New PC - Need help/Input

[SnoWdog]

Hum .. kay, hopefully i should be gettin a job pretty soon, and the first thing im guna buy is a new pc, Ive been looking around but not sure which one to get, Ive seen a few i like, but im not a computer expert so would like your input,One of the Best PC's i've seen for my kidna budget is the following one http://www.eclipse-computers.com/systemview.aspx?id=92

* Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
* Maxtor Maxline Performance Series of Hard Drives
* 250Gb SATA300 16Mb Cache 7200rpm Hard Disk Drive
* SATA300 Technology for Superfast Storage
* Corsair 1024Mb Dual Channel DDR2 memory architecture
* TWO PCI Express 256Mb nVidia GeForce 7600GT Graphics Engine
* nVidia x32 SLi Technology for supercharged graphics performance
* nVidia nForce chipset providing Advanced features
* NEC Dual Layer 18x DVD Writer
* 56k Fax Modem
* Integrated 10/100 Network Card
* 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
* 33-in-1 Card Reader
* Logitec 5.1 Channel Speakers for a Cinematic Experience
* Saitek Gamers Keyboard
* Saitek 1600dpi Gamers Mouse for Superiour Precision
* Cooler Master Case with a 430W Power Supply
* 4 USB 2.0 Ports

I would appreciate it if someone with extensive computer knowledge could tell me if this PC is worth gettin, and also if they think they could find a better value PC with a very good 'Gaming' spec, My budget is about £1000 - £1500 max . thats £Sterling (English money) not $ or Euros. Thx in advance!

[ihateacid]

buy one graphics card, and wait for Vista/Dx10 graphics card

[Weedh3ad]

I see a lot of stuff that you don't need and could probably appreciate saving some money. For instance... How many hard drives are you getting? All you need is one, I use two, one for Windows, and another for storage. If you get a good card, you don't need two. Like acid said, I'd wait for DX10. I, myself am waiting for DX10 and a few fixes after Vista is officially released to build a new gamer machine. Do you really need a 56K modem? Gamer keyboards can be cool, but can also be for n00bs. I do fine with a decent wire & laser precision mouse. I can tell you this... I am sure you could save at least $300, if not more, and not even notice it during your PC usage.

[SnoWdog]

Well, it will be a few months until i have enough money to be able to afford anything anyway, so vista is worth the wait, i herd thats its been a let down. And instead of 2 gfx cards, i'd chance to either
XFX 1024Mb Geforce 7950 GTX XT PCI-E Vga Card

or

XFX 640Mb Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS Pci-Express Vga Card

Doin this would also lower the price by a good £100, and Id get rid of the keyboard. and i dnt think gettin rid of the 56k modem is possible, as in the System Configuration i cnt change it. So what i've made up so far is the following :

System Configuration
Motherboard
Asus P5N32SLI SE Deluxe LGA775, PCI-E, GBlan, ATX £142.95
Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz LGA775 Processor - Retail £112.15
Enhanced CPU Cooler
None
Memory Slot 1
Corsair Value Select 1024Mb DDR2-5400 (2X512Mb) Memory £67.93
Memory Slot 2
None
Graphics Slot SLi 1
XFX 1024Mb Geforce 7950 GTX XT PCI-E Vga Card £269.95
SLi Slot 2 (Must be same as SLi 1 Slot)
None
Physix Card
None
Sound Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Music - oem £46.95
Optical Device 1
NEC AD-7173-0B 18x DVD+/-RW LabelFlash DVD Writer - Black £20.95
Optical Device 2
None
SATA Device 1
250Gb Maxtor MaxLine3 S-ATA I/II 16Mb Cache Hard Drive £50.73
SATA Device 2
None
Floppy Drive Bay 1
3.5 1.44Mb Floppy Disk Drive -Black Facia- £4.45
Floppy Drive Bay 2
None
Bluetooth
None
TV Tuner
None
Case
RaidMAX Ninja Case with 500W PSU (Black) £52.95
Monitor
None
Speakers
Logitech S200 2.1 Channel Speakers - OEM £11.95
Keyboard
None
Mouse
Saitek PC Gamer Mouse 1600dpi Desktop Mouse £11.95
Desk Managers
None
JoyPads
None
Joysticks
None
Steering Wheels
None
Printer
None
Scanner
None
WebCam
None
Digital Camera
None
USB Storage
None
Desks
None
Operating System
MicroSoft Windows XP Home Edition -OEM- £52.95
Application Software
None
Entertainment Software
None
Internet Security
None
Anti-Virus Software
Norton AntiVirus 2007 - Oem - £14.95
Utility Software
None
DVD Player
None
Optical Drive Software
None

£989.51
£1,162.67 inc. VAT

[KizZamP-]

Which core 2 duo is it ?

[scruie]

I've had dealings with Eclipse in the past and they've never been pleasent. I would never spend another penny with them.

Anyways, a thousand quid is a lot of money and there are far better deals out there; heck you could even get a Dell XPS for that!

Have a look at the following, not only do they have a higher specc'ed CPU, these are all Vista Premium ready and even offer a cheaper upgrade to Vista when you're ready. Plus some are cheaper!

1] Mesh Elite E6600 (http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=116897)
You get twice the RAM, some 5.1 speakers, a 19" SONY SDM-HS95PR TFT LCD Flat Panel Display -DVI-D (8ms), and 320 gig of hdd space! and it costs £949!

2] Evesham Solar and Visto.
Faster CPUs, SLi ready, more hdd space, 19" Viewsonic WS monitor and all for about a grand!
LINK01 (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=402FD56E-158D-472F-86B1-7393EBD463CA)
Link02 (http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=0ADF779B-2291-453D-BC8E-2BAAF1973983)

PC Nextday: http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/

Even have one with the 7950 for £1000: though I can't find th link.

All the above are better than what you've found.

[SnoWdog]

Nice one, thx scruie.

I was looking through that mesh computers site, and found an interesting PC http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=127371

"
* AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5200+ - Socket AM2
* Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
* Aluminium ATX Midi Tower + 550W PSU - Black
* ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe ,AM2 ,nForce 570 SLI, PCIe - ATX Mainboard
* 2048MB DDR2 533MHz Memory - (2x 1024MB)
* 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB Buffer
* Super Format SONY 18x Dual Layer DVD Writer +R/-R/RW/RAM
* 256MB nVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT - Dual DVI,HDTV & TV-Out + DVI - PCI-Express
* 22" Iiyama E2200WS Digital & Multi Media Widescreen TFT Display (5ms)
* Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound Card (oem)
* Creative Labs T6100 - 5.1 Speakers with Subwoofer
* Logitech Cordless Keyboard & Cordless Optical Mouse
* Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + 60 Days Microsoft Office Trial
* BullGuard Internet Security 6.0 -AntiVirus/Firewall/Backup/Spamfilter -90 day trial
* Advantage Warranty - 2 Years On-Site + 1 Year BTB-T&C"

AMD has the favour of a lot of gamers, but now that intel duo is about, im not sure what to choose. What do you think?


I'd Just like to ask a question, this has always puzzled me because i dnt know a lot about PC's, Whats better, one 1024 RAM or 2 x 512 RAM?

Also @ kizzamp "Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz LGA775 Processor"

[scruie]

No worries.

At present Intel has the performance crown with it's Core Duo CPUs, so I would go with one of them.

Regrading the memory, it use to be an issue of latency; larger single sticks of RAM were seen as slower. This has changed now so the only real issue is one of dual-channel RAM which gives abit more performance and one of upgrading.