New build - One last check before I pay up :-)

[tensim]

OK... I know my last thread said I'd pulled the trigger and ordered everything for my new desktop PC... but I've hesitated at the post; damn these second thoughts!

Anyhoo... I've decided that I'd best run the spec past the esteemed forum members before I actually hand over my dinero! So here's what I'm going for:

Q6600 + Abit iX38 Quad-GT mobo
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (seems to have the best bang-for-your-buck ratio?)
4GB Corsair TwinX DDR2 PC2-8500 (is this worth it over PC2-6400? There's about £20 price difference...)
300GB VelociRaptor (pure extravagance, but I think it'll be worth it performance wise...)
750GB WD Caviar Black (latest and greatest, plus the fastest 7200RPM hopefully )
Sapphire HD 4870 (will probably sell this in a few months and replace with the upcoming HD 4870 X2... if it's less than £300 and I feel the need of the power )
650W Be Quiet Dark Power PSU
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
Coolermaster Cosmos S (already purchased, it was on 'Today Only' last week so I jumped!)

So, what do you think of this spec? All thoughts and comments appreciated

[tensim]

Oh yeah, there'll obviously be a DVD-RW etc drive in there as well!

cheers

[staffsMike]

If you are happy with the indulgences (which you seem to be) then it looks like a good build to me

The PC8500 isn't worth it. PC6400 is enough for 3.6GHz without even overclocking it.

[Zhaoman]

I'd say the PC8500 is worth it, it's £20 quid more for perhaps better stability overclocking and generally feeling good about it! It's nice to know that you've got flashy little heatspreaders on ur ram

I haven't seen the performance of the velociraptor but I know that the samsung f1 series outperformed the raptorX so you could look into that. much cheaper too so you could have 2 750gb drives and still have change! (maybe for a q9450... )

The build is otherwise fantastic, in a few months time you can get another 4870 seeing how well they scale in crossfire; would be a great upgrade!

[Noxvayl]

That looks good to me... only things I'd change would be for personal preference otherwise what you have listed is perfect

[tensim]

The VelociRaptor is certainly somewhat of an indulgence But, I'll be using this PC for plenty of photo editing (10-15MB RAW files, up to 200MB TIFF files!) so I reckon it'll make a difference there (plus it'll be an excellent scratch drive for CS3!)

So I won't notice any real world difference with PC2-8500 over PC2-6400 RAM? Total waste of £20?

Also... will 650W be enough to power 2 x 4870's in Crossfire (if I end up going down that route instead of the 4870 X2 single card)?

With the Xigmatek, I remember reading somewhere that it might be a good idea to buy a different mounting setup to the push-pin it uses (something like that). Anyone have thoughts on this?

[staffsMike]

I've seen it fitted with the push pins and it was happily running a Q6600 at 3.6GHz..

The RAM is a total waste of £20 really.

It's a decent PSU and it certainly won't require all of that power I don't think

[Zhaoman]

650 would be more than enough, especially as the be quiet has 4 rails.

[tensim]

Any suggestions on a better cooler than the HDT-S1283?

Scythe Ninja-CU Full Copper? Thermalright True Black-120 (gotta love the black!)with a couple of Noctua NF-P12 on there?

Cost of an air-cooler isn't really an issue, I was thinking about spending £250 on watercooling! Sanity has prevailed though (for the moment! )

[staffsMike]

Both of those are better in my eyes, the Ninja because I like the standard ninja anyway and the CU is great even when passive ( the fan it comes with is a peach though )

TRUE is still considered by most to be the best air cooler available and it's new price (not sure about the black) makes it very appealing

I would use yate loons/nexus but we've probably been through this

[tensim]

Yate Loons seem like a very good buy at £4ea...

How much better do you think either of these coolers would be over the Xigmatek?

[staffsMike]

SPCR did a decent write up on the xigmatec and actually in my mates experience the Xigmatec was actually better than his TRUE but it was on two different Q6600's so not exactly fair. Both very capable though but the xigmatec deffinatly liked the higher airflow.

A TRUE with a couple of yate loons would be awesome

[Noxvayl]

Yate Loons seem like a very good buy at £4ea...

How much better do you think either of these coolers would be over the Xigmatek?

TRUE would be best by a few degrees C over either of those coolers tbh. My TRUE running with a Silverstone 1000 RPM fan doesn't let my CPU go above 48C with orthos running for hours and its heavily clocked as you can see in my system notes

TRUE is my personal choice over all others if price isn't an issue for air cooling

[Muska]

xigmatec beats both true and nija at higher airflow in all the reviews i've read easy, actually ninja is nowhere near even at low airflow, but does have a great fan tbh and good bang4buck i like true as well it is on par with xigmatec on low airflow, but i'm yet to see a review testing them with the same fan so question marks there, it's just a matter of preference i'd say. the new sunbeamtech hsf beats xigmatec and looks like it beats my beloved tuniq tower costing only 60% of the price and half the weight it is the same company though, the bad thing is it's not available here yet and there's no date, but here's a review just in case http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=2271

[joz12345]

i hav a xigmatek, and it works very well (i recommended it in the last thread) Of all the reviews i have seen, it looks like it can compete with the ultra 120. My 3ghz q6600 doesnt go above 48 C when running prime 95 for a few hours

Also, the push pin thing is a bit tricky. I followed the instructions to the letter trying to get it to clamp down, only to examine the mechanism and see that thepins lock when you turn them the opposite way the arrow and instructions tell you.

So, turn in the way of the arrow to unlock it, then push down, and turn it back again and it locks much tighter than if you turn it the other way. It worked for me... but maybe mine was faulty

[Zhaoman]

I think it's safe to say that all 3 coolers would be well able to keep a heavy overclock under control , it's really your personal preference; especially if you're looking to watercool in future.