cheapest.. pc... EVER

[Dr.Crazyhead]

Cpu(AMD Athlon64 5600 Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor - Retail): 85.72 eclipsecomputers.com

Graphics Card(Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT 512 Mb PCI-Express16 OEM DVI VGA Card): £65.00 gasteiner.com

case+450w psu(North-Star Series Black/Silver Atx Case With 450W Psu): £19.92 eclipsecomputers.com

motherboard(Asus M2N SLI-Deluxe AM2, DDR2,PCI-E,SATA2,GBLan,7.1Snd,ATX): £69.27 eclipsecomputers.com

memory(Kingston ValueRAM 1024Mb DDR2 800MHz 240Pin Memory): £19.92 eclipsecomputers.com

Hard Drive(160Gb Samsung 7200rpm S-ATA II 8mb 3.0Gbs Hard Drive): £27.50 eclipsecomputers.com

Total Cost: £287.33


and i will use an an external disk drive that i've already got so that i dont go over my strict £300 budget

so what do you think? am i getting my moneys worth?

and most importantly of all, does this all fit together?

EDIT: i've added some new findings, including a samsung hard drive and a cheaper mobo

i'm now trying to drop the price as much as possible(while keeping all advice in mind) because i've been thinking i'm also going to need to pay postage and packaging.

[XenonG]

Change the harddrive to a Samsung harddrive if you can, they are much more reliable.

[Smaz]

I think that processor will hold you back a little, but not sure.


http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3127&p=1

Tried check ebuyer.com and overclockers.co.uk?

[Dr.Crazyhead]

well i have found a better case now for about £1 more but its raidmax, so its a well known brand which makes me more confident, and i tried finding a samsung hard drive but they are all so much more expensive.
and the cpu, i was kinda aiming for a 3.0ghz myself but they were all pretty much to expensive so unless someone finds a better one for the same price(in the uk) I'm going to stick with the 5200.
I am quite pleased with the graphics card and the ram though, they have very nice prices.
oh, and the new case I'm getting instead also has a 450w power supply and it is a raidmax Galaxy III Black Gaming Case with a side window and bubble lights from eclipse computers

[Dr.Crazyhead]

yay i managed to find a samsung harddrive(thanks for the advice)

[SwaTz0rs]

**** the case... all that matters is what is in it... spend everything u have on the hardware and not on the case... use ur freaking old one

[SwaTz0rs]

i just bought hardware which runs ut3 on high (1280x1024) for 500€ which is about 370£....well it was preowned hardware but who cares as long as it runs fine.....

[oldkawman1]

memory(2048Mb (2X1024Mb) Dual Channel DDR2 667Mhz Memory): £26.97 eclipsecomputers.com



Get DDR2 800 memory instead, pc2 6400, instead of outdated slow DDR2 667 PC5300 memory. You will need to buy the faster memory anyway if you ever upgrade to a faster cpu.

[oldkawman1]

oh, and the new case I'm getting instead also has a 450w power supply and it is a raidmax Galaxy III Black Gaming Case with a side window and bubble lights from eclipse computers

OK, the case has pretty lights and a nifty window, but does it have any fans? The power supply sounds suspect, 450 is tiny by todays standards, does it have the correct plugs for the vid card and mobo?

[MaffiaRood]

wtf... Cheapest PC ever??? LoL...

I'm using my old peace of crap in UT3 and run it with all settings low, screen%100
800x600 with:
2800+ AMD @ 2.1 GHZ (single core!)
768 MB Ram = 512 and 256
MoBo:ASUS A7-8 deluxe ore something like that
Ati X800 Pro

It runs Shangrila at 20 a 30 FPS
Heatray 25 a 40 FPS

The only problem I have, is when the map switch to the other map, I'm in as last, some allready have 10 frags..lol...but I guess that's a problem with my memory(768)

An other thing I don't get is my 2800+ runs at 2.1GHz, and a 5200+ runs at 2.8GHz.....wtf, I would have thought that a 5200+ will run at 3.2 ore something!
But what I do know, is that my newq Pc, somewhere next year, will be a Pentuim for sure!!!! WIth a Nvidea card, Ati cards are good, np with that, but I don't belief in the combo's: AMD=Ati, Pentium=Nvidea

[Overhitor]

your 2800+ runs one core at 2,1 Ghz with a FSB of 400Mhz, the 5200+ runs 2 cores EACH at 2,8 Ghz with a FSB of 1000Mhz. the 5200+ has more than double the computing power of your 2800+ :P

[Dr.Crazyhead]

I'm not really interested in the lights that come with the case, it does come with two case fans(or three i cant remember) and the 450w power supply should be able to handle everything, i will upgrade to a 600w when i can though, and about the memory, would it be better to get 1gb of ddr2 800, or 2gb of ddr2 667?(honestly i don't know)

[oldkawman1]

I'm not really interested in the lights that come with the case, it does come with two case fans(or three i cant remember) and the 450w power supply should be able to handle everything, i will upgrade to a 600w when i can though, and about the memory, would it be better to get 1gb of ddr2 800, or 2gb of ddr2 667?(honestly i don't know)

if all you can get now is 1 gig ddr2 800 and then later get another

[Dr.Crazyhead]

ok then, if you think that would be better in the long run(and i think it will be cheaper now as well)

[Dr.Crazyhead]

hey, i was wondering, is it possible to install more memory on a video card?(i wander this because the card i am getting is 256mb and i would really like to have the 512mb one but they are over £100 so maybe i could just put more ram on the card?

[GG-Xtreme]

ATI=Phail

Go for something like GeForce 8600GT or 8800GTS.

[Dr.Crazyhead]

do you knw if there is a nvidia card that is equivalent to the x1950 pro?, becasue i really dont want performance any lower than that

[ViperGrendal]

Just a FYI on the raidmax cases with the PSU. I've got three raidmax cases and it's a crapshoot with the PSU. They aren't anything special to begin with and if one fails it's your doorstop. Raidmax wouldn't reply to my emails when I had one fail, and I've read this is typical. The cases themselves are ok, I've cut out the screens with a dremel on all the fan openings to allow more airflow.

If you can find this case somewhere I would suggest it over the Raidmax. It's $50 US after rebate on Newegg. Don't know if you could find it like that in EU.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119137

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=CAC-RC690 not a great price, but there it is.

I have found the Raidmax PSU to put out stable voltages, but they are a bit light weight. A cheap Thermaltake PSU is much better IMO.

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=PST-W0093R if you could find that cheaper somewhere, that would be a decent one.

[Dr.Crazyhead]

thanks for the advice about the case, but i changed it before you posted but just forgot to edit the original post, i also went for a better cpu, and looked at that ut3 performance checking thing that BerZ made, and i got 19.2! which i am very happy about, but my main worry at this point is will all these parts fit together?

[ViperGrendal]

The main thing to worry about is the memory and motherboard compatibility. Usually the motherboard manufacturer website will list what they have tested. My guess is that the Asus Kingston combo will work fine. Both are pretty main stream. All the other stuff should be fine.

And no, you can't add memory to video cards these days, at least nothing we'd be looking at. The 7950 is a good card. If you can find an ATI 3870 it shouldn't be much more and would be a better card I think. The Nvidia 8800gt is probably the best overall value though, and since you're looking at an SLI board that will only work with Nvidia cards if you ever decide to use two. The 8800gt is gonna set you back a few more and is harder to find at the moment.

Personally if you have a rig that will run UT3 at all I'd wait till after Christmas and see if you can get some better deals. If not, what you got there will work. I'd really look at the 8800gt though.

[Dr.Crazyhead]

i looked for the hd3870 but all the deals i could find with those were over £100 and thats SERIOUSLY exceeding my limit, also i have looked for an 8800gt but those as well are over £100, what i would really like though, is a DX10 card that would perform as well as the 7950gt(at the same price).