Configure a System: Budget - £1200

P

Pelagic Argosy

New Member
Please use UK sellers. I'd also like to know about any good custom pc builders that I could buy a whole system from. Yes, I know I should build my own, but I don't have time at the moment and I need a PC fairly quickly.

I will be using it for gaming, graphic design, autoCAD etc.

I know that the core2duos are the fastest on the market but I'd prefer an AM2 system for my own reasons.

Thanks in advance.

How is this system for £1199 inc. vat:

CPU:
AMD Athlon AM2 64 X2 4200+

Motherboard:
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe/Wireless Edition

Memory:
OCZ 2Gb DDR2

Graphics:
Nvidia GeForce 7950GX2 1Gb DDR PCi Express

Hard drive:
200Gb SATA II

CD/DVD:
Pioneer DVR-111D CD/DVD burner

Power supply:
Thermaltake 550 watt Toughpower W0096RB

Case:
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Black with a window.
 
Last edited:
That's an alright system but you could build a much better one for cheaper.. if you can custom buil I can list you some parts..
 
Ok, I'll do it on Overclockers as it is easy - so I'll give or take a bout £50 because OCUK can be quite expensive ;P Give me a few minutes to set this up ;)

Edit// are you sure I couldn't convert you to Intel? I was a huge AMD fanboy, as I am a freak gamer (if I say so myself!), but Conroe really gets more bang for your buck (no disgusting term meant ;P)

AMD SYSTEM

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLi Wi-Fi
RAM: 2GB PC2-6400 Corsair TwinX XMS2
Video: ATI Radeon X1900XT MASTER Edition
Storage: 150GB Western Digital Raptor X
Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x16 Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500W Modular PSU
Case: Antec P180 Advanced Super-Midi Case

INTEL* SYSTEM

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Motherboard: Asus P5W DH Deluxe
RAM: 2GB PC2-6400 Corsair TwinX XMS2
Video: ATI Radeon X1900XT MASTER Edition
Storage: 150GB Western Digital Raptor X
Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x16 Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500W Modular PSU
Case: Antec P180 Advanced Super-Midi Case

_____________________________________________________________

AMD: £1213 (From Overclockers)
Intel: £1218 (From Overclockers)

:)
 
Last edited:
leetkyle said:
Ok, I'll do it on Overclockers as it is easy - so I'll give or take a bout £50 because OCUK can be quite expensive ;P Give me a few minutes to set this up ;)

Edit// are you sure I couldn't convert you to Intel? I was a huge AMD fanboy, as I am a freak gamer (if I say so myself!), but Conroe really gets more bang for your buck (no disgusting term meant ;P)

AMD SYSTEM

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLi Wi-Fi
RAM: 2GB PC2-6400 Corsair TwinX XMS2
Video: ATI Radeon X1900XT MASTER Edition
Storage: 150GB Western Digital Raptor X
Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x16 Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500W Modular PSU
Case: Antec P180 Advanced Super-Midi Case

AMD SYSTEM

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Motherboard: Asus P5W DH Deluxe
RAM: 2GB PC2-6400 Corsair TwinX XMS2
Video: ATI Radeon X1900XT MASTER Edition
Storage: 150GB Western Digital Raptor X
Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x16 Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500W Modular PSU
Case: Antec P180 Advanced Super-Midi Case

_____________________________________________________________

AMD: £1213 (From Overclockers)
Intel: £1218 (From Overclockers)

:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking it out.
Pretty good, I must say. Is there a significant performance difference with a Raptor drive? The x1900xt seems to be the card of the moment, huh? I know I wouldn't be able to do crossfire on that mobo, but that doesn't really matter much to me.

I might be able to get those without VAT if my boss is amenable, if so, how crazy could I go? ie: If I didn't have to worry about VAT what sort of system could I get then?


You won't sway me with the Intel, I know they're excellent but x2 4600 should last me a good while.
 
Last edited:
Nope, only Am2, despite the performance difference, I won't bother explaining why. The X2 4600 is more than adequate, I'm more interested in what other parts I can get.
 
Last edited:
Okay, I've got to run off to school now (yes, I know..), but I'll keep this up and post a new setup with £1200 ex. VAT (about 300 quid too..)

Raptor drives do have some serious performance in them, well worth the buy. I should of got the 150 as it is actually slightly faster than the 74.. but hey ;P

Check this thread!
 
leetkyle said:
Okay, I've got to run off to school now (yes, I know..), but I'll keep this up and post a new setup with £1200 ex. VAT (about 300 quid too..)

Raptor drives do have some serious performance in them, well worth the buy. I should of got the 150 as it is actually slightly faster than the 74.. but hey ;P

Check this thread!
Click to expand...

Ok cool, I don't really understand about the ati mastercard, is it compatible with that mobo?
 
I might be a bit of a mod freak.. but I think with a 1.2k budget with no VAT it would be a good step to move to an external watercooling unit.

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX Wi-Fi
RAM: 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 Corsair XMS2 TwinX
Video Card: ATI Radeon *X1950XT* Master Edition
Hard Drive: 150GB Western Digital Raptor X 10000RPM 16MB Cache
Optical Drive: Asus 16x16 Dual Layer DVD-RW Drive
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Retail
Case: Antec P180B Advanced Super-Midi Case
PSU: Antec 500W "Hybrid" Silent Fan
Water-Cooling: Zalman Reserator1 v2 Fanless External Water-Cooling System

______________

Budget hits £1280 excluding VAT - but this is a fantastic price for this kind of system.. give or take about £100 as all this is from Overclockers ;P

Edit// this is all compatible of course!

Edit2// The upgrades from the last system is the better PSU, Water-Cooling and the video card has been updated to an X1950 (how powerful... QUAD GDDR4!) ;drool, changed the P180 to the P180B (Black).
 
Last edited:
More noobish questions, sorry:

Turns out I can't get a vat free system (my other boss told my boss not to) and I've been reading about dx10, specifically about how one probably shouldn't invest in a very expensive GPU at this present time, despite how great they are.

Anyway, simple question:
I figure a mid range gpu would be good value at the moment.
7950gt or x1900xt 512mb?

I hear good stuff about the x1900xt, but would the 7950gt benefit from being run on an nforce mobo with the possibility of SLI if I really need to get an upgrade before dx10 cards arrive?

I mucked around on overclockers and was able to get a setup with a x1950xt for £1887 (plus keyboard, mouse and winxp) but had to swap out the raptor drive for a regular seagate sataII 250gb (oem).

Also: would thermal paste be necessary for the cpu? or is it just a good idea?

Note:
System is £1,094.25 with the reduced price x1900xt (HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-HT))
And it's £1,076.62 with the 7950gt (BFG GeForce 7950 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-034-BG))
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top