New PC Specification

[madman045]

Now I know these are regular posts, but there's no harm in some assistance

Now im looking to do a complete overhaul on my pc with the following equipment

Q6600/Q9550 Retail
Asus P5Q Deluxe
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Heatpipe Heatsink with NF-P12 premium fan
2GB Sapphire HD4870X2
2x 320 GB Western Digital WD3200AAKS Caviar Blue
640 GB Western Digital WD6400AAKS Caviar Blue
LG GGC-H20L Lightscribe SATA Retail
620W Corsair HX Series Modular SLi PSU
Thermaltake Armor VA8003BWS Black Aluminum Case with Window w/o PSU
Asus Xonar D2X Ultra Fidelity 7.1 PCI-E Sound Card
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
APC Back-UPS ES/ 700VA APC Back-UPS ES

Now the intention is raid 0 with the 320gb drives and the 640gb for the backup data, it will be used with my existing 2007WFP at 1680x1050

Games I will be playing are COD4, Conan, Counterstrike Source, BF2, Crysis

Will the Corsair PSU be more than enough for it all?

I don't do overclocking as I prefer a fast setup by default

Thanks

[TAKTAK]

someones done their homework.....

it looks great, all i would change is the cooler and the case (can't stand thermaltake anymore ) and i would change the cooler to a xigmatec red scorpion, and i would overclock the CPU as it is very easy to do especially with the q6600...
also make sure that you get the single platter 320GiB drives... and not the dual platter 320GiB drives, can't remember the product code ATM
but yes the HX620w would be more than enough...

[richieuk]

If you dont overclock, go for a good Dual core processor, unless you want to futureproof for a couple of years then get Quad 9550. Without the o/c the Q6600 could eventually let you down a year or two down the line.

The GFX card is massive overkill, and to cool it you'll need to get a few extra fans blowing its way. But if it floats your boat, it floats ours I like it

Oh, and you'll need memory

That PSU should be enough hmm... yeah

EDIT// Taktak you git, beat meh again

[madman045]

thanks for the info, I did think about the E8400/E8600 however I will be adding some folding in the background and possibly some encoding later on, yes I know the GFX is overkill, however I'd rather have a single card then crossfire a pair of 4870's
I picked the case only down to the built in cooling it already has, otherwise I wouldnt usually pick thermaltake either, I already have a set of OCZ 2x2GB Gold Edition XTC PC6400 in front of me and a Sata DVD-RW

[MarcLister]

Is it me or is there no RAM in that spec? Or are you planning on using the RAM from your current PC?

[k4p84]

I would go with the IFX-14 for CPU cooling. On air you really can't get much better performance. Though make sure you have space to put it in



As you can see it is a tad on the large side but it does a stella job.

Good plan on one gpu too. one high end is always better than two mids for the future.

I run an E6600 and since the price difference between that and the Q6600 is so small it prob a good idea to stay with four cores. One day they might even figure out how to use them all...properly!!

ED

[2Cold Scorpio]

I agree with some of the above posters: get a better CPU cooler and overclock the hades out of that processor. Alternatively, you could get something like a dual-core E6750 like I did and save some cash (I overclocked mine by nearly a full gigahert from 2.66GHz stock to 3.6 using an Arctic Cooler 7 Pro, though I'd recommend a better cooler ); but personally, I'd stick with the quad-cores. Overclocking either of these is super simple (my first overclock on my dual core, I hit 3.2GHz on stock voltages, and 3.41 by just upping the CPU Core Voltage from the stock 1.35v to 1.36v. After that, though, I had to increase the voltages a lot, but you can still get a heck of a solid OC on stock or near-stock voltages. ).

Another suggestion: I'd get 64-bit Vista (probably Vista Ultimate) so you can utilize more than 2 GBs of RAM, seeing as your video card is going to quickly cut into the 4GB limit. Alternatively, you could save cash now, get Vista Home Premium as you plan, and go 64-bit with Windows 7 when it gets released next year. ^_^

[k4p84]

64bit all the way mate, anything less is like leaving the brakes on.

OC'n is easy yes and does give you money for nothing, so to speak. I've had my E6600 to 3.6 on air. Though with air i would say be sensible but you can get near a GB for free.

[madman045]

I did put Vista Premium 64bit in the list I did, I already run x64 business on my work laptop as it has 4gb and I plan to do the same on my pc, id like Ultimate, but just dont want to pay the extra £50 for it

I currently have a scythe ninja on my x2 4400 and its huge, so much so i cant get the case side on my stacker (old stacker) and the Noctua seemed a good size and would fit, the thermaltake is supposed to have really good airflow in the case

Thanks for the comments

[2Cold Scorpio]

I did put Vista Premium 64bit in the list I did, I already run x64 business on my work laptop as it has 4gb and I plan to do the same on my pc, id like Ultimate, but just dont want to pay the extra £50 for it.

Ah, so you did; my bad, I didn't see that. In that case, Home Premium 64-bit should be fine. Ultimate has some nice extra features, but not really anything that urgent.

[Zhaoman]

Wow even a single 4870 would be more than enough for 1680. Are you sure the X2 is really necessary? You'd have to at least bump up the FSB a fair bit to get the most out of that card. Temps could be a possible problem too. I'd say get a 4870 for now, and in a year or two just upgrade it. 1680 res is a piece of cake for a 4870. Even a 4850 paces through games at that res.

[madman045]

ok, so how about a HIS 4870 and the Q9550?

[staffsMike]

Q9550 isnt bad if you don't want to overclock.

The X2 is one hot running card, especially as you won't be asking anything from it at 1680 x 1050. If thats the res you plan to stick at you might as well save the money and get an HD4850 or even a 9800GT.

The P5Q deluxe is a bit overkill if you aren't overclocking. The -E or even PRO would probably suffice.

Noctua's cooler isn't that well regarded. The ninja you mention is actually my favourite but something like the thermalright ultima 90 or ultra 120 extreme are favoured for cooling and noise (you do have to buy a fan seperately though).

Not a big fan of the case but I'm sure it will do the job and everything else looks pretty good. Not sure I'd like to run a UPS but each to their own lol

[rufeo]

Just to throw it in the mixer, maybe a gtx260? it runs cooler than a stock 4870 and is about the same in performance, plus it overclocks really well!. here's my clock speeds core clock at 720mhz compare to stock of 576 and memory at 2400 as opposed to 1998, the great thing about it is that i just plucked those numbers from the number of other people who have overcloked theirs too. even with this massive overclock it runs barely hotter than what it was at stock and certainly alot cooler than a 4870..... now a stock 4870 or gtx 260 would be more than enough for a 22" monitor, it was more than fine at stock for me (gaming at 1920x1200) but i just overclocked it because i just wanted to

2gb of ram and vista 64-bit like everyone has suggested would be the only other thing. apart from that looks like a sweet build

[Numenor]

I would go with the IFX-14 for CPU cooling. On air you really can't get much better performance. Though make sure you have space to put it in

-- snipped image --

As you can see it is a tad on the large side but it does a stella job.

Good plan on one gpu too. one high end is always better than two mids for the future.

I run an E6600 and since the price difference between that and the Q6600 is so small it prob a good idea to stay with four cores. One day they might even figure out how to use them all...properly!!

ED

Sorry to break the flow with an 'aside' question here, but why do you have two SLI bridges between your cards? I thought you only needed one, and that two would be for Triple SLI? Or am I getting it wrong?

[k4p84]

You can run it on either or both. It just saved me from losing them

She's having a little bit of tlc, starting this week so keep an eye out for a work log