Iron Edge
Iron Edge => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Meeckah on April 20, 2009, 10:03:50 pm
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I have a budget of 2000 pounds. I was going to buy an alienware for 3000, but I've decided to cut back and save my money.
This must also include an awesome monitor, mouse and keyboard as everything I currently have is falling to pieces.
Build/find me a computer!
[Edit: I've built a computer once and its quite loud cos I can't keep the cover on as it overheats. I'm a watercooling noob and if a complete system isn't bought would want watercooling but would have no idea what I need - if anyone could help on this, I'd be grateful]
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1 Cooler Master Centurion 590 Zwart € 59,- € 59,-
1 Cooler Master Real Power M700 € 93,25 € 93,25
1 Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset € 26,06 € 26,06
1 Creative X-Fi Titanium € 65,80 € 65,80
1 Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P € 213,70 € 213,70
1 Intel Core i7 920 € 246,- € 246,-
1 Logitech G51 € 99,- € 99,-
1 Logitech MX518 € 29,- € 29,-
1 OCZ Alchemy Elixir € 24,- € 24,-
1 OCZ Gold Low-Voltage OCZ3G1333LV6GK € 76,12 € 76,12
1 Samsung SH-S223F € 16,10 € 16,10
1 Samsung Syncmaster 2443BW € 244,75 € 244,75
2 Sapphire HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E € 208,52 € 417,04
1 Scythe Mugen 2 - SCMG-2000 € 32,30 € 32,30
2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500410AS, 500GB € 48,36 € 96,72
Total: 1740 euros.
Could buy a SSD harddisk instead if you have 300 pounds left and some other HDD then.
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Ok, That seems pretty good - here's one I'm trying to figure out - You'll have to tell me:
A) Whether it's worth it
B) Whether everythings compatible
(Last time I made a computer was 6 years ago... and its the computer I'm still using)
Case
Coolermaster RC-1100 Cosmos S "Sport" Silent Full Tower Case - Black
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-156-CM&tool=3
PSU:
Akasa AK-P120FG 1200W Xtreme Power Supply
£166.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-029-AK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
Motherboard
Gigabyte EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
£234.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-155-GI
Processor
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
£229.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-265-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272
Graphics Card(s)
BFG GeForce GTX 295 1792MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£494.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-082-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1324
RAM
OCZ Reaper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-15000 (1866MHz) Tri-Channel
£114.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-136-OC&tool=3
Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
£109.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-168-SE
Optical Drive
LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive
£74.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-080-LG
Monitor
Asus VH226H 22" Widescreen True HD LCD Mon
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-AS&tool=3
Keyboard
Razer Lycosa 'Mirror Special Edition' Keyboard
£65.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-035-RA&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=1258
Mouse
Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse
£57.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-113-LG&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=1257
Mouse Mat
Everglide Titan MonsterMat Gaming Surface
£18.39 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GS-015-EV&groupid=702&catid=32&subcat=
Headset
Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
£28.74 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-091-CL&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=502
Random Bits
Ties Etc:
£4.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-003-AK
Total Price:
£1946.48
I'll buy the water cooling and another GFX card with next months pay check.
Can people check this over to see whether it's worth it and whether everything is compatible and whether I've left anything vital out (I can probably stretch another £200)
I THINK it have on board sound (I'll probably buy a sound card with next months pay check anyway) but am unsure. Also unsure about whether Tri RAM is right and unsure about the GFX card (though I want something super powerful)
Also I want a GFX card that supports Dual Screenage - I believe this one does - but just checking with you guys.
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Jesus, what a waste... Spend £800 and go on holiday instead!
Or... buy some more games, now that you're a casual!
£2000 is totally OTT for a gaming rig :P
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£500 on a graphics card... jesus christ even I think that's absurd O_o
I can only strongly advise you to spend a little less on the gpu (ati or nvidia, gtx285 or an HD4890) and spend the spare on a nice set of speakers and sound card - that will impact your gaming experience more.
As for headsets, I have a creative one lying around (had to pick one up when I needed one and hadn't remembered my usual one) and it's just not that great - it even has its own special problems that can occur when using vent (even on different pcs). Go with a sennheiser thjinger, or if you don't want that I think nox can recommend you something as well.
As for soundcards, X-fi titanium fatality thing. Speakers wise, poke around intrawebs for some nice 5.1s or even nice 2.1s.
You might also want to consider corsair's dominator brand ram. The ram is far, far from being the most expensive part of your machine (especially when you're building one to this kind of budget and spec) so the relative cost of investing in some lovely quality stuff is low.
You appear to have entirely overlooked a CPU cooler (keeping the reference cooler for a corei7 cpu?! wtflx man, wtflx).
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8444/cpu-tri-57/Thermalright_Ultra-120_eXtreme-1366_RT_CPU_Heatsink_Socket_LGA_1366.html?id=XRGE5NsB
There is also a copper version available of this cooler. THEY ARE VERY VERY GOOD COOLERS.
regarding dual screens, don't worry, nearly all gpus now have 2 dvi outputs and usually an s-video or hdmi as well.
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Really 2k is too much to spend on PC.
I think not playing WoW has affected your brain. ^^
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Case
Coolermaster RC-1100 Cosmos S "Sport" Silent Full Tower Case - Black
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-156-CM&tool=3
This even comes with no PSU... wtf! £200 for a case with no PSU? And full towers are a complete waste. You never need that much space in a case. I fit 2 dvd drives, 4 sata drives and a fucking GIGANTIC graphics card into my midi tower. A midi tower is also nice for transport (for lans n such).
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/108273 - It costs £13. It's the Ronseal of cases. I.e it does what it's designed to do... Hold a computer. It's not made from the same material as the space shuttle. Downside: It can't handle re-entry.
PSU:
Akasa AK-P120FG 1200W Xtreme Power Supply
£166.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-029-AK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
Nobody needs a 1200W PSU. Nobody. A decent 6-700W one will power everything under the sun. And save you £100. Unless you run 2 9800 GX2's in SLI... then a 900W will do you fine.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159921 - I like antec. Had my current PSU (with a 9800 gtx and 8400 (both overclocked) and 4 sata hard drives) going without fault for 2 years. Also note that it's certified for SLI (who certifies these things, I have no idea) - that means it'll run 2 graphics cards. You've only ordered one. It's still well above your power usage, but if you want to add a kettle and possibly a tumble dryer to your pc, you're well in.
Motherboard
Gigabyte EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
£234.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-155-GI
I've not bought a motherboard in the past year, but £250 for one seems a bit OTT. Just looking now, i7 ones seem a bit expensive... save yourself some cash and don't buy one that'll run your pc and wash your car/cook for you/etc... especially if you follow Kawe's advice and get a separate sound card - You don't need home theatre on the motherboard aswell.
Graphics Card(s)
BFG GeForce GTX 295 1792MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£494.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-082-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1324
Waaaaaaay overpriced. If you're going to spend £500 on a graphics card, make sure u can't get it somewhere else for £400.
Monitor
Asus VH226H 22" Widescreen True HD LCD Mon
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-AS&tool=3
You spend £500 on a graphics card and you only get a 22" monitor? You are thinking small! I can highly recommend the Dell 24/26" monitors... or even go as far as Mike and get yourself a 30" beast. Hell, buy 2. The gfx card has 2 heads.
Mouse
Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse
£57.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-113-LG&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=1257
While the G9 is a good mouse, I would recommend you get the earlier model G5. Just a better mouse.
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For 2k u can get a decent computer, used car in good shape and two Russian blonds for every day use...
Seriously WTF man?
As Dell said, a nice holiday trip is always a good option!
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I've always just bought last years new stuff.. and it've never held me back from playing most games with hc gfx settings (except the sick ones requirering dual-sli etc). Go with the stuff that was the shizzle in December'ish '08, and spend the rest on something else man.. If you wanna spend this money on 'gear', get a camera/iphone/itouch/psp/ds i or whatever. Else, like others suggested, go some where :)
What ever you do, I hope it works out for you!
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I bought a new custom high-end gaming PC last winter for ~800 Euro (without monitor). It runs every game perfectly, and will do so for a long time.
2000 pounds is a ridiculous amount to spend.
When I get back home I'll post the component list.
Edit: Regarding watercooling - the biggest noise factor in your PC will prob be the graphic card fan. I spend extra money on a 4870 heatpipe/fan combination (Sapphire 4870 Toxic), it was the most silent card of that caliber. I don't think there are watercooled gfx cards, for the CPU I don't think it's necessary - you buy good, big & slow fans instead. I don't hear the CPU or PU fan in my system.
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Yar, you only hear high-pitched noises from computer fans. The big 120mm fans are pretty much inaudible (and bass, not treble), unless it's less than a meter from you.
Don't go above a 24" screen, you'll have to turn your head to see the corners, and that's really crap. But get a nice 24" screen... a really nice one :)
I liked your responses Kesh, they were quite funny!
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Rich brit is rich.
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Case
Coolermaster RC-1100 Cosmos S "Sport" Silent Full Tower Case - Black
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-156-CM&tool=3
This even comes with no PSU... wtf! £200 for a case with no PSU? And full towers are a complete waste. You never need that much space in a case. I fit 2 dvd drives, 4 sata drives and a fucking GIGANTIC graphics card into my midi tower. A midi tower is also nice for transport (for lans n such).
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/108273 - It costs £13. It's the Ronseal of cases. I.e it does what it's designed to do... Hold a computer. It's not made from the same material as the space shuttle. Downside: It can't handle re-entry.
PSU:
Akasa AK-P120FG 1200W Xtreme Power Supply
£166.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-029-AK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
Nobody needs a 1200W PSU. Nobody. A decent 6-700W one will power everything under the sun. And save you £100. Unless you run 2 9800 GX2's in SLI... then a 900W will do you fine.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159921 - I like antec. Had my current PSU (with a 9800 gtx and 8400 (both overclocked) and 4 sata hard drives) going without fault for 2 years. Also note that it's certified for SLI (who certifies these things, I have no idea) - that means it'll run 2 graphics cards. You've only ordered one. It's still well above your power usage, but if you want to add a kettle and possibly a tumble dryer to your pc, you're well in.
Motherboard
Gigabyte EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
£234.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-155-GI
I've not bought a motherboard in the past year, but £250 for one seems a bit OTT. Just looking now, i7 ones seem a bit expensive... save yourself some cash and don't buy one that'll run your pc and wash your car/cook for you/etc... especially if you follow Kawe's advice and get a separate sound card - You don't need home theatre on the motherboard aswell.
Graphics Card(s)
BFG GeForce GTX 295 1792MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
£494.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-082-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1324
Waaaaaaay overpriced. If you're going to spend £500 on a graphics card, make sure u can't get it somewhere else for £400.
Monitor
Asus VH226H 22" Widescreen True HD LCD Mon
£172.49 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-013-AS&tool=3
You spend £500 on a graphics card and you only get a 22" monitor? You are thinking small! I can highly recommend the Dell 24/26" monitors... or even go as far as Mike and get yourself a 30" beast. Hell, buy 2. The gfx card has 2 heads.
Mouse
Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse
£57.98 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-113-LG&groupid=702&catid=23&subcat=1257
While the G9 is a good mouse, I would recommend you get the earlier model G5. Just a better mouse.
Just a couple of things: largely speaking, PSUs that come bundled with cases are pretty crap. Additionally, there is more to a PSU than the wattage. Same goes for everything when buying parts yourself for a computer... READ READ READ. Find and read reviews before buying.
G5 is better than G9 only if you cannot adjust from the shape they used for so long (higher dpi, smoother coaster thingers - though you can get stuff to stick to the bottom of a g5 to help with that) :P That said, there is a new grip out for g9 anyway, just waiting for it to be available outside USA...
Regarding a case...
I can't reccommend putting 2 grands worth of components - top end components that pump out a LOT OF HEAT - into a cheap'n'cheerful 13 quid case. Reverse snobbery will smite you at some point for that.
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Rich brit is rich.
The government pays me well!
Ok, so after listening to some of your points, I've changed the setup a lot - Here's the new idea.
Large Edit is large - Going for Dell's advice since my desk is small and only going for a 24 inch monitor.
Case:
Antec 300 Three Hundred Black Case - No PSU
£46.21 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854/show_product_reviews
As much as you suggested a super cheapo case, unfortunately I like the idea of a case which looks mildly nice. This one isn't the 15 quid which you suggested, but still 130 quid cheaper than my first one.
PSU:
Antec TruePower New 750W Modular PSU - 80plus Bronze and SLI Certified 3x SATA
£102.57 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159921
You can actually get this case and PSU in a bundle and save a fiver:
Now £143.79 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/bundle/W98BTQPB8
Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R iX58 Socket 1366 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
£157.60 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/156172
Still wanted a reasonable Motherboard - and I like Gigabyte - I've generally had good experiences with them in the past - I heard Asus is good too, so if anyone can suggest a good Asus or Abit Motherboard, I'd be interested
Processor
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 8MB Cache OEM Processor
£232.39 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161171
2 Pounds more expensive than the overclockers one for the exact same processor... but delivery etc... will make it cheaper in the long run.
RAM
Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Dominator Memory CL8(8-8-8--24) for i7 Motherboards
£129.99 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152641
Taking Kawe's advice here - getting some nice Corsair - This one seems specifically designed for the kind of Motherboard I have too - so they should work well together.
Graphics Card:
BFG GTX285 1024MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card
£301.53 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158322
Hard Drive:
Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB Hard Drive SATAII *32MB Cache* - OEM
£73.98 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143288
Decided I probably didn't need more than 1 TB - Well not until I get a new computer anyway
Optical Drive
LiteOn 20x DVD±RW Dual Layer & Ram + Lightscribe IDE Black Bare Drive - OEM
£15.29 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126226/show_product_overview
Figured if I really wanted to watch Blue Ray stuff... I could watch it on my PS3
Keyboard:
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard - USB - UK
£40.37 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119595
Mouse:
Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 2007 Edition - USB
£33.35 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126433
Monitor:
LG W2442PA-BF 24" Full HD Monitor 1920x1080 300cd/m2 10000:1 (dynamic) 16:9 Black 3 Year Warranty
£215.48 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159946
Cooling:
CPU Cooler:
Asus Triton 88 Socket i7, 775, 754, 939, AM2+ Processor Cooler
£51.15 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158469
Only one I could find which specified "i7" or the correct socket number.
Fans:
4 x Hiper 120mm HiperFlow Chrome Blade Case Fan With Blue LED - 3pin Adaptor with Screws
£7.49 inc vat each
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124810
Two for the case and the CPU cooler accepts more
Headset:
Speedlink SL-8795 Medusa 5.1 Mobile Edition
£44.85 inc vat
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/109427
Total Price: 1568.37 (Including Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard and Headset)
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You could almsot purchase 2 macbook pros with that budget.
And that is saying alot.
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Yes, it's saying I don't like macbooks.
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Midi-Tower Coolermaster Centurion 534 black
Seasonic ATX 430 PSU
512 MB Sapphire Toxic HD4870
Mainboard abit IP-35P
CPU Intel E8500
Arctic Alpine 7 CPU fan
2x 2GB DDRAM PC-800 DDR-II
500 GB HDD + DVD burner
I paid 803 Euro for that, and I have yet to encounter a game that doesn't run fluid on max settings. Also, I bought this back in November so you either get similar stuff cheaper by now or slightly better stuff for the same price.
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You could almsot purchase 2 macbook pros with that budget.
And that is saying alot.
Macbook Pro is way too expensive for the shitty hardware in it.
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G5 is better than G9 only if you cannot adjust from the shape they used for so long (higher dpi, smoother coaster thingers - though you can get stuff to stick to the bottom of a g5 to help with that) :P That said, there is a new grip out for g9 anyway, just waiting for it to be available outside USA...
verse snobbery will smite you at some point for that.
True enough. Though, I do like the g5 shape a lot better :( Adjusted to the g9 now, but that g5 grip sounds interesting. Give EU distribution!
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You could almsot purchase 2 macbook pros with that budget.
And that is saying alot.
Macbook Pro is way too expensive for the shitty hardware in it.
Qft!
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Just in case you're curious, I bought it today:
Item: BFG GTX285 1024MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card
Qty: 1Cost: 262.20
Item: Hiper 120mm HiperFlow Chrome Blade Case Fan With Blue LED - 3pin Adaptor with Screws
Qty: 4Cost: 6.51
Item: Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB Hard Drive SATAII *32MB Cache* - OEM
Qty: 1Cost: 60.86
Item: LiteOn 20x DVD±RW Dual Layer & Ram + Lightscribe IDE Black Bare Drive - OEM
Qty: 1Cost: 13.29
Item: Speedlink SL-8795 Medusa 5.1 Mobile Edition
Qty: 1Cost: 39.00
Item: Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard - USB - UK
Qty: 1Cost: 35.23
Item: Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 2007 Edition - USB
Qty: 1Cost: 29.93
Item: LG W2442PA-BF 24" Full HD Monitor 1920x1080 300cd/m2 10000:1 (dynamic) 16:9 Black 3 Year Warranty
Qty: 1Cost: 187.37
Item: Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz XMS3 Dominator Memory CL8(8-8-8--24) for i7 Motherboards
Qty: 1Cost: 111.12
Item: Corsair 850W TX Series PSU - 140mm Fan - 5 Year Warranty
Qty: 1Cost: 99.19
Item: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R iX58 Socket 1366 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Qty: 1Cost: 136.93
Item: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 8MB Cache OEM Processor
Qty: 1Cost: 202.07
Thermaltake VE2000BWS Armour LCS Super Tower - Black (No PSU)
1 £115.64
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Much more sensible :) Nice one!
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Sounds awesome :)
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On-board sound is teh suckage, get ur self a nice Creative sound card, they are cheap and lethal :)
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On-board sound is teh suckage, get ur self a nice Creative sound card, they are cheap and lethal :)
Nowadays it's actually not that bad....unless you're really into audio.
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Only an issue if you use standard copper wires. Just use the digital output into a proper hifi and you're golden!
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Only an issue if you use standard copper wires. Just use the digital output into a proper hifi and you're golden!
digital output and proper hifi
if only :( I have the output but ...
gief hifi :)
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om nom nom sound card (http://yu.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=17813)
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What's the benefit of an extra sound card...?
I have onboard sound since my previous computer, and there's nothing to complain about; plugged into my hifi system, stereo only/no surround.
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For those still interested I finally got it all working today - will be a few days before I get everything installed as I'm doing it whilst having long days at work and leaving parties in the evening. I'll take a photo at some point, but lets just say, those who saw how bad condition my pc was at i34 won't be laughing anymore!
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I'd suggest you get a cheap 80gb SSD aswell imo. They don't cost that much if you buy a cheaper brand. They all run well, and it makes your system boot up with a matter of seconds.
You can always put it in afterwards.
OH AND PUT NEONLIGHTS IN IT FOR EXTRA AWESOMENESS!