Everything within the Case will be new for this system so buying mew parts (particulalry from the same place) is likely to be compatible.

regarding the waiting a few months - yes i could - but i have the money know and i fear if i wait a few months the money pile will be alot lower than now...

Ok - someone i know recommends the Intel Core 2 DUO E6400
£140.00 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650
£80.00 inc VAT


that leaves me £280 to get - case + psu, memory Hard drive and a decent graphics card.

The chip and mobo mean i will have something good for know and also futureproof, but can the below be done for £280. I guess i'm looking for at least 160MB HDD and 400W PSU and a 256MB Graphics card. anyone got any recommendations and also do i need anything else (i have an operating systemXP Home and a DVD Burner/Drive etc already from old computer)

Cheers all,

Dru.

Given the above, I think your pushing it a bit. You're best off waiting and getting maybe another £100 or so to throw at it, and of course you'll get slightly better bits for the same money

sure, but if you don't ask you don't know and as i don't know.... i'll ask

Hard Drive: 160 Gb Seagate Barracuda £36.71 Inc VAT
Case: NZXT Apollo Silver Midi Tower Case £46.94 Inc VAT
RAM: 1GB CorsairXMS2 DDR2 PC2-6400 £73.60 Inc VAT
Graphics Card: 256Mb XFX 7600GT £79.30 Inc VAT
Power Supply: 430W Enermax Coolergiant £38.72 Inc VAT

Total: £275.27

You can always upgrade your graphics card to a midrange 8xxx series when they come out or the price drops. That is what I'm waiting for .

Hey Dennis thanks, thats really kind - i'll have a look into it and thanks for your help again ,

Dru.

If you dont know which C2D mobo to get, here is a guide

(Enthusiast Board = Overclocking board)

i'll take a look jthanks

so is this build heading in the right direction now after a wayward start?

might chuck another £50 into the pot if i can stretch it to get better PSU then only thing needed would be extra memory in say a years time and a graphics card update maybe?

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112708/rb/25637698396
£140.56 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125082
£75.31 inc VAT

160 Gb 7200RPM 8MB ATA133
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124503
£39.47 inc VAT

Corsair 1GB Kit (2x512MB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400) CL5-5-5-12
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92870
£69.99 inc VAT

EYE-T Silver X-Blade Mid Tower Case - With 450W PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123403
£34.98 inc VAT

Total: £360.31 ex graphics card

know to choose a graphics card and get someone to build it or do it myself

any ocmments or thoughts on this guys?? I've just got my pay packet thorugh and it looks like i can spend £550 on this setup so it leaves me £190 for a graphics card

EVGA 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 DVI TVO PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125105

Though I don't know if your power supply could run it, might need a double check from someone who knows.

it says ...

Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

does this mean that the graphics card will need 400W just to run it and the remaining 50W is used for the rest of the computer, or does it mean that a system that uses a 400W PSU will be able to run this card?

soory, not technical enuff when it says stuff like that

it means with your "average" PC you'd need a 400w PSU to run it + the GFX card

Cheers JAkG - can i ask that is the above spec listed with the intel E 6400 considerd normal and the PSU i'm aiming to get is 450 - will this do the job or be up for it?

As you can see iim finalising the build and just looking for the graphics card know - however people are also recommneding something like a 7600GT Silent thats 'more than enuff' for LFS and the half-life 2 engine games that i will be playing and an unpgrade to the 8800 GTS range would be possible 12-18 months down the line as that would save me around £100 quid.

Opinions please

A 7600 GT such as this one http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118475/rb/25671135737

will cost £75.00.

This will bring the build total to £435, meaning that the 'free' £65 will be able to exchange the E6400 for a E6600 is this a worthwhile idea?

Then in the future only a better graphics card and extra 1 gig memory will be needed ?

Comments please.

Also will this setup all run ok with a 450W PSU that comes with the Xblade case?

that coems with a case? i wouldn't trust it - keep the 65 quid and get a PSU and sell the one it comes with on eBay

well - ok but apart from that the build spec is ok right?

i've gone for max chipset and mobo i can afford.
a cheapish card that'll last a while and enuff memory also for now

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112706
£202.10 inc VAT

Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125082
£78.59 inc VAT

160 Gb 7200RPM 8MB ATA133
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124503
£39.56 inc VAT

Inno3D GeForce 7600GT 256MB TV Out DVI Core 560MHz Memory 700MHz PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118475/rb/25671135737
£74.95 inc VAT

Corsair 1GB Kit (2x512MB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 (TWIN2X1024A-6400) CL5-5-5-12
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92870
£69.99 inc VAT

EYE-T Silver X-Blade Mid Tower Case - With 450W PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123403
£34.98 inc VAT

Total: £500.17


Anything else required that people can think of?

i have a O/S, DVD and floppy to go in this, i will retain my monitor, keboard,mouse, speakers from old computer...... and wheel

Instead of the ATA133 hard disk you are thinking of ordering, I would recommend getting a SATAII one, they are about the same price, and the performance boost you will gain from SATAII features (such as Native Command Queuing) will make it well worth it. Here is a 160GB one I found on ebuyer:
Western Digital WD1600JS ... ATAII/300 8MB Cache - OEM (£37.31 inc VAT)

Quote from JohnUK89 :

Instead of the ATA133 hard disk you are thinking of ordering, I would recommend getting a SATAII one, they are about the same price, and the performance boost you will gain from SATAII features (such as Native Command Queuing) will make it well worth it. Here is a 160GB one I found on ebuyer:
Western Di ... ATAII/300 8MB Cache - OEM (£37.31 inc VAT)

good spot

will re-jig

anything else?

So taking tha above advise i have ordered all my bits (including a floppy drive and DVD RW Drive as well to complete the system.

The HDD has been swapped to a 250GB SATA type on recommendation.

Total Cost is £530 including delivery.

It says it is coming tomorrow, so i have put a holiday form in and will build tommorrow when it arrives.

I presume i just follow the instructions that come with all the different bits or is there an online 'idiots guide' to building a new PC that i can view on my old system, whilst i build the new one alongside.

Also anyone got any good tips for me to avoid beginners errors.

Cheers all,

Dru.

Quote from Dru :

So taking tha above advise i have ordered all my bits (including a floppy drive and DVD RW Drive as well to complete the system.

The HDD has been swapped to a 250GB SATA type on recommendation.

Total Cost is £530 including delivery.

It says it is coming tomorrow, so i have put a holiday form in and will build tommorrow when it arrives.

I presume i just follow the instructions that come with all the different bits or is there an online 'idiots guide' to building a new PC that i can view on my old system, whilst i build the new one alongside.

Also anyone got any good tips for me to avoid beginners errors.

Cheers all,

Dru.

It is hard to mess up if you go slow and take your time, just follow the directions that come with everything. You can google a guide to building one if you want. If you have any questions you can always make another post in this topic and we will be glad to help you.

All the bits have arrived over the course of the day, now building it then set it up... it might be a long night

Me and the Missus last night were installing a new gpu and psu, so I feel your pain!

Hope your build goes well, show us some benchmarks when you finish/are ready. I would love to see how lfs runs with everything maxed on that machine.