New PC spec check and advice

[MarcLister]

Hi all. Haven't got the cash atm but that doesn't stop me from planning my new PC.

I've already posted a thread on Hexus about graphics and I will probably go for a 4870 1Gb if and when Scan get them in.

Otherwise my initial PC spec is:
CPU: Q9550 - £217.25
Mobo: Asus P5Q-E - £95.69
RAM: 4GB DDR2 6400 4-4-4-12 - £65.38 if I get Corsair from Scan or £69.31 if I get Geil from OcUK. Is there any difference between Corsair or Geil?
Hard disk: Samsung 640Gb - £58.74 from OcUK as Scan don't have them yet. Samsung 1Tb F1 - £87.53
DVD: Samsung SH-223F - £15.15 Just speccing one atm. Is it worth getting two? I like to play FM and I HATE having to take discs out all the time so I like to have 2 DVD drives, one for FM say and the other for DVD movies and so on.
Graphics: 4870 1Gb (when Scan get them) - £173.89
Case: Open to suggestions on this but I like my Akasa Eclipse so I'm interested in the Akasa Omega - £123.25
PSU: Corsair HX 620W - £86.94
CPU Heatsink - Xigmatek HDT-S1283 - £22.27
OS: Vista Home Premium x64 OEM - £59.91

Pretty set on the CPU, mobo and PSU. Could be interested in the Tuniq Tower but Scan don't do that. I'm thinking a Samsung 640Gb (with 320Gb platters) as a fast but not Raptor etc costly boot disk and the Samsung 1Tb as my storage drive.

I haven't specced a sound card. I currently have an X-Fi Fatality and I want to avoid the Vista x64 driver issues so I could either try the onboard sound or buy a Xonar card. If Xonar which one?

Oh and I change my mind on fans everyday. I was an Akasa fan but I found some other 120mm fans that push a lot more air yet aren't that much louder. My brother has several of the Sharkoon 120mm fans in his 2 week old build and they are quite quiet and he's still not put the sides on! I think he got the slower Sharkoons to make the PC a bit quieter.

One issue I have with the fans is how many to get. One for the CPU heatsink and then the Akasa Omega case can take six. One in the front, one out the back, two exhausts on top and two intakes on the side. Would I benefit from using the 6 fan spaces or can I get away with fewer fans to keep a PC cool and therefore another case? Obviously I need a case that can fit a Tuniq Tower or the Xigmatek in and allow me to fit the side panels back on. I'd like a case that is fairly easy to cool and quiet as well. Hence my choice of the Akasa Omega based on my experiences with the Eclipse 62 and the new Omega having 6 fan spaces. Guide price for the case would be not much more than the £125 for the Akasa Omega. Having seen my brother's Antec 900 I don't mind it but I'm not keen on the LEDs on the fans and the Akasa Omega is more my kind of case really. Plus I think it is wider than the Antec 900/1200 so fitting a Tuniq Tower/Xigmatek should be easier?

Any recommendations, advice or info on my choices would be gratefully received.

[SuicidaL]

that black dragon stuff is cheaper Here, although do you really need that?

i have the geil ultra stuff, and i think that staffs mike has it to and it's good stuff and never had a prob with it. no 2x2 kits although yuo can get 2gb sticks Here,

personally i think that a lot of the heatsink stuff on ram modules makes no odds to thermal performance. what i mean is that most slots are in front of the cpu/hsf anyway, so as long as there isn't a rats nest of cables in the way and there is decent airflow over the slots then heat shouldn't really be an issue but thats just me.

as for the hsf, also consider the TRUE-120 or the ultra-120, i have the ultra version and it's a nifty cooler and reading around others vouch for the TRUE version. maybe a tad more pricey than the others but worth it in my view and if you want it quiet then these come without fans which can be added.

[MarcLister]

I kind of want the Black Dragon "stuff" yes. Brother has it and is happy with it.

So either http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...cat=706&page=2 or http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...cat=706&page=2 for me.

When you mean RAM heatsink do you mean the DHX Corsair stuff? I didn't choose it for that. I chose it for the 4-4-4-12 timings.

And as for the HSF I can't see any particular reason to spend a fair bit more on a TRUE when my brother's Tuniq Tower works well for him.

[SuicidaL]

When you mean RAM heatsink do you mean the DHX Corsair stuff? I didn't choose it for that. I chose it for the 4-4-4-12 timings.

the dhx stuff and the geil evo one stuff you mentioned in your first post. and the ultra sticks i have are 4-4-4-12 to

And as for the HSF I can't see any particular reason to spend a fair bit more on a TRUE when my brother's Tuniq Tower works well for him.

you can get the ultra120 (not the extreme) and a fan cheaper than the tuniq, but like everything else it's all down to preference.

[MarcLister]

You've got Geil Ultra? Got a link to where you got it from?

[Zhaoman]

The 1Tb Samsung uses 320Gb platters as well btw so it's got Velociraptor speed. Scan have the 640Gb WD drive on today only for £50 which is a great deal.

About the memory, current Intel CPUs barely benefit from lower timings at all. You could probably opt for a higher latency pair and put the extra few bob towards a fan controller or the extra DVD drive.

[MarcLister]

About the memory, current Intel CPUs barely benefit from lower timings at all. You could probably opt for a higher latency pair and put the extra few bob towards a fan controller or the extra DVD drive.

Won't really have those budget issues.

[Zhaoman]

Lol fair enough

[staffsMike]

As mentioned about scan have a WD 640GB AAKS for £50, I would choose WD anyway but the saving and free delivery is always nice too.

I have the akasa eclipse too so if you go for the omega you will have to post some pics up
Other cases to consider are the Antec P182 for exceptional build quality and quiet. Coolermasters CM-690 which even at £60 (used to be £45) still provides a great functionality/space/noise/cooling (everything really) trade off.

I take it there is no overclocking going on with this PC? If there is though the Q6600 makes for a better buy.

I'm a big fan of geil ram but if there is no overclocking going on it won't make a blind bit of difference.

[Wills]

-Im one to second the Tuniq tower, had mine a month and its awesome!
-Noctua make supposedly amazing fans which shift tons of air with almost silence, they are a tad pricey because of this thor (£12-15) for a 120mm.
-Between Corsair and Geil, just look for the fastest speed with the tightest timings. Heat spreaders are good if overclocking but im not entirely sure how much difference a different shaped heatspreader for your ram will make.

With the P5Q-E, Im not that familiar with it, but ive heard that the P5k Premium wifi-ap is a very very good board for reliability and oc'ing, it may be worth considering that route.

Last thought, dont forget Nahelm(sp?) isnt too far away!

[rufeo]

I haven't specced a sound card. I currently have an X-Fi Fatality and I want to avoid the Vista x64 driver issues so I could either try the onboard sound or buy a Xonar card. If Xonar which one?

I've got a x-fi fatal1ty and have had no issues in 64-bit vista..... but if you do then choice is really down to how much you value your sound and what you can spend on it. onboard sound has become alot better than in the past. if you value you're sound and have pretty decent speakers then going for a discreet card is the only way you'll be satisfied. in terms of the xonar, there's the two full-fat editions the D2 and D2X compared with the skimmed down DX (the D1 is coming out or already out now, not sure which though) The X just means it connects via PCI-E as opposed to PCI. two things to consider are will you have a spare PCI-E slot free and also whether you need the extra features like more inouts and DTS. there's also the HDAV versions which can handle true-HD but can't say much about them as i've only just found out they exist

[maverick77_uk]

Hi,

Regarding the DVD drives - not sure if other people have this problem, but I have 2 DVD drives. I always make sure they are different manufacturers / models. I've found that one drive in the past had a problem with some game disks (due to the copy protection on them I guess), whereas a different drive had an issue with some DVD films, By having 2 makes, if a disk doesn't wok in one, it'll probably work in the other.

Cheers!

[SuicidaL]

You've got Geil Ultra? Got a link to where you got it from?

microdirect 2gig sticks

microdirect is where i got mine from, only because scan don't stock geil - i won't deal with ocuk again and both microdirect and scan are both up the road so no delivery charges

[MarcLister]

As mentioned about scan have a WD 640GB AAKS for £50, I would choose WD anyway but the saving and free delivery is always nice too.

I have the akasa eclipse too so if you go for the omega you will have to post some pics up
Other cases to consider are the Antec P182 for exceptional build quality and quiet. Coolermasters CM-690 which even at £60 (used to be £45) still provides a great functionality/space/noise/cooling (everything really) trade off.

I take it there is no overclocking going on with this PC? If there is though the Q6600 makes for a better buy.

I'm a big fan of geil ram but if there is no overclocking going on it won't make a blind bit of difference.

Tbh I've seen nothing that take my eyes away from the Akasa Omega. Brother's Antec 900 looks nice but the LED fans would get on my nerves. So I'll probably end up getting the Omega. I will of course post pics for you.

Probably won't bother with overclocking on this. Would the Q6600 be better for any overclocking or just if planning to overclock past a certain speed?

-Im one to second the Tuniq tower, had mine a month and its awesome!
-Noctua make supposedly amazing fans which shift tons of air with almost silence, they are a tad pricey because of this thor (£12-15) for a 120mm.
-Between Corsair and Geil, just look for the fastest speed with the tightest timings. Heat spreaders are good if overclocking but im not entirely sure how much difference a different shaped heatspreader for your ram will make.

With the P5Q-E, Im not that familiar with it, but ive heard that the P5k Premium wifi-ap is a very very good board for reliability and oc'ing, it may be worth considering that route.

Last thought, dont forget Nahelm(sp?) isnt too far away!

Excellent. Will spec the Tuniq tower then. Brother has it and isn't causing any problems for him.

As for fans I was looking at the Noctuas but they are quite pricey. The 1200rpm model moves 48CFM but only 17dB.

And yes I do realise that the longer it takes me to get a graduate job and therefore the money for a new PC I sail closer to the Nehalem window. Would it be worth getting the current spec when Nehalem is out so it would be much cheaper or is Nehalem such a major development it would be worth waiting for the prices to stabilise and go that way? I've read that Nehalem will be able to run CPUs at a similar speed or faster than the current chips but using much less power?

I've got a x-fi fatal1ty and have had no issues in 64-bit vista..... but if you do then choice is really down to how much you value your sound and what you can spend on it. onboard sound has become alot better than in the past. if you value you're sound and have pretty decent speakers then going for a discreet card is the only way you'll be satisfied. in terms of the xonar, there's the two full-fat editions the D2 and D2X compared with the skimmed down DX (the D1 is coming out or already out now, not sure which though) The X just means it connects via PCI-E as opposed to PCI. two things to consider are will you have a spare PCI-E slot free and also whether you need the extra features like more inouts and DTS. there's also the HDAV versions which can handle true-HD but can't say much about them as i've only just found out they exist

Thanks. I only have headphones atm, well kind of headphones. They plug into my hearing aids so I might hear some difference between onboard sound and a dedicated card but not as much as most normal hearing people. I am thinking of getting a decent set of speakers at some point so I can watch DVDs and game etc without being right up to the PC as the headphone cables demand I must be.

Hi,

Regarding the DVD drives - not sure if other people have this problem, but I have 2 DVD drives. I always make sure they are different manufacturers / models. I've found that one drive in the past had a problem with some game disks (due to the copy protection on them I guess), whereas a different drive had an issue with some DVD films, By having 2 makes, if a disk doesn't wok in one, it'll probably work in the other.

Cheers!

Good point. I currently have this situation, not by design but by accident. Sometimes DVDs won't work in one but will work in the other. However sometimes just switching between VLC and MPC seems to do the trick for me. But I will keep that in mind.

[staffsMike]

If you are willing to overclock then a Q6600 will happily run Q9550 speeds. but if you are willing to overclock the Q9550 no doubt if will go a lot higher than a Q6600.

Genereally a Q6600 will be quite content around 3.2-3.4GHz. They will go to 3.66 -3.8GHz but this will be starting to push them quite hard and certainly with air cooling.

It'll be great if you can post some pics because although I do prefer my P182 to the eclipse I still have a soft spot for it And it is massive inside

[MarcLister]

If you are willing to overclock then a Q6600 will happily run Q9550 speeds. but if you are willing to overclock the Q9550 no doubt if will go a lot higher than a Q6600.

Genereally a Q6600 will be quite content around 3.2-3.4GHz. They will go to 3.66 -3.8GHz but this will be starting to push them quite hard and certainly with air cooling.

Hmm still preferring the Q9550. Would it be worth waiting for Nehalem? Some quick Wiki'ing suggests similar processing speeds but for 30% less power usage. I'm guessing I'd have to wait until Jan/Feb at the earliest for decent prices on Nehalem chips and boards?

It'll be great if you can post some pics because although I do prefer my P182 to the eclipse I still have a soft spot for it And it is massive inside

My Eclipse was my first proper, thought out case and it is indeed massive and I've had no problems with it for three years now. If the Omega has three times the fans and yet remains an absolute beast of a case in terms of its space then I'm going for it.

No idea when I can scrape the cash together for this but I will post pics of the Omega when I get it.