Got A Few Questions.

[agsnowdon]

Hi

My notebook has packed up and I have decided to buy all the components to build a pc in Thailand before I go back to the U.K.

I know a good Thai Gent who has suggested the components and he will build it here so I can see it all working etc then he shall dismantle and I shall take the components back to U.K and buy a case there.

I will be buying in Thailand

Mainboard - Asus K8N-E nForce3 250GB (Socket 754) Motherboard (MB-126-AS)

Ram 2GB kingstone

CPU - AMD Sempron

Graphics Card - XFX GeForce FX 5200 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (AGP)

Hard Drive - 80 GB SATA II

Combo Drive - not too worried on this as long as it’s DVD/RW

Hope you can help with a few questions I have got, reason asking as I wont be seeing him for a week and I have all these questions so I thought I'd try here.

I will be using Asus K8N-E nForce3 250GB (Socket 754) Motherboard (MB-126-AS) . The question I have is on my notebook it has a headphone socket which I used a headphone jack to PHONO to connect the sound to my amp at home as its very powerful and has great sound. Will this mother board have a headphone socket? I have seen a pic of the sockets on it and it has a PINK one for MIC a GREEN one for FRONT SPEAKERS and a BLUE one for LINE IN, is the green one the same as a headphone socket that I have on my notebook? Also is there a wire that connects from the opposite side of where the rear sockets on the motherboard are that plugs into the front of the case where the FRONT headphone and USB sockets are????

Sorry if that confused you just want to make sure I will be able to connect the sound to my amp with a headphone jack to phono lead.

Is there going to be a problem with me buying this and getting him to set it up and get everything running then dismantle the above re-box and take back to U.K? E.G damage etc. (I will be taking it back in my hand luggage. Or any ideas on how to take back to UK other than my hand luggage?

I'm not really a PC gamer but will this setup be able to play games?

I live in Chiang Mai and was thinking of getting the above components myself then taking to him to build but he said some shops sell copied components and I worried that I will be sold copied products. He says he can get everything himself and it will all be genuine (so he says ). What would you do get it yourself or get him to do all the work?

Also he quoted around 14,000 BHT about 200 GBP I looked on overclockers for the above set up and it comes nearer 300 GBP so sounds like it would be a lot cheaper to buy everything here. Do you think his price sounds correct?

I will mainly be using the PC to do a lot of downloading and surfing do you think this setup is suitable?

I shall get Fans, Case, PSU and monitor in UK as I don’t think I shall get all that in my suitcase. LOL OR is there a way to buy everything and bring it back safely and cheaply to UK as paying loads for postage would defeat buying cheap components / monitors etc in LOS.

Well I think that’s all sorry if that was a bit long. I thank you all kindly for your help as I'm sure it will come thick and fast in true TV style.

Thanks Ashley

[Tywais]

Also is there a wire that connects from the opposite side of where the rear sockets on the motherboard are that plugs into the front of the case where the FRONT headphone and USB sockets are????

Don't have time at the moment to answer all your questions but this one is easy. The mainboard has a connector on it to allow you to connect front panel audio jacks and the same goes for the USB ports. Just make sure you get a case with them on the front and you are ready to go.

[agsnowdon]

Also is there a wire that connects from the opposite side of where the rear sockets on the motherboard are that plugs into the front of the case where the FRONT headphone and USB sockets are????

Don't have time at the moment to answer all your questions but this one is easy. The mainboard has a connector on it to allow you to connect front panel audio jacks and the same goes for the USB ports. Just make sure you get a case with them on the front and you are ready to go.

Thanks for that. I hope to see a long and in depth reply from you later.

Seriously though I look forward to your next post. Thanks tywais.

[solo siam]

Forget two gigs of ram just get one gigabyte of the fastest ram possible.

[monty]

Yep, forget 2gb of ram... 1gb is plenty, depending on what you want to do with it I would spend the 3000 Baht saved on either a faster processor, a bigger HD or a better video card...

You simply don't need 2gb, only comes in handy when editing digital video, and you're not going to do that much with an 80gb HD!

Or even better, go for an K8N motherboard (socket 939, about a few 100 Baht more) and take the athlon 64 3000+ ...

Total price with 1 GB ram will be around 2000 Baht more then what you would plan to buy, much faster, and you'll have plenty upgrading paths with the socket 939 (socket 754 will be phased out pretty soon)...

You'd also have a PCI-e graphics card (EN6200TC128, 2100 Baht) faster and much more possibilities to upgrade later on...

And yes, the green plug takes both a headphone, or the lead to your amplifier...

I advise people, even who might not need raw power right now, to go for the cheapest combination on the most recent platform. It's always easy to pop in extra memory, and that ridiculous expensive Athlon FX cpu might be cheap in a year, so it's great if your MB can take it...

[agsnowdon]

I have had a re think and have come upwith this spec.

I will be using it for a great deal of downloading so com will be on alot of the time and some light gaming not really a pc gamer.

Motherboard - ASUS K8N-SX (not sure if that's a 5 or a S) Socket 939

CPU - Athlon 64 3000

Graphics Card - PCI Express 256MB + DVI Port EN6200TC128 (Will this have a TV out or S-Video out?)

RAM - 512 x 2 Kingston DDR 400

Hard Drive - 80GB SATA II

Combo Drive - CDRW/DVD-ROM

For this I have been quoted 18,000 BHT does this sound right?

Any other input welcome to.

Cheers

[monty]

Yep, pretty good price, it aint gonna be cheaper in Panthip ....

Mainboard number is A8N-5X

pretty good mainboard for the price, with the items you quote you've got a pretty good basic PC, which will remain upgradable for quite some time to come! Perfect if you don't need the latest in performance...

It'll play pretty much any game, you'll just have to reduce resolution a step, or reduce graphic quality on the very demanding games...

Easy to improve if you get some spare cash for a faster graphics card in the future...

[Wolfie]

i'd suggest checking out the UK prices before you buy it... its not unheard of for components to be cheaper in the UK.

Try some of the websites, google will help you find some in your area

[MikeWill]

I second a Wolfie' suggestion!

[monty]

Just checked out dabs, it does indeed seems that you won't do any profit with the strong Thai Baht...

Roughly, when calculated at 66 Baht per pound, price will be the same, or even a bit cheaper...

Which makes it a no-brainer when keeping warranty in mind!

For the record, checked the prices in Belgium, and they're about 15% more then the UK/Thailand!!!

[agsnowdon]

Looks like I need to have a think then. IE keeping warranty in mind.

Now not sure what to do?

1 Reason for me doing this is the shop has offered me 14,000BHT for my notebook which has no hard drive (hard drive just broke this week 14 months old). Its a thai brand notebook with Thai/English keyboard and I don't think I'd be able to get rid of it in UK.

What do you think on this? Means I'll only have to pay 4000bht for the above spec.

If anyone would like to post a pice in GBP for each item above and I shall do the same to see what prices we get and it will be interesting to compare

Heres what I make it at...

Motherboard - ASUS A8N-5X Socket 939 - 60 GBP (overclockers)

CPU - Athlon 64 3000 - 85 GBP (overclockers)

Graphics Card - PCI Express 256MB + DVI Port EN6200TC128 - 40 GBP (computing.kelkoo.co.uk)

RAM - 512 x 2 Kingston DDR 400 going to put 60 GBP looked at a few sites and not sure of the exact one.

Hard Drive - Seagate 80GB SATA II - 30GBP (overclockers)

Combo Drive - CDRW/DVD-ROM - 30GBP as an avarage price

So that totals to 305 GBP so that works out at 20,130 BHT (66BHT to GBH)

So I'd save 2000BHT.

Have I done the above calculations correct what do you make it as?

Is it worth the 2000BHT saving?

Cheers