The Official PC building thread!

i would go with Veiwsonic best montiors on the market

http://viewsonic.com/

let us know what your using your montior for (gaming ,photoshop etc.) and we can help.

 

I've generally found BenQ monitors to have below average to average picture quality. The newegg reviews there say not, but I'd much prefer a Viewsonic than that screen, although that monitor is less in dollars than a good Viewsonic is here in pounds.

 

Yeah cheers ddp. I'm wondering whether it's a good thing, spending so long around here... ;-)

 

Lol. good thing then!

 

Yer congrats sammoris you must be one of the most helpfull people on the forum!
Im not sucking up to you lol....... much.
hahaha
Well can you help me with one last thing im running a LG Dvd +- Drive and a 160gb Barracuda Harddrive. I have plugged them in using the IDE cable but now i have run out of connectors say if i wanted to buy a new hardrive to ad on which i do.
Does any one have any idea what i can do can i buy a lead with more connectors or can i use the spare slot next to it on the motherboard for a seperate wire.
Also could someone tell me were i could get a good cheapish hardrive around 160Gb for round the £50 mark cheers.
Lecsiy

 

right ok.... can you point me in the direction of a good one. But reasonaby priced. Doesnt have to be ultra or anything just reliable!

 

Alright cool found what seems to be a reasonable one. How about a Hd any one?

 

check newegg.com oh but your in the UK right? iam sure sam can point you in the right direction

and congrats sam on the aDa you have always been one in my mine anyway

 

lecsiy, do you not have any serial ATA connectors? That's the easiest way of doing that. Failing that, you can find PCI cards that have S-ATA or IDE slots on them. (a.k.a. RAID cards, but you don't really need that level of functionality)
A good 160GB Drive for £50?
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/97636 - Western Digital, S-ATA, fast as you like
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/87666 - Hitachi Deskstar, IDE, pretty damn cheap!
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/97511 - Or get one like you have already!
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/60610 - IDE card
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/48670 - S-ATA Card.


Lol cheers for the compliment aabbccdd!

 

Hello everyone,

Per some people's recommendations on this message forum, I looked into the Viewsonic monitors in my flat panel monitor search (I also have a couple friends who have ViewSonics that look very nice and I know they've been pleased with. This is what I ended up buying...

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=592226&cartEntryId=2

I called Office Depot and got them to match the $329.99 price that newegg is currently offering. Plus OD is running a $30 off and free shipping on orders over $150 and there is a $50 mail-in rebate from ViewSonic on this model. So total cost with tax ended up being $267.99.

I know the first thing you'll say is that 16ms is NOT good. But I actually went to OD and compared all the models. There was no visible ghosting or streaking at all, and the image quality on this baby was one of the best on display (out of about 20 or so), so I"m pretty happy with it at the price. Nice contrast ratio (800:1), huge screen (20.1"), nice button control features, has DVI and analog compatability, and pretty stylish look in my opinion.

Did I do good?

Also...will I need any special kind of graphics card for this? Or pretty much just any card that can handle DVI? Again...I'm not a hardcore gamer...I'll only play war games pretty much like Age of Empires III and Command & Conquer. Maybe even Diablo...but doubtful since I gave it up cause it's too addicting and I don't have the time, haha. So the 16 ms shouldn't really be a problem and I don't need the absolute best graphics card on the market.

Thanks!

 

16ms isn't bad. It's when you go higher that you get problems. That's a fabulous net cost too. The only issue is that you'll need a high spec PC to get the best picture. You may be no hardcore gamer, but AOE3 isn't a soft game, in fact it's one of the harshest in benchmarks when the detail's right up. Depends how you play and what GPU you have as to whether you'll have any issues. If you keep medium detail, most modern cards will do alright.

 

sammorris...

This is the graphics card I was considering...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130260

Would that cut it? Looks like a steal at that price (with rebate factored in).

As far as RAM goes...I was considering this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145486

Also looks like an unbelievable value. Lots of people have recommended CORSAIR to me, and 2 GB is great..especially at this after-rebate price.

Any recommendation on motherboard to go along with these (assuming you approve of the graphics card and RAM choices above)? Would this cut it....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569

And any special processor you would recommend with this setup? I'm thinking AMD (seems to be the best for gaming and all around use really - even though Intel's low prices are indeed compeling). Maybe 3800+ or better. The 3800 I guess is SOMEWHAT reasonable at $297 from newegg.

Thanks bud!

 

an X2 3800+ is the best choice at the moment, assuming your neither loaded nor skint. GPU is alrightish, but for $20 more, this is far better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131007
That memory is stunning value, it's more than that in pounds here than dollars there (£135 versus $119). The A8N5X is also a superb mobo!

 

Thanks Sam The Man,

As always, I appreciate and value your advice.

So I take it that RAM is compatable with the mobo I selected. I looked up the RAM compatability and that mobo had TWINX2048-3200PRO listed. The RAM I pointed out is TWINX2048-3200, so I didn't know if there was really a difference and if the TWINX2048-3200 would still be compatable and work at full potential. Apparently there is SOME kind of different since the "PRO" version is around $285 for 2GB.

I assume TWINX2048-3200 would be compatable if a higher quality TWINX2048-3200PRO is compatable. But then again...making assumptions with PC building is not always safe.

Thanks again.

 

Sam,

With respect to the GPU I picked out comapred to yours...it's actually 40 dollars cheaper because the one I chose is only 69.99 after rebate. Is your choice significantly better to justify the price? In what ways is it better?...I don't really know the difference.

Also...what is this "SLI" that i'm reading about everywhere. In review I keep seeing as a "con" that some of these things don't have "SLI".

Thanks.

 

dougisjc, that montior will be great very good choice the ram will be perfect and the AMD 3800+ depending what you want to spend on a CPU is a great choice, i would go with a little better mobo though ,the one i have per my sig is a very nice one or go with the SLI premium