A challenge: Compile the best PC for doom 3 and halflife 2 for under £1700!

What parts have been taken out that are vital? All that has been taken out is the stuff MS says, and that isn't really for a home user.

 

felix what won't i be able to do with home? Please explain?!

 

well if you go by that list on the ms website im sure youll be fine!

well, ever tried networking a xp home machine onto a proper network?
if you read the thread at the begining im sure it says somewhere that its a pc to take to uni, hence chances are its meant to be networked...which is all fun and good, as you will probably tell me that "on the website it says its fine"...well think of security or the lack thereof with xp home...im sure if you *really* want a copy of xp home, i can find one in my cd collection somewhere, as all 4-6 copies that i have had the chance to encounter with, have been gotten rid of before even booting the pc once...

 

I'll just be accessing the Uni server via the internet, not directly if you know what i mean.

Could you really find me one of your home editions to give to me fully working? That would be MUCH appreciated!

 

This thread turned out to be really useful mine kinda went flop... lol

I have put together a very similar spec for a similar price, i had a £1000 too, only i dont need a monitor and as of today i dont have to pay VAT... w00tage!!

Thats really interesting, there were a couple of really nice articles about the x800 vs 6800 argument posted too... so u say the GT is overclockable to ultra speeds as long as its a good make... have to find a good make!

my spec so far is here

But thats with the x800, and im pretty much swung in the nvidia direction now.

I have a cpl of questions bout the same parts...
If i wanna overclock the 3200 memory is better according to you guys?
And as for the asus mobo with the via chipset, whats the support like for VIA these days? Is the nforce3 chipset better?

 

glad the thread helped you as well as me ErisDS. I read an article about the BFG 6800 GT OC, and the guys overclocked it to pretty much to ultra speed.

Edit:

HERE IS THE ARTICLE...

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/bfg_geforce_6800_gt_oc/page5.shtml

 

sorry what i was trying to say is why spend 1xxx pounds on a pc and then save 30bucks on the os to go from something halfway decent to a crap os??

really not worth it imo, but if you really like i can have a look for a copy of xp home...

 

If you want to overclock, normally you would go for higher rated RAM. 4000 stuff or something. But the corsair 3200 stuff is good for overclocking up to DDR500 anyway.

The crucial stuff looks good too. To be honest, any low latency 3200 ram is gonna be best to use on A64's, but if you want to overclock, id try and find as many reviews of the ram your gonna buy to see how it handles.

Nforce3 chipsets arent available for the 939 socket just check. Actually, i think there is one (MSI i think) but it offers the same features as the VIA and isnt as fast.
But if you want to hold out, rumour has it that Nforce3 939 boards with PCIe etc are on the way. But then that poses more problems, availibilty of PCIe graphics cards for one and the fact that they dont offer any performance gain anyway. (Least not yet)
But as PCIe is the "future", it will make it an easier upgrade path when you do decide to buy that atiX1000 PCIe with 512mb ram or whatever it might be in the coming years.

Personally, im gonna wait a while and see what happens. Nvidia pulled their **** together for nforce2 and made it the best platform for socketA. Can they do it for 939? But also, VIA i think are working on their K8T890 or whatever its called, so the best platform for 939 has yet to emerge imo.

The Asus 939 board is great though, with all the features you will probably need, and good performance too. If i wanted to build a PC now, thens its the choice of mobo id go for, but im in no rush.

 

...but I can't see what I'm missing out on, I'll be getting the 64bit OS when it comes out, for now I think Home will do, I'm not going to be networking this rig.

Is there anything else PRO has that will affect me playing games (not involving a network)?

Felix let me know if you find a copy of home. Thanks mate.

 

how come?

 

I have a corperate version of XP Pro, ive been using it for as long as its existed and tbh it keeps on amazing me.

I love the fact that when my harddrive gets full of **** and begs me pllleease format me i can be formatted and reinstalled in an hourish aaaand, when i do the whole "setup has now finished please restart" my computer is already connected to the internet and ready to re-download all the drivers and software necessary... i mean i didnt do anything..(except double click IE) and i was online.. !!! that may not seem too amazing.. but it put a grin on my face defo worth shelling out for...

DanMcr i currently have this memory in my shopping list:
Corsair 1GB DDR XMS4000PT TwinX (2x512MB) Platinum CAS3
i can afford it, and i do want to learn to overclock.. i mean if im gonna spend this much dough...i oughta use it to its full potential.

The MSI was the other board i was looking at, ive seen a review where the asus and msi kinda took turns to be infront in the benchmarking and was just wondering about the VIA/nforce idea. I cant hold out too long, i need my pc up and running for 19th september.

Im off to read a few more reviews...
Any opinions on the best 6800GT manufacturer?

EDIT:

lol i just saw this after i posted .. my boss is gonna order it for me and his company is VAT registered, fair enough seeing as i spend a very large amount of pc time updating his websites!!

 

ah ok

Did you check this review of the 6800 gt im getting?

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/bfg_geforce_6800_gt_oc/page5.shtml

 

Man people need to lighten up here..

So what if its not exactly DYING OUT. But why the hell would AMD make 939 if 754 is just dandy?

And its pretty much dead to us. Which is the point right?

 

You don't need PC4000 to overclock...you'd probably be better off with some memory that is a bit slower (than PC4000), but also has a lower latency, like OCZ PC3700EB/PC3500EB.

 

Id still go for the low latency 3200 stuff. Have a read of the review on this site on the corsair stuff. It should give you a good idea of how it overclocks.

http://bit-tech.net/review/339

That way, you would have stinking fast memory at stock speeds, and it will provide a nice amount of room for overclocking when you start to have a dabble. It will hit 500mhz at CAS3 also. Which should be more than enough for overclocking the A64. Im not too well up on this myself, but this is what i understand from all the info/reviews ive read. Im not even going to bother with overclocking my rig as and when i upgrade. (Least not untill i need too) The 3500+ with good 3200 ram will be a kickass gaming rig anyway.

 

What's ATA when it comes to hard drives, i can get a maxtor ata133 instead of a seagate ata100 and it would be a few pounds cheaper.

 

seagate = teh win imo

but thats personal...i prefer them because of their warranty, and the fact that i have never needed to rma a single one and i still run an old 1200mb one thats ancient...

 

Go ahead if it is cheaper, the performance should be around the same as long as the cache is the same size, and the RPM's are the same of course.

 

any luck finding xp?

 

what are you guys doing for speakers?

I've been looking frantically for some nice 5.1 speakers that I can afford. So, that means no Klipsch Promedia 5.1's...unless the GMX's are any good...

What do people think about Altec Lansing vs3151? They aren't very powerful, but for $80 they're a whole hell of a lot cheaper, and I've listened to the 2.1 version of them. Does anyone have any experience with them?