Can someone help spec a system up please? (self build)

[Nick Smith]

As i am completely out of touch with computers at the moment, and have no clue as to what's what, I need some help deciding on a system for a mate of mine.

He has around £600-800 to spend, and as I have said, I have no idea where to start.

He has no need for Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse etc. But he will need an OS. (he hasn't decided on XP or vista yet.)

Thanks in advance.

Nick

[staffsMike]

Intel Q6600 + Scythe Ninja ~£160
4GB PC6400 RAM ~£60
Abit IP-35 PRO ~£85 (today only... today)
Coolermaster CM-690 ~£50
Corsair 520w HX ~£60
640GB Western Digital AAKS ~£60
optical ~£20
O/S OEM ~£60

~£555

Graphics, wait a week and pick from the new bunch of ATi and Nvidia cards which suit.

[Biscuit]

What will the computer be used for?

[StoX]

Will he be willing to overclock it at all? What does he intend to do with it - Do you know if a quad-core would be put to use or whether a dually would be better?

[FifthFreedom]

"Dually"s (lol at that by the way) are never better, only cheaper...

If you've got the cash go for the Q6600 as it wins everytime.

[StoX]

"Dually"s (lol at that by the way) are never better, only cheaper...

If you've got the cash go for the Q6600 as it wins everytime.

um, not true. Kinda would have been sort of right about a year ago. You'd be better with a Q9*** now

If the application is not using the four cores then all a quad is doing is giving out more heat and might even be running at a slower clock speed (Compare a 65nm 2.4GHz Q6600 ~95W to a 45nm E8400 3.0GHz ~65W).

However, the Q6600 is a great chip (I have two of them) especially the G0; and even better if you can land a 1.2V VID version.

Although, you will find that the 45nm tech chips are better, (and for most purposes) I'd personally go with the E8400 and overclock it to around 4GHz which it will still run relatively cool especially when in comparison to an older tech quad.

I can link you to benchmarks showing the E8500 matching up to Quad core Extremes (QX9650) in some instances

[Nick Smith]

Sorry, will be used for gaming.


That first spec looks good.

Thanks

[staffsMike]

I can't remember who it is, I'm sure they will pop along if they havn't already but if you get that case, change the fan from the side panel to the bottom (there is a space for it there) and it will run near silent.

I have used the case but only with the side panel off and it was dead quiet

There's lots of cases you could get though, it depends what sort of system you need.

Personal favourites are

Antec Solo
Antec P182
Coolermaster CM-690

All very quiet and the CM is espeically good for cooling.

If he wants to splash out on the case a bit more then the antec 1200 is a bit a beast

[douglasb]

I can't remember who it is, I'm sure they will pop along if they havn't already but if you get that case, change the fan from the side panel to the bottom (there is a space for it there) and it will run near silent.

that was me!! lol
in 2 weeks today i will have it built and running!! (if it all arrives on time)

[StoX]

Intel E8400 (3.0GHz 45nm) = £120
Thermalright Ultra-120 = £33
4GB PC6400 RAM = £60
Abit IX38 QUADGT = £102
Antec 900 Gaming case = £63
Corsair 750w PSU ~£70
1TB 32MB Cache HDD ~£100
SATA DVD Drive ~£20
O/S OEM ~£60
8800GT x2 SLI = £180

Around £800 for what would be a rapid system. You can cut back on the PSU, case, HDD, or mobo to bring it down to around £600-700.

[staffsMike]

You can't SLi on X38 and two 8800GT's is more like £230 not to mention a waste compared to cheaper very effective single GPU solutions.

[Thorsson]

Totally right. Buying two 8800GTs a week away from new graphics cards being released is really not a good idea. BTW OP what size is the monitor?

[StoX]

You can't SLi on X38 and two 8800GT's is more like £230 not to mention a waste compared to cheaper very effective single GPU solutions.

bah I changed the GPU and forgot the mobo was X38 - you could get an ASUS P5N32-E SLI for a little less anyway. And I can find the 8800GT for 92.99 each inc VAT from a very well known etailor.

What GPU would you recommend for around £180 that would beat 2x 8800GT?

Thanks for pointing out my mobo/SLI error

[StoX]

Totally right. Buying two 8800GTs a week away from new graphics cards being released is really not a good idea. BTW OP what size is the monitor?

Sure, wait a week for the new ones and pick up the 8800GT's for even less - it is rumored that the 9800GT is just the same but with slightly higher clocks...

[staffsMike]

I would Imagine the HD4850 would give the GT's a good hiding especially in games that don't scale well with SLi, if it's as good as predicted.

You also have to consider the resolution he may be gaming at which we don't know as yet. If it's fairly low, 1680 x 1050, one GT would suffice.

[Noxvayl]

I can't remember who it is, I'm sure they will pop along if they havn't already but if you get that case, change the fan from the side panel to the bottom (there is a space for it there) and it will run near silent.

I advised douglasb on that Works better than having the fan on the side(dropped my temps by up to 5C on the CPU and almost 10C on my GFX) and makes it almost silent. You just get that lovely hum of a few fans in the case.

Sure, wait a week for the new ones and pick up the 8800GT's for even less - it is rumored that the 9800GT is just the same but with slightly higher clocks...

Its going to be just like the 9800GTX, re-badged cheaper component version of its predecessor. Absolutely pointless to purchase, just wait for the HD4850.

I would Imagine the HD4850 would give the GT's a good hiding especially in games that don't scale well with SLi, if it's as good as predicted.

You also have to consider the resolution he may be gaming at which we don't know as yet. If it's fairly low, 1680 x 1050, one GT would suffice.

Yeah I do hope the HD4850 rocks nvidia's boat big time as they have been sleeping for too long.

As for 1680x1050 one 8800GT/HD3870/HD4850/GT2xx would do the job perfectly fine with the last 2 being preferred, especially the HD4850