OK guys - I just wanna say a big thank you to everyone who has helped with the list (and also the people who havent!)

I now have a FINAL list. The price has gone slightly over budget but meh - u only live once (unless that damn reincarnation gets involved!)

I could do with a final check on everything before i pay (also i have to wait for afew items to be in stock).

Is there any component (mainly graphics card really) that i could throw abit more money at that will have a big impact or am i looking at a well balanced system?



Thanks again for all the help & advice guys (i would have ended up with something resembling 3 xboxs taped together and the all the power of an atari800xl).

lol - ok - u sold me on it (£40 reduction FTW) will the e8400 go in that mobo i have on the list?

Quote from pb32000 :

I'd swap the out E6850 out for an E8400, and save yourself £40 at the same time.

Hi there - mmmm - not sure, whats the main difference, will i get 2-3 years out of a E8400? (i do like the price though!). Cheers.

Oh - Jakg - Ive updated to an Antec nine-hundred (looks nice) but abit more expensive. I cant really go over £800ish which is already 50 over budget - Doh.

Stangy - Id love 2 320mb but dont really need them, also I need to start looking at overall cost £800 really is my top limit (give or take 20).

Cheers J. OK - I have made a new list from Dabs (see image). They have the good mobo and the price seems OK. Any glaring problems with FSMs or FSBs

Oh - I dont need a monitor. I mainly use a Projector. I dont 'really' need all that stuff on the list really BUT just need to spend it whilst i got it.

I need to try and get 2-3 years from it.

Are WD on Par with Seagate with quality?

I couldnt find a P5K-E on Aria Jakg m8. What is the next one up or down from a P5K-E? Im sorry for all the questions guys! Im kinda stuck with Aria for now UNLESS i get it all somewhere else like dabs which i could, with abit of gentle persuasion!

Also - I dont really need any Overclock abilities, or anything!

Last edited by neilmichaelcasey, Sat 26 Jan 2008, 14:31. Reason : stuff

thx for that Crashgate. So Im not gonna wreck anything by having the extra, thats good. I do like high end games so it wont harm anything if i do have the extra GB.

Also Ive been looking at mobos (non sli) and was looking at this >>> is it overkill? (only seems mid-range).

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 Socket 775 Motherboard


iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E x16, DDR2 1066/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£102.17 inc. VAT

OK - I ditched the SLI stuff as it sound abit ropey atm. Im thinking Do I need 4GB Ram? Im only gonna run Win XP! Is 4GB only for Vista? Just wanna get everything straight before i buy next week. Cheers.

Great info again guys. Ok I need to choose a new mobo from Aria.
Jakg, I couldnt find a Asus P5K-E on Aria. Nearest i got was this thing >>>
Asus P5N32SLi Premium Socket 775 - 2x PCIE SLi / DUAL CH DDR2 / SATA(II) RAID / WiFi AP / ATX MOTHERBOARD £74.32 inc. VAT


is this overkill or can i do better? - budget 70-90 squids! Im not if i need an sli board now.

Great Advice guys.

Ok Jakg,

Ive sen these >>
OCZ 4GB PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI Approved (2X2GB) OCZ2N800SR4GK, 800MHz, CL 5-4-4-15, Lifetime Warranty @ £73.97 inc. VAT


or


OCZ 4GB PC2-6400 Reaper HPC (2x2GB) Part: OCZ2RPR800C44GK, 800MHz, CL 4-4-4-15, Lifetime Warranty @ £76.32 inc. VAT

what would u recommend please? the sli ready 1 sounds interesting cos i may sli later on BUT the timings r higher!



Also - Im Not gonna raid - it scares me too much.

I will edit list back to a GT aswell & add the extra 2gb.

With the drive im gonna just have the system drive & programs on 1 drive and game s& stuff & backups on the other.

Great advice from u all. Thx again.

Thx for Info JakG. Sounds like the new GTS or GT will do the trick. If i get the SLI mobo will the GT be a good choice to SLI later on?

Do I need 4gb ram? Im not sure now about the ram. Is 4gb overkill?

Should the Mobo Ram speed match the Graphics card ram speed?

Is Raid a Bios thing or in the way the Hard drives are connected?

Does the increased Raid Performance have an impact on game loading times?

Where have all the bees gone?

Heheheh - Its just one damn question after another with me isnt it!

Cheers Bolders thats interesting with the graphics card. I should probably go for the best i can get because i dont know when ill get the chance again. Seems like the new GT is a great card for a great price BUT i can push to a new GTS so it should last abit longer than the gt, in theory - lol.

Thx for all the input everyone. OK ive updated to a XFX GeForce 8800GTS Alpha Dog 512MB PCI-E for £230 ish. Is this card OK with the Mobo? I will place order next week so Ill have a good look at all the other sugested sites. Cheers again.

Oh, anyone got any case recomendations. Ive never paid more that about £30-40 for a case. I only chose the Akasa Zen because it is cheap and comes with 2 fans! There is alot of choice going into hundreds of pounds.

Ok I need a race after all this Hardware talk, to refill my head with my bad driving rather than RamDacs & FSMs!

Last edited by neilmichaelcasey, Mon 21 Jan 2008, 19:25.

hehehhe - I like to have an Install Drive & a Backup drive. I use alot of backup so i dont wanna stress main drive. Also I need to spend as much of budget now so I dont waste it on crap later. Also how sweet to have 2 matching drives, never had that before. What is all this raid stuff? can i RAID? is RAIDING safe?

Thanks again Spaced! I have updated my list to reflect your suggestions.

Ill also go and price up the same list with Micro Direct. As you mentioned, Aria seems to be lacking stock of half the list - doh!

I was wondering about 500w vs 600w psu - the price difference isnt much. I play alot of games but dont really need mad resolutions. 1600x1200 would be my max for the forseable future.

Im tempted to go for 4GB ram but I hear 4GB can slow systems down, or just not be used. Cheers.

Thanks for info Spacedskunk.

Gonna stick with good old win xp pro for now. But may add another 2 gb later (it seems very cheap these days, ram!)

so a XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog XXX 512MB PCI-E is the best choice out of the 3?

thx for info on soundcard, i will upgrade later on i think.

Ill pop over to Micro Direct and have a look around BUT aria would be easiest for me.

THX again m8.

Hi All. Im ready to buy a new pc now. Budget £650 - £750 max. Im using Aria because they are close & never had a problem with them.

Ok so here is list I made. Im abit of a n00b with new builds so be gentle.

----------------
Case
Akasa Zen Silent-Cool - Black
£30.49 inc. VAT

PSU
OCZ 600W StealthXStream PSU
£46.94 inc. VAT

Mobo
XFX NFORCE 680I LT SLI INTEL SOCKET 775 DDR2
£93.94 inc. VAT

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.00GHz (Retail 775)
£167.97 inc. VAT

Graphics
XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog XXX 512MB PCI-E
670Mhz Core, 1950MHz Memory, 2YR Warranty
£229.77 inc. VAT

Memory
OCZ 4GB PC2-6400 Reaper HPC (2x2GB)
£76.19 inc. VAT

Hard Drive(s) X 2
250GB Maxtor/Seagate SATA2 £41.34 inc. VAT
250GB Maxtor/Seagate SATA2 £41.34 inc. VAT

DVD
Samsung SH-S203 20X DVDRW - SATA - Black
£16.56 inc. VAT

Keyboard/Mouse
Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Keyboard
£29.14 inc. VAT

Total NOW £770ish
--------------

I dont really need high resolutions atm - I play most games at 1280/960 and havent gone any higher than that.

I could do with being future proof for 3 years or so with respect to mobo and stuff.

Also do you guys recommend getting a SoundCard as i usually use the onboard sound chip.

Any advice/info will be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

Last edited by neilmichaelcasey, Tue 22 Jan 2008, 00:56. Reason : Updated Price

great race - how do i get into the sweepstake?? - GW Nfaculty

how do we enter the sweepstake plz guys? great race btw

You know Binsy - If you came here and were genuinely upset about losing the car (and NOT talking like a spoilt child) then I know you would have had lots of help, advice and support in getting you S2 licensed. BUT ah well, I hope you understand the reaction you got with the silly DEMANDS. Peace & I hope you find what your looking for!

Last edited by neilmichaelcasey, Mon 14 Jan 2008, 10:00. Reason : crap spelling skills

Hi Guys - Just wanted to say thank you for the new patch, great work as usual.

I wish everyone (even drifters) a Happy Christmas & Merry New Year.

well, i'm happier than this lot........

hehehhe - thx Triss!

thx Endy - your a true hero u r m8. Trissy - Behave Plz, I dont like ur tone.

Ah well - spose that will mean we will get it after s3 final sometime.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/1 ... appear-in-gran-turismo-5/

Hi there, you could get a free CafePress shop - then make your design & buy the tshirt. Should be easy as they mainly do t-shirts. I use CafePress for Prints & Posters. Peace & Good Luck.