ideal spec pc

[kams]

right - i'm thinking of upgrading my pc...

I need a new chip/motherboard/soundcard/RAM/DVD drive... (all of it really - minus external peripherals)

I think the system i'm currently running is an Athlon 800Mhtz with 256meg ram stuck in Win98 due to buying a DMAN2044.

will hopefully have around £500 to spend in a few months... i'll possibly be able to put more in at a later date.

I know there are people who keep a contant eye on such matters and I've no idea whats whats these days...

any suggestions???

Thanks

[pille'ocheoni]

with what the english pounds are at right now, you could in theory (law permitting) buy a brand new setup in the u.s.a and ship that bitch over and spend half as less as you were thinking in the u.k

800mg you could bump that up to a 3.4 p4 and bump that 256 up to like 2 gz of ddr. just a thought, i dont know if you guys have done this but i would. the pound is way too high. and the dollar is way too low.

[love_tempo]

Hi Kams.

As you obviously realise, a lot of tedious research would normally go into figuring out the answer to your question at any given time.

To save myself, and others, this tedium I usually look at:

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/

They recommend complete pc specifications within certain price ranges, e.g. their value system is $1000

I would use their system advice and save yourself hassle.

Their current recommendation is an Athlon 64 2800 system with an MSI motherboard and 512 DDR400, I think.

For a little less you could look at their July system which was an Athlon XP system. These are about $150 cheaper now. This might be better value but the 64 system is much more upgradeable for the future.

You might want to get a lesser graphics card and try an Echo Mia soundcard or a Delta 1010LT if you want plenty of I/O for cheap.

p.s. take Pille's advice and buy your components in the U.S., if possible. It is abnormally cheaper there at the moment.

Hope this helps...

[Loz]

msi motherboards, at least used to, be shit

stick to intel, asus, or epox, all those are tried and tested

epox are pretty cheap, too

[KaOz]

epox rules

[kams]

thanks peeps...
thats cut out a lot of useless reading etc...

cheers

[bencodec]

@ pille, only problem with shipping for the US is that if customs notices they stick you with VAT anyway, which is a big part of the high cost of electronics in the UL. it's much better if you have someone traveling who can carry it over for you to try and avoid the cost.

of course they still might get you at the airport anyway.

I think i work out a while ago that with the price difference on apple kit between the UK and the US, you could fly to NYC and have a nice little holiday, buy a powerbook and the money you saved on it was more then the airfare for the trip.

[pille'ocheoni]

damn.

it would be great if us americans could do that. but i dont think they have apple stores in boliva. hehe