Proposed specs for building my first gaming PC

[vegas]

2. Why not get dual boot, vista 64, and your old xp 32.

3. Good mobo, but why not the PRO, or -E. No need for the delux really

Ok, swapped the mobo for the PRO (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145751) - what's the difference between the PRO and the Delux tho?

Also, dual booting is easy right? If I type it into youtube am i likely to find some walkthrough vids showing how to set it up?

[looney]

That is a great build. E8400 is an awesome chip, better value for money for gaming as very few games use quad core. I would go for a gigabyte motherboard, they are cheap in comparison to asus and can overclock well.

This will do fine: Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G iP35

Motherboards have very little effect on performance, this board will allow you to get the E8400 to 4ghz and will safe you some money.

The antec 300 imo is the best budget case. You can't gto wrong with that. Great air flow.

Also, if you are wanting to play some older games, they will not work on 64bit vista. I'd advise getting 32bit.

Well the problem that seems to eb with gigabyte is the bios software which isnt very good at keeping overclocks, compared to asus which has a superior bios. Also the P35-SRG isnt the best board out there, the op might as well spend a liittle and get something better.

[looney]

Ok, these are my revised specs:

CPU - Core 2 Duo E8400 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971

Motherboard - Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145748

Graphics Card - PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 4870 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146429

Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067

Memory - Corsair 4GB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429

Monitor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132860

Scythe Processor Cooler http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127438

Corsair 650W http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

Case http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Case Fans (x2) http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105137

Hard Drive 640GB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144339

DVD Drive http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139414

Linksys Wireless PCI Card http://www.ebuyer.com/product/63762

This PC will mainly be used for gaming and internet browsing, 3 things I'm still not certain on though...

1. I can get both the quad Q6600 and duo E8400 intel core 2 CPU's for the same price - is it still right to get the E8400?

2. I may be running some older games since this will primarily be a gaming PC - should I get the 32bit Vista? What's the difference between 32 and 64 bit?

3. Think I may be paying too much for the motherboard, although I will probably overclock the CPU to around the 4GHZ mark, and may buy another ATI HD 4870 early next year to use in Crossfire - do you still recommend the current motherboard?

Thanks.

1) The Q6600 is just as good as the E8400 in gaming when overclocked, if your gonna keep you pc for over 3 years, go for the quad, if no longer then a year, then go dual. I went for a quad myself cos i have my computers for minimum 4 years, so its more 'futureproof' to have it.

2) If your gonna have 4gb ram, go for the 64bit, its faster and can utilise 4gb, whereas as 32bits cant recognise all of that 4gb, only 3.25gb.

3) I'm still not sure on that mobo if you want to crossfire, as it seems to be only 8x when in crossfire, which suggests its not a native support of cross fire.

Dual booting is very simple, windows does most of it, all you do is install both OS like you would normally do on seperate partitions and windows will automatically create a dual-boot option.

[vegas]

1) if your gonna keep you pc for over 3 years, go for the quad, if no longer then a year, then go dual.

2) If your gonna have 4gb ram, go for the 64bit, its faster and can utilise 4gb, whereas as 32bits cant recognise all of that 4gb, only 3.25gb.

3) Dual booting is very simple, windows does most of it, all you do is install both OS like you would normally do on seperate partitions and windows will automatically create a dual-boot option.

1) OK, think I will go for the quad then, I do plan on keeping this PC for a while

2) I'm concerned about the lack of driver/compatability support for the 64bit version - is the extra 0.75gb of RAM worth potentially not being able to install hardware or games?

3) Can I use the disc and serial number from an old version of XP to install it?

[looney]

1) OK, think I will go for the quad then, I do plan on keeping this PC for a while

2) I'm concerned about the lack of driver/compatability support for the 64bit version - is the extra 0.75gb of RAM worth potentially not being able to install hardware or games?

3) Can I use the disc and serial number from an old version of XP to install it?

The driver issues have pretty much been resolved, it was mostly in the beginning, after sp1 alot of problems were wiped out from what ive read, so it shouldnt be a huge issue. The loss of RAM wont effect anything, just you wont be able to utilise all of it which makes it a waste, if your buying a new OS, you might aswell go for 64bit, as its the future, and has advantages too. Also as someone else suggested a dual-boot would be a good idea.

3) Not sure what you mean, if you have an old xp disk and serial you should be able to use it, as long as its not oem.

[vegas]

The driver issues have pretty much been resolved, it was mostly in the beginning, after sp1 alot of problems were wiped out from what ive read, so it shouldnt be a huge issue. The loss of RAM wont effect anything, just you wont be able to utilise all of it which makes it a waste, if your buying a new OS, you might aswell go for 64bit, as its the future, and has advantages too. Also as someone else suggested a dual-boot would be a good idea.

3) Not sure what you mean, if you have an old xp disk and serial you should be able to use it, as long as its not oem.

Given that you suggest the 64bit as a more viable option, is it still worth spending £50 or so on an OEM version of XP?

[looney]

Given that you suggest the 64bit as a more viable option, is it still worth spending £50 or so on an OEM version of XP?

No, I wouldnt buy XP, it's obsolete now but will still have support for a few years, you can probably buy a retail version of vista home premium for around £100 if you look around, which should give u the option of installing 32 or 64 bit. I know ebuyer have had Vista retail for around £100 a few weeks ago.

[vegas]

No, I wouldnt buy XP, it's obsolete now but will still have support for a few years, you can probably buy a retail version of vista home premium for around £100 if you look around, which should give u the option of installing 32 or 64 bit. I know ebuyer have had Vista retail for around £100 a few weeks ago.

I can get the 64 bit OEM for £60 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067, or is it worth paying extra for the retail?

[vegas]

Getting back to CPU questions, just to clarify; even though I can get the Q6600 Quad and the E8400 Duo for the same price, and am not obsessed with having a clocking speed of over 3GHZ (something the Q6600 easily clocks to, and E8400 defaults at), I should still go with the dual core?

My only concern is that although gaming is the most CPU intensive task I will be performing on the PC, I will be keeping it for around 4 years and am worried Quad cores will be the norm by then.

...So, stick with the E8400 Duo?

[Blitzen]

Wat about an ASUS P5Q PRO, here is a link. I have it running a Q6600 + that RAM and its gr8.

link

He siad he may want Cross Fire in the future.
If he goes for the P5Q then Crossfire will take the hit because the second card on that board only runs 8X.

If he wants proper Crossfire then X38/X48.

I think this is the exactly reason why the P45 boards are such bad value (particularly the ones that are around and over £100......its a non sensicle buy).

Dont want Crossfire = P35 Chipset
Do want crossfire = X38/X48

I struggle to see the gap in the market for the P45.

Lastly, my advice would be go for the Quad core CPU.
The E8400 is a nice chip but i can guarantee, you would not notice the difference in gaming between the quad and dual core.
This said, the Quad will do EVERYTHING else faster than the E8400.

As decent as the E8400 is, the sweet spot is still the Q6600.
Remember, when all siad and done, the E8400 is still only a dual core and to that end, will have a shorter usefulness and life.

[vegas]

Do want crossfire = X38/X48

I struggle to see the gap in the market for the P45.

Lastly, my advice would be go for the Quad core CPU.
The E8400 is a nice chip but i can guarantee, you would not notice the difference in gaming between the quad and dual core.
This said, the Quad will do EVERYTHING else faster than the E8400.

As decent as the E8400 is, the sweet spot is still the Q6600.
Remember, when all siad and done, the E8400 is still only a dual core and to that end, will have a shorter usefulness and life.

Looking at your excellent PC specs, looks like my setup will be very similar - how do you rate your system? Play many games on it? How do you find the 64bit Vista, encountered any problems because of it?

I've found this X38 mobo http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142650, would this run both crossfired cards at 16x?

[Will404]

Looking at your excellent PC specs, looks like my setup will be very similar - how do you rate your system? Play many games on it? How do you find the 64bit Vista, encountered any problems because of it?

I've found this X38 mobo http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142650, would this run both crossfired cards at 16x?

Should do

[Zhaoman]

CF at 8x makes no difference to performance on today's cards, and since you will probably be adding a second 4870 when they're cheaper I don't see the problem in getting a P45.

That X38 board should do fine as well, while offering x16 lanes. I'm not sure what the "3" in the name is for: usually it's only on DDR3 motherboards so I would check that out.

[vegas]

These are my updated specs:

CPU - Core 2 Quad 6600 G0 Stepping http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131950

Motherboard - (see below)

Graphics Card - PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 4870 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146429

Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067

Memory - Corsair 4GB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429

Monitor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132860

Scythe Processor Cooler http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127438

Corsair 650W http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

Case Antec 900 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

Case Fans (x2) http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105137

Hard Drive 640GB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144339

DVD Drive http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142274

Linksys Wireless PCI Card http://www.ebuyer.com/product/63762

Would you recommend any of the following motherboards for overclocking the Q6600 to over 3.2GHZ along with the mentioned CPU Cooler, as well as ones that support Crossfire:
ASUS P5KC AiLifestyle Series iP35 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132275
ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP AiLifestyle Series P35 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129126
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus AiLifestyle nForce 650i http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132812
Asus COMMANDO P965 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126252
Asus P5Q PRO P45 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145751

Or should I stick with the
Motherboard - Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145748

[staffsMike]

I'd probably shoot somewhere down the middle
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129126

That one has a nice feature set and all the overclock potential needed for 3.2Ghz.

That said the P5Q PRO probably makes more sense at the same price near enough.

[Will404]

I agree about the P5Q PRO, its a great board.

Wouldn't spend on the delux, see no point in the extra cash.