Computer System Reviews

This entry will concentrate on September’s offering for a £400 Gaming PC. Any updates from the previous month will be noted in the specific paragraphs.
Full Computer Specification:

Component Specification:

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 S775 2.66GHz:

This intel processor is still from reduced cache family of the new 45nm Dual Cores, however it is about 0.1Ghz faster than last months. Comes with 4Mb of Cache.

Motherboard - Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 ATX:

Middle of the range Intel motherboard, comes with support for Intel’s new 45nm Processors and has a 1333Mhz FSB. Also supports up to 1066Mhz DDR2 RAM. Only has one PCI-e Card slot, so if you were thinking of having a crossfire system, you would be better off looking at another board. However in this price range, having a dual card setup would prove to be too expensive.

Graphics Card - Gigabyte Radeon 4850 512MB:

This month the prices on the new ATI Radeon cards have stabalised a bit more, allowing us to jump from the 3850 to the 4850. A redicolous jump in processing power.

RAM - OCZ Technology 2×1GB PC2-6400 DDR2:

This memory is rated at CAS latency of 4-4-4-15, and at a speed of 800Mhz. This is from OCZ’s platinum range, their highest rated memory range. As such it comes with very low timing, good reliability and very good potential overclocking ability.

HDD - 320Gb Samsung Spinpoint:

320GB is alot of space, that is many thousands of songs and documents aswell as some movies and games. Comes with standard 16MB of cache.

Power Supply - Gigabyte SUPERB 460W PSU:

Gigabyte are generally known for their Motherboards, however this PSU from them is not a bad choice. The 460W is definately going to be sufficient to run the components in this case.

Case - Asustek BLACK/SILVER MIDI CASE:

Redicously cheap case, also has a small footprint with it being a midi case. Also has a tool-less design for easy installation. You get what you pay for though, as the build quality is not the best. However a case for just over £15 you can’t really complain.

DVD Drive - Optiarc (Sony/NEC) 20X DVD+/RW/12X:

Fairly cheap DVD drive, though will write DVD’s at a 20x speed.

Cpu Cooler - OCZ Vendetta:

Not the best air cooler out there on the market, however provides a better cooling solution than the stock fan. Having the fan not mounted align with the CPU, allows for better airflow through the case and better cooling in general.

Conclusion:

More overbudget this month, increase in processor price pushed the system a bit of out budget. So slightly less value for money than last month’s, but still the same performance.