Need help in attempt to build a gaming PC £700 - £1000

[staffsMike]

I use a saitek eclipse II. It's not strictly a gaming keyboard, doesn't have the extra keys orr anything but has nice back lights and soft touch keys which are very nice and quiet. It does have the basic media control to.

If you have more to spend then the logitech G15 is a very nice
Logitech G15 Rev.2 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail

Mice is all down to what kind of mouse you like, big, small , different shapes etc..

I like little mice so the razor copperhead etc..

There is the razor deathadder which a lot of people like and is a good quality mouse.

If you like the logitech shape mice then the logitech G5 is a solid performing gaming mouse.

[blackshadow7]

Ok here's my initial list which will more than likely change with your comments:


CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR, 95W, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache, Retail

£170.36

Motherboard: Abit IP-35, Dark Raider, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£72.84

HSF: Scythe Ninja Plus Rev B Fanless HeatPipe Cooler S775/S478/S754/S939/940 c/w 120mm Quiet Fan

£28.78

4GB (2x2GB) Super Talent TwinX DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15

£58.69

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

£63.20

Case: Antec P182 Advanced PERFORMANCE ONE SERIES Super Midi Tower Case, Gun Metal Black

£87.53

Hard drive: 500 GB Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar SE16, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms

£63.65

Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM

£20.43

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Retail (PC)

£174.24

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium DVD - Ebuyer

512MB EVGA 8800GTS, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1940 MHz, GDDR3, GPU 650 MHz, Dual DVI/HDTV

£199.62

20.1" Asus VW202S, Black, Widescreen, 5 ms, 1680x1050, 2000:1, Speakers

£140.17

Logitech G15 New Rev.2 Gaming Keyboard, USB, Wired, Silver/Black, GamePanel LCD, Illuminated

£52.75

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse, 2000dpi, USB 1.1/2.0, 7 Buttons, Black

£40.64

Total = £1172.90

I wasn't 100% sure on the graphics card and also considered the two below:

1GB Power ColorHD 3870 X2, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800MHz, GDDR3, GPU 825MHz, Dual DVI/HDTV

£259.66

1GB Sapphire HD3870 X2 PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800MHz, GDDR3, GPU 825MHz, 320 Streams, Dual DVI/HDTV

£274.25


Your comments will be much appreciated and I’m open to suggestions as to similar items which might be cheaper or better. Also have I missed anything?

[blackshadow7]

Forgot to say all parts prices were sourced from Scan except where stated.

[staffsMike]

If you have the money for it.. I think I would probably get the 3870 X2 but i'm not sure.

At the resolution of that monitor you won't need any more power than the GTS.. to be honest you would get away with the ATi HD3850pro lol.

It's a lot of power in the X2 for not much more money, it's a hard place to be but my head says just get the GTS as it is plenty enough but the X2 might last that bit longer...

That's all useless to you, I can't even make up my mind and it's not my money

[hermeticist]

Is it worth getting an OEM copy of windows?:

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

It will save you £111, which you can add to your monitor - I`m thinking 24".

I`d also change the Scythe cooler to a TR120/90 or a Tuniq, nitpicking really!

The TR120 is on today only @ Scan & coupled with a Xigmatek fan, will only be about £5 more than the Scythe, best air-cooling for a Quad, probably......

[blackshadow7]

Hi all again

After finally deciding on the list of components I was going to use for my rig, I got cold feet and decided to get a quote from scan for a system built for me to the same spec as I posted on here.

They have quoted me £1,359.77 (inc VAT) where as the parts alone cost (in original spec) £1172.90.
So for the difference of £186.87, I get it built and 2 year warranty.

For a custom made rig does it sound a good price(for my spec)? or should I just brave ordering the parts and building it myself?

Also they increased the spec on two items which I have a couple of questions on these are.

They changed the mobo I had suggested (Dark Raider Abit IP-35) to a ASUS P5N-D Nforce 750i SLI which I've heard there's little point having SLI and that with this board its heard to overclock much past 5%. Is this correct and any comments on this?

The PSU was changed to 620W Corsair HX Series Whisper from 520W. Do I actually need 620W?

[aidanjt]

OEM doesn't come with an Intel Cooler and is only 1 year warranty as opposed to 3.

If you are buying an after market cooler then the OEM is fine.

For the 3 year warrenty alone the few extra quid is well worth it for the retail CPU.

[staffsMike]

For the 3 year warrenty alone the few extra quid is well worth it for the retail CPU.

I havn't had a CPU die on me...ever.. so it's fair to say the warranty is going to be pretty useless unless it doesn't work properly out of the box.

That said the extra £10 - £20 isn't much but it's doubtful the chip would die.

[Hicks12]

u only need one graphics card then, dunno if you edited it but still. I can recommend the asus p5n-d, i have it and no problems yet. Imo, scratch that evga card and spend the same or like £1 less on the BFG OC edition, bfg has 10years warranty even though scan say 999months, evga has 1 year and still scan say 999months xD. Evga give you 1 year if your outside of US?Canada, choice is yours.


edit: also the asus p5n-d supports 16x 16x in sli mode, bios update fixed this i believe its also pci-e 2 and is future proof, more.

[Thorsson]

Ouch that's a lot for Vista. I suggest getting an Upgrade copy on EBay. You can do a clean install from Upgrade, details of which are now quite easy to Google. Cost ~ £60.

[directhex]

Ouch that's a lot for Vista. I suggest getting an Upgrade copy on EBay. You can do a clean install from Upgrade, details of which are now quite easy to Google. Cost ~ £60.

doing so isn't legit though, the license doesn't allow it. and OEM is cheaper than upgrade

[Thorsson]

doing so isn't legit though, the license doesn't allow it. and OEM is cheaper than upgrade

WRONG. The License does not disallow it. And OEM is only valid as long as the core of your PC remains unchanged. Not much good for upgraders.

[IBM]

Plus, you're going to need the 64bit version of Vista to make use of that 4Gb ram you're buying....

oem Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit - English - Ebuyer

[directhex]

WRONG. The License does not disallow it. And OEM is only valid as long as the core of your PC remains unchanged. Not much good for upgraders.

the word you want is "motherboard". it's valid as long as the motherboard remains unchanged. which is true for most people.

and no, the upgrade license does NOT allow you to use it without a valid preexisting license. check clause 13 of the vista EULA.

UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.

care to reveal how that fits in with your "it's fine, honest" view of licensing?

[Thorsson]

OK. So you have to have an appropriate earlier OS to validly use the Upgrade. Get one of those 30Gb Laptop drives with original XP disks and XP COA for £15. Far cheaper to do that than pay full whack.

And no, the word is not motherboard. People have had to ring up when changing an HDD. As for M$ re-activating, it seems to be partly down to pot luck. Some get to keep on using XP despite changing the motherboard. Others have been refused for changing the processor.

[blackshadow7]

Hi again

Ok think im about there now, just one last thing. I've got a bit more cash left so going to opt for the HD3870 X2 instead of the 8800GTS. Just wondered which company was best to go for, Sapphire, Power Color, MIS etc?

Thanks for the help in advance.