i'm not completely up to date, as I bought my PC a year ago, but I thought I'd go through the parts I chose and say whether I'd do the same thing again.

I built the PC myself, if I bought one now, I'd probably go pre-built with Mesh Computers or Evesham Computers, but they're both UK companies. The value you get with some companies is amazing really, as long as you know exactly what you're getting and all the parts are above-par.

I tried to build a system where I could keep as many parts as possible when I next upgrade, and chose as high quality components as i could afford.


Processor: AMD Socket 939 (64-bit) processor
Would definitely go for the 64-bit AMD again. I checked loads and loads of benchmarks at the time, and the performance was/is much better than the Intels for Doom 3 engine games. It wins in most graphically intensive games it seems. The Pentiums are more suited to office apps / photoshop / video editing, so if thats your main concern then maybe you'd go intel. That said, I do paid graphic design work on my system and it hasn't let me down.

RAM: 1 gb Crucial Ballistix
I went for a gig of really fast ram, which cost the same as 2 gigs of normal ram. Love it, plus I can always upgrade later. If you're deciding between 512 and 1024 megs, get the full gigabyte. It'll only cost you �70 for normal ram from crucial.

Sound: Audigy card and Creative Megaworks 550
Load of wank really. The way the reviews went, you'd expect a pretty nice surround sound setup. It was loud I guess, but completely lacking in any sparkle or impact, especially in the mid-range. The volume control thingy is fucking shit.
If I had to buy PC speakers now I'd go Logitech, or Klipsch if I could import 'em. If I was doing this all again though I'd put the money towards a decent amp and speakers. Buying second-hand from the right places, I could have got an amazing hifi sound for maybe �100 more. It would be an investment; speaker technology moves pretty slow.

Monitor: Viewsonic 19" 910(?)
Winner. 19" is a great size. I don't need higher resolution. Response time is great, don't notice any blurring, and the new ones are better than mine. I'd get this again.

Mouse / Keyboard: Wireless Logitech Mx700
Good stuff. Didn't really know if i'd care about it being wireless, but I'm a convert. I think the equivalent model today would be the MX3000, and that looks even more sexified.

Graphics Card: Leadtech Geforce 6800 GT 256mb
Man. The 6800 series was expensive when I bought this. It still kicks major ass, and it was a good choice. I don't know what an equivalent choice would be today: 512mb cards are too expensive right now. I haven't checked the benchmarks but I imagine the difference is huge though. Ultra setting in doom 3 looks amazing, but it's just a bit too jumpy with a 256mb card.

Hard drives: 74gb Western Digital Raptor, and 250gb WD drive
Loving it. The raptor runs at 10000 rpm, and you put your operating system/games on there; movies and mp3s etc go on the bigger data drive. This also makes windows a lot more responsive. I'd definitely go for this again.

Case: Coolermaster Wavemaster in black
Excellent: spacey, well designed, looks great.

I hope something in there was helpful to you, reading it again it looks like I think most things are great, but I researched it a lot and those things I chose were quite well suited to me at least. I really wish I'd gone pre-built and spent less money to be honest. Good luck with whatever you go for. 

thanks a bundle.

A couple of quick questions :

was that monitor LCD or CRT ?

And what about motherboard ? I just want to make sure I get a motherboard with suitable features. 

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200511.ars 

no problem, happy to help!

the monitor is a LCD.

Motherboard wise, i got the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum nForce3 Ultra as it came highly recommended by many people on the forums of Overclockers, Hexus.net, etc. I wouldn't really know how it's performing but there's no problems, plenty of slots, onboard 7.1 sound, etc. That motherboard is for AGP as PCI-express was only just coming out when i got it, so you'll want to get the MSI K8N Diamond nForce4 SLi I believe.

check out http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/MSI_Socket_939.html

overclockers is great for checking out high quality components. Not the cheapest place to order though. 

thanks, looks a handy link.


starbuck,

cheers for that extra info.

Ok, time for some reading. 

nitin I happened upon this link and immediately thought of your initial post in this thread :

http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=0

It's a list of 240 different GFX cards measuring 15 different specifications (!)

Should be a nice way to determine what to get. 

cheers.

altough at this stage, I'm keenly considering whether the geforce 7800 GT is worth the money. The geforce 6800 is my fallback card. 

And you know that top of the line stuff is always a rip-off until it is superceeded by the next model.

Price to performance is the best way of looking at things if you aren't taking a swim each day in your enormous gold safe before going to sleep in a bed stuffed with fiftys at the top of your enormous solid platinum mansion. 

Price to performance is the best way of looking at things if you aren't taking a swim each day in your enormous gold safe before going to sleep in a bed stuffed with fiftys at the top of your enormous solid platinum mansion.

It's worth pointing out that if you do this you may still not be able to afford a 512mb geforce 7800 card. For my money i'd get a good 6800 Ultra though. 

that's way beyond budget, but a 256mb 7800 GT may be in the picture. 

GeForce 6800 GS 256MB 425/1000 PCI-E 

I updated my site with my old quake maps and a couple more bits, so could you add me to the leveldesign.org front page, please? PLEASE?

http://than.leveldesign.org/ 

New map looks sexeh! (not to mention the due at the bottom) 

I agree, the Quake screenies look really good and interesting... go map ! 

SleepwalkR, i tried to email you, but sleepy at fov120.com doesnt work:

PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 9): 554 <sleepy@fov120.spam.com>: Relay access denied

so, please email me so i can get in contact with you, at sollers -dot inertia -at gmail.com

thanks! 

yeah, np... totally forgot I was hosting you when I did the front page. :) 

there's a big talking penis on your website

oh, and there's a wierd image at the bottom of the page too 

 

what is that? Is it some kind of perverse sexual position? Sounds vaguely like rimjaw from an early episode of South Park. 

Shit. Yay for shit. Poor gameplay, poor previous-gen graphics, very ugly headbob and general weak feel. Fur effect is nice as is shooting enemy to chunks, that is all really.

Next! 

 

I'm back from a party of friend of mine (with my wife and daughters...), and I'm a little bit drunk.. oh yeees !!!
It was just to thank all people who help me during this past year, and to say everybody: HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS: YOU ALL ROCK !!! ;P 

...it 's 2:15 in the morning here in France... very early ... but well.. kids need their own bed.. me as well ... ;P 

2:50pm here in Japan.

Rather a subdued new years eve for me as usual. I just sat around in the house drinking beer and watching TV :( 

[nt]