is what I would like to get:

- Monitor: around 22 inches; lcd almost convinced me but the crt's ability to display different resolutions properly (which is excelent for game performance fine tunning) still leaves me wandering. In any case I'm looking for nice quality.

- Processor: intel core 2 duo e6600; had excelent reviews from this site and seems to be a smart purchase.

- Memory: 2048 mb dual channel ddr2 667 mhz

- Graphics card: 3 pci xpress options (geforce 7900gs / radeon x1950 pro / radeon x1950 xt). All these were picked from this site's reviews. I think the 7900gs was more overclock friendly but that isn't really an advantage for me since I don't plan on tunning my pc. Just want to get it bought / built.
Another thing: I am inclined towards the x1950 xt but am worried about compatibility with the processor since redeon is more suited for amd.

- Operating system: not really a big deal. I have xp pro but would like to know about media center.
Don't even know if I can buy it... It also seems very hardware specific... The big question I have is performance. I know it can be resource consuming but how does it hold up to xp pro running just the basic processes?

- Motherboard: anything that can accomodate the above and has nice performance on its own.

- Hard drive: my plan is to just get the essencial first. Since I can buy a hard disk later to augment capacity my only requirement is for the first to be quick.

- Optical drive: not necessary

- Sound card: happy with whatever comes in the motherboard

- mouse, keyboard and speakers: nothing fancy

So guys. What's the best value for my money?
If someone can help I'd appreciate it.

 

[timmyterror]

i'm not the most educated person but here's my opinion.
either get a new mac pro with an intel chip, or..

monitor : i prefer CRT, but the choice is yours.

cpu: the core 2 duo e6600 is a great choice, if you want to go the intel route.

memory: i'd go for some OCZ ddr2 1000, cas latency 4

video: personally, i prefer geforce cards but a lot of people like ati's. i'd get a geforce 8800gtx for great performance. it is on the expensive side, but nice.
ati makes the radeon x1900, which is also very nice.

os: i am in love with windows vista ultimate, but that's just me.

mobo: i'd go for an asus P5WDG2-WS, or something alike.

hard drive: a western digital raptor 150gb with 10,000 rpms is nice.

sound card: i would HIGHLY recomend using more than just your mobo sound. it helps a lot with gaming. a sound blaster xfi xtremegamer fatal1ty pro series would be good.

mouse / keyboard : your preference, doesn't matter much

with my preferences, you're looking at around, with tax + shipping, and a $150 case included in the price:

3,000.00 USD

which equals

2,289.06 EUR

with this system you would have verrrryy nice performance.

good luck and get advice from more people before you make your purchase.

 

[bla]

Thanks for the reply.
Any news is good news.

I thought that 8800 would be too expensive but your final price is excellent.
I only mentioned the ATIs cause tom's gave them great reviews, but with the intel processor I will maybe go geforce.
By the way, what's the other processor route? Two processors or AMD? Tom's clearly stated intel had the upper hand on dual tech, at least on this price range.

Hope your price still holds true here in ireland.
I think my main problem will be to find a nice store. Can you maybe recommend something, even outside irelend.
I'm still new to online shopping.

Once again, thanks.

I can't wait to have my new rig ready.

 

[alcattle]

Looks like a nice build. I would go for the 8800 320MB, high end gaming that will last for many of the new games. If in the Budget, no question.

Can you buy from UK or is it the same problem with shipping/VAT? I have heard of a couple sites there, mostly good reveiws. One is Scan.com.uk and other is PCWorld.com.UK
I looked for stores in Ireland, boy what a wasteland, old sites and custom built but little in parts. I did come upon this site
Marx

 

[Surferosa]

What do you use the PC for? It has a huge difference on what build you would choose. Gaming / office / media pc?

You should choose your monitor 1st as well; the resolution that you are going to be using the pc at determines what graphics card you get. No point getting an 8800gtx if your using the pc at a low res.

Also, not sure about Ireland, but scan.co.uk, ebuyer.com & microdirect.co.uk are my preferences (in that order). Microdirect often has some great deals.. but returns & customer service are lousy, imo.

 

[yakyb]

im from the uk and use overclockers.co.uk and scan.co.uk in that order

i would roughly get

viewsonic vx220 (nice monitor)
C2D 6600
gigabyte ds3 (mobo)
ocz 8500 ddr2 ram
a couple of 250 GB seagate drives (7200.10)
8800 gts 640
2x dvd writer (any brand will do)
coolermaster stacker 830
seasonic m12 600w PSU
any simple (but not too cheap) keyboard
logitech g5 mouse

total including shipping(to UK) £1399 roughly 2055(euros)

thats from Overclockers.co.uk

keep your XP pro for the time being vista is still in infancy wait a couple of months for a service pack

extras you might want (if you want to use extra 500 euros)
different cooler (really cheap should prob get one anyway)
second monitor
better keyboard
extra 2gb ram
upgrade to 8800gtx
qx6600 (at a push)

 

[bla]

Busy at work, not able to check the net that often.

Browsed overclockers and scan.co.uk

Overclokers had excelent prices.

I'll probably check ebuyer and microdirect as well.

Thanks everybody.

 

[bla]

OK, think I got something

* prices in sterlin pound and with VAT from overclockers site

Processor - intel core 2 duo E6600 - 204.44

Graphics - OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 640 mg gddr3 HDTV - 252.51

Hard drive - 500 gb seagate 7200 rpm / 16 mg cache - 97.51

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA 965P DS3 (Socket 775) DDR2 - 82.24

Monitor - Belinea 2225S1W 22" Widescreen LCD - 210.31
Monitor (2nd option) - Acer AL2416Ws 24" Widescreen LCD - 387.74

These are the basic specs.
Regarding them, I want to make sure of a couple of things:
- Does the motherboard supports the rest of the hardware's high speeds? (I still lack some technical knowledge)
- Can I connect cable TV to my graphics card?
- Finnaly, the accer monitor seems very nice, but I want to be sure of its quality, because I prefer a smaller lcd with nice quality rather than a big one with little quality. In that spirit I could also consider a viewsonic wide 22'' instead of the Belinia. My computer is totally game oriented, so I also would like to know if these lcd options are quick and without ghost images.

This is just a final check really, because it seems a nice build.
What do you guys think?

 

[alcattle]

Good picks. Will be happy with choices.

The MB will be fine, it is one of the best lower priced boards.

No you will need a TV tuner card, Some video cards have that built in but you are better getting a seperate one.

Viewsonic has a good reputation, not sure on each of your pick's specs. Smaller would be better for a monitor (the 22") if you sit next to it, but from 6 feet, little difference.

 

[bla]

One question.

The Geforce 8800 gts needs PCI-E x16. The gigabyte DS3 doesnt support that, and in overclockers I can only find AMD 939 SLI ready or AMD AM2 SLI ready motherboards.

Since my processor is intel is it ok to go for one of these? I guess not.

The gigabyte DS4 supports dual PCI-E graphics interface. Is this the same as PCI-E x16? Can I make the most of my graphics card with this mobo?

 

[Gh0stDrag0n]

Look for a LGA775 motherboard if you want to use a core2duo, 965p chipsets do not have onboard video 965g boards have onboard video.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128012
This is the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, it is the one you want if you only want 1 PCI-E X16 video card, if you want a sli rig (2 video cards working together) go for a board with a Nvidia 650i 0r 680i northbridge.

 

[bla]

Thanks.
You're the man.