Comments on a new system

[Nailbunny]

Hi all,

I know you guys get a lot of this and are probably rolling your eyes but I have spent an age looking thorough reviews and forums and I'd like your approval or suggestions. Could you please do me the favour of looking at my system and telling me what you think. The rig is primarily for gaming and watching movies, I'd like to overclock the CPU to around 3Ghz and I already have a 22" Samsung 2232BW. Lastly I realise that this thread is UNBELIEVEABLY similar to mad_scot_99s thread but thought it'd be rude to tack on my request at the end of his!

Thanks in advance

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR, £144.51

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, £14.79

Asus P5K Premium, £103.86

512MB BFG Tech 8800GT OC2, 158.50

500W FSP Blue storm II PSU, £58.62

Coolermaster RC-330 V2 Elite, £24.66

500 GB Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T166, £54.98

OCZ 4GB (4x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2, £49.33

[Thorsson]

At that price for an 8800GT you'd be better buying an 8800GTS. OC cards are only worth buying if pretty much the same price as vanilla IMO.

Also for 4Gb RAM, better to get 2x2Gb these days.

[staffsMike]

It's all fine really.

I would probably go with a slightly better HSF.. something like the scythe mine or ninja to keep the temps a bit lower and personally I would get an antec sonata plus with 550 modular power supply. It will only be £15 more than your case + psu but will be of a greater standard and exeptionally quiet.

Also check out the Abit IP-35's either the dark raider or PRO as abit have much better support than Asus in this country. We have an abit care forum right here on hexus

[Blitzen]

We have an abit care forum right here on hexus

Not for much longer i wouldve thought. ABIT are closing down in the UK and it doesnt look like Sean is sticking around

[Ommid]

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR, £144.51

Advice: Get the Retail boxed CPU as you get 2 years extra warranty, also the scythe mine doesnt fit this board, unless you mount sideways

[staffsMike]

Not for much longer i wouldve thought. ABIT are closing down in the UK and it doesnt look like Sean is sticking around

O RLY?

Thats a damn shame.. Might be enough to send me back to asus. Have to see how the support suffers.

[Blitzen]

O RLY?

Thats a damn shame.. Might be enough to send me back to asus. Have to see how the support suffers.

Take a look here: http://forums.hexus.net/abit-care-he...customers.html

Thats exactly what i was thinking.
I only buy ABIT as the UK support is so good.

When the support goes abroad then its 'back to ASUS' time.

[Nailbunny]

McLovin the help guys, VERY much appreciated

Will go for the Antec sonata plus....many thanks Mike

As for the graphics card I have swapped it for the

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB is avaliable for £165 at OcUK

Lastly, wouldnt overclocking the CPU invalidate the warranty anyway?

THANKS for all the input

[Blitzen]

Nice choice.....That BFG is fantastic.
I love mine and very glad i bought it over the 8800GT and also didnt wait for the 9800 series (flop waiting to happen)

[staffsMike]

Yep all good choices.

As I understand it, overclocking does not invalidate warranty but over-volting (whatever the max volts mentioned on the box are) does.

Don't go over the top though and you will be fine, I've not seen a CPU go..pretty much ever. Just a dell that's HSF fell off lol

[Nailbunny]

.....just ONE more question

I'm ordering everything from scan with exception to the graphics card and ram, which I will order from overclockers (annoying as I will have to pay two delivery charges). Can anyone recommend any other suppliers?

Uber thanks

[staffsMike]

Ebuyer
Komplett
YoyoTech
Dabs (But I wouldn't touch them)

There's loads really but I doubt you will get the graphics card or RAM cheaper than OCUK sell them

[Thorsson]

Novatech is another OK supplier. Sometimes they have really good prices on bits of kit.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I'll second staffsMike's recommendation of the Abit IP-35 Pro. If i recall, he was one of the ones who recommended it to me, and I love the board.

[Nailbunny]

hmmm... I have been looking at the Abit IP-35 Pro and noticed the card doesnt support 1066 Mhz memory speed. As a more expensive card Id have liked to have supported this for future upgrades. Any other benefits of the Abit over the Asus P5k? (besides customer support?)

[staffsMike]

Since 1066MHz isn't technically a DDR2 speed there is no reason that it should state it supports it.. but i believe it has no problem with it.