PC Research

Tom

An Old Friend
Well, I'm into a rental and got my cable connection back. I'm starting to look into my next PC purchase.
Upgrade and expandability are focus. I want it to allow me to be graphic intense but also generic computing. Price is an issue as in how long I have to wait to get it.
I'm also researching possibly building one.
I would love to have some feed back...

Xi MTower 64 AGE-SLI
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[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Based on the [/font] new AMD Athlon 64 and 64 FX55 (2.6GHz) with Quanti-Speed™ Architecture, and NVIDIA® NForce™ 4 Chipset with SLI technology, the Xi® MTower 64 AGE-SLI, is the winner for Gaming and Graphical applications where value without compromises is a must. Capable of the fastest AMD clock speed of 2.6GHz clock the Athlon 64 FX55, with 1024KB L2 Cache, and with 2x NVIDIA® 6800 ULTRA PCIe SLI our MTower delivers the absolute most cost effective and powerful PC graphic experience!
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Base features at a glance:[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica] AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Interleave 925pin
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]Athlon upgradeable to 4000+ & FX55 (2.6Ghz)
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[font=Arial, Helvetica] 128KB L1, 512KB L2 Full Speed Cache
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[font=Arial, Helvetica] Full Size ATX MoBo, 2xPCIe, SLI - USB 2.0.
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]NVIDIA NForce 4 Chipset
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[font=Arial, Helvetica] RAM exp to 4GB PC3200 (400MHz) DDR
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]SATA3, USB2.0, 7.1 SPDIF Sound 1494
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]SLI SNVIDIA 6600 256MB, Dual Head DVI-TVout
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]460W UL P.S. New Tool Free Xi Mid-Tower w/7 bays
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[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Base price: $1,699.00
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Equipped with a 2.4-GHz Athlon 64 X2 4800+ CPU, 2GB of DDR400 SDRAM, a single EVGA E-GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card, and two 300GB hard drives striped in a RAID 0 array, the MTower 64 AGE-SLI produced a WorldBench 5 score of 130, the highest yet.

Gamers will note that on our standard graphics tests, which run Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Unreal Tournament, the MTower 64 achieved 280 frames per second, the second-fastest rate we've seen. (The fastest was 283, posted by the Polywell Poly 939N-FX55.) On tests using Doom 3 and Far Cry, designed to gauge high-end graphics capabilities, the single-card MTower 64 AGE-SLI was even more impressive: Its frame rates beat out the dual SLI systems at both 1024-by-768 and 1600-by-1200 resolutions on Far Cry and at 1024 by 768 on Doom 3.

When you're ready to turn this system into a dual-SLI machine, it can be upgraded to full SLI status by adding a second EVGA E-GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card to its second PCI Express x16 slot.

The MTower 64's case feels a bit cheap, given the system's price, but the interior is well organized, uncluttered, and easy to access; two big thumbscrews hold the cover in place. The two empty hard drive bays and three empty optical drive bays are easily reached, as are all of the expansion slots and RAM sockets.

Getting the motherboard's onboard sound hardware to work properly required us to flash the system BIOS twice, a bug that should be fixed by the time you read this. Currently Xi is offering free Audigy sound cards on new units as a way of bypassing the problem. When we did get the audio working, the Logitech X-530 speaker system sounded great. The five satellite speakers were crisp and accurate, although the bass from the subwoofer seemed slightly distorted at high volumes.

Small (6.8-point) type was readable on the ViewSonic VP191b flat-panel display but wasn't the sharpest we've seen. Likewise, colors were realistic, but they didn't jump off the screen. The control buttons on the front of the display were hard to read and easily confused with the power button.

The Logitech cordless keyboard and mouse are a plus. The keyboard has a sturdy feel, solid key action, and comes with lots of programmable buttons for launching programs, going to Web sites, and controlling your sound system.



Upshot: This very fast, expensive PC with an SLI motherboard will appeal to hard-core gamers and graphics enthusiasts who have deep pockets. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]

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Or This...

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[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [font=Arial, Helvetica] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Base features at a glance:
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AMD
[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]Opteron[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]™ 240 Ex[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]p. to 2x240/24[/font][/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]4 [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]1024KB L2 Multi-way associative Cache [/font]
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2 way HyperTransport™ AMD 8111™ Chipset[font=Arial, Helvetica]
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Dual 333MHz DDR ECC Reg. RAM Banks to 16GB
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2 x 1GB Ethernet (10/100/100) on board LAN
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4 x USB 2.0, On board ATI Rage Video
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[/font] [/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]2 x [/font]
[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]150MB/s.[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] S[/font]ATA [/font]Controller.[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica].
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Exp. to SCSI 320 & RAID Mode 0/1/5/10
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[/font] Dual Redundant Hot Swappable [font=Arial, Helvetica]4[/font][/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]50W UL Power Supply[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [font=Arial, Helvetica]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]Tool Free [/font]
[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]Locked [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]case on wheels w/14[/font] or 24 [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica]x51/4" bays
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Chassis intrusion switch with intrusion connector
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[/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]AMD[/font]®[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Opteron™ Processor 240 (1.40GHz), 2 way scalable
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Two Opteron™ 64Bit sockets upgradeable to
[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]2 x [/font][font=Arial, Helvetica]244 (1.80GHz) [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]64Bit CPU [/font] [font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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512 MB PC2700 ECC Registered RAM exp to 12GB, 6 x PC2700 DIMM Banks ECC [font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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2 way HyperTransport™ AMD 8111™ Chipset, 1024KB L2 Multi Way Associative Cache [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]2 x 1GB Ethernet (10/100/1000) on board LAN, 4 x USB 2.0, On board ATI[/font]®
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/font][font=Arial, Helvetica] Rage Video[/font] [font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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[font=Arial, Helvetica]4 channel Silicon-Image[/font]
®[font=Arial, Helvetica] 150MB/s. SATA RAID Controller supporting RAID Mode 0, 1 & 10[/font] [font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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Standard base motherboard info: motherboard-link
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15" Optiquest Viewsonic Monitor .28dp Flat Square Tube PNP 1024x768NI
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Logitech OEM "2+Wheel" Black optical mouse with @Xi
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104+ key Web keyboard standalone or 1U rack mount with trackball
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2 Ventilation Ball Bearing Fans 2 x Drive fan trays
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4 Ventilation Ball Bearing Fans thermo-controlled
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New Tool Free Security Key Xi® NetRAIDer™ case on wheels w/14x51/4" bays
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Dimensions: 24"H x 19"W x 16" D, (optional 21 bays) Double Front panel with security
lock
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Double side panel with security lock. 460W Dual Hot Swappable UL Power Supply [font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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4xThermo-controlled output Fans, Chassis intrusion switch with intrusion connector
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Wake on LAN 4 FAN control PC Health Monitoring
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Support for Microsoft® Windows® Server & RedHat® Linux® 9 Server and 64Bit versions
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Xi® NetRAIDer™ 64 Network RAID Server[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/font] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Full size pedestal and 4U Rack, Enterprise Network Server[/font], [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]with the newest and most revolutionary, 64 bit AMD [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Opteron[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] processor, sporting a 2 and 4 way SMP HyperTransport[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]™ scalability, 64Bit architecture with 1MB (1024KB) multi-way associative /L2 Cache & independent (per each processor) integrated DDR RAM Controller. The motherboard, based on the AMD-8111™ chipset with HyperTransport, allows inter-processor data transfer [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]up to 50 times faster than previous BUS technologies.[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Expandable to 16GB DDR-SDRAM ECC Registered, or 32GB on four separate independent memory interleave BUS, the Xi®[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] NetRAIDer™ 64 [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]offers the highest performance/price computing power [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]available today for an enterprise network server. On board 4 Channel SATA RAID controller, [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]dual 1GBit (10/100/1000) Ethernet network interfaces and optional Adaptec[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]®[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] SCSI 320 RAID, make this unit the ideal choice for the most demanding Enterprise data and application Servers. Fully tested and supported for x86 32-Bit LINUX[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]®[/font] or Windows® Operating Systems, the Xi NetRAIDer[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] 64 is also available with a growing options of true 64-Bit OS. [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The Xi NetRAIDer 64 comes with a dual redundant HOT Swappable power supply and a secure locked 14 & optional 21 bays double width Server Case, both supporting 2 or 4 Opteron Processors. Optional rack mount on a 4U form factor is also available for the 2 processor version. A 6U version supports both the 2 and 4 processors configuration.[/font]
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[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Base price:[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] $1,949.00[/font][/font]



























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More to come...:working:
 
my pc :

AMD Barton 2500+ running at 1866 @333fsb
2x512meg pc3200 running @ 400fsb
nvidia agp 6600gt 128meg


that first pc is far better than mine and an expensive overkill really. unless you are into top gaming or CGI graphics performance for making videos then thats above what you need and probably out of your budget. next component for my machine will be a Barton 3200+ and i don't plan on upgrading anything for a couple of years at least, maybe more.

I just built my little bro a pc that plays Doom3 on the highest graphics settings with no lagging and it only has an AMD Barton 3200+ running at 2.2ghz @400fsb and 2x512meg pc3200 with a nvidia agp 6800gt 256meg in it. I took his HDD, DVD drives and he already had a monitor/keyboard/mouse then spent £450 on parts to build him what would effectively cost £1000-1200 if bought off the shelf in this country.

I haven't built anything 64bit yet but i don't see the necessity to as of yet as software developers aren't going to make much money designing 64bit only software for the next 5 years or something. the average home user will not be upgrading to that level as of yet when they can only really afford to buy 32bit technology right now.

maybe you ought to save your money, build something high end 32bit right now, then replace mobo/cpu/psu later on when 64bit becomes prevalent enough?

the average pc user in britain is buying technology far beyond what they will use it for. most family games, kids games, business software like Office, running video and music, can all be done on a 500-1000mhz pc with 256meg of ram. in fact most people could manage with a 500mhz athlon fitted. it's only when you get into photoshopping, ripping movies within reasonable periods of time or top of the range gaming that you need to up the ante and even then only need to spend what i did on my bros's pc!
 
Thanx MrD!
I agree its over the top expensive.
As a mechanic I have a 'HotRodder' mindset.
My main concern is that I want to start doing more photoshopping and graphics work.
We have a scrapbook fever running rampant at home and I want to rework our old photos and generate personal graphics.
I want to be able to run the new games when tey come out.
and
I would like to start running some psytrance mixes possibly for publication.
My nephew has a scratch console that I am thinking of buying that I can use for sampling.

As I research I will be looking into buying and building not a pc but a network of components all linked.
More to come...

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G5 8300h From $899.00
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System Color: Silver Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Processor: Intel Pentium 4 531 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 w/HyperThreading Memory: 512MB (256 x 2) PC3200 400MHz Dual-channel DDR Drive Bay 1: 80GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD Drive Bay 2: Shuttle PC12 8-In-1 Media Reader Optical Drive: 52X CDRW 16X DVD-ROM Combo IDE Graphic Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 Integrated (256MB Shared) Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet


Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Desktop Optical Mouse and Keyboard (Silver/Black)



Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty
Software: Microsoft Works Suite 2005 (Includes Microsoft Word, Money Standard, Encarta Standard, Streets & Trips, and Picture It!) Sound: Onboard 6 Channel Audio w/Digital (SPDIF) Ports
G5 1100h From $1,199.00
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System Color: Silver Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Processor: Intel Pentium M 740 1.73GHZ 533MHz FSB 2MB L2 Memory: 512MB (256 x 2) Crucial Ballistix PC2-4200 533MHz Dual-channel DDR2 Drive Bay 1: 160GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD Drive Bay 2: Shuttle PC12 8-In-1 Media Reader Optical Drive: 52X CDRW 16X DVD-ROM Combo IDE Graphic Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 Integrated (256MB Shared) Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Module: PN18 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Module

Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Desktop Optical Mouse and Keyboard (Silver/Black)



Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit 7.1 Channel w/Digital (SPDIF) Ports

P 8100m From $1,549.00
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System Color: Black Operating System: Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005 Processor: Intel Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 w/HyperThreading *FREE Upgrade* TV Tuner Card: NVTV 32MB PCI Dual TV-Tuner Memory: 512MB (256 x 2) Crucial PC3200 400MHz Dual-channel DDR Drive Bay 1: 200GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD

Optical Drive: 52X CDRW 16X DVD-ROM Combo IDE Sound: Onboard HD Audio 8 Channel Audio w/Digital (SPDIF/Coax) Ports Graphic Card: GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 PCI-E Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet


Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Media Desktop Cordless Mouse and Keyboard (Black)



Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty

Card Reader: Built-in 6-In-1 Card Reader Remote Control: Philips Media Center Remote Control & Receiver M 1000 From $1,899.00
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System Color: Black Operating System: Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005 Processor: Intel Pentium M 740 1.73GHZ 533MHz FSB 2MB L2 Memory: 512MB (256 X 2) PC2700 333MHz DDR SODIMM Drive Bay 1: 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD
Optical Drive: 4X DVD Dual Drive Graphic Card: GeForce 6600 LE 256MB DDR PCI-E *FREE Upgrade* TV Tuner Card: Dual Analog TV-Tuner Sound: Creative High Definition 7.1 Channel Audio w/Digital (SPDIF/Coax) Ports Card Reader: Built-in 8-In-1 Card Reader Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Module: 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Remote Control: Media Center Remote Control Keyboard: Wireless Keyboard with Track Ball Function

Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty Special Promotion: $100 Instant Rebate
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P 9500g From $1,749.00
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System Color: Black Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Processor: Intel Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 w/HyperThreading *FREE Upgrade* Memory: 1GB (512 x 2) Crucial Ballistix PC2-4200 533MHz Dual-channel DDR2 Drive Bay 1: 200GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD

Optical Drive: 52X CDRW 16X DVD-ROM Combo IDE Sound: Onboard HD Audio 8 Channel Audio w/Digital (SPDIF/Coax) Ports Graphic Card: Radeon X850 XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet


Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Desktop Optical Mouse and Keyboard (Silver/Black)



Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty

Card Reader: Built-in 8-In-1 Card Reader Headset: Logitech Precision PC Gaming Headset
P 2600g From $2,499.00
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System Color: Black Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Processor: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2000MHz HyperTransport 939-pin Memory: 1GB (512 x 2) Kingston HyperX PC3200 400MHz Dual-channel DDR Drive Bay 1: 200GB Serial ATA 7200RPM 8MB Buffer HDD
Optical Drive: 52X CDRW 16X DVD-ROM Combo IDE Sound: Onboard Envy24 8 Channel Audio 24bit/192KHz w/Digital (SPDIF/Coax) Ports Graphic Card: Dual GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-E Network Interface: Onboard 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet


Mouse and Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Desktop Optical Mouse and Keyboard (Silver/Black)



Warranty: Shuttle Standard One Year Limited Warranty

Card Reader: Built-in 8-In-1 Card Reader Headset: Logitech Precision PC Gaming Headset
 
do not get a shuttle system. the expensive of providing decent cooling is out of normal peoples budgets

check out www.ebuyer.com as they'll have all the components to create a system, then shop around everywhere for cheaper deals if you can find them.

get a full sized atx case, with a decent branded psu. the psu will be expensive, but a good one will last the test of time and will handle the components you stick on it. an ebuyer special will sound good but the rails performance won't be enough in the long run. you could start with the budget model then upgrade later.

the full sized atx cases will allow you to fit every motherboard type hopefully (although some brands are just made wierd) and allow extra cooling in there. no longer is a cpu cooler and a side case fan ood enough. you need a fan or two at the front behind the HDD(s) and a couple of the rear of the case. front sucking in, rear blowing out. hence the decent psu to cope with them. check noise levels on the fans you are buying, read user reviews, so you don't end up with a pc sounding like a 747 mid flight :smiley:

as a standard mobo, pick an asus one like the a7xnx-deluxe or similar. stable boards with nforce2 chipset. be aware only certain brands/models of ramsticks are compatible with the DDR system available. a barton 3200+ @ 400fsb is fine for everything, the stock retail pack cooler fans are loud, try to buy the chip and get a branded cooler that users reckon works fine and is quiet enough.

no real need to move to SLI type graphics cards yet (software development), but you can also look into a 32bit mobo that can support it now, so at least when you change over you can carry the graphics card with you. get a cheap basic soundblaster audigy live sound card as a minimum, the audio will be more stable for gaming, etc than onboard sound.

the whole monitor issue is down to cash. to buy a comparable flat screen monitor will cost twice a CRT for the same quality and i don't like the life of flatscreens yet. apppears to be about half a CRT, 5/6 years compared to 7/10

ebuyer pci cards for extra usb slots and firewire are really cheap and i've used them, they are fine.

and at the end of the day, in use a pc can quickly slow down or become ineffective due to spyware, viruses/trojans and bad installs. so watch what your kids decide to install on it when your back is turned (intended or not!).

and the funny thing about gaming for me is that i went to a gaming optical mouse and have gone back to a really cheap balled and corded mouse for precision! no need to waste money there either. or the keyboard, find one that fits your hands and allows you to type fast and accurately. i have wireless equipment and decent branded stuff junked in a box somewhere, i currently use an office keyboard (corded fujitsu siemens) from an old system that goes back to windows 98se and it's the best one i've ever had for typing and gaming!


we all have budgets, wifes and kids! if we can learn ways to build cheaply and effectively then it's always better than walking in the sheep pen with everyone else and buying something in a box that isn't quite advertised as well as it should be.

like the latest tv advert for PcWorld and a £500 packard bell pc we have running over here. bloke who thinks he knows about pc's goes into store, glamourous woman is there showing him the special deal on that pc. he's asking whats missing from it and she replies "nothing", then harps on over and over that it's got a "P4 with hyperthreading" chip in it. nothing about ram, hdd's, dvd-burners, graphics card, etc. it looks like a 500mhz athlon pc could do the ssame job as they will get bought for :smiley:
 
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