If you're interested I'm selling THIS for £300, monitor and speaker system included.

I'll even throw in a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse. 

2 things:

• I don't have the money at the moment... 
• I was really thinking of building my own system for the experience and knowledge, as it would help in college next year.

I also fancied a quad core system, but the Core 2 Duos are so quick! Tough decision. Sorry CD., maybe if its for sale still when I have the money I will buy it! 

Quote:


...with assembly instructions?

Paul... ...!

..or would that take all the fun out of it?... .... ....!

Your specs:
Dell Dimension 2400
2.66GHz Pentium 4
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 256mb
1gb DDR memory
80gb Seagate hard drive

Actually...to save loadsa money...

To run FS 2004 only...I would just upgrade the Video card to a nVidia 7800GS. 256MB.
Pop in another Gig of Memory....(To make 2 GB).
...and that should do the trick!... ...!

....(My ancient AMD 2600+ (2.1 Ghz) Socket A Processor, and AGP nVidia 78000GS 256 MB Card runs it fine, flat-out!).

(Check your Power Supply Wattage.....)..!

Paul...G-BPLF...FS 2004....Win XP Pro... ...!

Dazzle: If you go with a Socket 775, it might just save you a good few, and some newer 775 motherboards can use DDR3 RAM. But, most likely the CPU wouldn't be able to match what you want. Still, I think it would be a good thought.

I would quite happily shove in a new GPU, but the problem lies in that my motherboard only supports PCI. So its a near impossible task. TBH, I want to build a PC to see how good my problem solving is too, something is inevitably going to go wrong!

DazzleStar wrote on Nov 28^th, 2009 at 3:20pm:


Blimey Dazz!...

I didn't realise your Motherboard was so old...with just "PCI"  and "ISA"slots!.... ...!

My Motherboard is still slightly "old" with PCI slots, and an AGP slot for the Graphics Card.
The latest Motherboards are fitted with PCIe slots, which for me, would mean throwing everything away and starting all over again!.... ...!
But my present set-up works OK with my FS 2004 (and FSX)... ...!

Paul...keeping my Pennies in my Purse!... ... ... ...!

Mazza wrote on Nov 29^th, 2009 at 4:31am:


...show-off!.... ...!

Paul.... ... ... ...!

....^^^^^^....

Remember.... ....

He's 15 years old, still at School....

...and doesn't have any money!... ...!

I tend to start from there!... ...!

Paul.... ... ...!

Well once again i get to the conclusion that there are lots of OBI ONES to help.
Thank you for the posts (Fozzer and NN), i will try to get the 9800gt, my PSU is a 400w one so i really need to get at least a 600mhz.
Many thanks OBI ONES, MAY THE FORCE BE WITh YOU...........................ALWAYS

For the 9800GT, remember that you will need a PSU above 400 watts minimum.

I have to say PSU is the thing I am worried about. I'm planning to have eventually 2 hard drives, 2 optical drives, 5 fans, and quite a highly overclocked system, so I'm really not sure what to get and how much to spend. Maybe a really barebones system of higher quality is what I should be going for.

1. Remember that different components in a computer run a different voltages. Most modern computers (and power supplies) run mostly at 12 volts. Therefore the most important specification is the +12v power (or current) rating not the combined power (aka wattage). For example, if you had a power supply that was 100000 watt but only outputted that at 3.3 volts, then you are doomed because a modern PC runs mostly at 12 volts.

2. It also depends on the power supply manufacturer. Different power supplies are rated in different conditions. For example, some manufacturers use peak output as their wattage rating, rather than continuous. Thermaltake, for example, rate their power supplies at peak rating, which is the peak it can deliver - if you ran it at that rating continuously it would overheat. Different power supplies are also rated at different temperatures, some at an unrealistic 20 degrees, others at 40 or even 50 degrees. We have a brand in Australia known as SHAW. They go up in smoke (literally) when pushed to about 50% of the rated "power".

3. Power supplies also vary in power distribution, efficiency, power quality, build quality, safety features, modularness and noise.


Point is, don't buy generic crap. A 650 watt SHAW will probably catch on fire and take out your system. While a 450 watt CORSAIR might be able to power both of your systems at once.

If you only give me wattage then OK, 400 watt is probably enough. However, I cannot guarantee if it will work.

Here are the only brands I would ever spend my money on:
Seasonic
Corsair
PC POWER & COOLING
Antec (SOME units - read reviews)
Coolermaster (SOME units - read reviews)
Thermaltake (SOME units - read reviews)
OCZ (SOME units - read reviews
Silverstone

Get one with a SINGLE fan, preferably 120mm.

If you want a cheap power supply that's also decent look into the above and also the Coolermaster eXtreme Power Plus 460W (WITH 120mm fan, some are 80mm and apparently sound like jet engines).

Never heard of "TRUST" before, and it has two fans instead of one. Unless you can find a (positive review) on a (well-known) hardware website, then I'm going to have to say that it's generic crap. Go for the OCZ Fatality 550 watt for like 2$ more.

As an example, the higher end Seasonic units are rated continuous at 50 degrees, are extremely efficient, are extremely quiet (silent at some loads), supply very high quality power (for stability), and are modular. They don't slap these high price tags on for nothing.

That PSU is good.


And that card should be good also.