Hmmm... time for a new PC, help required

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 16 May 2006, 22:13

The 350W PSU should just about be ok with those specs. Antec PSU's are very good but if you can spare a bit more cash (Â£28) then I'd have a look at the Antec Sonata II which is not only better looking but has a 450W PSU.

The 7600GT is faster than the X1600XT which of course is reflected in the price. I prefer the image quality of ATI cards though.

The motherboard I chose is a micro ATX board. I've never used a m/atx board in an ATX case before but I bought one for myself a few weeks ago. It uses a new Nvidia chipset (6100) and supports SATAII etc.
It also has a fairly basic onboard graphics chip which, although shares system memory when enabled, could be used to display a panel or something from FS on a 2nd monitor.

The hard drive is also SATAII and is very quiet (I've got 2!)

It's all from http://www.overclockers.co.uk by the way. I had a look round at other places but didn't findmuch better prices and if the prices were better, the selection was worse.

Quixoticish · Post by **Quixoticish** » 17 May 2006, 00:00

Charlie Bravo wrote:The 350W PSU should just about be ok with those specs. Antec PSU's are very good but if you can spare a bit more cash (Â£28) then I'd have a look at the Antec Sonata II which is not only better looking but has a 450W PSU.

The 7600GT is faster than the X1600XT which of course is reflected in the price. I prefer the image quality of ATI cards though.

The motherboard I chose is a micro ATX board. I've never used a m/atx board in an ATX case before but I bought one for myself a few weeks ago. It uses a new Nvidia chipset (6100) and supports SATAII etc.
It also has a fairly basic onboard graphics chip which, although shares system memory when enabled, could be used to display a panel or something from FS on a 2nd monitor.

The hard drive is also SATAII and is very quiet (I've got 2!)

It's all from http://www.overclockers.co.uk by the way. I had a look round at other places but didn't findmuch better prices and if the prices were better, the selection was worse.

Thanks again Charlie. My current case is a Sonata, so I'll probably plump for the Sonata II out of habit. I'll also probably see about a different motherboard as I'm always wary of on-board graphics, however I'm sure Abit do one that is for all intents and purpose the same, just lacking that one feature.

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 17 May 2006, 06:15

The board wasn't chosen for it's onboard graphics, it was chosen for it's features and low cost price. The next board up with the same features is the Abit KN8 Ultra nForce4 Ultra @ Â£58.69. Don't get the non ultra as it doesn't have SATAII which is what the Samsung hard drive is.