Check the spec please = )

[simplygreg]

Hi guys,

Thinking of building this... open to suggestions. Not really a huge enthusiast, don't want to overclock and don't want to pay a lot for the top spec products that only give minor differences over lower spec products in the same range. I am mainly a gamer who uses the PC for usual home use things

1) Antec P180 Case
2) E6600 C2D CPU
3) 768Mb 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800MHz, GPU 575MHz, Dual-Link DVI-I OEM
4) 500 Gb Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ
5) NEC DVDRW Dual Layer
6) Abit Fatal1ty MOBO FP-IN9 SLI NF650i SLi, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
7) 600W Tagan Dual Engine TG600-U25 Sli Ready PCI-E SATA EPS12V
8) 22" LG LCD Monitor
9) 4Gb (2x2Gb) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18, EPP
10) Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound Card UK Retail
11) Vista Home Premium 64bit

This would come to £1210 INCLUDING TAX (VAT @ 17.5%)

I am thinking of going for the Quad core instead of the e6600....

TOP budget is around.... £1350 INCLUDING VAT
Any ways to save money anywhere?

Thanks guys!!!

[staffsMike]

I'd change the case to a p182.. just a polished version of the p180.

Consider a different motherboard. It's ok but i'd be looking a an asus p5b/p5k .. very good boards and run nice and cool and overclock well although the 650i is a very easy board to overclock due to unlinked overclocking.

PSU is ok but the corsair 620w HX is better.

The RAM is ok but i'd be tempted by 4 x 1GB for the lower lattencies..but thats down to preference. I don't see a reason for needing 8GB anytime soon..

e6600 is a great chip, unless you have a deffinate need for quad core i.e lots of encoding etc.. I wouldn't bother.

[simplygreg]

Just out of interest, why is that PSU better?

Fair enough about the case = )

The mobo - I don't want to overclock so would any p5b/p5k boards do... the abit mobo originally is £75.78 inc vat - i don't really want to spend lots as i don't want to overclock etc.

[dave87]

RE: PSU

The Corsairs are made by Seasonic, who have created some absolutely awesome PSUs. Basically, apart from who they are made by, they a rock solid - stable voltages, work right up to full load (unlike cheaper PSUs) are modular, and are quiet (single 12cm fan vs 2x80mm in the Tagan).

All in all, a better PSU by design..

[Blitzen]

The mobo???
Why get a top spec rig and use a Fatality board?
Its OK but it lets the rest down tbph.

PSU - Enermax Infiniti or Corsair 620W

[dave87]

I must say the Fatality boards are a bit of a gimmick. Look good but don't perform as well as something like a p5b or p5k.

[NightshadowUK]

If you're not overclocking go with something like:

- Gigabyte GA 965P-S3 iP965 ~ £58.74

Also the 500GB HGST Deskstars 7K500 is supposedly the best 500GB drive. Just make sure you set it to SATA300 using the HGST Feature Tool.

Which LG display are you looking to get?

[Thorsson]

Regarding the Hard Drive. We've been through this several times. Generally Samsung are rated quiet and pretty fast, Seagate cool and have a 5 year warranty. Lots of people like Western Digital, but I think that's a historical bias (i.e. WD were best in the past).

Deathstars have this rather bad reputation. Whether the latest drives deserve it I couldn't say.

P5K seems like a good choice of board.

Prime way to save money = "free" upgrade, is to wait until the July 22 Intel price drops.

[simplygreg]

Hey guys, thanks so much for your replies, as you may have guessed my expertise is pretty limited!!

The monitor i was going to go for was the 22" LG L226WTQ

Thanks for the PSU info ill change that... the mobo i am not sure about gigabyte boards.. i have heard they are a bit unreliable?

Mobo - if i went for a P5B mobo ... i am not looking to spend more than £75 INC VAT on one. Would a Asus P5B i965 suffice?

Thanks!!

I will be buying from Scan most likely... but i am a bit dubious about these price cuts on July 22nd... i have rung them and apparently they know nothing about them!

[Thorsson]

I'll bet they haven't (nudge, nudge, tap, tap).

[simplygreg]

I'll bet they haven't (nudge, nudge, tap, tap).

Anything you would like to share

[IBM]

Do you need the soundcard? Most people get by with onboard sound these days unless you have a particular need for that particular card?

Take the money you save from that, as well as a little more from within your 1350 budget and get yourself a Dell 2407....I got mine for £465 with a five year warrenty just last week if you can stretch that far....

Well worth it, especially with that GTX you've got....

And as for the price cuts, they're not going to tell people about them and risk loosing out to current sales.

[Thorsson]

Sorry, I was just kidding. I'm implying that Scan wouldn't want their customers to stop buying while they wait for the price cut.

Here's where the story originated: Bloomberg

And here's the latest: Dailytech