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budget system

melenkomelenko Member Posts: 19
in Hardware

After getting really wound up by the lack of upgrades for a laptop i've got it sold and starting on a desktop machine. I have space limitations and a budget of approx £400 so have looked at these bits so far.

cube case  www.ebuyer.com/product/122773

asus motherboard www.ebuyer.com/product/148094

cpu www.ebuyer.com/product/148715

ram www.ebuyer.com/product/146049

gfx card nvidia www.ebuyer.com/product/141670 or more likely ati www.ebuyer.com/product/158547

hdd www.ebuyer.com/product/141471

£15 cheap dvd drive, £70 OS

Are there any obvious flaws in this list? or maybe something better to use?

 

Comments

  • GruntyGrunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657

    Non-standard cases often don't have enough room to fit a full size graphics card in them.  Be sure that card can fit in that case.

    "I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone.  It's not.  The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone."  Robin Williams
  • melenkomelenko Member Posts: 19
    Originally posted by grunty


    Non-standard cases often don't have enough room to fit a full size graphics card in them.  Be sure that card can fit in that case.

     

    ive seen this kind of case take an 8800 before, the motherboard lies flat on the base with a shelf above (where the psu and drives are), there is space above where the gfx card would be

  • CleffyCleffy Member RarePosts: 6,413

    The question with a cube case isn't will it fit, its will it be too hot?  Considering the lack of ventilation on this case.  Using a nVidia graphics card isn't the best solution considering how much hotter they run.  You can get an equally performing HD3870, HD4670 that will run cooler in this case.

    You also forgot the operating system that runs about 100 pounds unless you use Linux.

  • SheistaSheista Member UncommonPosts: 1,203

    What kind of space limitations do you have?  Towers aren't -that- big.  Why not just get a regular case?  They aren't that expensive.  I got my case and power supply in a combo deal from newegg, and it was cheap.  Think I paid $60 for the combo.  It's a nice black case with a window.. nothing fancy, but nothing ugly.

  • melenkomelenko Member Posts: 19

    the only place for it to go is on the shelves where the laptop currently lives, i was going to get an antec 300 case until i saw the cube for £30 with the 650watt psu.

    The heat was a worry so ill look into the other cards, thanks for that ^_^ i was worrying that i'd end up taking a dremmel and adding a fan to the lid (actually now i think about this i want to find some nice exhaust vents to go over small red neon fans... oh hell i have to build the thing before i wreck it!)

  • PEBKACPEBKAC Member Posts: 43

    easy thing to do with small cases that i've done in the past get a drimel and drill some slots in the side windows where the fan for your gpu is going to be then you can install a fan to blow air to the card also the same can be done on the other side to help pull air out that way you get a good flow going through

    antec has some nice 120mm tricool fans www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx they are  7£

  • melenkomelenko Member Posts: 19

    Well it's all done and running fine, went with the 9600gt in the end and it's happily running WoW in 1440*900 on full settings.

    Doesnt seem to get too hot in there yet but just in case i stuck with aluminium sides to the case, the're already filled with holes so adding a couple fans in there shouldn't be a problem ^_^

  • BarbitBarbit Member Posts: 40

    Looks ok mate, 

    But like some guys said the case..

    Go with what works right, and the towers work right for cooling, the cube COULD be fine but a tower with the proper vents and fans ARE fine,

    Also you might want to go for 8800GT, it would be worth the small amount of extra money, I really do not think there that much more expensive than the 9600GT,

    And if you go 9800GT be carefull as alot are just flashed 8800GT but more cash..

    In other words, if you plan to play with a HDMI screen go for a proper 9800GT with SPDIF (KEYWORD) or you will have no sound

    if its just a regular screen, e.g 1680x1050 res, then I would go for 8800GT

     

    *Edit* NVM, lol, your done

     

     

  • CleffyCleffy Member RarePosts: 6,413

    There is nothing overtly wrong with the cube case.  It will actually have better cooling then similarly sized cases because the dimensions offer maximum volume for heat dissipation.  The problem was the case accounted for tradtional air-flow rather then making use of the cubes advantage which might create too much heat for hot video cards.  A full tower for example has ventilation holes on the case directly around where GPUs would be situated to allow the air to escape out the side.  On this case there really was no place for the air to escape for GPUs aside right above it into the PSU.  The G92/G84 nVidia chips are notorious for running hot, 60c often considered a normal temp with these video cards.  That would negate the possiblity of using an 8800GT.  The 9800GT is plausible if you used the 55nm version because it dissipates less heat.

  • melenkomelenko Member Posts: 19

    i'll have to get photos of how its all layed out inside lol, both sides are like a mesh for the lower 3 inches so if it does start to get too hot (and currently over 2.5ghz) it really shouldnt be too hard to bolt fans to them.

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