Abit of help please =)

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 12:10 PM

Heya,

a friend told me to ask here for help, so i guess i will :]

since the psu blew on my old one... (yay for skimping on the psu =.= ), i'm thinking of buying a new pc, and it will mainly be used for gaming, some movie editing, etc, so i want it powerful and all.

currently what i've put in the basket is the stuff in this;

*edit* i cant post a url from photobucket yet, and i dont wanna spam your forum, so iguess i'll type it >_<

2 x Seagate ST3250310AS 250GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM = 2 x £30.58 = £61.25

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty = £58

ABIT IP35 Pro iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard = £90

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor = £110

ASUS 9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card = £146

Antec 650W Neopower Modular PSU - Blue LED 12CM Fan - £75

what i'm wanting help for is to ask if this is an ok spec, what could be improved or changed, if anything does need changing. are any parts really not good, change model or brand etc?

Thanks in advance :] (p.s. sorry if this is posted in the wrong place!)

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 12:13 PM

How about changing the hard drives for one super speedy Western digital 640GB HDD. You won't be dissapointed by this things performance and it's £10 cheaper.

Then in you plump for the corsair 520W HX or 650W TX (~£65, seasonic made, super silent). You will have saved £20, improved on quality and speed

You could use that £20 for a nvidia 260GTX

http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=831078

How about CPU cooling, are you overclocking? Like things quiet?
http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=700899

This sort of thing will do both well and can be had for £17 when it features on scans today only deal page.

I guess at that CPU price you could also consider the Q6600, lower clocks but over 4 cores. This will benefit with either multitasking now (video encoding while gaming) and future multithreading games.

If you do go dual core you can save a bit of money with the E7200, which overclocks to around 3.5GHz with relative ease anyway, not that you need more than 2.2 - 2.4GHz for gaming anyway..trust me

**Lanky123** · 31-08-2008, 01:03 PM

I presume you're using the case from your old pc? What operating system are you planning on running?

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 01:25 PM

hmm, i'll either use that yes, or get a new one, but don't really need help with that bit x]

i'll be running vista i think

oh, and thanks mike ^_^

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 02:15 PM

Just noticed you said E8200 and not E8400.

www.scan.co.uk/todayonly , E8400 (3.0GHz) is £108 there, get to 20 posts and your delivery will be free too

There is also the E7300 (and £10 cheaper E7200) which have 1066MHz FSB. They have half the cache but this makes little different to high res gaming with a decent gfx card and the lower FSB means overclocking is eaiser on your motherboard and RAM

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 03:03 PM

i'm abit sketchy with the overclocking; i've never done it and i would probably mess it up if i did =X

so i'm kinda just looking for something that has good performance w/o overclocking, but if i did learn how then even better, so compatability for o/c.

the parts i have atm, they're all fine with each other yes? (i changed the gfx card + psu to what you said mike)

also, in regards to cases, i have a antec superlanboy i think its's called...is that ok to use again, or should i get a new one? and another thing (gosh, sorry), will i need to buy fans or it, or do they come with something that i can buy (eg. case?)

=X

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 03:10 PM

That case isn't too bad at all

The 260GTX is 10.5" which I think should fit happily in there, two 120mm's is certainly basic but functional cooling these days.

A cheap case with better cooling would be the Antec 300 ~£35. If you want a decent case for, cooling, drive management, noise and cable management then I think the coolermaster CM-690 is still great value at around £60 (used to be £45

)

Overclocking intel chips is pretty simple these days, have a look at this
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...beginners.html

Not to worry if you don't want to though. Grab the E8400 and you won't need to anyway. The lower frequency chips I mentioned are still going to be all you need for gaming if you want to save money though. 2.5Ghz is ample.

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 05:16 PM

right, well taking on board your advice, i've changed the psu, hdd, and changed the gfx card, and i've decided to get that coolerm case, since i kinda want to keep this one anyway incase all my other comp needs is a new psu (doubt it though x] )

so overall i've come out with;

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime

ABIT IP35 Pro iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

Coolermaster CM690 Dominator Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU

Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM

650W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, energy efficient, quiet & cool, fully compatible, 5yr warranty

896MB Gainward GTX 260 PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1998MHz, GPU 576MHz, 192 Cores, 2x DL DVI/HDTV <-- that's out of stock on scan, so should i buy the asus 9800gt?

Intel Core 2 Duo, E8400, Wolfdale Core, S775, 3.0 GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB Cache, Retail

all together it seems to be just over £600 =]

sound ok?

is there anything else i will need to get it up and running etc?

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 05:20 PM

Sounds perfect to me. For noise and coolings sake I would probably get a different cooler but try the stock one first if you aren't overclocking. I can be quite quiet under the right conditions.

One tip with that case is to move the fan on the side panel to the bottom of the case next to the PSU, cools better and is quieter.

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 05:36 PM

thanks Mike.

i just realised, i will need a soundcard wont i? =X

i have one in my old computer, so can i use that? or is there one built in? i'm abit of a newbie when it comes to comps ^_^

i hope there's nothing else i've forgotten :\

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 05:37 PM

Built in 7.1 and it's not bad either

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 05:41 PM

okay, thanks so much mike, you've been so helpful ^_^

now i just gotta chose whether to wait for the gainward or just buy the asus

will there be a big difference?

again, thank you ^_^

**Lanky123** · 31-08-2008, 05:44 PM

Make sure it's a 64 bit version of Vista or you'll only be able to use about 3GB of that RAM.

Assuming you're buying from Scan then don't forget you get free delivery if you reach 20 posts on here. Also wait for a good Today Only before buying since you can save a few quid that way.

Edit: Mike mentioned that bit, my bad.

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 05:46 PM

ah, it's 20 posts on here?

is that on all of the forums or just this hardware forum

i don't wanna spam your forum lol, but i want to order the pc asap hehe.

and yeah, a friend warned me about the 64 bit bit, so it'll have to be that ^_^

**staffsMike** · 31-08-2008, 05:47 PM

Well weekend today only's are usually the best, so either now or next friday

No big difference. Just the warranty after the first year (with scan) will be to your respective manafacturer.. and asus aren't very well regarded in this area lol

how about leadtek?
http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=849682

Most of my cards are leadtek and all very good

**fastxfurious** · 31-08-2008, 05:51 PM

ah, thank you very much ^_^

i think i'll take your word on the leadtek being very good, and it seems the specs of that card are grand, so that'll be my chioce

and to get the free postage i just had to get my posts on here, then what, create a new account on scan and they'll like link it up? ;x

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