- May 2, 2006
- 20
- 0
- 0
Hi,
I'm looking into upgrading my computer and I would appreciate some advice on if I have made a good choice for parts in terms of performance and cost. I mostly use my PC for email, web, photo manipulation, music, video, programming etc. and I like it to be very responsive. My current PC is an AMD 2500 with 512Mb RAM and a GeForce 5200. I'm wanting to go dual-core due to the multi-tasking performance increase and want more memory to avoid the page thrashing I get sometimes. I also want to play games on my machine. I don't need to be able to play games on the best settings available but I would like to play new games as they come out and my current computer is getting too slow for this. Also, I'm not really interested in trying to overclock my machine.
Here's what I've picked out so far (I'm going to reuse my keyboard, mouse, monitor, DVD-RW):
CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_AMD_64_X2_567.html
£ 216.14
Motherboard:
Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Socket_939_483.html
£ 58.69
Graphics
BFG GeForce 7600 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-024-BG)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/..._Catalogue_7300___7600_Series_356.html
£ 99.82
Memory:
Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT400C3) (MY-080-CS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/...ogue_Corsair_Value_Select_DDR_311.html
£122.14
Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 120GB ST3120813AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-054-SE)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Seagate_191.html
£ 49.29
Case:
Antec SLK2650BQE Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-051-AN)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Antec_160.html
£55.17
Total: £601.25 ($1094)
Does this seem like a good choice of components? I've tried to choose a hard disk and case that will make the machine quieter.
Also, is it a good time to be buying dual-core? I hear that AMD will be bringing out DDR2 memory support in a couple of months and newer chips. Would it be best to wait a few months, or will it not really matter that much in terms of price and performance? Will having DDR2 support be so good that I should wait or will it be, for example, so expensive when it comes out and the performance increase so marginal that there isn't much point delaying?
Finally, can anyone recommend a good online shop I can purchase the components from? Newegg seems a lot cheaper, but I'm in the UK and it doesn't look like I can order from here. scan.co.uk may be marginally cheaper from what I can see. dell.co.uk seems to have some really good deals on (it looks like you get a 19" flat panel monitor for free), but I want an AMD 64-bit chip and a quiet case.
Thanks.
I'm looking into upgrading my computer and I would appreciate some advice on if I have made a good choice for parts in terms of performance and cost. I mostly use my PC for email, web, photo manipulation, music, video, programming etc. and I like it to be very responsive. My current PC is an AMD 2500 with 512Mb RAM and a GeForce 5200. I'm wanting to go dual-core due to the multi-tasking performance increase and want more memory to avoid the page thrashing I get sometimes. I also want to play games on my machine. I don't need to be able to play games on the best settings available but I would like to play new games as they come out and my current computer is getting too slow for this. Also, I'm not really interested in trying to overclock my machine.
Here's what I've picked out so far (I'm going to reuse my keyboard, mouse, monitor, DVD-RW):
CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_AMD_64_X2_567.html
£ 216.14
Motherboard:
Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Socket_939_483.html
£ 58.69
Graphics
BFG GeForce 7600 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-024-BG)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/..._Catalogue_7300___7600_Series_356.html
£ 99.82
Memory:
Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT400C3) (MY-080-CS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/...ogue_Corsair_Value_Select_DDR_311.html
£122.14
Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 NCQ 120GB ST3120813AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-054-SE)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Seagate_191.html
£ 49.29
Case:
Antec SLK2650BQE Black Quiet Mini Tower Case - 350W SmartPower PSU (CA-051-AN)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Antec_160.html
£55.17
Total: £601.25 ($1094)
Does this seem like a good choice of components? I've tried to choose a hard disk and case that will make the machine quieter.
Also, is it a good time to be buying dual-core? I hear that AMD will be bringing out DDR2 memory support in a couple of months and newer chips. Would it be best to wait a few months, or will it not really matter that much in terms of price and performance? Will having DDR2 support be so good that I should wait or will it be, for example, so expensive when it comes out and the performance increase so marginal that there isn't much point delaying?
Finally, can anyone recommend a good online shop I can purchase the components from? Newegg seems a lot cheaper, but I'm in the UK and it doesn't look like I can order from here. scan.co.uk may be marginally cheaper from what I can see. dell.co.uk seems to have some really good deals on (it looks like you get a 19" flat panel monitor for free), but I want an AMD 64-bit chip and a quiet case.
Thanks.