If you skimp on the fancy case, you can get a better processor.

https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=312372&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314089&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=313205&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=304339&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314763&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=309535&s=sc
https://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320787&s=sc
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=40YQ

Ok here is my revised spec.
it totals £732 (with only 1 HD)

Question i have a Maxtor Hd in my current pc I MAY be able to take out and put in this 1 but not sure, will it be compatible with the above?

Also i need to worry about a monitor at some point (but i'm not gonna worry about that for another 4-6 weeks i don't think)
(Excluding it from the budget for now)

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ABIT KN8-SLI,nForce4 SLI, Socket-939, ATX, 4xSATAII, GbLAN, Firewire, PCI-Ex16

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz Socket AM2, 512KB, BOXED w/fan

call me a n00b

but are the above compatible?

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m
mmmmYou sir, are a swaggering addlepated jackanapes!
m

You're a n00b








AM2 has more pins in a different order to 939, so completely incompatible

Mike - That chip won't run on that board, you should buy AM2 as 939 chips aren't made any more so you can't upgrade with a new retail chip. The lower spec chuip will be fine and can prolly overclock really welll as sleeper service says. If not, upgrade when you have the cash

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The Pancreas of S.T.F.U. | Never take life too seriously - nobody gets out alive anyway.
Disco_jim: um..... I have no excuse. | Chips: Thank the Beef | Rev Dr: Beef, I think i wee'd a little

if you are going to go down the AM2 route... WAIT

wait about a month (build @ uni)

amd are planning 15-20% price drops on all am2 when intels new Core 2 stuff comes out.

that or you could go to the darkside (intel) as with the new line of processors they have finialy got it right... hence why amd are dropping prices. cant fight on performance, so have to go to performance per £.

just a thought.

except nothing less that 2Gb of ram if you want to have any futureproofing/dont want to have to add a 1Gb very soon.

shrek

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Designer of the hardware used in BF:2020

^^Learning CS2, dont laugh^^

i'm not patient enough to go through the holidays without it

so i should be getting this then and not the one for £99?
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320784

If so that takes me to £510.53 + £180 Gfx card
£690, + i also need to get a monitor so that would actually work out nicely..for an extra £120-200 monitor?

Anything i should be reconsidering for value for money then if thats correct?

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I know, just pointing that out

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m
mmmmYou sir, are a swaggering addlepated jackanapes!
m

good place to look for reviews on graphics cards is trustedreviews.com

here's a rund up on the 7900 series http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2685

and you might want to check this one out as well http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2936

have fun

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can someone help me find a 17" flat screen monitor which is quite cheap/value for money, don't really want to spend more than £130 on a monitor inc VAT

atm this is best i can find

http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.a ... =eshot0095

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Forgetting a little fact here i see Mike, or has MY name been shortened to 'I'?
ps if its a poor buy...then mike gets the blame for asking for size and cheapness

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Financial Adviser of STFU...and ENRON

do i need a cooling fan on my TO buy list
or does Installed Fans Qty 1 (in my case suffice)?

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The fan that comes with it will be fine, if you ever venture into overclocking you'll prolly need to buy something uber

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The Pancreas of S.T.F.U. | Never take life too seriously - nobody gets out alive anyway.
Disco_jim: um..... I have no excuse. | Chips: Thank the Beef | Rev Dr: Beef, I think i wee'd a little

rite, cheers

i'll be debating myself about overclocking

it reduces the life span of your hardware, but for how much performance, and is it worth it for the amount of performance you get out of it?

ooo


1 last question for now i think

i have a CTF monitor atm, quite old
i'm thinking i will be using this monitor for at least a good 7 weeks or so before i get a flatscreen. So the cable that they give me with the graphics card will definitely be compatible with the port monitor? or is there like a different kind wire for CTF's to new graphics cards? or is it vice versa?

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should be a standard VGA on the monitor. Your PC may have DVI out rather than VGA. Not a problem, an adapter is pennies.

In a word, yes.

I got my old CPU from 1.8 to 2.4 stable. Main thing that held me back was that my memory couldn't go any faster, as it was value RAM.

You do get faster load times/ FPS etc. Its more of a value for money thing, as you can say get a AMD 3000 (my old one) running at 1.8 stock to 2.4 easily. Where as my new CPU (AMD 3800) runs at 2.4 stock.

See what I mean? Its also just about seeing how far you can push your PC.

As for life span, im not sure about all motherboards, but some come with dynamic overclocking things. They automatically up the clock speed when playing a game. doing something CPU intensive, and drop it again when the PC is idleing. They don't overclock as much as you can manually though.
Even overclocking manually shouldn't shorten the lifespan if you get a decent fan and some arctic silver 5 thermal paste.