Full Version: The PC Thread (Sticky)

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#1]
1 Feb 2006
To: ALL

quote: Radio

We should have some sort of sticky covering what bits to put together for a 'decent' PC, which can be updated as and when teh's general consensus changes.

Since nobody else has volunteered, figured I might as well do it.

I've split things into main categories and (hopefully logical) groups - feel free to make suggestions on how to improve them.

If you want to recommend something, please provide the following:

Name
Category
Basic tech stats (ie: capacity, speed, etc)
Link to manufacturer's page.
Link to shop website(s)
A quick description on what makes it good (ie: good value vs really powerful, etc)
Any other useful/relevant information.

And now, the list...

Motherboards

Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI
An expensive but utterly top notch board. £125 including VAT, but worth it for a high end system.
£124 on Ebuyer

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI
A socket 939 nForce SLI board with PCI Express, 3GB SATA, etc.
£61 on Ebuyer

Processors

Athlon X2 4200+
Socket 939, dual-core 2.2GHz CPU + 512kb Cache
A beefy dual core chip for just £250.
£254 on Ebuyer

Coolers

Zalman CNPS9500
Virtually silent and barely even lukewarm to touch. And that's with an overclocked CPU as well.
£46 on QuietPC.com

Memory

Graphics Cards

nVidia Geforce 7800 GS
AGP 256MB, DVI+VGA+TVOut
£215 on Scan
nVidia Geforce 7800 GT
PCI-Express 256MB 490mhz Core
£211 on Scan

Sound Cards

TV Cards

Other Cards

Network Cards

Modems/Hubs/Routers

Netgear DG834T
Wireless router.
£72 on Ebuyer

Hard Drives

Optical Drives

Portable Drives

Other Drives

Monitors

Samsung 913N
19" TFT, 8ms response, 1280x1024 max resolution.
£185 on Ebuyer

Printers

Canon Pixma iP4000
A4 Inkjet printer
ip4200 £72 on Ebuyer ip4200 £66 on Amazon

Scanners

Other Devices

Keyboards

Hiper Alloy Aluminium Keyboard
Compact aluminium keyboard, USB only
Aluminium construction, purple LEDs plus sleek design set it apart from the keyboard masses. £20 on Ebuyer.

Mouses

Game Controllers

Misc Devices

Anything Else

[end]

EDITED: 2 Feb 2006 by BOUGHTONP

From: Mr (M00RL0CK) [#2]
1 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#1] 2 Feb 2006

If the items are available from Amazon, it'd be nice if we could give preference to giving a link to it there rather than Ebuyer (assuming there's not a massive gulf in price).

And here's a nice keyboard for you:

1. Hiper Alloy Aluminium Keyboard (USB)
2. Keyboard
3. Compact aluminium keyboard, USB
4. http://www.hipergroup.com/English/index.html
5. £20 on Ebuyer -http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15783665420&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=98571
6. Aluminium construction, purple LEDs plus sleek design set it apart from the keyboard masses.

From: Dave!! [#3]
1 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#1] 2 Feb 2006

Processors: Athlon X2 4200+ - A beefy dual core chip for just £250.
Motherboards: Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI - An expensive but utterly top notch board. £125 including VAT, but worth it for a high end system.
Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI - A socket 939 nForce SLI board with PCI Express, 3GB SATA, etc. and all for under £60.

I also suggest a "Coolers" section under which the Zalman CNPS9500 has to go. I've had mine for a month and it's amazing. Virtually silent and barely even lukewarm to touch. And that's with an overclocked CPU as well.

From: Ixion [#4]
2 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#1] 2 Feb 2006

Don't forget 2Gb of RAM I highly recommend that.

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#5]
2 Feb 2006
To: Mr (M00RL0CK) [#2] 2 Feb 2006

I assume you mean with Teh Amazon referral link included.
Which is a good idea. I'll go search for links this evening.

Dave!!: You didn't provide links! :@
Updated anyway.

Ixion: Was very tempted to, but decided against.

From: Dave!! [#6]
2 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#5] 2 Feb 2006

Sorry.

Athlon X2 from eBuyer
Gigabyte Mobo from eBuyer
Abit Mobo from eBuyer
Zalman CNPS9500 from QuietPC.com

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#7]
2 Feb 2006
To: Dave!! [#6] 2 Feb 2006

No matter - I went and found the ebuyer ones myself.

Will add the Zalman one though.

From: Ixion [#8]
2 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#1] 2 Feb 2006

AGP Graphics card Geforce 7800GS http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=338481

PCI-Express G/C Geforce 7800 GT
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=250971

The 7800Gt in particular is excellent value for money shame it's only for those with PCI-e

EDITED: 2 Feb 2006 by IXION

From: ANT_THOMAS [#9]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#8] 2 Feb 2006

You've used the same link for both

From: Ixion [#10]
2 Feb 2006
To: ANT_THOMAS [#9] 2 Feb 2006

Doh toss, so I have <curses scan's URL system>

From: milko [#11]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#8] 2 Feb 2006

They're 200 quid! Is there any actual games worth spending this sort of money on nowadays?

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#12]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#10] 2 Feb 2006

I think I found the correct link for the other one?

From: Ixion [#13]
2 Feb 2006
To: milko [#11] 2 Feb 2006

Well, I've got the 7800GT and it's very lovely indeed, whether it's worth the money or not I'm not sure but there's nothing I can't run without AA turned on, AOE III, Black and White 2, COD2, Quake 4, Anything with HDR all look lots better than they used to on my R9700 Pro, what's really missing at the moment is a supply of must have games on the PC :(

From: Ixion [#14]
2 Feb 2006
To: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#12] 2 Feb 2006

I was recommending the cheaper 7800GT, the GTX is about £120 more for about 10% more performance so really not worth it! I updated the original link.

From: milko [#15]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#13] 2 Feb 2006

I need to start a thread or something, because I'm not sure it's just me being lured away by joyous console things and busybusyworkwork or what, but there's very little exciting on PC lately. I can run Half Life 2 pretty damn well on a 9800 Pro and haven't really seen much need to do anything bigger so far.

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#16]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#14] 2 Feb 2006

Ok, updated.

Also put in the Amazon links - all one of them. :|

(Can someone check I've done the referral bit right.)

From: Ixion [#17]
2 Feb 2006
To: milko [#15] 2 Feb 2006

There are some very good PC games out there, Civ IV, AOE III, NFSMW, COD2 Quake 4 but nothing coming up in the near future that I'm all excited about at the moment.

I was looking at the XBox 360 and nothing on that really looks inspiring either. The last game I got really really excited about was GT4 on the PS2, but I've finished that and it looks unpolished and a bit shit compared to modern PC graphics.

Maybe the PS3 will bring with it a new Gran Turismo game that will get me into gaming again!

From: Peter (BOUGHTONP) [#18]
2 Feb 2006
To: milko [#15] 2 Feb 2006

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

It's currently in Beta and should be out by the summer. \o/

From: Dave!! [#19]
2 Feb 2006
To: Ixion [#17] 2 Feb 2006

I'm enjoying Quake IV at the moment. Which is nice as I never got into FEAR, AOE III or owt like that. The graphics in it are lovely too!

From: Ixion [#20]
2 Feb 2006
To: Dave!! [#19] 2 Feb 2006

They are indeed, it's the first PC game in a long while I've finished and it looked lovely especially with 4X AA all the way through!

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