Requesting advice on fairly high end gaming machine purchase.

[Zhou Yu]

Hiya, been preparing for a new comp for some time, chiefly to play et:qw on (whenever it comes out ^_^) but also in time for crysis/ue3 and other big games. I've been using hexus a lot for reviews etc but only just realised that it would be intelligent to post a system preview on the forums to get feedback :>. So here it is, a basic idea of my probable system for you guys to rip apart with your techno-god hands ;p


Essentially I'm going to order on the weekend so parts come in time for the end of my exams (next thursday). This is my first home built computer so I want to be pretty sure and careful about the specs. This is why I am enlisting your help (whether you want to or not!). Yell if there are parts that are overpriced or that you have had problems with or that are just simply better.

Anyway, let the listing commence!

component:.........ocuk:..........scan:

asus p5k mobo......................97.42
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=590765

E6600...................................195.04
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=430633

xfi extreme gamer....................117.49
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=503577

zalman cnps9700....................33.95
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=480705

crucial 2gig pc6400.76.36
overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-090-CR

samsung 500gb.......................68.05
scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=494552

leadtek 8800 gtx....................351.31
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=496747

corsair hx 620w.......................97.51
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=446787

g5 mouse - black....................41.94
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=592596

g15 keyboard.........................51.34
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=276391

optiarc ad5170.......................19.59
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=540218

vista home premium.................64.50
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=527301

akasa TIM cleaner...................3.75
overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-000-AC

arctic silver 5 3.5g...................4.45
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=403502

akasa fan controller................25.85
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=257657


total with vat .84.59...1056.69
postage ........8.........10.43
total total......92.59..1067.12
super total...........1159.71


More info:

Before anyone asks I am not sure whether I am going to overclock, not done it before and it seems a bit mistyfying/dangerous. But if in the future I want to OC I am trying to leave myself some headroom to fiddle in.

Budget-wise 1.3k pounds sterling is the very limit of what I can really go to.

The comp is meant to be fairly light weight (hence the aluminium chasis) as I take it to friend's houses for lans every so often, also hence the lack of a massive tower cpu cooler.

Case was bought last christmas and is a silver thermaltake armour full tower chasis. Just to be original I am going for a silver/blue highlights theme. And yes that means blue leds are welcomed with open arms. Not cathodes though. I will not sink that low!

Anyway feedback and opinions would be appreciated. Also reccomendations of UK places to buy, am trying to get the best deal possible.

[Thorsson]

Well the best advice is to curb your impatience and wait a few weeks for the July (23?) Intel price drop.

Apart from that your system looks nice, but why do you need the Articlean? And aren't you going to have two lots of postage?

You could save a bit by not going for Vista Ultimate - if you're going to only use the machine for games it's a bit of a waste. I'd also put an improvement on the stock cooler above a fan controller for games use.

Oh and one other thing, always check Today Only at Scan, and be aware that you get better stuff at weekends (Fri noon to Monday noon).

[treefingers]

Maybe look into getting the Crucial ballistix, its excellent RAM which overclocks like crazy.
The e6700 is also a bit of a waste of cash as the e6600 would serve you just aswell for about £40 less.

What monitor will you be using with this build?

edit - ignore what I said about the mobo

[Zhou Yu]

Thanks for the responses.

Thorsson:
I would love to wait for the intel price drops but I want to get my computer up and running as soon as poss before the summer holidays.

I was looking at the articlean because I haven't done a cpu/heatsink installation before and wanted it to be as effective as poss.

I will have two sets of postage but the actual money saved by buying between two shops negates this.

Also since I thought about it I dropped vista ultimate for vista home premium. There just aren't that many features that I need/want with ultimate to make it worth while.

Treefingers:
I have had the crucial ballistix ram reccomended to me before and as ram is one of the options I am less certain on I will definitely take a look at it.

Quite a few people have told me to take an e6600 instead of the e6700 and I was wondering why? I am not sure if I am going to overclock and would rather have this computer last me a good while than upgrading every few months. Because of this it seems like a better idea to go with the e6700.

I would be interested in mobo advice as well because that is an area I am unsure of.

Monitor wise I will be using a viewsonic 19" desktop that I am currently using for my gaming machine. The old dell monitor I have as a secondary monitor will then go to that machine.
In a perfect world where I had 500 pounds more to spend I would go and get a 24" dell, but without an impromptu windfall that isn't going to happen ^^.

[staffsMike]

You'll get free postage with scan after 25 posts so at least do that before you order.

If you're using a 19" screen the GTX will be wasted...but if you do eventually get a 24" it will be invaluable.. lol choice is yours but obviously theres a lot of money to be saved there.

You could get a really nice 22" screen for £200 - £250 and then get an 8800GTS 640mb for around £220.

The e6600 and e6700 don't have £50's worth of performance between them. Light overclocks won't really affect the life of the chip at all. They dont even notice it up to 3.0GHz ..i've had two e6600's.

With that saving alone you could get the 22" screen.. the sound card is total overkill as well..the £50 variants will be just as good.

I think a GTS and 22" screen will give you a much better PC for the money than a GTX on 19"

[Zhou Yu]

Is that the only distinction between the gtx and gs variants? I would have hoped/thought that the gtx would have a larger advantage over the gts in terms of performance vs fps at all resolutions, rather than simply higher ones.

Also I am looking at toning down the soundcard, the front bay/remote probably just isn't worth the price.

Also would the e6700 be able to overclock any higher than the e6600? Or does it just make a lot more sense to go with the e6600 and be able to overclock past the e6700 base speeds anyway?

[staffsMike]

you won't get anything resembling a noticeable difference between the two on a 19". There will be difference but the GTS will be like 200fps and the GTX will be 275 -300

Personally I use onboard sound these days. I'd deffinatly suggest trying it first before opting for something £50+ ..With those graphics cards the fps wont make a difference too you..only the quality..and thats only a maybe..

[StaffsKieran]

I agree with mike on the gfx card and monitor fronts. definitely go for the ballistix ram over the g.skill ram and the e6600 over the e6700.

the cheap x-fis arent x-fi's at all so if you want an x-fi card the fatality one is good. but if your using it just for games and dont need the front bay, you might want to think about this instead=

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=503578

also you might want to think about getting a scythe, thermalright or tuniq cooler over the zalman as they give better performance for similar cash just a thought...

[NightshadowUK]

Don't touch OCUK with a big stick:

Geil Ultra DDR2 2.0GB PC6400 4-4-4-12 ~ £61.09 + delivery

500GB Samsung HD501LJ ~ £68.09

Akasa TIM-Clean ~ £3.75

And if you're going Vista avoid X-Fi sound cards at all costs, unless Creative have sorted the drivers out?

[staffsMike]

StaffsKieran just informed me that they have sorted the drivers..£90 for a sound card though..kiss my *bleep* lol

[NightshadowUK]

In which case:

Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer ~ £56.39

Winner.

[5aboy]

id get e6420 and spend the saved money on the full p5k - ie the p5k deluxe wifi.

ram-wise, i probably wouldnt buy from scan id go direct to crucial (7% quidco cashback, and mine clocked like a beast!)

as far as sound is concerned, i wouldnt spend quite so much on it - a plain xfi is ok (but be sure to check out compatibilities, i have heard of some issues here).

id probably not get a zalman cooler, but something thermalright or even the TT bigtyphoon (hexus did a big review of x775 heatsinks recently, check it out).

any any money saved going towards a dell 24inch monitor to go with the 8800gtx (talking about that, if the xfx/bfg/evga ones are closer in price get them because of the much extended (i think most have lifetime)warranties).

[StaffsKieran]

E6600's generally overclock to around the same sort of speeds as the e6700's overclock too. you might also want to think getting the deluxe version of the p5k as that has better heatsinks etc on the mosfets when you do decide to overclock.

[NightshadowUK]

According to the HEXUS CPU Cooler Test you'd be better off with:

- Scythe Miné ~ £24.08

[StaffsKieran]

In which case:

Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer ~ £56.39

Winner.

I read somewhere the xtremegamers dont use the proper x-fi chips they use an audigy 2 based chip which is why they are so cheap.

Also Ive had no problems with OCUK neither has mike... discontent always has the louder voice.....

[NightshadowUK]

£55 is pretty much what the old Xi-Fi Xtreme Music card cost, have a gander at the CPC review for comparisons.

EDIT: Ordering from OCUK isn't the problem, it's their after-sales service that's awful should anything not be right / go wrong with what you purchased.