Budget System Advice Please

[Mad Bad John]

This is not my normal modus operandi - but got to put a Sys together for a relation , " money`s too tight to mention" on this baby so my first thoughts are ECS ?

Required spec :- Internet. WP and upgradability ? possible use with Dig Camera later and some gaming :rolleyes:

Any suggestions and advice is most welcome.


MBJ

[Chevy_Avalanche]

ECS K7S5A

[data]

If you are putting a system together form scratch then consider the Shuttle XPC you but the system unit complete and all you have to add is the CPU/MEMORY/HDD/FDD/CD or DV or CDRW and add OS then you have a complete system depending on which one you go for AMD version can go to XP2700+ or the Intel P4 to what ever is the latest P4

there are others beside the Shuttle - Creative have one called the Slix Epox are bringing one out called the Cube System Z and as another alternative there is the ASUS Terminator with this one you only have to add CPU/Memory/HDD normally FDD and CD Rom come as standard - last time i saw the ASUS TERMINATOR up for sale new it was costing £ 96.00+ VAT and Delivery

think you will have to add a modem to the Shuttle types
believe all the above have all the necessary ports as standard but the shuttle types have everything USB FireWire back and front of case and i believe the terminator has the same except not too sure on the Firewire

[Mad Bad John]

Been doing a bit of delving is the K7S6A worth a shuffty ?

MBJ

[Mad Bad John]

PS I`m replacing a IBM AT circa 85 ( mono crt!):D

MBJ

[Fallguy]

Um,
if you can afford an ECS K7S6A, you can probably afford the MSI 745 Ultra which is a better board generally.

I take it you aren't interested in integrated graphics?

Fallguy

[Mad Bad John]

Thanks for your suggestions everybody,

Data I hadn`t considered a Shuttle as a budget sys - but I guess with the decent onboard graphics and a AGP slot it would be a good candidate, the Asus terminator too, although no AGP.

Fallguy the K7S5A & the K7S6A are the same price from Ebuyer atm (£40 )

[mechanic2001]

Might not be the way U want to go but Spectrum computers in Derby [Little Eaton] have got Iwill XP333r MOBO's for £55+vat only 30 day warrenty thay also have a selection of other boards all cheaper same warrenty.

If U R intrested I will dig the phone number out

[CyberdynSystems]

I have been looking at Nforce 2 boards with sound network and Gforce graphics onboard. The boards are pricier,. but then no cards to buy,.. except maybe a modem. To me that is the way to go on the cheap,.. good quality etc.

I was looking at a Leadtek board,.. bit I'm sure there are more out there.

[Terminator]

Originally posted by mechanic2001
Might not be the way U want to go but Spectrum computers in Derby [Little Eaton] have got Iwill XP333r MOBO's for £55+vat only 30 day warrenty thay also have a selection of other boards all cheaper same warrenty.

If U R intrested I will dig the phone number out Interesting where about's in Little Eaton are they ?

[Tweety]

Integrated graphics shouldn't be a problem if the board has an AGP port...

I'd say wait with the graphics and get the Shuttle with an XP 1700-1800... should hold up for most games until later when you plunk in a GF4 Ti4200 or better... If you choose the slightly older one without the nforce chipset it has been coming down in price lately (over here atleast) and should hold up good for the future with both firewire and usb ports plus decent sound and onboard everything...and with the option to add an AGP card...

Another thing to take into consideration is that this will be a fairly quiet setup due to the heatpipe, one of the part usually saved on... cheap sink and and fan on a cheap mobo means the chipset fan will rattle after a few months...also no fan on a gpu will keep the noise down...

[Fallguy]

Originally posted by Mad Bad John
Thanks for your suggestions everybody,

Data I hadn`t considered a Shuttle as a budget sys - but I guess with the decent onboard graphics and a AGP slot it would be a good candidate, the Asus terminator too, although no AGP.

Fallguy the K7S5A & the K7S6A are the same price from Ebuyer atm (£40 )

Hmmm,
if the K7S6A and K7S5A are the same price, I would personally go for the K7S6A, as it is much less picky with RAM in my experience, and you can usually tweak it to perform better.

On the other hand the K7S5A does include a network connection, whilst the 6A doesn't, so if price is really really tight, the money you save on a NIC might be worth it.....

If upgradeability is an issue, avoid the ECS boards like the plague - neither support a 333Mhz processor bus, and hence won't be able to upgrade much beyond a 2600+. And yes I know that ECS claims that 6A supports 333Mhz, they are talking about the RAM speed.... :(

Personally for an ultimate budget system I would go nForce 2, and use the integrated everything (sound, graphics, NIC, etc). If you can afford the Shuttle setup, I would say go for it.

Fallguy

[mechanic2001]

Spectrum Components Ltd
is round the back of the blacksmith on the main drag next to the pub Cant think of the name might be the Kings Head there is a sign normaly on the grass verg A38 side you go as if you were going into the pub car park and hang a left a its just in front of you

[Terminator]

I know where you mean - cheers m8 :)

[reboot]

Hope im not too late for you, but i would go for the gigabyte- GA7VKML
got pro savage8 graphics onboard, put an xp1800 on, plus 128 ddr 2700, and you have a nice setup. if you wanted to up the graphics there is an agpx4 slot,but with the onboard you can play medal of honour ok. should pick the three up for about £125.
alternatively if you're up against it look at the elite(ecs)K7SOM+
with the DURONXP PRO1600+ onboard, add 128 pc133 and you are about £90, onboard graphics are quite good not as good as the gigabyte but ok.

[Mad Bad John]

Thanks everybody - will price up some options based on your suggestions.


MBJ