new rig, advise

[shadowcreaper]

Hello all i new to forums, and was told this a un-bias forum, basicaly trying to get new rig my budget is upto 1.7-- 1.7.5

i been looking at a few companys and atm i drawn to company called "vadim" who appeared on gadget show, been looking at site and they seem to have excellent build quality and parts.

this is their site so you can check it out along with more detailds about what parts they use for example antartic air.

First set-up

Case: SILVERSTONE TJ07 Black CASE (NO PSU)
Window: none selected
Cabling: Standard Cable Management
Cooling: Antarctic Cooling (3-5 Fans digital controlled+VGA/HD Cooling)
Airbrushing: none selected
Fans type: Non-LED fans
PSU: Coolermaster Real Power M700W Modular PSU
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Formula (Intel X38 - 1600/1333 FSB)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Retail (2x3.0GHz 1333FSB 6Mb)
CPU Cooling: Scythe Zipang Heatpipe Cooler (all CPUs)
Memory: OCZ DDR2-1066 2x1024MB Reaper HPC Edition Dual Channel Kit
Graphics: BFG Nvidia 9800GTX 512Mb PCIe 2.0 HDCP
Hard Drive: 750Gb Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD753LJ 7200 32mb Cache SATA II
Storage HD: none selected
Optical Drive: SONY-NEC Optiarc AD-7203A 20x DVDRW Black OEM
Optical Drive 2: none selected
Floppy Drive: none selected
PCI card: none selected
PCIe Device: none selected
Sound Card: Integrated High Definition Audio with Digital Out
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit DVD OEM
Secondary OS: none selected
OS Extras: Personalised Support CD with latest drivers (Genesis CD)
Building: Saver Build (10-20 working days)
Overclocking: Safe Stable Overclocking (5-40% - CPU/VGA)
Warranty: Deluxe 1 Year Collect and Return-Onsite Warranty (+1 year RTB)

£1612.68incl VAT

I then been looking at scan sinse i know people who buy parts for builds.

Defualt spec:

Abit IP-35 Pro, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
620W Corsair HX Series Modular SLi PSU, ATX, EPS 12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty
120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan, 3 Pin, 2 Ball Bearing , Ultra Quiet and Long life
50cm 3XS Round ATA133 Certified IDE Cable
50cm 3XS Round Floppy Drive Cable Certified
Corsair Dominator Airflow Fan
AKASA 8 Pin (F) to 8 Pin (2x4 Pin) (M) Extension cable (30cm) (End to End) AK-CB8-8-EXT

Main spec

Case: Silverstone TJ07B (Black) Aluminum Supertower Case

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 S775 3.16 GHz 1333MHz FSB 6MB Cache Retail

CPU Cooler: NorthQ Siberian Tiger Liquid Cooling AMD Intel with 120mm Ceramic NorthQ Fan control. Retail

Memory: 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC8500 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 5-5-5-15

Overclocking:Core-Logic Overclocking*10 - 20%*

nVidia VGA-The Way It's Meant To Be Played™: 512MB XFX 9800 GTX PCI-E 2.0 Mem 2200MHz GDDR3 GPU 675MHz Stream 128 2x DL DVI-I HDTV

System Drives: 500 GB Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11 SATA II 7200 rpm 32MB Cache 8.5 ms NCQ

Floppy Drive Flash - Card Readers & Writers:[/b] Heisei Black Floppy Disk +Int Combo All in 1 Card Reader Fits 3.5" Bay USB2

DVD Writer : LG GSA-H55LBRL 20xDVD±R 16x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 PATA Lightscribe Black Beige Retail inc Nero

Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound Card UK Retail
Operating system: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit

£1,470.02 incl VAT.
what your veiws? Personaly scan cheaper but i not sure if their customer service that good nor build quality good?

lastly the motherboad on scan system seems not as good nor the cooling enough or quality.

though it cheap....

your veiws?(please dont say build it yourself ....)

p.s anyone here wanting to get into royal marines and going for a PRMC PM me, love to know what training your doing ATM.

[Blitzen]

All of those examples are horrendously overpriced for the specifications you have given.

Take the top example......you could get all that for unde a £1000 if you shop about mate.

[Link97]

I know you said you weren't going to build it on your own, but look at this ridiculously overkill DDR3 system I just threw together for £1713.



Yes, there are 2 9800GX2s there.

[shadowcreaper]

^^ there 0 cooling there..and lots of parts still needed there thermal past wires ectabout 300 quids worth.

i been looking at parts and the vadim one cost about 1.2 in parts then you have VAT 17.5 which brings to about 1.5 then add 100 quid for them to build it. it resombal i think

unless i see a fully speced pc, cooling case everything you need to build it for less and better+good quality i cant realy see your veiw, i built before and i work out you save between 200 quid for building your own. maybe 250 if you push budget and parts.

if you can spec out a pc with good cooling option+ 9800GTX card(dont have to be SLI) and good speed processor and case.(astec kinda big and dont like them, after working with them before)silverstone tj107 nice cases.

id be interested to c.

[staffsMike]

In all fairness you would only need to add a £30 HSF to that and it's done. The case has tonnes of fans and all the cables you need come with the mobo.

The major cost of the the scan build is the case. It's a £200+ monster and not really required for the PC you are attempting to build. Water cooling is that cases strong point.

Sorry blitzen but i'm going to do it

You could get a better PC for around £850 if you were willing to overclock it a bit yourself.

Motherboard: Abit IP-35pro ~£90
CPU: Intel Q6600 ~£130
HSF: Scythe Ninja ~£30
Thermalpaste: Arctic Silver ~£5
RAM: 4GB PC6400 DDR2 ~£60
Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB AAKS ~£55
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-RW ~£15
Case: Coolermaster CM690 ~£50
PSU: Corsair 520w HX ~£60
Graphics: Nvidia 9800GX2 ~£330
OS: Whatever you want vista home premium/xp ~£60

So thats around £900 and with the most stupidly overkill graphics card.

It will easily overclock to 3.0GHz, which is as much as was offered on the scan build at least. It will run near silent but you could opt for a more expesinve case. Antec P182 or a lian li offering.

[Aez]

ITT: thermal paste and wires = 300 quid
staffsmike's recommended system is pretty much spot on except most view that graphics card to be a waste of dosh

[staffsMike]

most view that graphics card to be a waste of dosh

It is lol It was just to make a point really

[ikix]

Really is no need to buy a pre-built system, you are just paying someone to do what a complete amateur could do in a few hours, and on top you would be getting a lower spec computer.

Tbh you only would need to spend around £1400ish before anything extra seems to be getting extreme overkill, the extra cash could be used for a nice new monitor to make full use of the computer.

[shadowcreaper]

tbh the problems that i found when home building realy put me off. for example, problems fitting the parts ie dont fit properly ect, also i found the warrenties a right pain in arse, calling people up saying this fualty..waiting 2 weeks for devliery then getting sent wrong items. also found a lot of issues with static when dealing with some products in past sinse some r pretty easy to use while others i found when "earthed" i still got static somehow...

main issue is cooling. the silverstone has a few fans yes but if i was going to use e8500 OCED.4.0 and GTX9800 OCed the heat will be quite high and reading reveiws you need quit a bit of cooling ie between 5 ish fans(good ones not factory issue)

Motherboard: Abit IP-35pro ~£90 ( dont like this motherboad, it pretty crappy one)
CPU: Intel Q6600 ~£130 nice quad core
HSF: Scythe Ninja ~£30 big ass fan, can break the bolts i have found, the other one infinity better i think. or ziping whtever it called these days.

Thermalpaste: Arctic Silver ~£5 dimond better i hear?(though i havnt used thermal paste in donkeys years..forgot how to do it properly.)

RAM: 4GB PC6400 DDR2 ~£60 (bit slow speed, would expert 1066if i gettign rig to last)
Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB AAKS ~£55 (samsung i think best atm for speed and price)
Optical Drive: Samsung DVD-RW ~£15 good drive
Case: Coolermaster CM690 ~£50 horrid case sorry to be rude. silverstone best i think atm(also not stupidly big ass)
PSU: Corsair 520w HX ~£60 power too low need 650 min and for furture upgrades also.
Graphics: Nvidia 9800GX2 ~£330 OVERKILL, and waste of money personaly GTX9800 better and get oced for same price and less
OS: Whatever you want vista home premium/xp ~£60 vista, sinse it new and isnt as bad as ppl say

i would love to buy parts, send them to someone who knows how to build QUALITY tidy maximum airflow, builds, then pay them to do so(if you do PLZ SAY.....)...sadly such a service doesnt exist. if only... i dare not attemp to try home build with such good parts and then make small mistake then have da za vo again with company with fualty products or trying to convince i didnt fck up build on my end.

also temp sensors a issue i think, they a must for air builds with quality fans.
also i cant find many guides for making top notch air silverstone tj107 builds ect.

also the vadim cooling system is quite good from reveiws, heres what they use. i couldnt find parts on scan though..

This is our Antarctic cooling system for PCs that consists of 2-5 ball bearing fans (depending on the case you choose) plus we add a digital controller to adjust the fan speeds that has 4 temperature sensors that we install all over the case to monitor HD, CPU, VGA and System temperatures.

This system automatically adjusts the speeds in accordance with the temperature information that is received through the 4 hardware sensors. Currently we use the Mcubed high quality BigNG controllers with the sensors on CPU, VGA, HD and ambient. All the temperature limits are preset during stress testing for the safe noise to heat ratio.

Additionally, where space/configuration permits, we do custom modifications and replace all or some of:
- The motherboard's chipset heatsink+fans with more powerfull ones that will ensure quieter operation over the integrated ones.
- The VGA heatsink/fan with either Arctic cooling VGA silencers, Zalman copper heatsinks
- Add HD Cooling where possible such as Zalman or Revoltek HD Coolers.
- Cut an additional one or two 120mm Fan Hole in the case with silent case fans fitted

This work can take upto a day and is carefully designed and implemented depending on PC configuration (Case/motherboard/VGA design)

In a rare few instances, we may not be able to physically fit any more aftermarket cooling into a configuration. This may be due to the lay-out of a case, or because the stock VGA or hard drive cooling is already very good case and cannot be improved on. If this does occur, you will be notified and we will instead install a premium cooling package, refunding the difference to the card used in the original order.

[shadowmaster]

Have you had a look at other companies, such as beast computers or cyberpower? Beast are quite expensive, they are like vandim. Cyberpower on the other hand are a bit cheaper.

TBH though I agree with staffsmike and ikix, it would be much cheaper to build your own.

[staffsMike]

Ok well I'm not sure you understand the RAM speeds but PC6400 is more than enough for a Q6600, it will run it 3.6GHz 1:1 and DDR2 is dead after next year.

HDD's are all based on opinion. Western Digital are my favourite them having never failed on me.

I know it's not a fantastic looking case but thats why I suggested others later. £100 is more than enough on a case, £200+ is just silly especially for air cooling.

The graphics card was overkill 9800GX2 but it was to show you what you could get for the money compared to the pre-builts.

520w is more than enough since a basic a 9800 system will draw 300W or less and power consumption is going down rather than up.

The infinity weighs around the same and uses the same fitting as far as I know. I have 3 ninja's and none have broken anything yet, it's lighter than it looks.

The IP-35pro is very highly rated board from a very highly rated manafacturer, i hardly think its "crappy"..

But, it's your money at the end of the day, spend it as you will

[shadowcreaper]

^^ beast computers another company i looked into, though their detail on their site VERY sketchy about what they use compared to vadim which list 99.99% things.

il look into cyber thingy.
on power issue 520 isnt enough sinse my mate using 580 and finding the power a problem sinse fans and such.

silverstone i using for it a great case for air not just water also isnt masssive, though has enough room to upgrade ie watercooling in a few years down line.

the motherboad i wouldnt say highly rated tbh i find intel boads very reliable and much better for Nvidia cards. out of interest you home build ur system,? how long it take and what problems you find/

[Disturbedguy]

I home build my system and the time it takes for me depends on if i want the cables tidy or not which I generally dont..or never used to.

As for building a PC, it depends on the person, I prefer to take my time and make sure everything is fitted and installed correctly and all that jazzy type stuff. To be honest, the only problem I have ran into when building or after building a PC was faulty ram, i used to find CPU heat sinks + fans hard to install..but with the new designs its rather easy.

Anyway I've gone on a bit, imo, as a first time building and in my case I took well over 1 hour maybe even 2, but i was being really picky about making sure things are installed etc.

[staffsMike]

Don't get me wrong I love the TJ-07 and silverstone I have a TJ-08 myself and my mate has a TJ-09, all fantastic cases BUT seriously expensive even for what they are and most cases above £50 can effectively cool these systems.
580w sounds like a hiper which is a problem in itself. The 520w corsair (made by seasonic) is very good and can power these systems with the greatest of ease.

The motherboard certainly is respective here on hexus, i'm not sure about the wider world tbh.

Yeah I build my own PC's now, done 6 I think this year (not all for me lol) and they have all gone very smoothly Getting used to some of the new coolers and stuff meant that the first build took a good few hours, but the last couple took me less than an hour.

I've spent a lot longer on my own just tidying cables etc.. to make it look and run that bit better to, like so,



I like my nvidia based 680i but I'm one of the few and wouldnt really get one again or recommend them. Intel boards are better I think.

I'm swaying toward ATi for graphics cards but I'm focusing less on gaming and more on Media at the moment so that's probably why.
Generally I would go nvidia and especially for gaming

[educatedfool]

^^ there 0 cooling there..and lots of parts still needed there thermal past wires ectabout 300 quids worth.

Antec 900 sitting right there, pretty much all the cooling you'd need and it's got better cooling than alot of much more expensive cases, standard size aswell.

300 quid? I doubt it, unless you get a solid gold heatsink for the CPU. Some dust filters, a 120mm fan (spare slot on the side, not necessary but anyhow), and HS + fan for the CPU and you're done.

I'd minus a 9800GX2 though, seems a bit much getting 2 of them.

Other than that it is way better than the Vadim spec for a good bit less money too.

If there are any local places you could give them that list, pay them 50-100quid to build it up for you and they'd probably give you a warranty. I did that with mine about 4/5 years ago when I hadn't a clue about building PC's.

Edit: The antec 900 also has 2 holes in the back for watercooling if you're in to that thing.

[Muska]

HERE'S ONE OF MY POSTS A MONTH AGO - would never recommend cyberpower even to an enemy , my friend bought a machine from them on my recomendation, it arrived non working, couldn't open the case cause it would invaligate the warranty, had to send it back with his own money, cause they said it might take a week or two before they collected, another one came in and imagine that non working too, so he decided tocancel it at all, so they said that this time he has to pay for the postage again cause he's the nice type he agreed, but after he told me, i called them, had to get through 3 clerks before i got to the manager, who eventually got the point and agreed to collect the system and refund "in a few days" which took 10 days eventually... so if you do go with them good look