You can do everything with that beast. Get it.

Looks good to me for the money    Only thing I would change if I could is the mobo (I like the nForce chipsets more) and I would get 1gig ram but thats easily upgradable  

Dont like that monitor much though, think you can do better for a few quid more.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_CRT_Monitors_66.html
Hyundai ImageQuest Q770S 17'' Perfectly Flat CRT Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-006-HY)  This one is better IMO, it has a smaller DOT pitch, is flat screen with anti-glare and *probably* has a higher Htz (Not sure as doesnt say what Htz that other monitor does)

FSB = 800Mhz. Proccessor = AMD 64. I don't mind what your opinions are, cos i don't wanna buy a dud machine!
Dan

I've changed my mind... knowing the FSB and CPU (duh, didn't see the pics) I feel better.

If you do get the machine... checkout OmegaDrivers.net. They have taken the standard ATI drivers and tweaked them more toward gaming. I personnaly didn't notice much improvment, but many others have.

I'm not sure how much 700 pounds is exactly, but I figure it's around $1000, and I'd buy it for that much. Like Gixer said, I'd just add more memory. HDD sounds good. Onboard LAN is good. I have the 9800 Pro w/128 and I'm very happy with it. That card alone cost me $450.

Sorry to sound so negative... I am always very sceptical of package machines.

The basic PC, £699, is $1289.77. With the monitor, it would be $1437.38. So then skittles, do you think I should buy it?
Dan

Edit : my oopsey

Quote:
it says in the ad, - "My Arse" is my reply to that for a start!


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If its anything like the "Warranty package" my mate got with an XP1800 "Incredible offer" from Lidl a while back, then if it goes wrong, you 'phone some dimwit at the end of a premium rate phone line to arrange ,at some length, a collection by a parcel carrier such as ANC, UPS or in his case SmashyourParcel Force!

Another thing, AMD cpu's require an NForce chipset to be a reliable & stable platform thats not my view, its the considered opinion of just about every motherboard review I've read.

Quote:
- They've bought a job lot for a knock down price, so imagine how you'll replace a 'duff un?

IMHO, don't touch it with a barge pole!!!

If you don't have a knowledge of PC's,or more obviously, don't know anybody well enough to build your own machine for you, then I'd try this...  

Find a local independent pc store (NOT PC World!) walk in, show him your £700- £800 and get a written/printed contract from the vendor stating exactly your requirements for FS9 to run well at high settings - basically, if the machine he builds you isn't upto scratch, you have rights under the sale of goods act to get the machines specs put right, - hence the written contract. 

If the shop refuses, I'd question his component matching ability!  

I've built many many machines, and with each one, I've always done the above.

The shop don't try to take me for an idiot ,and if they do, trading standards do the rest. 

I'm currently building a similar machine based around an AOpen 6800 GT which is clocking @ ultra speeds with some tweaks!, a p4 Prescott 3.0ghz sct 478 etc etc etc

Its currently on hold, my "customer" seems now to want the newer LGA775 chipset......   so I'm waiting on him to make his mind up!

Ultimately, it'll vastly out-perform the Lame Lidl offering, and not cost very much more.

Your cash ,not mine, you blow it how you want.  

Paul.

P.S. I'm in Staffordshire but would you want your machine delivered by a 44ton Artic?   

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I know that's not true. From every review I've read, It doesn't matter what chipset your using with the Athlon64. VIA and SiS are both good and stable platforms for AMDs. My current board has a SiS 735 chipset on it and its rock stable. In fact I've heard quite the opposite. The nForce 3 150 hasn't been making the cut. It's not unleashing the full power of the Athlon64. That's why nVidia had to release the nForce 3 250 chipset to replace it.

I am using the VIA KT333 chipset and that runs rock solid with my Athlon XP.  I have not had one problem since i got it about 1 year ago.

I gonna have to look at this overclockers place in more detail. You say they are very reputable for their after sales support? I would have built my own, I must have read hundreds of 'Build your own PC' turorials and books by now, but I was scared of bu*gering some small and crucial and EXPENSIVE part in the build.
Dan G

It depend on the res you wanna use in your games. I used to have a 17" TFT and it was very very nice to use. Thing was it had a max res of 1280x1024.  When I ordered my 6800ultra I knew the monitor was gonna be holdin that beast back so I gave it to my g/friend and brought a top notch CRT. I got a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930sb.  This is an awsome CRT. Picture quality is the best I have seen  and it does silly high resoultions 1920x1440 

I would have liked another TFT which would do 1600x1200 but the smallest size is 20.1" and costs about £500  My CRT was about £250 i think. The only thing I thought I would miss from my TFT was the colour vividness but then I found out my CRT has a superbright mode  this intensifies all the colours so its as colourful as a TFT 

If I went for a 17" TFT again I would probably get this one from the overclockers site:

LG Flatron L1710B 17" TFT Monitor (MO-003-LG)
- Silver slim bezel
- DVI-I digital input for reduced loss of signal
- Supplied with DVI cable
- Resolution of 1280 x 1024 @ 75Hz
- Integrated power block for reduced cable clutter and easy wall mounting
- 250 cdm/2 brightness
- 450:1 contrast ratio
- 16ms response time
- Wall mountable - VESA standard 100
- TCO '99 & USB hub
- Comprehensive 3 year on-site warranty

Its £10 more than the other one but it has higer contrast ratio and uses the DVI socket instead of the VGA on thus you get a crisper clearer image.

Not sure about the 'not liking' ati. For sure the board will probably work best with Nvidia g/cards, my brother has same mobo as me with an ATI9800pro. Runs superb and fs9 looks great on it 

Monitors are very important.  A 15" monitor will restrict your max resolution a lot, in fact your max is probably 1024x768 which is why your game runs quite well.  As we spend more on g/cards you need a good monitor to show off its effects 

R u sure your monitor does that higher res? Your graphics card is capable of 1600x1200 but I don't know of any 15"crt that goes above 1280x1024.

17" good quality CRT is the smallest CRT I know that hits 1600x1200. 

Even at 1280x1024 on a 15" everything would be really small I dont think it would be readable at 1600x1200 lol.  Be careful if you try to det it at 1600x1200 I did this once on a 17" crt that didn't support above 1280x1024 and the screen went black, and stayed black  Had to boot into safe mode to sort it out.