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what you think of this setup -suggestions?

N

neilm

Golden Member
System setup will be bought as (all the prices are inc.VAT) -

(£150) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8IHXP P4 Titan Series
(£170) CPU: 2.4Ghz Intel P4 Retail (Skt 478 533Mhz FSB)
(£220) RAM: Samsung 2x256MB PC1066 Rambus RDRAM 184-pin
(£90) HDD: 80Gb Western Digital (WD800JB)
(£40) Modem: 3Com U.S. Robotics 56K Faxmodem (V.90)
(£75) CDwriter: Plextor CD recorder IDE 40x/12x/40x
(£110) Video card: Dunno, a decent GF4 Ti4200 for the price I guess...
(£70) Printer: Epson Ink Jet Printer Stylus C62
(£290) Monitor: 19inch CTX PR960F
(£42) PSU: Enermax EG365P-VE 350W (FMA)
(£50) Case: Chieftec Cream Dragon Midi-Tower DX-01W
(£70) Speakers: VideoLogic ZXR-500
(£33) Mouse:Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
======
(£1410)

That's about it, anything I leave out??
Not sure about fans yet, what ya reckon I should get?

Thanks for any suggestions...!
 
Well, I don't know how easy it is to get ATI cards out there, but I vote for a Radeon 8500 128 meg retail(~$100), or if you can afford it, a Radeon 9700 pro (~$340-365). I have grown to hate what Nvidia cards do to my system, and their 2d stinks.
 
Nah, unfortuntely being a student it limits my budget 🙁

I'll look into the Radeon 8500 though, but I've always thought GF4 was the way to go (apparently it had better results on tomshardware comparision chart).

Thanks for the advice, keep em coming...
 
I found your thread. . . . Your system looks "sound" and should last you a few years while still being upgradeable.

I would also suggest a Radeon 8500 as it is cheaper and has close to GF4 Ti4200 performance (or wait for the 9700non-pro).

You might also consider DDR if you are looking to save more by dispensing with RDRAM . . . if so, do a search here and in O/C'ing and MBs (Epox 4G4A + Samsung PC2700 and a P4 1.8 or 2.0 O/C'd to 2.5+Ghz will save considerable with similar performance to your machine). If you O/C your CPU you can get higher than 2.4Ghz for a lot less money than a stock 2.4.

Lite-On seems to be the "preferred" CD-RW bang-for-the-quid (it just doesn't sound as good as "buck") over Plextor.

Here in the States the Samsung 955DF flat 19" is a great "budget" choice. See Anand's monitor comparison if you can get it cheaply there.

I have the Epson C62 (a really "hot deal" for $12.50 after rebate) and I am not that impressed over my old HP942c . . . it's OK, I guess.
 

128 meg GF4 Ti4200 is probably the biggest bang for the buck right now, hands down. I've nothing against ATI (I own a 9700pro) but the radeon 8500 compares closer to a GF3 Ti500.

Other suggestion: Checkout a low end Lexmark laser instead of the inkjet. It will run about $75 more but hey, it's a laser. It doesn't do color but being a student I think you'd rather hand in printouts from a laser than inkjet.

That's a good case, search a bit and you'll find the same one tricked out (plexiglass side non-beige paintjob etc) for just a little bit more. You'll also find that lighted case fans cost about the same as regular ones. This may be completely unimportant for you.


Go Colts!


 
apoppin:------------------------
The only reason I'm getting the P4 2.4ghz is that it is the lowest pentium with 533FSB.

I would get the get DDR memory, but the GA-8IHXP motherboard only supports rambus.. though I could get the GA-8IEXP which supports DDR (but I'm getting 2x256MB Samsung for £200 now of someone going to the states on a visit). Isn't the rambus alot faster anyways? and 512 of DDR isn't that cheaper is it? Just very unsure, cause rdram is really really tempting.. something that everyone wants if ya know what i mean 🙂

If only I can get printers that cheap over here, but I doubt I can get anything cheap let alone a printer 🙂

The plextor and lite-on is only about £10 difference over here that I found and just went with the most popular one I guess..

OK, I tried searching for that monitor on every UK hardware site I know of (even ebay.co.uk) and nothing, there was one site that had "<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.microdirect.co.uk/companypages/products/monitors/crtmonitors/samsung/MON19SAM957DF/MON19SAM957DF.htm">19inch SAMSUNG SM957DF Dynaflat 0.20mm
</a>" which was the closet, but that monitor is priced £230.. I don't think it's worth it with the difference in that and the CTX FD Trinitron is £50 (if you include delivery -seperate site I'm buying stuff from).
--------------------------------------

Smilin:------------------------------------
I was hesitant on buying a case that price, All I'm looking is a cheap one with good air flow, nothing special.

The cost of laser printers are [e]not[/e] worth buying, maybe when I get a job 😉
-------------------------------------------
 
I can't agree with the Ti4200 being a better bang for the buck over the 8500.

The 8500 is an older card than the GF4 but with greatly improved benchmarks and performance over when it was first released. It has caught up with the 4200 in some gaming benchmarks.

Depending what flavor of GF4 you get - the 8500 is likely to have better 2D and a better DVD player.

Also if you like Aniso Filtering, the Radeon takes less of a performance hit 'enabled' than the GF4. However, the GF4 has better AA. Also, the GF4 tends to O/C better.

Either card will work fine right up through Doom III's release.

Also, the C62 inkjet has superb b&w printouts. Here in the States, I usually buy a new printer for less cost on sale rather than the replacement cartridges. 😉

EDIT: Pricing in the States and GB are quite different.

I'd simply get the lower clocked 400 P4 and OVERclock it easily to 533FSB. Your DDR memory should run at 333 or even much higher closing the gap (almost) with RDRAM. Search the O/C'ing forum for specifics.
 
I was thinking, either get that current set-up or wait for asus to release their new board that supports dual DDR PC2700, any thoughts on this??


I was speaking to a experienced guy and he said that the last asus was a little unstable and the gigabyte in my set-up is really good. He also said DDR is almost as good as rdram now when the dual board comes out.
 
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