My new Rig - Opions Needed

[FifthFreedom]

Lo,

I'm looking at building an ultimate PC for gaming that should last me a good few years.

ATM I'm looking at buying the base stuff from cyberpowersystem.co.uk (Yes, I'm British... ) and extras from ebuyer.co.uk

For £2,400 I can get:

Case: CoolerMaster Mystique 632 Tower 420W Steel Case (Black Color)

CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit (Should be able to OC to 3.2 min from what I here...)

Cooling: ASUS pre-fitted, ready sealed liquid cooling system. (Never needs any work doing to it)

Power Supply: Tagan 1300W TG1300-BZ PipeRock Series Modular Power Supply

Motherboard: (3-Way SLI & QX9650/Q9770 Support) MSI P7N Diamond Nforce 780i SLI with Creative X-Fi Sound Card LGA775 Mainboard FSB1333 DDR2 3 x PCIe x16 SATA RAID w/ USB2.0, IEEE1394, & 7.1Audio

Memory: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (OCZ Nvidia SLI Ready Edition w/ Heat spreader)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB 16X PCI Express

Monitor #1: Samsung SM245B 24" 1920 x 1200 Res

Monitor #2: Some ****ty Phillips one

Hard Drive #1 : Single Hard Drive (150GB Gaming Western Digital Rapter 10, 000RPM SATA150 16MB Cache WD1500ADFD)

Hard Drive #2: Samsung TeraByte drive 7200 RPM

Optical Drive: SONY DUAL FORMAT 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: Sony DVD-Rom

Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

Mouse: Logitech G9 Gaming mouse

Keyboard: G15 gaming Keyboard

Sound: Creative Inspire Inspire 5.1 surround sound speakers

Includes, Deliver and a 3 year warranty.

So my questions are:

Is it worth the money and will it last?

Thanks for reading,

FifthFreedom

[Flewis]

Why not buy all the bits yourself and put it together yourself. If you pick the right bits (plenty of people on here to advise you) putting it together is a doddle (might take an hour). You will save a hell of a lot of money and probably get a better system.

[FifthFreedom]

I thought about that.

But all the places I looked at buying parts from it actually worked out more expensive.

I've built several PC's in the past so I'm not afraid of doing it but I'm just not sure it will save me money.

Plus how could I make this bad boy any better?

[Flewis]

Firstly I would say it is not worth the money, ive just specced up a crazy system for the same money just to show what a better system you could get. Personally I wouldnt recommend spending this much, buy a lower spec system and upgrade it when new hardware comes out (next gen graphics out soon):

LN18867 Antec P182 Advanced PERFORMANCE ONE SERIES Super Midi Tower Case, Gun Metal Black (no PSU) £78.89 £92.70

LN21066 LG GGC-H20L Lightscribe SATA 16xDVD±R, +RWx8/-RW x6 Also READS Blu-Ray/HD Discs black OEM (Inc Soft) £66.99 £78.71

LN21894 LG GH20NS10 20X DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM £12.49 £14.68

LN20199 Thermalright IFX-14 120/140mm heat sink for AMD/Intel CPU with HR-10 backside cooler (bare sink) £29.89 £35.12

LN14133 120mm Zalman ZM-F3 Case fan £3.89 £18.28

LN21218 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450, Yorkfield Core, S775, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz, 12MB Cache, Retail Assassin's Creed £199.99 £234.99

LN21973 1GB BFG Tech 9800 GX2, PCI-E 2.0, Mem 2000MHz, GDDR3, GPU 600MHz, Stream 256, 2x DL DVI-I/HDMI £298.89 £351.20

LN22634 300GB Western Digital WD3000GLFS VelociRaptor, SATA 300, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.2 ms, NCQ £163.89 £192.57

LN20978 1000GB (1Tb) Samsung HD103UJ Spinpoint F1, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ £78.99 £92.81

LN22020 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15, EPP, DHX £84.85 £99.70

LN21360 Asus Rampage Formula, S775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/1200/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX, £148.49 £174.48

LN21530 800W Tagan TG800-BZ "Quad Rail" Gold Plated PipeRock Modular Cable Management, +80% Efficiency £100.49 £118.08

LN17162 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD) £95.99 £112.79

LN19041 Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Ch Soundcard PCI £97.99 £115.14

LN19673 Logitech G9 Laser Mouse, 3200dpi, USB 1.1/2.0, 2 Buttons, Black, Retail £39.89 £46.87

LN20543 Logitech G15 New Rev.2 Gaming Keyboard, USB, Wired, Silver/Black, GamePanel LCD, Illuminated £45.99 £54.04

LN18937 24" Samsung SM-245B Black Widescreen LCD, 1920x1200, 3000:1, 400 cd/m2, 5 ms, VESA £254.89 £598.99

Net Total £2,069.05
Carriage £0.00
V.A.T. £362.08
TOTAL £2,431.13

Ive included many unnecessary extras such as vista ultimate, Blue ray drive, dual 24" monitors, quality soundcard and new 300GB velociraptor (the old raptors are out of date and matched in many things by new big drives). Personally I dont think you need a raptor but its personal preference. You dont need a 1300W PSU, the system will probably not draw more than 400W. The 800W tagan is already overkill.

The air cooler ive listed should outperform low grade watercooling which chances are is what is included with the system. Personally I would spend less but Im just showing you what you could get.

[nFuriate]

Just remember computers are like cars. They devalue incredibly quickly! If there's one thing i've learned over the years it's to not get the best GFX card or CPU, I always get the one that's going to last, and is cheaper. Then you have money spare to buy other goodies or to save.

Ofcourse, if you're made of money then why not! But i'm certainly not.

[staffsMike]

Certainly look at scan for parts or even a build as they have thier 3XS systems.

Deffinatly get the new velociprator as mentioned above, double the storage, far better for noise and power usuage

the 9800GX2 is just about to be made obselete by both ATi and Nvidia themselves (June) so there is even less point in that card than there usually is.

I don't reall know much about water cooling having never done it but if you use the Q6600 and a decent P35/ X38 motherboard air cooling would allow you to push it upto around 3.4GHz (a bit more perhaps) and still run next to silent.

Even for Tri SLi GX2's you would not need a 1300W power supply, unless you plan to run the rest of your house off it

As you say, you have no problem with building your own so I would deffiantly do that and save some money, as well as scaling back some of the components. The new quad, the GX2, the 780i board, the power supply are all embelishments you don't need to make. The performance of a mid - high range PC (£1000's worth) will easily match that in terms of your actual experience gaming experience etc.. Your FPS will be lower yes, but everything is going to be nice and playable. That also means you can save the extra money for upgrades as and when you feel the need

[FifthFreedom]

I'm so glad I posted here.

You people have certainly opened my mind.

I've now got a revised spec from Scan.co.uk for £1,600 which is better than my original one!

I few questions I still have though:

1) The new 300gig Raptors, it seems no-one has them in stock any ideas when they will be available?

2) I think I will stick with the 9800 GX2 because its the one part which is brag worthy ^^ However, there are several different manufacturers making them. Which is best? I've got to choose from here:

scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=15&Category=Graphics+Cards&Thumbnails=yes

3) What is the best air cooling on the market right now? I was looking at a Scythe Ninja Full Copper. Any thoughts?

4) Lastly, when it comes to motherboards is it worth going for the latest model for future proofing? And who is a good manufacturer of Mobo's?

Thanks for any help you guys can give me,

FifthFreedom

[staffsMike]

I'm so glad I posted here.

You people have certainly opened my mind.

I've now got a revised spec from Scan.co.uk for £1,600 which is better than my original one!

I few questions I still have though:

1) The new 300gig Raptors, it seems no-one has them in stock any ideas when they will be available?

2) I think I will stick with the 9800 GX2 because its the one part which is brag worthy ^^ However, there are several different manufacturers making them. Which is best? I've got to choose from here:

scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=15&Category=Graphics+Cards&Thumbnails=yes

3) What is the best air cooling on the market right now? I was looking at a Scythe Ninja Full Copper. Any thoughts?

4) Lastly, when it comes to motherboards is it worth going for the latest model for future proofing? And who is a good manufacturer of Mobo's?

Thanks for any help you guys can give me,

FifthFreedom

1) very soon, be patient it'll be worth it even if you have to buy a crappy 80GB one to tide you over

2) Up to you of course but it'll probably be replaced by a 9900GX2 next month and ATi's new single GPU solution is said to beat it so.. you'll be bragging for about a month lol

3)The Ninja copper is freaking great especially if you want to keep things very quiet, it can passively cool a Q6600 up to 3.4GHz in one review I have seen Thermalright 120 extreme is very good to as is the standard ninja of which I have 3 lol

4) Can't future proof Socket 775, it's dead next year.

[FifthFreedom]

So I want an SLI capable, DDR2 9800 GX2 capable Mobo.

I don't need Firewire but Integrated Surround Sound is a must.

Any suggestions?

[staffsMike]

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

But I wouldn't bother with SLi. My board is SLi capable and I really don't see the point in using it. A few years back it wasn't a bad Idea, SLi 7800GT's etc.. but now with dual gpu cards like the GX2 and The HD3870 X2 and superb single graphics card solutions there really is no point.

[FifthFreedom]

It's not the number of ports for SLI that I need.

It's just that the 9800 GX2 is a double width card and a bunch of old Mobos just don't have the space to fit it in.

But I heard the Striker II was not great for OC'ing?

Link:
***********.net/reviews.php?/cpu_mainboard/asus_striker_ii_formula_780i_socket_775_motherboard/5

What do you reckon?

[staffsMike]

i don't think the 780's are that great period, but it's all the options you really have for SLi.

It would be better just to get a decent intel board, they are all designed to take double width cards these days as it's pretty typical for high end cards to be double width.



you can see there that the abit IP-35's are designed so you dont block any slots with a double witdh card and with angled sata ports so none get blocked by long cards (like some asus P5K's )

[FifthFreedom]

Ok, one final question,

Should I buy this
#1
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=661326

or
#2
scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=679567

#1 is double the price of #2.

Are there any differences I'm missing?

Thanks for the help

[staffsMike]

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

I don't really like gigabyte or MSI having had too many problems in the past but these abit's are amazing quality and great value for money

[FifthFreedom]

Just checking, you have noticed that this Mobo doesn't support RAM at 1066 speeds?

And this isn't a drawback?

[staffsMike]

PC8500 (or 1066MHz) isn't an official DDR2 speed, it's an overclock speed and this board most certainly can hit those speeds

If you get a Q6600 you might as well stick to PC6400 if you get the Q9450 then PC8500 would probably be good for overclocking with.