Haven't been here in a while, but I'm thinking it's about that time for a new PC, or at least some new parts. What my main focuses will be on are: Mobo CPU RAM Case PSU I am looking into running Vista, and would like to sit at at least 4GB of Ram. Had some ideas but I've been out of the game for a while, and was wondering if people knew any good products to fit this profile that would help me come in under the $900 range. Thanks in advance, ~Mike /edit: Just realized how old my hardware specs are in my signature XD
We did a £400 PC for a planned article once - we based it around a basic P35 Gigabyte board and an Intel E2140, on the condition it was heavily overclocked. It was only with 2GB of memory but you could fit in 4GB DDR2-800 C5 and an OEM 9600 GT/HD 3850. PSU - best we could find for the price was a 450W Corsair VX between the hoards of cheap ****.
^^ that would have been things I would suggest. P35 Definitely, for overclockability and price, couple with the cheap pentium dual core. At that budget, the 4GB isn't necessary but if it can be afforded then it's a nice luxury. I recently used the VX450 in a build for a friend and really liked it. The case is always up to you but there are some decent cheap ones around. The Coolermaster CM690 isn't much over £50, nice looking and nice build quality.
I'm wondering if anyone is currently running Vista and would you know if it runs decently with 2GB? I'm not looking for a monster, just something that will be a bit more future proof then what I have. (Lofty goal I know). As well, I'm wondering if 450w will be enough, with a newer PCIe VC and 2 HD's raided and a new CPU is it going to be able to power things properly? /edit: Also wondering about cooling, will a normal fan for Intel work for keeping it cool or so I'd look into getting a newer fan/HS?
I only have 1gig in my rig and an AMD X2 3800 and vista ran fine for me. I use ran as i'm currently at home on my crappy lappy and when i get back to uni the PC is getting a major overhaul. And to the bit-tech staff why was the £400 PC article canned? Would have been a great place for people to start with their first taste in PC building.
Staff resource - it's why we're keen to get another member in asap. I've got over a dozen reviews pending personally and several of which are "urgent".
Sweet, good eyes people, went with some of those suggestions, even with a bit beefier things like the E6420 and 550W Corsair and looks like it still comes in under $800. Thanks for the help everyone!
