Suggestions needed (please)

mad m

Well im off on a family holiday to LA in three weeks,and im looking for suggestions on what to get as in a good Motherboard,PSU,CPU,Memory.I want it too be fast and a good all rounder.

Ill be over there for three whole weeks,mainly doing the Disney thing but will be off shopping once that is out of the way.I will have an address as we are staying with the brother-inlaw,so I could get stuff delivered to his place.Oh one thing stuff I buy in states will be ok in europe?

Wizard,Gline,Dubdvd feel free to unleash your thoughts

Thanks for any advice.

Inquitus

Anything you buy in the States will work fine.....computer parts are computer parts.

How much you want to Spend is the big question? and are you buying a whole rig or what?

Inqui

mad m

Oops,sorry I thought I was in Computers.Could a mod please move.

Hmm well it depends on how the first few weeks go and what space we have left in suitcase.

The Real B-man

better off here, yeah are you on a budget? do you want amd / intel cpu's? what will the pc be used for gaming/family pc?

mad m

The Real B-man wrote:

better off here, yeah are you on a budget? do you want amd / intel cpu's? what will the pc be used for gaming/family pc?

Yeah sorry,Id prefer Amd.I've always had Amd.Id say it could be 1000dollars or maybe less for a budget.But if you have any suggestions id appreciate it.Sometimes the kids use it but mostly me for games and boards ofcourse.

airetam_storm

What youd get for 1000$ over there would roughly equate to 1200€. ie a 64 3000 \w x850pro

Free to be corrected..

Prosta

If you'd rather collect then wait for mail you could try this crowd. They have a "will call" service. The're also on a bus route from downtown LA
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/index.hmx?

They dont take Irish credit cards so you'd have to bring cash.

I used http://www.pricewatch.com/ to shop around 1st

As to hardware

From http://www.chiefvalue.com I just got:
HD 160GB|SAMSUNG SP1614N 8MB $93.00
VGA MSI | NX6600GT $175.00
MSI K8N NEO4 PLATINUM SLI $169.00
CPU AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 939P $146.00
DDRAM 1GB|64X64 VS DDR400 KIT COR $97.00
PWRSPPLY|FORTRON350 $42.99

---

$723
======

Dont forget to add tax

WizZard

Right. Will make up a basket on NewEgg and get right back! I'm presuming you don't want to OC much, if any?
You're prob not gonna buy a case either as weight would be too much to bring back?

NewEgg wrote:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$169

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A-KIT-BLU - Retail
$48.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
$125.99

Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PDC1G3200LLK - Retail
$118.95

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
$75

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail
$190

GIGABYTE GV-NX66T128D Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
$166

Total: $892.94

It's a first class system and will allow you to double(well, increase by ~97%) your graphics power down the line by adding another 6600GT card.

Mwave wrote:

FREE FARCRY 64 PC GAME; AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ - VENICE; MS XP PRO X64; ASUS A8N-SLI DLX; KINGSTON 1GB DDR400(512MB X 2);
$570.50 (Promo, with Windows XP x64

SEAGATE 250GB ST3250823AS SATA 8MB 7200RPM
$125

ANTEC TRUE480 480W UL & FCC POWER SUPPLY FOR ATX CASES
$84

GIGABYTE NX66T128D 128MB NVIDIA GF6600GT PCI EXPRESS DDR VGA W/TV&DVI (Retail)
$175

NEC ND-3520A 16X/16 DVD RW W/SW (White box)
$43.90

Total: $998.40 (very similar to above, but this includes a 64-bit OS and "Free" Game)

mad m

Thanks to Prosta&Wizard for the time taken to help me plus others.

I suppose you always think of stuff after the inital post.The brother-inlaw has an american credit card so there no problem there.Hmm I was more or less thinking of just getting a good and future proof motherboard,cpu and memory to suit motherboard etc.And while im over there I should really grab a good graphics card or two .

I was thinking of going Pci-express.At the moment I have a Antec Sonata case,with Asus Kv8se dulex motherboard with an Athlon 3400+(754).The graphics card is a solid Hercules 9700pro with an artic cooler heatsink(An easy mod),but showing its age these days.

I used to be crazy like you guys into overclocking but with work,life and other stuff you kinda lose track with whats new and all the other stuff that goes with it.

So this is why im going to get stuff while in LA,I may never have the chance again.

I have a at moment in my system 200gig maxtor hd,and 80gig as a slave both ide,plus I have a sata 160gig looking me in face on shelf abit too long now.

I will look over some of the stuff you have suggested thanks alot again.

dubdvd

As wiz said go for a socket 939 mobo and go SLI as even if you dont wont to splash out now on a two card set-up you can always go for it at a latter stage ..and ASUS as you know form my past systems has always been good and a very stable and if you want to dive into the overclocking arena the options either in the bios or in windows are very simple to use ..

so with this motherboard "socket939" you can at a latter stage go with a dualcore CPU with the help of a bios update ..and you get yourself pci-express ..seems you have a gig of ram already i dont know if its worth your while upgrading your memory as the stuff you have at the moment is fine .."if im not mistaken its samsung cl.2.5 or cl.2 ??" anyhow for what your going to me doing with your system it will be ok ..because if you save some of the stuff you have already you can but the extra money into a 6800gt ..with this card and a fairly good cooler you will easyly get the same speeds as a 6800 ultra ..the 160gb samsung SATA that you have is fine for your OS and use the 200gb for storage no need to waste money there ..
and seems you antec case does'nt have a side panel window i wont bother going for any eye candy components ..you will need to upgrade your PSU as the one your using is the one that came with the antec case ..and i know you will like it to be quiet if you have eoungh go for the emermax 600 watt that i have ..you have heard how quiet it is in my system and it may seem like a bit ott being a 600 watt but in the next year or two components will be eatting up the wattage so it will keep you fine for the next year or so
CPU as wiz said go for the venice or the san deigo both are 939 and both are only out on the market and seems you have a 3400+ already i would stay at the speed or even a little bit higher "maybe" you will be using the money you get from the system your using now to fund this upgrade so this new system will be your only system and its not worth having a new 3200+ cpu after having a 3400+..its up you want to go but trust me for what you use your system for the 3400+ will be fine ..
you have a 16x dvd-r at the moment so keep that ..the one you have know is fine ...
so to refresh my wish list for you here it is
ASUS A8N SLI non-deluxe:MOBO $144
3500+ VEN OR SAN D :CPU $267
BFG 6800GT 0C PCI-E OEM:GPU $303
EMERMAX 600 WATT NIOSETAKER :PSU $179
TOTAL : $893 USD
and if you have anything over maybe get another 160gb samsung $90 and set up a raid 0 with the both of them
OR if the memory you have at the moment isnt ringing you bell maybe this
http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/memory_detail.asp?ID=47
its only $129 USD for a gig which is a nice price for the timings it gives you
So the total would be $1022 or with the harddrive aswell it would be $1112 USD Which in euro is 919.352 EUR
BTW all these prices are just from new egg but if you shp around you might get some of it cheaper but if i was you i'd get my brother in law to order that BFG 6800GT now its a refurbished one but at that price 303 you cant go wrong..thats 250 euro get in there fast


And if you have anything left over get me a nice present "FX57"and an I LOVE LA t-shirt ...

WizZard

dubdvd wrote:

And if you have anything left over get me a nice present "FX57"and an I LOVE LA t-shirt ...

Me too...

ShevY

dont forget to set the correct voltage on the psu wen u get home

also, i brought home a mobo, psu, gfx card, ram, dvd recently. All nicely wrapped up in bubblewrap etc.

When I got home and opened the bag up, there was a leaflet from the office of homeland security. Theyd cut everything open, had a look and kind threw it back in any old way. Everything worked thank fu(k. I dunno, make it easy for them.

WizZard

What did the leaflet say?

Prosta

Office of Homeland Security - I hate that name. For some reason I associate it with Gestapo.

Tip for getting passed Customs with all your new H/Ware
Pick a fight with your significant other in the baggage claim area. Carry it on till just passed Customs. They shouldn't bother you in the middle of a domestic.

Did that last time me and the missus were comming back. Gave her a big hug in the arrivals hall. Deservidly got a few thumps when I explained what I was doing but worth it.

rsynnott

Prosta wrote:

Office of Homeland Security - I hate that name. For some reason I associate it with Gestapo.

That's because one of them is a secret police force who can intern, torture and execute you without trial and the other has nice uniforms with lightning bolts.

WizZard

rsynnott wrote:

That's because one of them is a secret police force who can intern, torture and execute you without trial and the other has nice uniforms with lightning bolts.

Quite remarkably true!

mad m

Prosta wrote:

Tip for getting passed Customs with all your new H/Ware
Pick a fight with your significant other in the baggage claim area.

Hmmm,I think ill take my chances with the Homeland guys instead of the wife.

Surely it cant be that bad? I'll stick a graphic card on each of the kids and the memory in there pencil case, .

Sorry officer it was the kids not me (Honest).

Sparky

I brought back some stuff in my carrier bag and they never got me for it
DVD's, perfume, PSP inc games, mobile phone ipod mini and a cheap ati 9800 for a friend. the only thing they stopped us for was to ask if we had any lighters, to throw them in the bin provided.

I swear it went through 2 airports without any problems. Even LAX
and customs here are a joke, they wer'nt even around.

Altheus

Just be careful with ThermalTake PSUs, they are region dependant and dont have a 110/220v switch.

ShevY

leaflet just said we have searched your baggage to protect usa bla bla bla