First system build - please help

[Sacred]

Hi guys,


Posted a thread here the other day looking to get a new system, have decided that its probably best for me to give it a go at building it myself.

I've had a look about and how does the following look?


eBuyer

LG W2252S 22"TFT Monitor 1680x1050 10000:1 300cd/m2 5ms Black VGA 3 Years Onsite Warranty 143050 £129.97

Antec Nine Hundred 900 - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU 118268 £66.96


Total inc vat: £196.93


SCAN

Edimax 9270TX 64Bit 10/1000 Gigabit (GbE) PCI Network Card £25.84

620W Corsair HX Series Modular SLi PSU, ATX, EPS 12V, whisper quiet £85.76

Intel Core 2 Duo, E8500, Wolfdale Core, S775, 3.16 GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB Cache, Retail £131.47

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuff, CAS 5, EPP, DHX + Fan £92.58

640 GB Western Digital WD6400AAKS Caviar Blue, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms £52.84

Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £15.09

896MB EVGA GTX 260 FTW, PCI-E 2.0(x16), Mem 2214MHz, GPU 666MHz, 192 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ HDTV £258.50

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L, iP45 Express, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 x16, DDR2 1066/1333/1600, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £76.85


Total in vat: £738.93


System total = £935.86


Leaving me with just enough cash to get Vista and still bring it in at around £1000. I've not looked around to save every last penny or anything is it worth it? I mean I'm not going to make savings of £50+ or anything am I?


So what you guys think? Anything I've done wrong/should change for a different component? Whats the scope to give overclocking a try?
Also will I require a heatsink/fan for the CPU or will the stock one supplied be sufficient? Lastly thermal paste, required?


Thanks a lot guys, looking forward to your replies!


Regards,
Sacred

[Lanky123]

896MB EVGA GTX 260 FTW, PCI-E 2.0(x16), Mem 2214MHz, GPU 666MHz, 192 Cores, 2xDL DVI-I/ HDTV £258.50

Not worth the money - you could get a GTX280 for that.

You may want to check that the case is capable of fitting a GTX2xx graphics card (they are quite long). One of the eBuyer reviewers (Ian Dominey 15/07/2008) states:

I purchased a GTX280 and discovered, to my dismay, that I could not physically fit it into the case unless I removed all but one of the hard drives. As such, I ended up needing to purchase a new case (and I'd only had the Antec for about two weeks).

Sounds like it might be a tight fit but should be OK so long as you only need one HDD. Someone here might have personal experience on this?

640 GB Western Digital WD6400AAKS Caviar Blue, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms £52.84

Good choice, £48.99 at eBuyer.

620W Corsair HX Series Modular SLi PSU, ATX, EPS 12V, whisper quiet £85.76

You could save £20 if you don't need modular with the 650W TX, but that depends on your priorities.

Edimax 9270TX 64Bit 10/1000 Gigabit (GbE) PCI Network Card £25.84

The motherboard will have gigabit ethernet, any reason you need this too?

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuff, CAS 5, EPP, DHX + Fan £92.58

Quite expensive, unless you're planning on overclocking you won't need memory of that speed. 800Mhz memory would allow an overclock up to 3.8Ghz without overclocking the memory, and would be a lot cheaper. If you do want extreme overclocking potential though, go for it.

If you are planning on overclocking it would be wise to get an aftermarket cooler (it would also make it quieter and cooler even if you aren't). The Xigmatek cooler offers good value for money and seems to get recommended a lot. Often on Today Only for a fiver less as well.

I seem to have been a bit picky here - sorry. Some of it's just my opinion but hope it helps.

[acrobat]

I seem to have been a bit picky here - sorry.

That's the best way, and you also went out of your way to check things on other sites which was very kind. I agree with what you said too.

Also Sacred, have you done much research on that case? I know some people love them, but I decided against that case because I read things about them being noisy. That might not be true any more, or maybe you can just get fan controllers and whatnot, but it's worth a mention. I've got 3 hard disks, a CPU with heat problems, and an 8800GTX, and all work happily in a case with just 2 very low speed fans. That PSU (same as mine) is extremely quiet, so it's worth a mention anyway.

As for the paste, the retail CPU's come with a heatsink and that will usually have the paste already applied on it, or it will give you some to apply. You can always get your own better stuff if you prefer.

Also, from any savings you might make, you might want to consider getting an after market cooler. There are even cheap ones for like £20 or so, which can be a good bit better than the intel standard cooler, and that could serve you well if you plan on overclocking (and even if you don't - because it will be quieter).

As for the graphics card, I have totally lost track of graphics cards so I don't know what is what any more, but just generally speaking, I can say that with a fantastic PC like that, it would be well worth getting the fastest graphics card you can afford. Even if it meant waiting another month for another pay cheque or something. The CPU is so fast, and you have plenty of RAM and stuff, so the last and most important bit is the card. If you put a very high end card in that PC, it would eat games for breakfast

[Sacred]

Thanks again for the replies, these forums are possibly the most helpful I've been on.

I read a few reviews about the case and felt it was cheap enough and would hopefully fulfill my needs. However if space is an issue here I would gladly change it, after all need to be able to fit all of my components in it!

Didn't realise that the mobo had its own network card so thanks for that

I was going to go with the modular PSU to allow me to manage the cables easier. However for a saving of £20 I might try and manage the cables myself (Is this hard to do? I'm guessing a few cable ties will suffice?)

I've looked at the GTX280 cards and am not really sure what to choose. What are the BFG cards like? I assume their overclocked at the specs shown, but does that then mean I'm getting a lesser card and just paying for the privilege of letting someone else overclock it for me? It just for around £300 they seem to be the only cards available//in stock.



SCAN


4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuff, CAS 5, EPP, DHX + Fan £92.58 (£85.76 today only)

Asus P5Q-E, iP45, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/ 1200/800 MHz, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £107.74

Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £15.09


Total = £215.41



eBuyer


LG W2252S 22"TFT Monitor 1680x1050 10000:1 300cd/m2 5ms Black VGA 3 Years Onsite Warranty £129.97

EVGA GTX280 1GB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card £319.58

Coolermaster CM690 Dominator Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU £66.52

Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM £48.99

Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail £64.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £130.37


Total inc vat: £760.42


System Total = £975.83


This doesn't leave me any funds to buy an OS, but I would rather get the best components for my £1000 and buy the OS as a separate investment later.
One question regarding the OS, the OEM version can only be installed once right? And the retail version can be installed 3 times on up to three different machines?


Thanks guys,
Sacred

[Webby]

ANy particular reason you continually choose graphics cards that are over priced? I can only assume that you are choosing EVGA for the 10 year warranty but consider that after 3 years the card will basically be worthless and you will probably have replaced it does it really matter? You could even save £20 and get a pre overclocked BFG model and still have a 10 year warranty, or save £35 and get the Inno3d and get 2 free games.

You don't even need to spend that much a 260 will be more than ample for your monitor, and will cost you from £180+ and the first with a 10 year warranty would be the an EVGA from Scan for £190.

As for an OS the OEM can be installed on the same "machine" as many times as you like but if you change the motherboard then you should buy a new copy the Retail version is transferable so upgrading the motherboard will not void your licence.

[Lanky123]

I would wait for the cheapest GTX280 at Scan (Gainward) to come back in stock, or wait for the Leadtek below to go on Today Only (well what do you know, Scan are in a good mood Today ). Pre-overclocked cards offer slightly more performance, but generally not value for money and you could just overclock yourself. Quite frankly any GTX280 will eat games for breakfast at 1680x1050 resolution. For this reason you may still want to consider the slightly less powerful GTX260, but a better value for money version. The Leadtek at Scan again offers better value for money (~£180), and the Gainward better still if it comes back in stock. This review compares the performance of standard GTX260 & GTX280 and the overclocked EVGA GTX260 FTW you were considering. It's up to you whether the cheaper card would be enough for you.

The modular power supply would make things neater, but it's certainly not too difficult to tie the cables back and I would be tempted to save the £20. It will obviously make no difference to performance, apart from possibly slightly higher temps from lower airflow if any of the cables do get in the way. If you're careful with your cabling it shouldn't cause any issues, shoving the extra cables into unused drive bays is the usual way of doing things.

[Sacred]

Think I'll stick with the cheaper PSU then and try and tidy the cables myself.

How do you guys rate this card for £246.69 as oppose to the £320 card above?

1GB Leadtek GTX 280, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 2214MHz GDDR3, GPU 602MHz, 240 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV

Just wish I had my student loan now as would be able to buy this no problems on the today only offer!

[Webby]

Since both follow the reference design and both are stock clocked the will be little to no difference between them.

The only things to separate them will be bundle items and warranty, and neither of these are likely to be worth £80 to you. The Gainward has a 2 year warranty, but if something is going to go wrong with it then it is likely to happen in the first few months rather than years later.

[Lanky123]

Student loan eh? Not wishing to be rude or presumptuous, but if you're going to be living off value beans for the rest of the year as a result of buying this save the money and get the cheapest GTX260. It should be more than ample at 1680x1050. If you have more money than I'm stereotyping you with (I'm a student too, I'm not trying to have a dig at you ), consider the Leadtek GTX280 but the GTX260 still offers a bit more value for money.

[Webby]

Yeah I tend to agree with Lanky123 a 260 (or HD4870) will happily play everything available at 1680*1050 and would be far better value for money, but as they say the choice is yours!

[Sacred]

Think I'm being a bit of an arse with regards to wanting a super powered computer when really it's not going to offer much difference to the overall performance to the game.

I'm going to quickly put together a revision of the above system, would you guys then be able to offer some advice with a system to system type comparison as to what the difference would be performance wise?


**EDIT**

Casing:
Coolermaster CM690 Dominator Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU £66.52

MOBO:
Asus P5Q-E, iP45, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/ 1200/800 MHz, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £107.74

PSU:
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 80+% Efficiency, Single +12V Rail £64.99

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) Socket 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £130.37

RAM:
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, DHX £64.57

GPU:
896MB Leadtek GTX260, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1998MHz, GPU 576MHz, 192 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV £164.49

HDD:
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM £48.99

Optical Drives:
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM £15.09

Monitor:
LG W2252S 22"TFT Monitor 1680x1050 10000:1 300cd/m2 5ms Black VGA 3 Years Onsite Warranty £129.95


TOTAL = £792.71


Still leaves me some spare cash to get Vista as well.

[Zadock]

Sacred, take a look at yoyotech.co.uk they do a machine called "Spartan 300" its gotten a PC format gold award... its good spec, comes in the antec 300 case and its coming in at £499. You can have it pre-built or have it sent to you in bits its up to you.

Might be a good option if you've not built a system before, the site has a configurator etc so you an tweak the price. I bought an Intel Viper from them last year, been very pleased with it.

[Webby]

I personally would doubt you would notice the difference at that resolution the 260 is more than enough.

[staffsMike]

That's a really nice build now, almost exactly what I would build. You will be able to venture into overclocking later if you feel the need but the stock performance will be far in excess of what most games need in terms of CPU power.

I'd still buy an aftermarket cooler though as you are setting yourself up for a really nice quiet build and the stock cooler can give a very annoying humming sound. For convenience I would go for the Corsair 520W HX as it's modular and more than enough power for your system. Just makes cabling that bit easier to get right even with a decent case like the CM-690

Something like this for the cooler
http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=22841

Just £14 on today only right now

[Hunkulus]

Try looking at advancetec.com for some of those components aswell... They have that case with the window...and you might be able to save a few quid on the other components too, especially the memory...

[Lanky123]

Looking like an excellent build now. On top of what others have said you don't really have to spend that much on the motherboard if you aren't overclocking. The standard P5Q or maybe even the Gigabyte (despite the colour scheme ) you initially suggested would run everything fine.