New Build!

[BlindMelon7]

Hello everyone! I haven't been on for a while so I'm a bit out of date

I'm building a gaming desktop for a mate, his MAX budget is £1500 with everything (incl. screen, mice etc).

What I have so far is:

Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR, 95W, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache
£157.39

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR2 6400 2x256Mx64 non-ECC 2x240 DIMM unbuffered 5-5-5-18
£65.38

Coolermaster Mystique RC-632B Black Tower Case w/o PSU
£75.19

512MB MSI 8800GT OC, PCI-E 2.0, Mem 1900MHz GDDR3, GPU 660MHz, Streams 112
£146.41

500 GB Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar SE16, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms
£62.56

24" Dell E248WFP Silver/Black Widescreen LCD, 1920x1200, 1000:1, 400 cd/m2, 5 ms
£287.76

620W Corsair HX Series Modular SLi PSU, ATX, EPS 12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty
£85.06

Asus P5N32-E SLI NF680i SLI, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID
£128.35
(sorry about the funny formating)

He wants to choose his own mouse and keyboard and I'm looking for a soundcard as we speak.

Do you guys think this will be suitable for todays games?

[Minimos]

Hi Blind Melon,

I am asking similar questions about a new build I am planning, so can't comment specifically on most items but have noticed a few things.

Get RAM with better timings and speed either PC8500 which runs at 1066MHZ or improve the timings on the PC6400 to something lower, like 4-4-4-12.

Look at the Samsung Spinpoint T166 500GB harddisk as it is slightly cheaper and is getting rave reviews in terms of its performance. Custom PC report it as being quicker than a WD Raptor at 10K RPM for loading Far Cry and Photoshop.

Wait for the latest Quads to come out the Q9300, it will be slightly more expensive but runs at 2.5GHZ instead of 2.4GHZ and has improved architecture which sees it run about 12% faster at the same speeds, also with less power consumption

£1500 is a lot of a PC and should be able to get you quite a lot, I am looking at sub £1000.

Minimos

[merple]

That currently isnt even pushing at the budget is it?

You should probably improve on the graphics card, it'll perform better at the high res on the 24".
New nvidia card is supposed to be coming soon, it'll probably cost a lot but I reckon that budget can take it.

You may want to look into the OcUK 24" too as the Dell E*** are the lowend with TN panels arent they?
(I have one and its fantastic, oh and its a bit cheaper too)

[BlindMelon7]

Thanks for the reply!I'll see how much the faster RAM is (back in my day 800mhz was pretty nippy ) I'll swap out the WD, I've always been fans of them but if the Samsung is better and cheeper then you cant go wrong hehe. I'll probably OC so the CPU wont really matter.

[BlindMelon7]

I'll be putting speakers, a sound card and probably a SS HD on top of that. I read up a bit on the graphics card and the GT seems to be the best bang for buck wise, what would you suggest instead?

[merple]

hrm, I was gonna say step up to the GTS but looking at some reviews the numbers dont seem that much different actually. Cant seem to find any more recent reviews.

Might be better to go with the GT then since you need to fit SSHD and speakers in there too. I guess you can always SLI another one later on when the prices go down.

[Blitzen]

1. Get yourself a 8800GTS 512mb instead. Better card, especially at high resolutions as i can see you are going for a 24" monitor. THe GTS will be better for that resolution.

2. That 620W Corsair isnt good value and your system would be just as stable on something smaller. If you 'have to have' Corsair then the 520W would be more than enough.

3. Motherboard - Those 680i chipsets arent that great and for well over £100 you can do alot better than that.
Either get yourself an IP35 Dark Raider here: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK or an ABIT X38 QuadGT which is a fantasttic board with a newer chipset here: YOYOtech.
The Dark Raider can be had for around £60-67 and the QuadGT for around £135. Both are better boards.

4. Memory - YOu can do just as good, if not better for less than that. OCZ Platinum is just stupidly cheap at the moment. Geil /G-Skill/Crucial should also be considered. Im not a fan of OCUK but the memory deals they have is fantastic. Look Here: Components » Memory » DDR2 - PC2-6400 - Overclockers UK

[Minimos]

If you 'have to have' Corsair then the 520W would be more than enough.

Blitzen,

You seem to indicate that you can get a better power supply from another manufacturer that will do the job just as well. Do you have any specific recommendations?

Minimos

[Blitzen]

Blitzen,

You seem to indicate that you can get a better power supply from another manufacturer that will do the job just as well. Do you have any specific recommendations?

Minimos

Its just personal opinion.
There are MANY people here that love this PSU but im not one of them.

I will tell you why:
- Modualr connections aren't very good quality
- THe 5 year warranty they advertise isnt all its cracked up to be. In the USA you have EXCELLENT support from Corsair. In the UK/Europe, they arent really that bothered. If your PSU goes down after the 12month retailer warranty, its up to you to apy for shipping to the USA for repair/replacement. It just wouldnt be worth it as it would cost loads.


It is a decent enough unit though. Quite powerful and looks OK (not the best though).

If you want a powerful, no frills PSU then its OK for most.

I have the 520W Corsair and i also own a 500W Enermax Liberty. Although the Liberty is a tiny tiny bit less powerful (still has 44A on 12V), its build quality and connections are far superior.
Enermax also have a fantastic warranty/RMA service for the UK.
I tried using the Corsair in my main system and it just felt alot cheaper than the Enermax. So...i swapped them back out and the Corsair is now in my second rig with the Enermax powering the rig in my avatar. (Not the most powerful but still pretty high end).

There are plenty of good units around.

[staffsMike]

I know how Blitzen feels about the corsair already so we won't get into that but just to point out if you buy the corsair PSU at scan.co.uk (which is where I recommend you buy most things) then you get the full 5 years warranty with them

The floppy cables I actually found quite nice when using the Antec P182 which I would also recommend rather than the coolermaster Mystique.

I wouldn't bother with that Asus motherboard. You're better off with something like the abit IP-35 dark raider.

[Blitzen]

I know how Blitzen feels about the corsair already so we won't get into that

I think i should put my explaination in a sig.
I must type it 3 times a week

[BlindMelon7]

Thanks for all the replys, from the benches I saw the GT actually beat the GTS in the majority of cases yet its cheaper . Maybe I misread. Also the ram works out cheeper if I buy from scan as I don't have to pay shipping although OCUK has some pretty good deals. The case I'm a bit stuck with (he's gone for it purely on looks).

Is there a mobo similar to the dark raider but with SLI that I can get from Scan? I'd rather be able to get everything from one place and it would be quite usefull to have SLI considering how hard DX10 games are to run.

[merple]

Thanks for all the replys, from the benches I saw the GT actually beat the GTS in the majority of cases yet its cheaper . Maybe I misread.

toms doesnt have the newer 512 GTS on their chart thingy, just the older 640/320 models.
Thats why beating it on that chart. The 512 GTS should give a bit more performance than the GT.

[BlindMelon7]

Ah! My mistake. Do you think the performance difference is worth the extra £50?

[Blitzen]

Thanks for all the replys, from the benches I saw the GT actually beat the GTS in the majority of cases yet its cheaper . Maybe I misread. Also the ram works out cheeper if I buy from scan as I don't have to pay shipping although OCUK has some pretty good deals. The case I'm a bit stuck with (he's gone for it purely on looks).

Is there a mobo similar to the dark raider but with SLI that I can get from Scan? I'd rather be able to get everything from one place and it would be quite usefull to have SLI considering how hard DX10 games are to run.

You are looking at the OLD GTS (G80 core).
The GT never beats the new GTS (G92 Core).

I know Nvidia have made things confusing but just look at the 512mb GTS cards as they are the G92 core cards.

Ah! My mistake. Do you think the performance difference is worth the extra £50?

I game on a 22" widescreen with full eye candy on so, for me, the extra money is worth it (i use the BFG OC 8800GTS G92).

[DratUK]

For desktop mobo's if you want SLi then its an Nvidia chipset, Intel atm uses ATI Crossfire enabled units.
The 680i and the newer 780i whilst not a bad board had been plagued with problems in the past they also run alot hotter than 965 P35 chipsets.

To get around the "SLi" issue would be to look at the X2 3870 card or the forthcoming 9800 X2, basically 2 gpu's on one card. The problem with both SLi,Crossfire and Dual GPU cards are driver issues. Performance gains are not double as you would hope but often 1.5 or lower in terms of performance gains. That is a fair amount of money for a smaller return.

I have a 8800GTX on a 24 inch Dell it runs all my games fine at frame rates that give smooth game play. The GTS or the GT will give an equivalent or in one test I saw the GTS was a little better than the GTX.

So to summarize, SLi worth it? no IMO not for the investment, dual GPU on one card well sounds good and the 3870 X2 reviews have shown it to be faster BUT again drivers are immature and we were only looking at a 5 to 10 per cent gain over a GTX. Whether the Nvidia version will be better nobody is sure yet.

Pic of forthcoming 9800 X2
Fudzilla

AnandTech: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2: 2 GPUs 1 Card, A Return to the High End

Review of 3870 X2