I'm a newbie, buying a pc, enough said

[ghostfacekillah]

www.microlanduk.com)

Athlon XP 2100+
512mb DDR PC2100
Geforce 4 MX440 (I know this is very weak)
120 GB ATA 133 5400 rpm Harddrive
SB Audigy,
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Motherboard,

It comes with CDR, DVD, a copy of XP, a decent 17inch monitor,
a 5.1 surround speaker system, mouse keyboard etc etc.

Is this any good for the money, and if not, can you direct me to somewhere cheaper?

I freely and readily admit I'm the newest of newbies!

Cheers guys

[Wiggo]

Well it's not far off my PC No.2 except ya start with a faster CPU and larger HDD (though my HDD is a faster one) so ya should do ok with it. Do see what a 7200rpm HDD will add to the price though. ;)
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[ghostfacekillah]

Cheers for the reply.

Yeah if I could i'd have a TI graphics card, and probably a 7200rpm disk. Problem is that if I build up the pc myself it turns out loads more, they offer a discount for that exact system because they sell all the parts at once.

:confused:

[Ehhe Yebeb]

Well first of all i would ditch the GA-7VRXP motherboard, i think wiggo here is about the only person you will find that hasnt had a problem with one, ive heard of everything from capacitors leaking charge, faulty voltage regulators, serious compatability/stability issues, everything you name it. Secondly 7200RPM HDD's are hardly any more expensive than 5400, i think a better video card in your case would be the radeon 7500. Its cheaper than the MX440 and offers better performance in most areas, however the MX440 is still a good card for its price. Dont bother spending the extra money on an ATA133 drive, there isnt a single drive on the market that even comes close to 133MB/s and ATA133 is a stupid standard, stick to 7200RPM ATA100. If you want to cutback a little on the processor, get an XP 1900+ they offer about the best value in terms of mhz/$, and you wont really notice much difference between it and the 2100+. Last of all you said that is about 900 pounds correct? which i think is about $2200aud (i could be way off) for that price you could build alot better system yourself, it will turn out to be less. Someone i know bought a system from scratch (XP 1800+, Asus, nForce board, 17" flatscreen, 32x Write CDRW, 16x DVD, Large tower, keyboard, optical mouse, etc etc) and managed to stay about $2100

[ghostfacekillah]

Ok cheers for the advice, but I stll have a few problems. The reason I'd be buying the system as it is is because nowhere yet have I found a system (built myself or prebuilt) that can offer similar spec for a similar price the reason they offer it at the price they do is because they put it together, and offer a lower price for the whole thing rather than as parts).

I don't doubt that it can easily be done, but I'm having trouble finding any sites that help (don't forget I'm in the uk). I'm confused about the motherboard now. I've read a few reviews of it saying that it is a very good board, and your telling me not to bother with it....help! What do you recommend instead?

If anybody can direct me to good cheap sites on the net for the uk that'd be great!

Cheers

[ghostfacekillah]

[Ehhe Yebeb]

In regards to the gigabyte motherboard, basically alot of people read good reviews, alot of people bought it, and alot of people had problems with it. Gigabyte also have a pretty crappy reputation to be frank, and i dont think it is all that much better with the release of the 7VRXP. As an alternative i would say anything from Abit (KX7, AT7) Soltek (75DRV4, DRV5), MSI KT3 ultra, Epox (8KHA, 8K3A) Soyo, shuttle AK35GTR, those are all decent boards. Anyhow try asking the shop if they will put in another board, i cant remember how many times ive heard now "Review sites said this board was good but it sux" (in regards to the Gigabyte board)

[ghostfacekillah]

Ok I'll ask about it when I phone them to order. They seem pretty good when it comes to changing things, they offer the Abit K7 for about 20quid more I think.

[Wiggo]

Just ask them if they're using version 2 of that Gigabyte board and if they are then get it. The problem with eariler versions (1.0 and 1.1) were only of certain batch related ones and we heard I think on those and not some more of the better so play it safe and don't get the earlier versions. ;)
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[ghostfacekillah]

Ok cheers I'll ask that when I phone. As for the rest, does it sound reasonable?

[Wiggo]

It sounds reasonable to me but I'm not up to well with the exchange to there. ;)
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[Ehhe Yebeb]