Spec me half a rig please :)

[kreeeee]

What I have:

SB audigy 2 sound card
2 SATA Hard drives
2 IDE hard drives
Pioneer 111d DVDRW IDE
FX5200 GFX card
FX6200 GFX card

What I would like:

Motherboard (PCIe)
Case (with 120mm fans)
PSU
CPU
Dual DVI graphics card
3 PCI slots minimum
2GB RAM

The only games I will be playing are starcraft and starcraft 2

I have 2 monitors and a TV that I connect to via DVI, hence the dual DVI preference.

I'd like good "bang for buck" components.

[staffsMike]

I'd be looking at.

CPU: q6600 - £165
RAM: 2gb corsair pc6400 - £60
Mobo: Abit IP-35 (possibly the E version if you dont need RAID.. gives you 3 PCI slots)
GFX. 8400gs / 8500gt's are about £40 - £60 and they are good for media stuff but not games.. If you dont need dx10 then the 7600gs/gt would be a good one.
Case:Antec P182 - £80 - i think its fantastic and a lot of others agree. Super quiet and great cooling.
Corsair 520HX Whisper - £65 - its a lovely silent PSU with a good warranty and very well built/reliable.

[kreeeee]

Thanks for that, do you think it would be possible to get a dual DVI PCI-E graphics card for not much more than that?

I have 2 monitors and a TV that I connect to via DVI and the only games I'll ever be playing are starcraft and starcraft 2.

[staffsMike]

This is a good card for media stuff and not bad for gaming and has dual DVI

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=575785

you can get an xfx 7600gt with dual dvi but i think thats quite expensive

[kreeeee]

Well my current GPU is a 6800GT and that's fine for my needs so the 8600 GT should be great

[kreeeee]

Ok, how's this:

256MB Leadtek 8600GT, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1400 MHz, GDDR3, GPU 540 MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV
£72.84

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
£134.95

520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty
£64.50

Antec P182 Special Edition Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Mirror Finish)
£150.39

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
£82.24

Abit IP35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£88.11

Total
£593.01

[StaffsKieran]

That looks fine although i would look into getting a q6600 for the £40 more then you'll have 4 cores at 2.4Ghz not just two. you might want to get a quiet/efficient cooler for the cpu too, something like the scythe ninja or infinity would do the job well.

[StaffsKieran]

also youll need to get an sata dvdrw drive as the new boards only have 1 ide controller (maximum of two drives) the samsung drives are the best ive come across fast and quiet.

[kreeeee]

One question though. On here:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...=447&OrderBy=1

Why is the 6750 cheaper than the 6600?

Edit: Unfortunately this drive it the only one that works with a piece of software I need, can I run an IDE hard drive and an IDE optical drive on the same cable?

[StaffsKieran]

because its one of the newer 1333fsb chips which means that its actually a slower core compared to the e6600 (thatll run at 3 GHz at 1333mhz fsb) i would still go for the q6600 tho as that'll give you the best bang for the buck.

[kreeeee]

How much would I benefit from quad core? Does windows use the cores effectively?

[staffsMike]

Not much uses they very efficently at the moment. Video encoding and 3d rendering will benefit from them though.

For most games the higher clocked dual cores are just as good if not better

[kreeeee]

Do most 6600's reach 3Ghz?

[staffsMike]

yeah even staffsKieran's get to 3.2ghz and his is rubbish

[StaffsKieran]

i can get it to 3.4 actually but it is very hot.

I was saying the quad core will probably give you better future proofing down the line. But if you plan to overclock make sure you get an aftermarket heatsink.

[StaffsKieran]

and yes you can run 1 Hd and one optical drive on the same cable, just make sure you set the jumpers right.