Looking at building a new PC

[James]

I've put a PC together on www.scan.co.uk

Gigabyte DS3 motherboard
1GB Corsair DDR2 PC5300
Core2Duo E6300
ATX Case which "looks" nice. i.e. not full of LEDs.
PCI IDE RAID controller to use my current IDE HDDs.


I don't know what graphics card to go for, though. I was thinking of an XFX 7900GS 256MB.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Pro...o.asp?WebProductID=499273

I also need a PSU but don't know what rating I would need. How do I work that out?

It's all at about £450 without the PSU at the moment.

[Hydrobond]

I would highly recommend getting 2GB of ram at this point.  If you are planning on running Vista (64-bit), then just the OS will eat up a lot of the gig. 

As far as power supply, get a name brand one.  The voltages from a brand name PSU are generally closer to spec, you get more ripple with a cheaper PSU.  The PSU in my little case is about 250W and the one in my tower is 350W.  You shouldn't need more than about 300W, even if you have a ton of hard drives, which makes the name brand PSUs a little more affordable. 

http://www.scan.co.uk/Pro...o.asp?WebProductID=284214

edit: And VAT sucks.

[Tynstar]

I second the 2 GB of RAM.

[James]

I was thinking 1GB would keep me going for a while, then I'd get another stick later.

I know I have to reinstall the OS when using the same HDD with new hardware. Would I be able to use the Vista Upgrade version if I use my XP hard drive? Because it's about half the price of the full Retail one.

[Hydrobond]

NEVER NEVER NEVER buy an upgrade version. 

well let me rephrase that.

NEVER NEVER NEVER "upgrade" your operating system.  Always reformat and do a clean install.  I have never had a successful "upgrade".  I have tried it with Windows 98 and Windows Me.  I ended up reformatting in both cases because something didn't work correctly after the "upgrade".  I believe that the upgrade version of Vista will allow you to do a complete install, as long as you can provide a past MS OS to verify that you have the previous version.  But whatever you do, don't use the upgrade process.

Using just one stick of RAM can slow down your computer.  Well, using one stick of RAM will not allow your computer to use the "dual channel" feature, if your motherboard supports it.  When buying RAM, look for the lowest CAS timing you can afford, those will run faster.  And I still recommend getting 2GB.  If anything, get 2GB now and go cheaper on the processor.  (Since the processor is waiting on the RAM most of the time anyways, this will NOT (noticably) slow down your computer.  As long as the bus speed of the two processors is the same.)

[JWKobayashi]

NEVER NEVER NEVER buy an upgrade version. 

well let me rephrase that.

NEVER NEVER NEVER "upgrade" your operating system. 

Let me 2nd that. Operating systems have enough problems on their own. Hacking a new OS on top of older files is a recipe for disaster.

And let me 3rd the 2GB of RAM. I'm running Vista on my work laptop. For about the first week of running Vista, I was using 1GB of RAM (2 512MB sticks). I then bought 2 1GB sticks to replace them. I've noticed a HUGE improvement in how fast applications launch, as well as an overall speed increase.

[James]

Do I really need Vista, though? I'm quite happy with XP for the time being, and it would be £170 less to use the XP disc I've already got. If I keep XP for a while, wouldn't 1GB be enough to keep me going? It would certainly be an improvement over my current 512MB.

2 X 512Mb of the same stuff in my first post is the same price, so am I probably better off getting that?

Also, what's the 7900GS like? The only thing is I would need a DVI->DSub converter and I don't know what their quality is like.

One of my friends recently put a PC together and got this card:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Pro...o.asp?WebProductID=378757

She's got an Abit AB9 motherboard, which is the same price but seems a bit worse than the Gigabyte DS3.

[Tynstar]

I third that and no you don't need Vista.

[Hydrobond]

If you plan on getting 1GB now and 1GB later then it is in your best interest to run with only one 1GB ram module for the time being.  RAM is expensive, and having to discard the two 512MB modules seems wasteful.  So unless you have another computer that would take the 2x512 sticks, I would get the 1x1GB now and a matching stick later.

XP is a fine operating system.  I have no desire to upgrade to Vista, at least not until everything I have will work correctly.  Vista is a beast, and as it is I already turn off all the 'bells and whistles' of XP.  I don't like the idea of an OS being a resource hog itself.  

If you are planning on running Vista in the future, make sure you buy a graphics card that is Vista ready.  (The manufacturer will prolly go out of their way to make sure you know if the card is Vista ready.)  I don't recall offhand what those requirements are.  

[James]

Thanks for the help, guys.

I was reading about OS licences on another forum but they were mainly talking about Vista. Would I actually be able to use my current licence on a new machine? If I'm going to be screwed over by that I may as well get Vista.

I feel like I'm being spoon fed now, so I'll try to cut back on the questions.

I might be buying it bit by bit anyway, to spread the cost. I actually have plenty of money at the moment but all of this is still a large sum. I don't like spending too much in one go and I refuse to get credit.

[JWKobayashi]

I was planning on installing Vista on my home PC, but after running it at work, I'm going to wait. You're still missing driver support on some older hardware (my scanner, several HP printers at the office), as well as being a rather bloated resouce hog. I've turned off most of the exta stuff in Vista- the exception being Aero glass because it's fun .

I guess in other words, build with hardware that is compatible w/ Vista for a future install, but right now there isn't much of a compelling reason. Also, yes, if you plan on upgrading later, just buy the single 1GB RAM stick. You'll save cash in the long run.

Thanks for the help, guys.

I was reading about OS licences on another forum but they were mainly talking about Vista. Would I actually be able to use my current licence on a new machine? If I'm going to be screwed over by that I may as well get Vista.

Are you referring to XP? Do you have the "genuine" Microsoft license sticker on your machine? If so, there shouldn't be a problem.

[James]

Are you referring to XP? Do you have the "genuine" Microsoft license sticker on your machine? If so, there shouldn't be a problem.

I post far too many half thoughts. I'll retry that:

Would I be able to use the XP Retail disc I bought a while ago to install XP on an entirely new PC having already installed it on my current PC? I probably answered that in my second post but the talk of a Vista licence being locked to the hardware threw me off.

[JWKobayashi]

You should be okay on that.

XP requires activation, which is tracked by Micrsoft. However, I believe that they only track each code for a short amount of time. Worst case, you'd have to call them to do a manual activation, but even that'd be a longshot. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Hydrobond]

You get something like 3 question free installs on XP.  I have to call MS to activate every time I reformat my home computer.  It takes about 10 minutes but it always works.  Just be sure to tell them that you only have it installed on ONE machine.  If you tell them you have it installed on two then they will not allow you to activate.

[James]

I was talking to a friend who's in university and he said he can get Vista Retail for about £50, as a student grant thing. It may or may not be strictly legal but it's got me interested. He's going to look into it for me.