New Gaming Rig Spec

[awzm]

Budget: ~£1000

Use: Gaming as the most intensive use

Firstly, I haven't built a PC for quite some years and this one is slowly dying so I'm wanting to upgrade. I have a monitor already so the £1K is for the case and insides only. I already have an existing idea of what I want to get in terms of basics but I'm really stuck as to the finished spec. I've looked at previous threads but wanted opinions on my specific spec.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600

HS+Fan: No idea

Mobo: Asus P5K (I don't know which model though. I don't intend to RAID and already have a PCI wireless card.)

RAM: No idea really

PSU: Corsair HX 520w (unless the 620w is necessary)

GFX: Again no idea really, I guess an 8800 of some kind

Case: Antec P182

HDD: Not fussed particularly so I'm guessing 2x 250GB SATA300, probably Samsung

CD/DVD: Again not fussed though open to suggestions on particulars


I'm open to suggestions on any part I mentioned but what I'm really looking for is a definitive spec that I can hopefully get from Scan and Scan alone though getting from additional vendor's isn't the biggest problem.

Thanks in advance for all comments/suggestions.

[Rosaline]

It seems like you're aiming for roughly the same price/performance point that I'm going for on my new system

For a HSF, the Tuniq Tower 120, and the Thermalright ultra 120 extreme (with a good fan) come strongly recommended. They are, however, not exactly stocked by everyone, making ordering a little more annoying!

If you're going to overclock that Q6600, the P5K-E and -deluxe seem to be recommended, but the -E alone would add £50 to your budget. Personally, the P5K-E tempts for the ability to use Matrix Raid. You'll probably still get reasonable results from the plain P5K, so if you have to keep the cost down, don't worry about sticking with that!

RAM is a bit of a red herring in some respects. It looks really strange and complex and super performance effecting, but in reality as long as you have 2GiB, you'll be happy no matter what speed it runs at You can get a 2Gb pair of nicely branded Corsair TwinX XMS2 PC6400 (800MHz) for less than £65, and that should keep you in good stead. You can almost certainly shave £20 off that figure for a lesser brand, but I'd let others advise on that.

Depending on the rest of your setup, you could just squeeze in a generic 8800GTX for £320 (or less, depending on today only offers and the like). I'm going to guess, however, that it would probably be total overkill for your old monitor, and a £180 320Mb 8800 GTS would work great!

I'll set someone who understands power supplies comment on those

Hard drives could possibly be left until you know how much budget you have to spare for them. As you're after storage space (rather than super-amazing speed), you're unlikely to loose much by waiting to select something to fit your budget.

I'm very curious about DVD-R drive recommendations! As they are all around £22, it will be interesting to see which makes are prefered!

[staffsMike]

Well you're on the right path.

Are you planning to overclock this?

HSF wise i'm a big fan on the scythe ninja.

For the mobo the asuk p5k is good but i'd personally have an abit IP-35 (completly down to personal preference but its a lovely board and the support is great from abit..asus support is rubbish)

RAM. Crucial ballistix PC5300 is great stuff and easily clocks in most cases to PC8500 speeds.

That PSU is perfect.

GFX: your budget would probably fit an 8800GTX of some description but the 8800GTS 320mb/640mb are awesome.

Nice case

I'd have either samsung spinpoints or my personal choice would be the western digital 500GBAAKS. Lovely quiet and fast hard drive.

CD/DVD. i'd have a sata samsung dvd writer. super quiet for a dvd drive.

[awzm]

Should have said that I'm not really bothered about overclocking, it's not a priority at all so i'll probably leave it.

[staffsMike]

OK then the standard abit IP-35 or even the Ip-35E would be a good board. The IP-35 has some solid caps so better for reliablilty/length on life etc.. so i'd probably have that but the E would serve your purpose.

The ram i'd just get the pc5300 ballistix, very stable ram and leave potential for overclocking likethe IP-35 would.

[awzm]

Thanks for the comments so far, been a great help.

As far as the graphics card goes... I'm currently on a Hanns.G 19" widescreen (max res 1440x900) THOUGH I might very well upgrade to a Samsung 22" which has much higher res and contrast ratio etc.
I don't know how this would affect GFX card recommendations.

[staffsMike]

Both 320mb and 640mb 8800GTS are very capable at 1680x 1050 (22"). Saying that as the dx10 games start filtering through the GTX may have a big advantage. Problem is..we are flying blind at the moment which is why some people are getting ati x1950pro's for the moment and then waiting for the new gen dx10 cards to come.

the 320mb 8800GTS is the best compromise if you do want DX10 though. Normally around £180 for a good brand and will perform very well at those resolutions.

[awzm]

one more thing..An OS.

I'm on XP and I'm guessing I'll need a new one for the new PC. Best to go for Vista? If so which variant? Or is it best to stick with XP or possible XP-64bit?

[staffsMike]

i'd go with XP 32bit if you want to keep that.

If you want to go 64bit i'd go to vista64 as its properly supported for the most part.

[Thorsson]

If you have a non-OEM XP you can transfer it to the new machine. Otherwise I would recommend Vista, as XP will start to see a drop off in support in the next couple of years.

Best Vista IMO is Upgrade Home Premium from EBay. I got one for £60. You don't even need a qualifying disk: http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/070201#story1