I need help for a new PC...

I want a new PC, and I'm gonna get someone I know to build it for me, but I'd really rather pick out the components myself.

Now, I'm not a big PC gamer - I hate FPSs, so I don't need a setup capable of running Half Life 2 or Doom 3 or whatever - they don't interest me. I want a good, fast system with a big hard drive (the specs need to be pretty high, though, so I can at least run my beloved Championship Manager 4 on a decent setting).

Basically, I have no idea where I'm going. I'm vaguely aware that RAM is important, etc., etc... but... after that, nada.

I DO want a very good sound card though - that's something I'm pretty much set on, as it's gonna be used extensively for music as well as writing/internet. Any... ideas? I just want basic help about what to choose, what works together, and how stuff could be made to be good. (Oh, and I'm in the UK, so prices will be much higher and your websites won't work ;) ) - I'm not looking to spend an INSANE amount, but for a non-high spec PC that shouldn't be too difficult to work out.

Even if you don't like FPS's, you still need good video ram and a high processor speed.

One of the key things, though, is NOT buying a hard drive that's 5400 rpms. 7200 drives are quieter, more reliable, and (obviously) quicker. Check data transfer rates on the HD. Seagate makes very fast drives, Western Digital makes decent speed drives that are more durable.

I know you said you're in the UK, but does www.googlegear.com work for you?

Nope. Doesn't look like googlegear ship to us.

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Originally posted by red_war_machine
Nope. Doesn't look like googlegear ship to us.

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Bastards.

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Originally posted by Calliander
Bastards.

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Indeed. :(

get one of those new 10,000rpm seagates :D *drool*

and caliander...why would he need good video and a fast processor if he already said hes just going to use it for music?

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Originally posted by Dragonmaster Dyne
get one of those new 10,000rpm seagates :D *drool*

and caliander...why would he need good video and a fast processor if he already said hes just going to use it for music?

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Championship Manager too, which needs a zippin' processor. Good video is, I think, rather low on the list of needs.

10,000 rpm? Sounds... impressive. :D

For processor, get anything around 2ghz that would fit your budget. You can find a Geforce 3 based card for pretty cheap these days if you don't want to go cutting edge. RAM? As much as you can afford :). It's good to get at least 512MB of PC2700. There is faster but it gets more expensive. The more RAM the merrier. I've heard good things about the Audigy line of soundcards and if your looking for speakers, Klipche makes some great speakers (from 2.1 to 6.1)

Okay, this is a first try. I'm lost as to motherboards, though, so a siggestion of one of those would be appreciated. If anything here can be made cheaper or you don't think I'll need it, let me know. I definitely need a motherboard recommendation, and help on the videocard would be appreciated.

Basic, bog standard case - ~£15

AMD Athlon XP2600+ 333MHz FSB - £77.55

Seagate Barracuda 80GB 7200RPM - £66.97

2x Samsung 256MB PC3200 400MHz DDR 184 pin RAM - £80.62

LG 52x24x52 IDE Internal CD-RW - £36.38

Gainward GeForce 3 Ti-200 owerpack Ti-450 golden Sample/AGP 63MMb DDR with TV-out - £60.46

Soundblaster 5.1 LIVE OEM (stand in... might find somethng better) - £27.41

Total: about £347 exccluding monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. Good?

I just bought the same video card you listed. I think it's a great budget card. It's better than the Geforce4 MXes, so if you're wanting a good card that's cheap it's perfect. For the motherboard, get an ASUS or A-bit. Any board from either of those companies that works with your processor will be fine.

It seems like every few weeks a thread just like this pops up.

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Originally posted by Rumpy
It seems like every few weeks a thread just like this pops up.

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Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that it's quite a big investment, you know? And I realise that there's a lot of shit out there, and it's difficult for someone who doesn't know their hardware to sort it all out from the good stuff.

Plus, of course, I assume it's a pretty individualised thing - everyone has different needs.

Get an NForce 2 chipset motherboard. They usually have on-board 5.1 sound, dual channel RAM capabilities (so your 2 sticks of RAM will get a boost), and on-board video, as well as a bunch of other stuff that will save you money. Unlike most onboard stuff, the NForce 2 is high-quality.

The cheapest I can find is the Biostar NForce 2 that I recommend, and the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe is the most expensive, since it contains about every feature in the world.

Also...

2x Samsung 256MB PC3200 400MHz DDR 184 pin RAM - £80.62
AMD Athlon XP2600+ 333MHz FSB - £77.55

It's better to have your RAM and processor on the same bus speed... get PC2700 RAM with the 333MHz bus. You can stay with the PC3200, but you're basically paying more when you could get just about the same power from a coordinated 333MHz bus system.

When you get that person to put it together for you, watch over if you can, because building a PC is a lot easier than it looks. After deciding to take apart an old system and put it together for myself to learn, I wondered why I shelled out so much cash over the years to get various upgrades done for me.

If you don't go with onboard video, that Geforce 3 you have is perfect, since I use that myself and I play all the latest games fine. A similar version of that card is used in the Xbox.

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Originally posted by omfgninjas
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe is the most expensive, since it contains about every feature in the world.


It's better to have your RAM and processor on the same bus speed... get PC2700 RAM with the 333MHz bus. You can stay with the PC3200, but you're basically paying more when you could get just about the same power from a coordinated 333MHz bus system.

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Well, I have the same mother board, and it runs great. Its not that expensive(you can find it for about $125-130(but there ARE cheaper cards). It has plenty of features(2 Network cards, Onboard sound, etc)

I also running 333Mhz set up, with RAM and Processor(I have Athlon XP 2600+ :p), and it works great.

As for video card, another alternative would be Radeon 9500 Pro, which is quite decent card, has lots of power(it runs better than GeForce4 Ti4200), and last time I checked was running for about $180 or less.

I'll also recommend a motherboard with the nForce2 chipset. The amount of onboard features is great and eliminates the need for so many add-on PCI cards. I'm currently running the FIC AU11 (which appears to have been replaced with the AU13). It runs in the $100 range.

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Originally posted by Dragonmaster Dyne
get one of those new 10,000rpm seagates :D *drool*

and caliander...why would he need good video and a fast processor if he already said hes just going to use it for music?

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Ah, man, I can't wait till they get 200GB drives at 10,000 spins.

And everyone needs good video and a fast processor...

Or I will kill them! MWA HA HAHAHAHA! Or something like that.

No, seriously, a better video card makes XP look nice and pretty and makes it run smoother. Plus, even if you don't like FPS's, there's still Morrowind. ;)

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Originally posted by red_war_machine
Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that it's quite a big investment, you know? And I realise that there's a lot of shit out there, and it's difficult for someone who doesn't know their hardware to sort it all out from the good stuff.

Plus, of course, I assume it's a pretty individualised thing - everyone has different needs.

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Heh, I totally understand. I did the same thing.

get a Shuttle

Yes.

Media box! Hook it up to your TV.

One thing about the sound card-

The Sound Blaster Live is an excellent sound card, but if you are going to be using Windows XP, I might step up to the standard Audigy card. They are cheap too, but the main reason is that for some reason (drivers probably) with Win XP the sound quailty of the Audigy is better than the Live. With Win98 or ME, there was no difference.

Of course, that could have just been some freaky thing to do with my setup.