Matt Burrows Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 Ok, basically I need a new computer. Main thing I want it for is video editing. I occasionally play games but not too bothered about having top spec, I just want something fast and reliable. Planning to use some bits from my current comp to save money. Don't really want to spend more than £300 if possible. To be honest I don't really know much about computers, so I'm just looking for some advice and any experience of which parts are good etc. I've had a look on dabs and have come up with a list of stuff I was thinking of getting. Pretty sure it will work, if anyone can just check its ok and I haven't missed anything it would be appreciated. Processor Motherboard Heatsink/fan RAM Hard drive Graphics card Sound card Firewire card Or if you can't be bothered with all that here's a pic of my basket. Thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonMack Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 I'd go for more RAM and a bigger HDD to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 Also go for socket939 if you can its more futureproof :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Burrows Posted February 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 Yeah I was planning on getting more RAM at a later date. I just want something to get me started really. Main thing I'm not sure about is the motherboard, and whether its worth me getting one with loads of features or just basic and cheap. Whats the advantage of 939 over 754 then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 Not quite sure but 754 is being phased out if i remember correctly :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank_rider Posted February 6, 2005 Report Share Posted February 6, 2005 If your going to be ripping from a dv cam (the firewire card suggest you are) then i would include a dvd burner in their, so you can archieve your old footage. Dual layer DVD burners are coming down in price, these burn 8.5gigs onto a disc as opposed to the 4.7 that single layer burners can achieve. I have just burned a few dvd's with all my old footage to save buying another hard drive. Also the price per gig of hard drives at present favours getting either a 120 or 160 gig. These represent better value than an 80 and will give you that bit more room for ripped videos etc. If you intend to play any newish or future games at all, i would advise getting a better graphics card, spending something like £50 should get you a reasonable ati radeon or nvidia. Beware of going for the cheapest card in a particular range though (usually the SE for ATI Radeons) as these are often worse than the similarly priced mid range card in the catagory/number below. I have a sapphire radeon 9550 128Mb, which cost me around £50 a couple of months ago. It is relatively simple to overclock to get a decentspeed improvement to take it up to the same performance as the 9600, and as mentioned is actually better performing in stock configuration than the 9600 SE. Good to see you are going for a decent branded motherboard, and RAM and not making the same mistake i did by going budget. As for the different sockets i don't know anything about them as i didn't get an athlon 64 so didn't do any research into those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Burrows Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Cheers for the advice Andy. Think I'll go for the bigger HD. I have been looking at getting a DVD burner but I think I'll put that off for the moment. With the graphics card, I don't plan on buying any new games for the moment so that should do me. All the games I have are pretty old anyway. Thanks again :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onza-Ash Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Not quite sure but 754 is being phased out if i remember correctly :( ← 754 has a bit more life in it becasuse xp64 isnt out yet. but yeah, go 939 becasue it is miles better. 14.4gb hypertransport bandwith. well, thats its max capability. Ash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 You don't need that soundcard. The motherboard has onboard audio. Most of today's modern motherboards come with 5.1 audio, so there's no need to buy a card to upgrade it. The £16 you save from that, I highly recommend you spend on the graphics card. I had a Geforce 2 to begin with, and I now have a Geforce 4. The Geforce 4 struggles with a lot of today's games, so I'd highly recommend something else. Hope that's of some help :( ...that heatsink fan looks evil. Make sure you watch your fingers! :) EDIT: I would advise against buying from DABS...they are quite expensive. Give Ebuyer a look before you lay your hard earned cash down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Seeing as I'm so kind...I've gone and made you a new shopping list :P Suprising what you can do when you shop around. Most of the stuff included on this list is of a higher spec than your list, and is cheaper :( Motherboard Processor(HS/F inc) RAM Hard Drive Graphics Card That's including everything on your list, as well as a better graphics card. Leaves you with £23 in your pocket too :P There's no need to worry about the sound card or firewire card, because both are included on the motherboard :) I take it you have all the cablage required? And a suitably powerful PSU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank_rider Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Seeing as I'm so kind...I've gone and made you a new shopping list :P Suprising what you can do when you shop around. Most of the stuff included on this list is of a higher spec than your list, and is cheaper :( Motherboard Processor(HS/F inc) RAM Hard Drive Graphics Card That's including everything on your list, as well as a better graphics card. Leaves you with £23 in your pocket too :P There's no need to worry about the sound card or firewire card, because both are included on the motherboard :) I take it you have all the cablage required? And a suitably powerful PSU? ← The only thing i would disagree with there is the graphics card, you have gone for an SE model which is only 64 bit, i would go for the standard 9550 here, its £3 more expensive, but being 128 bit will make a big difference in performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Id spend £7 of that £23 left over on a SATA hdd seen as the motherboard has it :( http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=59556 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank_rider Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Id spend £7 of that £23 left over on a SATA hdd seen as the motherboard has it :( http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=59556 ← What are the advantages of SATA over IDE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 The only thing i would disagree with there is the graphics card, you have gone for an SE model which is only 64 bit, i would go for the standard 9550 here, its £3 more expensive, but being 128 bit will make a big difference in performance. ← Yeah, I wasn't sure about the graphics card. I've not looked into the market since I brought my Geforce 4mx 440, and that was a good couple of years ago. Add onto the fact that I know nowt about ATI cards, and it leaves me a bit clueless :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Id spend £7 of that £23 left over on a SATA hdd seen as the motherboard has it :( http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=59556 ← Yeah, but nobody likes Western Digital :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Yeah, but nobody likes Western Digital :P ← WD rule ive never had problems with my 2 where ive seen 2 maxtors die :( SATA have a pretty tiny cable so no big bulky IDE cable :P They are also slightly faster :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-A Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Matt probs wont see thread now, untill he has a new comp, so you might aswell save your effort. :( He was checking out his case to see if it would fit and he dropped a tape measure inside while the computer was on. Now it wont start up and when he turns it on it makes lots of "beeping noises". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.