# Is this a good deal?



## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Hey all, I'm thinking of buying a new system. I was browsing around on Overclockers UK because I have used them before in the past. I was messing around with the PC Builder and came up with this:

Case: Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz
RAM: 4GB
Graphics card 1: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3
Graphics card 2: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3
Hardrive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 7200RPM SATA-II 32MB Cache HDD
PSU: OCZ GameXStreme Silent 780W Power Supply
Windows XP Home (gotta love xp)
Mouse: Logitech MX518 Gaming Grade Optical Mouse
Keyboard: Will use my own one for now
Cooler: Antec SpotCool System Cooler
Monitor: LG L207WT 20" Widescreen - Black
Headset: Speedlink Medusa SL-8781 Stereo Headset

There wasn't a motherboard option thing.. Meh..?

It all comes to £931, that's including the VAT. Was just wondering whether there are better deals elsewhere... Thanks!

PS - Is 780W enough for all of that?


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Nevermind, I took a visit to Eclipse Computers and came up with this setup which is a lot cheaper:

Case: GigaByte Triton Black ATX Case, Screwless
Motherboard: Asus P5NESLI S775,DDR2,PCI-E,SATA2,5.1Snd,GBLan,ATX 
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz LGA775
4GB RAM
Graphics card 1: 512Mb GeForce 9500 GT PCI-Express
Graphics card 2: 512Mb GeForce 9500 GT PCI-Express
Hardrive: 500Gb Samsung Spinpoint T 7200Rpm S-ATAII 300 
PSU: 700W
Windows XP Home
Wireless Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Extra Fan: Hiper HiperFlow 80mm UV Case Fan w/ Rubber Silencers -Blue 
Monitor: 20 Inch Widescreen TFT Monitor 
1 Year Warranty

All for £692 including VAT. Whatcha think? (I'm a bit new at this)


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Just to clear things up: 

1. Budget: <£900

2. Brands: I want to stick with Intel + Nvidia because I know them best.

3. Multitasking: Not much multitasking, just gaming really...

4. Gaming: Yes, quite modern/up to date games.

5. Calculations: No

6. Overclocking: Not really, since I don't know how... But I will learn in time :]

7. Storage: Enough storage for a whole bunch of games.

8. Legacy Support: No

9. Operating System: Windows XP Home

10. Case: A case which keeps everything cool, and looks good!

11. Accessories: A Keyboard + Mouse + Headset, because I need new ones.

12. Recycled Components: No

13. Monitor: 20" should be good enough, right?

14. Stores: Overclockers UK, but browsing around some other sites I've seen that I can get better deals I think.

15. Location: England


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

you should look at ATI cards especially the 4870 it will be a little bit more powerful than 2 8800gt's
The 9500 is not as nearly as powerful as the 8800gt

I've seen the 9800gtx2 for around 300$ (canadian) I think around 160 for you


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

That card does look nice, although slightly higher in price but it's worth it I guess (about £20 more). One question though, how many slots does that card take up?

Could you recommend me anything else? Thanks.


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## kmvasilev (Aug 28, 2008)

From Eclipse Computers:

Processor: CPI-E8500 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz LGA775 Processor - Retail £103.95 
Cooler: HFA-V60 Asus V-60 Quiet Intel LGA775 CPU Cooler £19.95 
Mainboard: MBA-P5QE Asus P5Q-E LGA775, DDR2, PCI-E2, SATA2, GBLan, ATX £82.50 
Memory: MEO-D2-4096R1K OCZ Reaper HPC 4Gb (2x2Gb) PC2-8500 Dual Kit £59.68 
PSU: PST-TG700U33 Tagan TG700-U33 700W Dual Fan ATX PSU £66.95 
Video card: GCS-XR487X2G Sapphire 2Gb Radeon HD 4870X2 PCI-Express2 VGA Card £299.95 
HDD: HDW-6400AAKS 640Gb Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM SATAII Hard Drive £43.99 
DVD: DRA-DRW2014L1T Asus DRW-2014L1T 20xDVD Dual Layer Lightscribe SATA Writer £16.50 
Case: CAC-GH05B Chieftec Aegis CH-05 Black ATX Gaming Case - No PSU £51.95 

Keyboard: Cherry Vario-Key Wired Keyboard - Black / Silver - £15.95
Mouse: MicroSoft Comfort Optical Mouse 2000 - Black - USB - £12.95
Headset: Creative Labs Fatal1ty Gaming Headset - £22.95


Total price without VAT ~ 808 pounds. With VAT ~ £949. If the prise is unattainable, take this video card - Asus 512Mb Radeon HD 4870 PCI-Express2 VGA Card - £150.95


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The 4870x2 will be pushing that 700w PSU pretty hard I think I'd want a little more for comfort.


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## kmvasilev (Aug 28, 2008)

No, and 500 watts are enough, take a look here - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd4870-x2_6.html#sect0

And from my own experience it works with 400 but we have to keep the principle for a maximum 70% load for the PSU


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Ive seen that it doesn't take into account capacitor aging, heat, or usb devices and the answer is yes it will work for a while but in a year when it gets overloaded lets hope the protection circuits do their job to keep it from frying the rest of the system.


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Thanks for everyones input. I'm going to save up my money and sell some junk for the next 2 months during college so I can afford a new system. For the time being I've chosen to purchase this system, however I'm going to ask if they can swap the motherboard with this and the PSU to something 750w+ so I have the option to go CrossFireX later on when I can afford it (I will of course pay a tad more for this though).

And kmvasilev that system looks a bit too expensive for me, seeing as it doesn't include a monitor then it would be going over £1000.


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## Dracia (Mar 19, 2008)

I've heard that XP can't properly register 4 gigs of RAM, so you might want to go for 3. Or you could get Vista instead, although from personal experience, I don't recommend it.


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

XP 64 bit will use all 4GB of RAM.
XP 32bit will show/use around 2.75 - 3.25GB.


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

My build is completely different now, after doing some homework...

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 £64.95
PCU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 £114.27
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz £54.99
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £48.99
PSU: Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU £60.25
GPU: Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 £174.99
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-215BK 20X SATA DVD±RW £17.49
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler £15.56
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case £67.64

£619.13 total from eBuyer.

Monitor: ViewSonic VA2216w TFT Monitor 22" 1680 x 1050 300 cd/m2 2000:1 (dynamic) 5ms 16:9 VGA £125 

£744.13 total with monitor.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

While the 650tx will run the HD4870 you might want a little more for insurance The 750tx is only about $10-$12.00 more here you may want to check if that's the case for you also.


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Corsair 650W TX - £60
Corsair TX 750W - £82

So that's £22 more :O I guess it's worth it.

Anything else?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

All else looks good> 12 now - 82 later if you upgrade something in 2 years?


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

Yep...

By November time when I order the parts the total price should be lower, and there might be some special offers on OcUK so... The total could be £650-£700 including the monitor!

One question about the mobo, is it decent? I just picked it at random because it supports 1 pci-e 2.0 slot at 16x.

When I look to upgrade in the future, all I'd have to do is upgrade the mobo if I want two pci-e 2.0 slots and the video card really


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Crossfire and SLI are made to sound a lot better than they are, first the game has to be written to use them most are not, there are a lot of game that run slower on 2 cards then 1, they are a hassle to setup and use, with the HD4870x2 card you picked I doubt you'll be upgrading the video to dual cards that card will out run any current game. Then if you must in 2 years you'll be looking at a HD4970x2? or a HD5070? who knows.

Forgot about the motherboard what is the price difference between yours and a GA EP45 DS3L or DS3P?


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

You read it wrong I'm getting a 4870 not a 4870x2  But it's still good. 

The current one I chose randomly (Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L) is £64.95
GA EP45 DS3L = Couldn't find it but I found GA EP45 DS3R if that's what you meant
DS3P = £101.80


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

EP45 DS3L = no raid, EP45 DS3R = Raid other than that they are the same board the R costs more I know you can't use this link to purchase from but the specs are great.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16813128345,N82E16813128347,N82E16813128351


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

What does Raid do? xO

I chose the second one from the left. Searched for it on eBuyer and it came up with this. The name's a little bit different but it's the same mobo right?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

No that is a P43 same as you are currently looking at 
Raid is a way to use 2 or more disks in an array.

look here> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

There's been a slight change in plan
I'm allowed to order all the parts tomorow!!
Just gotta get money from my account and give to parents, so they can pay off the card bill 

Parts:
Motherboard: Asus P5Q PRO P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX £84.98
PCU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 £114.27
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz £54.99
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £48.99
PSU: Corsair TX 650W £60
GPU: Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 £174.99
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-215BK 20X SATA DVD±RW £16.56
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler £15.56
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case £67.64

£650 total including next day delivery :O


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Your good, but I would like to see a 760tx to go with the HD4870


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## Got Sum Bullz (Aug 28, 2008)

£650 is the max I'm allowed to go so.. I can't \= 
It says it needs 500w minimum so.. It should work.
When I get more money and feel like splashing out, I'm gonna get a 22" and probably more cooling maybe so I can overclock, and a more powerful power supply :]


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