The Official PC building thread!

You can use as many or as few slots as you like, but if you use an even number with the same type of RAM in both/all then you can use dual channel memory which will operate faster. A few boards support dual channel mode for three slots but not many.
Overall, single sticks are better since you have room to add more, but keep dual channel in mind, especially if dealing with any Athlon64, as they can really use the extra memory speed.

 

Cheers. just bought DDR2 Samsung 1GB 533Mhz (i no i can get 667mhz, but this was cheaper!).

Do you know where i can get a X700 Pro 256mb PCI-E for cheap?
I have been to my local computer fair, they mainly sold 6600's (which had that hyper thingy) so i avoided them.

I dont need it right now, but i would like the price to be £80 or under.

 

Does anyone know where to pick up a X700 Pro 256mb PCI-E for under £80?

 

To others: Under the presumption that this is the same user I was speaking to in another thread, this question's been answered.

 

The answer to the question, which sammorris gave was basically:
Generally the X700 Pro 256mb PCI-E goes for around $105.
Exception to kustompcs, where it was £70.50 (no stock left-not getting anymore!) and microdirect for £78.38 (they have no stock left for this card on their online store - awaiting in-stock email).

Basically, under £80 and your pushing it, a lot!

Be prepared to spend about £105 from a good source. You can try eBay, but only if you really know what your doing + buying!

 

dollars?
$105 would be cheap!
But yeah, for the 256MB pro version, £100 minimum, nearer 110 delivered. For a 128MB standard one, under £80 is possible, but not this one.

 

Woops. sorry hit the Dollars sign instead of Pound sign... (well, they are nect to each other!)

So £105, just to clear that up, and GBP not Cypriot Pounds either!(Currency of Cypress)

 

Lol, i'll try to sound friendly here, I'm trying, but it's Cyprus not Cypress, and yes the cypriot pound is even stronger than the UK one. $1000 = €829 = £566 = CY£476
That's just given me an interesting thought, an FX-60 would be about CY£620, which is twice what you can buy an entire PC for in US dollars!!!

 

BootMe , for that money you could get a 6600GT http://www.novatech.co.uk:80/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-66GTE which would be a better bet than the X700, i use a 6600GT at the moment with a 20.1" widescreen monitor which has a native rez of 1680*1050 & gaming & watching movies are a joy on it.
But @ the end of the day the choice is yours to make

Edit: BootMe steer clear of Q tec psu's they have a tendance to go bang, put a few more ££ towards a decent psu

 

Yes and no. I wouldn't say the 6600GT is any better than the X700, no worse but no better. But definitely agree with you on the qtec psus. I had one and didn't manage to get rid of it in time. I'm now short 1 200GB disk drive (and my data on it), a stick of RAM and a floppy disk drive. Plus of course the £90 in repairs and replacement PSU.

 

Yeah the X700 is a good card & in the same performance area as the 6600GT, but overall the 6600GT has a performance advantage & newer features than the X700 not to mention driver support.
Yeah those Q tec psu's are quite explosive, BootMe This is a very good psu for the price http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=154677 as is this one http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=271185, it's worth spending a little more on a good stable psu

 

Qtec shouldn't really be allowed to make PSUs that poor, they must have caused thousands and thousands of pounds worth of damage to unsuspecting PC builders. Most worrying of all, some locla prebuilders use them (since initial power draw isn't enough to trip their activities), but you cna imagine as soon as anyone modifies them, you have a problem on your hands. How do we warn people?
I agree that the 6600GT seems slightly faster, and for the vast majoirt of gamers seems the card of choice, but you won't find a 6600GT playing many games at 1600x1200, for some reaosn the 6600 series doesn't support it well. I game in 1600x1200 most of the time, so this would be a pain. I don't atm because my monitor's busted so I'm at 1280x1024, but since it's my exam period, I'm not gaming much anyway.

 

i need help trying to figure out how to burn a cd using limewire or if i can even do it...if not how and where can i go to do it? please help...thanks

 

How can they get away with putting q tec psu's in prebuilts ?? I used one when i built my first system it failed & luckly it didn't take anything with it .... maybe people could start a thread titled "What to get & what not to get" which would highlight shady & dangerous products ?
With my 6600GT i can play nearly all my games @ 1680*1050 with no problems at all, so why am i building myself a new system :{

 

Hi everyone. My PSU isnt Q-Tec, its ColoursIT Switching Power Supply 400Watt. BUT i suppose its still a bad PSU? - if so i will get a new one.

Oh, i can afford a new one now. I got my X700 Pro 256mb PCI-E from ebay.
I waited for ever to find one for the price i wanted. Constantly searching on ebay for it.

THEN! i found one, they mispelt the name! OH YES! And noone else was bidding on it. Its in a retail box and still sealed! Only cost me £55, agony to the seller! LOL. - I cant belive i got that card for under £80 neverless £55!

 

NICE ONE!!!
That's some seriou value, half the RRP. Pat on the back. I don't think colors-IT are that bad, but they're by no means a premier brand. As a rule of thumb I'd say expect to pay no less than £40 for a PSU. Any under and you're in suspect zone. I will concede that there will be some greay PSUs under that level, but how do you tell them apart until it's too late?

 

Thanks! Im so happy i found that card! Thank lord (no offense) for putting people who cant spell on the earth! (no offense - again).

Ok, i have had a look on the interweb (what a cool word) and seen this PSU: Thermaltake TR2 Low Noise 500W PSU and its £50.

Now, to me, that sounds like a sweet deal. But what do you guys think? Judging on what i have seen so far about Thermaltake is that they are respectable? Yes?

 

To be honest BootMe i've also had a Thermaltake psu & it gave up on one of it's 12v+ line which caused really bad fps in games & BSOD, Thermaltake make some pretty good HSF but steer clear of their psu's they are noisy & are a bit flaky @ 100% load as i found out the hard way

Here's a comprehensive review of a load of psu's http://www.pcpro.co.uk/custompc/labs/26/psus/products.html
Edit: Great find on the graphics card, can't go wrong for the price ... have you had it running yet ?

 

Ok, i will stay clear of what you tell me too. I dont want my new system to go BOOM as soon as it boots! After all, i wont have any more cash to spend on it!

EDIT: Havent got the card running yet. Just bought it, and its on its way. Im not going to dare try it with this ColorsIT PSU now lol!

So what PSU do you recommend for £50?
It might not seem a lot, but thats what i can afford.
It doesnt need a SATA connection, i already have a 4 pin molex to SATA connector spare

 

If you have a look @ the link's i provided in my previous post's, those are some very good psu's, also the comprehensive list i posted above if you click on the name under the header [bold]PRODUCT[/bold] it will give you a result of how it faired in their lab test.

There are quite a few psu's in the £50 region but some are better than others .

Heres the link's again

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=154677

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=271185

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/custompc/labs/26/psus/products.html
Have fun