scotty313's PC Profile

I got interested in computers after I joined GameFAQs.com. I joined it because of my interest in gaming at first, though my posts on the gaming-related boards began to come less frequent, as I visited the DOS/Windows General board. It was there that I learnt the basics of a computer, and many tips and tricks, and general computer knowledge. I then started to get involved with the more 'techy' forums out there, and I now frequently visit Anandtech, DFI-Street, and Overclockers UK Forums, as well as GameFAQs, which started it all off.

A few months after getting into computers on these forums, my dad announced that he needed a new computer for his work (he is self-employed). Because he knew I had a little knowledge on the subject, he asked me to pick a computer for him. Instead, I thought, why not build my own system, and give my HP Pavilion, Pentium 4, 512MB RAM computer to my dad? After much, much, persuasion, he eventually agreed, and allowed me a budget of around £600 for the base system. Since building that system in August 2005, I have had to replace the Antec PSU, the X800 video card, and the MSI motherboard due to failure (none of them my fault of course!!). Despite these setbacks, I am glad I decided to build my own rig, and doubt I will ever go back to buying prebuilt computers for myself.

Vitals

Date Built/Last Mod:	Built in August 2005. Last mod was replacing my dead MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum with a DFI LanParty UT nF
Building PCs for:	Less than 1 year
Future Plans:	I intend to replace the noisy stock cooler on my X1800XT, as my computer is in my bedroom. The next upgrade will probably be the CPU, to a dual core X2, though that is some way off.
Purpose of My PC:	Games, video, music, internet, everything
Internet Connection:	1Mbps Wanadoo broadband

Specs

Motherboard	DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D
RAM/Memory	2 x 512MB (1GB total) GeIL Value
Processor/CPU	AMD Athlon 64 3000+ @ stock 1.8ghz
Video Card	Connect3D Radeon X1800XT 256MB @ stock
Sound Card	Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 Value
Power Supply	Enermax Liberty 500W
Case	Antec Sonata II
Hard Drive(s)	Philips PBDV1640P DVD+/-RW
Optical Drive(s)	Philips PBDV1640P DVD+/-RW
Other Drives	Nope - no floppy here!
Cooling Setup	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU cooler, stock video card cooler, 1 x 120mm Antec exhaust

Other Goodies

Display/Monitor	Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB PATA
Keyboard & Mouse	Dell Optiplex keyboard, Logitech MX510 mouse w/Steelpad S&S mousepad
Sound System	Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers, Sennheiser HD595 headphones
Backup System(s)	My sister's crappy 8 year old HP Pavilion 8520 - Celeron 466mhz, 64MB SDRAM... yeah it's awful!
External Hardware	20GB iPod 4G
Operating System	Windows XP Home SP2
Other Software Used	Opera MSN Messenger Media Player Classic Loads other that I cba to mention, they're probably the main 3 (other than games!)