My bro wants to build himself a new computer for uni (now i already explained to him the merits of laptops and the dell out let, but he's quite set on this so im gonna see what i can come up with for his budget)
he also wants to take it to LAN's
now i've done builds before, so im no stranger, however his budget is tight at £500
with this in mind, i think ill be sourcing a lot of things second hand.
i've been out the loop a while though and would like some advice on what are good motherboard chipsets...theres just so many and i have no idea which is best.
following Blains little thread
PC USE: gaming mostly, WoW, Guild Wars, LoTR .. gash like that also taking to LAN's
BUDGET: £500
COUNTRY: UK
FANBOYISM: None really, what evers the best value
OVERCLOCKING: not if i can help it, i will do it, i know how to do it but if/when it al goes wrong a few weeks/months down the line, i wont be there to sort it out so i'd go for reliability.
WHEN: NOW!
rough outline of my plan:
CPU:
tied to the mobo choice, and i really dont know whats good there. Dual core is the choice though and will consider 2nd hand parts here.
MOBO:
not a clue! will consider 2nd hand parts....
RAM:
Already has 2GB of DDR2 ready to go.
GRAPHICS:
with the games he plays and the fact that any monitor he does get will be small.... im suggesting we go for a second hand Radeon X1900XT or similar from Ebay. they can be had for very cheap! and i know they play alot of games very well at 1280x1024
HDD/CD/DVD:
will probably be new, HDD are cheap these days. same with optical drives
SOUND:
On board, but may pinch an Audigy out of an existing computer as it wont need it and it basically already has Audigy level creative on board sound
CASE:
not sure, its gotta be something light, im going for new on this too (less i can find an Antec LanBoy) the new Sonata 3 is reasonably priced and comes with a nice 500W PSU.
PSU: preferably comes with the case so long as its a good make. not the component to cheap out on. looking around 500W mark with Antec, Enermax or seasonic.
OS: XP Pro
MONITOR: probably going used on this too, 17-19inch is realistic limit, WS would be nice...im hunting on ebay.
all in all thats a big ask for 500 quid....im not sure it can be done myself! but perhaps getting lucky on a few deals or auctions and it could happen.
he also wants to take it to LAN's
now i've done builds before, so im no stranger, however his budget is tight at £500
with this in mind, i think ill be sourcing a lot of things second hand.
i've been out the loop a while though and would like some advice on what are good motherboard chipsets...theres just so many and i have no idea which is best.
following Blains little thread
PC USE: gaming mostly, WoW, Guild Wars, LoTR .. gash like that also taking to LAN's
BUDGET: £500
COUNTRY: UK
FANBOYISM: None really, what evers the best value
OVERCLOCKING: not if i can help it, i will do it, i know how to do it but if/when it al goes wrong a few weeks/months down the line, i wont be there to sort it out so i'd go for reliability.
WHEN: NOW!
rough outline of my plan:
CPU:
tied to the mobo choice, and i really dont know whats good there. Dual core is the choice though and will consider 2nd hand parts here.
MOBO:
not a clue! will consider 2nd hand parts....
RAM:
Already has 2GB of DDR2 ready to go.
GRAPHICS:
with the games he plays and the fact that any monitor he does get will be small.... im suggesting we go for a second hand Radeon X1900XT or similar from Ebay. they can be had for very cheap! and i know they play alot of games very well at 1280x1024
HDD/CD/DVD:
will probably be new, HDD are cheap these days. same with optical drives
SOUND:
On board, but may pinch an Audigy out of an existing computer as it wont need it and it basically already has Audigy level creative on board sound
CASE:
not sure, its gotta be something light, im going for new on this too (less i can find an Antec LanBoy) the new Sonata 3 is reasonably priced and comes with a nice 500W PSU.
PSU: preferably comes with the case so long as its a good make. not the component to cheap out on. looking around 500W mark with Antec, Enermax or seasonic.
OS: XP Pro
MONITOR: probably going used on this too, 17-19inch is realistic limit, WS would be nice...im hunting on ebay.
all in all thats a big ask for 500 quid....im not sure it can be done myself! but perhaps getting lucky on a few deals or auctions and it could happen.