Computer Build

[SwanseaCity]

I am building a computer for my father who wants something which is just used for basic things with a few things that can handle high demanding software, so i sorted out all these components on a compatability pc builder but to make sure it is all ok i want to ask you all to say if things wont be compatible with each other, below are the product codes of the items:
BX80571E6300
GA-EP31-DS3L
KVR667D2N5/1G
GM9400GN2E50X-SB
0761345-00401-5
OCZ550FTY-UK
ST31000520AS
SH-S223B/BEBE


Thanks in advance

[browolf]

we have to look up the product codes ourselves!?

[john]

At a guess I would say from Part Numbers

BX80571E6300 - Intel E6300 CPU
GA-EP31-DS3L - Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3l Motherboard
KVR667D2N5/1G - Kingstom Value Ram DDR2 667 1GB Kit
GM9400GN2E50X-SB
0761345-00401-5
OCZ550FTY-UK - OCZ 550W PSU (UK Spec)
ST31000520AS - Seagate 1TB Hard Drive (at a guess) SATA 2
SH-S223B/BEBE

Sorry the geek in me recognises them

[SwanseaCity]

lol, ok i will put the full things up, i just thought it would be easier when searching in a search engine what they are as then you know you get the right ones but anyway,

PENTIUM DUAL CORE E6300 2.8GHZ SKT775 FSB1066 2MB CACHE BOXED IN ,
Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L Motherboard Core 2 Extreme Socket 775 Intel P31 ATX Gigabit LAN,
1024MB 667MHZ DDR2 DIMM CL5 NON-ECC,
GeForce9400GT/PCI-Express x16 with 512MB 128-bit DDR2 2xDVI-I and HD-TV Out,
NSK-4000II-EU IN (pc case),
OCZ Fatal1ty Series 550W PSU - UK,
HD Int Cuda 5900.12 3,5" 1000GB/SATA/32MB ,
SAMSUNG BULK INTERNAL 22x DVDRW SATA

[t_h]

I would definitely go for more RAM. 2Gb at least. Also, what operating system?

[SwanseaCity]

the ram is going to be two of them to have 2gb, then the OS is going to be both XP and Ubuntu 9.04

[browolf]

what sort of "high demanding software"?

[Little-Miss]

then the OS is going to be both XP and Ubuntu 9.04

why 2?

[SwanseaCity]

Well not exactly high demanding software more like game simulators like flight sim, and 2 operating systems as i understand you cannot open .exe files on linux which many programmes i am wanting to put on need to use.

[EduTech]

Well not exactly high demanding software more like game simulators like flight sim, and 2 operating systems as i understand you cannot open .exe files on linux which many programmes i am wanting to put on need to use.

You could run .exe if you installed Wine

WineHQ - Run Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X

James.

[somabc]

I would get a better CPU (Core 2 quad or Core i7 920) and more RAM (4GB). The price is not that much higher and the computer will last longer. Get a cheaper PSU / Case if you want to keep costs down.

Also consider Windows 7 (64 bit) instead of XP. It can be had fairly cheaply.

[synaesthesia]

Agree with above post. Biggest bonus= you won't have to faff around with getting working SATA drivers which you will have MUCH fun with XP, and 7 will be a fair bit quicker.

[t_h]

I have a very similar Antec case to the one listed and it's not too bad actually for the price but I wouldn't want to go any cheaper.

What I would do is go for a 400w PSU and use the money saved to buy an E7400 Core 2 Duo. I definitely would not go for a Core i7 920 because they are more than double the price of the E7400 plus you'd need to spend around double on your motherboard as well.

If Flight Simulator is the hardest you're going to push the computer then the following will be fine:

E7400 2.8Ghz C2D
2GB RAM (4GB if you can afford it)
Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L Motherboard
GeForce9400GT
NSK-4000II Case
400w PSU
1TB Hard drive
Optical drive

Operating system wise I would stay away from XP if you are buying new. It's like going out to buy Office 2003. If there isn't a compelling reason to use XP then I would recommend going with Vista/Windows 7. Oh, and dual booting two operating systems won't impact performance beyond using more disk space. If you are planning to run one in a VM then definitely go for 4GB RAM.

[SwanseaCity]

What I would do is go for a 400w PSU

You sure that 400 will be enough power? if so then please could someone tell me how i calculate the power needed

[mac_shinobi]

You sure that 400 will be enough power? if so then please could someone tell me how i calculate the power needed

something like so

Thermaltake Power Supply Calculator