Hi guys.

My sister is going to get rid of her PC sometime in the future. ATM, she gets about 30fps with her machine she has now, and the card she has cant handle any AA nor AF. SO obviously, this makes lfs look like crap.

She would like a machine that can play games (LFS, Half-Life etc.) at a good performance rate with good looks. She also wants it with a card that can handle AA and AF.

Here's a machine were looking at:

http://www.packardbell.co.uk/p ... tsheet-PB80100201-46.html

Is this machine any good? How much AA/AF could it handle and what kind of FPS would it get in LFS?

Here is the spec's of my sis's machine:

Packard Bell 551
Intel Pentium 4 processor @ 2993mhz.
128mb ATi Radeon 9500SE
512mb ram
200gb HDD

Also, do you guys have any suggestions for reasonably priced upgrades for her machine she has now? one last question, do you guys have any computers or computer parts for sale? If so, hit me a PM

Any help would be greatly appreciated. And sorry about the ammount of questions, i just wanna be thorough

Frenchy

crappy GFX card, but the CPU is VERY strong (should be able to do 20 AI, or 32 online drivers), with a graphics card such as a 7900GS that would pump LFS with a full grid at 16xAA, 16xAF etc, but with that GFX card i don't know - for gaming it's really a bit rubbish, while the rest of it's fairly strong

hmm, how much is a 7900GS then?

P.S, thanks for helping me with this jakg, i can count on you to know your stuff about PC's

Edit: just to make sure, what machine are you talking about? the one she has now or the one were looking at?

the one your looking at

a 7900GS is £100, but knowing Packard Bell to put a new GFX card in thats more powerful you will need a better PSU, which could be another £50.

How much are they asking for that?

Well, we have'nt asked how much there gonna go down for on the new one. But we only want the tower, not the mouse and keyboard monitor etc. So th final price including the possible upgrades, im not sure.

:S that machine you're looking at has Vista.

Anyways, like Jak has said, her computer seems pretty quick, maybe going up to 2gb of ram would significantly help ontop of a good graphics card.

But if you are interested in buying a new computer, I would check out Dell. I custom designed a computer with 4gb of ram, 3.2ghz core 2 duo, plenty of HD space (for me) 160GB, and left the graphics card at integrated to buy my own for a better deal, and it only costs just over $700 (350 pounds).

I personally would call that a seriously good deal.

Well, she built her own machine on dell and this is what she came up with:

:removed link, does'nt show the parts she chosen:
Would this be a good machine?

Frenchy

Edit: How about you guys giving me some suggestions? All i can find is machines with "average" performance with prices that she is'nt prepared to pay for just a tower.

Edit 2: max she is willing to pay will be £700

Were interested in this one too, it sounds like a fast machine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayI ... ;refwidgettype=osi_widget

Quote from XCNuse :

:S that machine you're looking at has Vista.

Anyways, like Jak has said, her computer seems pretty quick, maybe going up to 2gb of ram would significantly help ontop of a good graphics card.

But if you are interested in buying a new computer, I would check out Dell. I custom designed a computer with 4gb of ram, 3.2ghz core 2 duo, plenty of HD space (for me) 160GB, and left the graphics card at integrated to buy my own for a better deal, and it only costs just over $700 (350 pounds).

I personally would call that a seriously good deal.

erm, i don't wish to call you a liar, but not only could i not buy those parts for £350, i've never heard of a 3.2 GHz C2D

Quote from Jakg :

erm, i don't wish to call you a liar, but not only could i not buy those parts for £350, i've never heard of a 3.2 GHz C2D

jack I think he´s confused or the 3.2 is just virtual.

the X6800 is 2.93 GHz, and i've seen E6300's hit 3.2 on stock cooling, but i think Dell would only ever overclock by about .1 GHz

@ XCNuse - perhaps you got a Celeron or P4 by accident? Remember that Dell use the cheapest mobo's, PSU's and memory - i don't think you COULD put a new GFX card in without a new PSU

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Were interested in this one too, it sounds like a fast machine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayI ... ;refwidgettype=osi_widget

That looks better, although it could do with a better GFX card - i've never owned a 7600GT (well, i've had 2 in the house but i just built the things, never gamed on them). Should manage 8xAA though i'd think

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Palic ... ming-PCs_W0QQfsubZ9155269

wow, there are some pretty powerful machines going here for bargain prices! I think were gonna go for one of these!

Frenchy

erm, Pentiums SUCK, they are not "5.3 GHz", they are a dual core 2.65 GHz - that in NO way = 5.3 GHz

Could you link to the one you think is good? the first one i looked at perpetuated the "2 cores - double performance" myth, described the P4 as an "X2" and tried to get me to buy a 7100GS with 512 Mb of RAM, which gives me a REALLY negative view of the company

IMO it seems their exploiting people with little PC knowledge, this seems ok, but the GPU seems to be a bit naff.

Oh my bad, its a Pentium D processor with dual core technology @ 3.2 GHz if you don't believe me still I'll post a picture of it.

...but P4's suck - a Core 2 Duo is a MUCH better CPU

Hi Nathan,

I have a lot of things to say!

Dont buy Pentium D processors even they are dual cores.They are the 3rd slowest dual-core processors on market after the Intel C2D and AMD Athlon 64 X2.Yould would threw the money for the Pentium D out of the window.

1GB of memory is not enough for smooth Vista running.You need at least 2GB if you want gaming on Vista.Also gaming on Vista makes 10-50 percent FPS drop in some games.Yes,its really sad.

Upgrading the exisitng system would not help a lot as LFS is very CPU intensive game so new graphic card would not boost FPS but only add possiblity to you AA+AF.Also you would need to upgrade the PSU probably as well.

That Packard system above.No way as its so overpriced.I always prefer custom built PC as you get much more for the money you spend.If you cant built it your self as I see its your case there is alway someone who can do it for you and it will be still pretty cheap way.

My suggestion is following for 700 GBP:

Motherboard:Asus P5N-Sli nForce 650
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=MB-221-AS

CPU:E6420
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=CP-146-IN

Case:Thermaltake Mambo
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=CA-026-TT

Power supply:Seasonic S12 Energy+ 550W Silent
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=CA-003-SS

Memory:Team Elite 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz Dual Channel
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=MY-004-TG

Graphic card:HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 V2 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI - this one is so silent
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=GX-065-HT

HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=HD-046-WD

DVD writer:LG multi writer/reader
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ ... duct.php?prodid=CD-053-LG

Thats total 559.15 including shipping cost.

I dont know if that company will built also the system from the components(I heard the Overclockers have very good reputation in UK) if you wish so but I guess somebody would do that for 80GBP.I dont know how it works in UK and what is the usual price for building the PC from components in your country.If 80GBP is not enought then we can change the spec a bit lower but its still several times better machine then the Packard one.Vista home cost around 65GBP in UK if I am not mistaken.

Jakg,
what you think....?

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Were interested in this one too, it sounds like a fast machine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayI ... ;refwidgettype=osi_widget

for 495 its overpriced.

Quote from DEVIL 007 :

They are the 3rd slowest dual-core processors on market after the Intel C2D and AMD Athlon 64 X2

I'd like to point out that unless you count Turions and Core Duo's (not the Core 2 Duo), theres only 3 main families of Dual Cores, and the P4's (the Presshots) are secretly the spawn of satan.

Quote from DEVIL 007 :

That Packard system above.No way as its so overpriced.I always prefer custom built PC as you get much more for the money you spend.If you cant built it your self as I see its your case there is alway someone who can do it for you and it will be still pretty cheap way.

100% agree, you don't need to rely on gimmicks such as "5.3 GHz-z0rz!!!!"

Quote from DEVIL 007 :

Jakg,
what you think....?

/me thinks its VERY good build Nice work, Devil!

Quote from DEVIL 007 :

Hi Nathan,

I have a lot of things to say!

Dont buy Pentium D processors even they are dual cores.They are the 3rd slo..... [snip]

Whoa, nice list there. Thanks alot for all that. She's planning on buying the parts in september/october time because she is going to buy a new car instead. So if you dont mind devil, i may ask for your help again in the future

Thanks for that, and thanks for taking the time to find parts for her. Me AND my sis really apprecitate it

Frenchy

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Whoa, nice list there. Thanks alot for all that. She's planning on buying the parts in september/october time because she is going to buy a new car instead. So if you dont mind devil, i may ask for your help again in the future

Thanks for that, and thanks for taking the time to find parts for her. Me AND my sis really apprecitate it

Frenchy

No problem,
when the right time will come, dig this thread again and send me PM too as my old brain will definately forget.I am always here glad to help to people who deserver it.

With some small modification another 50 and maybe even 100GBP could be saved easily and still having nice system.

Hopefully Harjun will not hijack this one again

Cheers

I will, i really appreciate how much trouble you went through for that. Thanks too Jakg and XCnuse too. You proved helpful too

Frenchy