Re: FN-FORUM: RE: PC accessories & parts retailers?

date posted 1st May 2005 10:29

Having just had to do the same thing can I add that the PSU is the most
important component and I wouldn't go for a case with PSU included unless
you know what the PSU is and know it to be good. Which is difficult. I'm no
expert but from what I've read lately, in the UK you're best off going for
Enermax, OCZ, Tagan. At a push Antec. Steer clear of Qtec, Thermaltake, .
Theres other better ones but I've not seen UK suppliers selling them unless
they sell under a diffeent brand name (you want to look out for Pc Power and
Cooling .. they were the only ones reccomended by Nvidia for Sli boards.)

And unless you're running a server or shit hot game machine (I'm talking
6800GT SLI, several drives, 64bit 3800 kind of thing) you don't need
anything over 480W. Its not the wattage thats crucial anyway. Its the steady
number of amps across the +12V line. You want as high as possible (24-35A)
and as little variance as possible (+/-0.06A). Simply put, modern components
rely heavily on a as close to perfect a power supply as possible so you need
to give it to them. When you look at manufacturers specs check to see what
operating temperature they're quoting for the figures. Many quote figures
below 20C which is unrealistic and just a case of them massaging them to
look good. Do not scrimp on your PSU.

Heres an example of a pretty good PSU...
http://www.casetech.co.uk/product.php?productid=16559&cat=435&page=1

Theres also the point of how many pins on the mobo power socket. If you go
for a good modern board they've got 24pins, but slightly older (and still
made by most manufacturers) have only 20pins. I wouldn't advise you to mix
them up. The likes of eBuyer don't tell you. I know this to my cost.

As for motherboard, I'd go for a PCI-E, its probably more future proof than
AGP now although AGP certainly isn't dead in the water. But good PCI-E
graphics cards are actually starting to be cheaper than AGP anyway. At the
moment theres no great spead difference as manufacturers haven't exploited
the PCI-E architecture properly. But soon there will be. And look for an
nForce4 chipset. Most good mobos come with 10/100T LAN on board. There are
some options that cater for multiple types of RAM but you can bet you'll
probably need to upgrade to DDR. For PCI-E you might want to look at one
of the Asus A8N boards. For AGP, the Asus a8v. They're just pointers. I
don't work for Asus.

If you're going for AMD then opt for a 939board and a 64bit processor. By
all accounts AMD are going to be dropping most of their board types in
favour of 939's in the future so again you're future proofing yourself a
bit. I can't say anything about Intel as I've never had one.

Graphics cards I'd go for the gForce 6600GT. The 6800 is overkill for most
people and alot more expensive. You'd also need a better PSU. gforce are
better all rounders. ATI are fantastic for games but for serious work
they're still lacking compared to Nvidia. and check out some reviews of
manufacturers. No two graphics cards of the same spec are the same. Like
most things you get what you pay for. If you can't afford a 6600 go for a
6200 but don't go for the 5000 range or anything lower. The 6000 range again
provide a degree of future proofing.

I'm sure Julie can proove me wrong or expand on some of this but this is
what I've found over the last week of hell trying to upgrade/replace a blown
PC and having to send all but the graphics card and CPU back because the
suppliers didn't give accurate information and I was too impatiant to do
additional research. I initially bought from Ebuyer as they're in Sheffield
so I thought delivary would be quick. hmm.

HTH.

Patrick.
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Patrick Ward
colour & noise
http://www.colourandnoise.com/

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