Well, its been a while since I last upgraded my system (manually) and its pretty much reached its upgrade ceiling (See sig).

So, Ill be looking at a new system soon.  I absolutely dont have the time to build from scratch so I need some ideas/guidance on whats current and, more importantly, upgradeable with components.

Max budget is +/- £1600.

My initial thoughts:

C:\ 200Gb
D:\ 500Gb - 1Tb
Raid?
DELL?
Motherboard?
Processor?
RAM? - whats the score with that these days?
Needs to rock at both high-end 2D graphics and games.

Monitor not required unless you can find me an LCD with a 0.21mm dot pitch or smaller!

Thanks.
PS: Please do not suggest buying a Mac - I need peformance, not limp wrists.
 

get what you like ram wise - cheap at the moment
core 2 duo for cpu
Dell lcd which ever size you fancy or samsung all have a low dpi
Mobo seems to be one of the Asus boards, depends on what features you want
If you want 2d graphics and games but not a primary focus get one of the xfx geforce 8800gt cards, if you budget allows more room get two.

2 graphics cards?  :shock:

Damn, tech is running away from me!  

Cheers.

The Dell 30" is really nice, but expensive.

Quote from: Eagle2 graphics cards?  :shock:

Damn, tech is running away from me!  

Cheers.

its mad isnt it! 4 cores, 2 gfx cards, 1.4ghz RAM  :?

Quote from: Eagle2 graphics cards?  :shock:

Damn, tech is running away from me!  

Cheers.

new Crossfire chipset lets you put 4 graphics cards in.  That could be interesting to say the least.  Im considering it if i upgrade next year.  Crossfire a couple of ATi Cards, then add a PhysX card.  That should be NICE.

Thanks guys.  DELL seems the way forward I think but I just dont know what to go for. Precision or Optiplex?  Dammit, why cant they build from the ground up.  Some of the terminology has gone completely over me.

Im begining to feel like...

What about this?...

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q6600 processor (2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB cache)

No Monitor (keeping my CRT)

4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [4x1024]

1TB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe (2x500GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache) Want 200Gb HD for C:\ and another at 500Gb but no option.

16x DVD+/-RW & 16x DVD Drives

768MB nVidia® GeForce® 8800 GTX graphics card

Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Music PCI Soundcard

Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 Speaker System

19-in-1 Media Card reader edit

2 Year Business XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-site support)

£1,615.93

--------

Any good?  Bet I could get better but where?...

With that you will need a 64 bit OS to use the memory.

Personally I would go for a pair of 2GB rather than four singles, will give you a bit of room if it turns up that even that isnt big enough.

I would also tend to skimp just a little on the graphics memory and go for a 512MB card, shouldnt have much if any effect on the speed.

Just as well I asked, eh?  Dell said this config is ok....

Cheers.

A set of 2Gb matched pairs would be ideal but is probably expensive in all honesty.

Graphics card memory really comes into its own when you start high resolution gaming. Natch youve got a monster CRT and will probably be running over 1600x1200 for games, right? That extra memory might come in handy, if youre spending all that on a monster rig I wouldnt cut corners personally.

Whatever you buy i would ensure the mobo takes the new CPU,s(Intel or AMD).Plenty of systems that look really good but with limited CPU upgradeability .
A mobo that supports 2 x 8800 GT would be my choice & buy 1 to start with & add another if you need it.

Quote from: Clockd 0NeA set of 2Gb matched pairs would be ideal but is probably expensive in all honesty.

4Gb = overkill, got it.  Serious did mention too that I wont be able to make use of 4Gb anyway as Ill be running XP Pro.  So, 1Gb matched pairs it is (2Gb).  Thats the same as I have now though?!...  :?  

I guess Im basing my future needs on my curent setup.  It copes fine with even up to date games, in fact too well (as I run a tight ship).  The upgrade in CPU alone should make things faster I guess and I can always add more memory later if needed.

QuoteGraphics card memory really comes into its own when you start high resolution gaming. Natch youve got a monster CRT and will probably be running over 1600x1200 for games, right?

Ive a 19" CRT and 1280x960 is what Im happy with so its probably overkill but a little future-proofed.  Might as well, while I can afford it.

Cheers.

Quote from: bigsteveWhatever you buy i would ensure the mobo takes the new CPU,s(Intel or AMD).

How can I tell?

QuoteA mobo that supports 2 x 8800 GT would be my choice & buy 1 to start with & add another if you need it.

It does, I think - I changed the option to a single 768 from twin 500s (or something)...



Has anyone ever ordered a DELL system?  Seems that their build system is ok but a little inflexible.  The Harddrive set-up on this deal is pants, tbh.  I only want 200Gb for C:\ and 500Gb for D:\.
 

Have you considered a Mesh system?