Like to get some thoughts on my new rig

[ChrisVick]

Hopefully if all goes well, I will be buying everything next week but I want to post the specs just incase there are issues I've not come across yet. I'll be buying everything from scan if I can as it's more convient. With that said, these are the main components!

ASUS ROG Rampage Extreme, S775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1066/1333/1600

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, Yorkfield Core, S775, 2.83 GHz, 1333MHz, 12MB L2 Cache, 8.5x

2x 1TB (1000 GB) Samsung HD103UJ Spinpoint F1

4GB (2x2GB) CorsairTwinX XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333MHz), CAS 9-9-9-24 (was thinking of getting the OCZ 4GB DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Intel Extreme XMP as I can get it up to 1600Mhz but not sure. Do I really need to get DDR3 anyway? Would a cpu and ram with both 1333 be better for overclocking? I have skimmed over some of the tutorial threads but still need to read it probably though)

1000W Corsair HX Series PSU (want a future proof psu incase I want crossfire or sli later on)

2GB Sapphire HD4870X2 (currently got a 22" and a 19" but might replace the 22" with a 24" monitor or higher in a year or so, this is why I am thinking of getting the 2GB version over the 1GB).

Here's the rest, just incase anyone wants to know!

Coolermaster RC-1100 V2 Cosmos S (Sport)
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Heatpipe Heatsink
A few 120mm Noctua NF-P12 Vortex-Control Quiet Case Fan
Scan Black Floppy Disk +Int Combo All in 1 Card Reader
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1* 64Bit

I don't plan on updating my computer again for at least 2 years, maybe 3... but I know technology is moving faster than it has ever done and will only get quicker in the future. I ideally want this rig to last a long time before having to do anything with it though.

Thanks for reading.

[staffsMike]

With a budget like that you might want to get an i7 build..

For 24" gaming though most of that is overkill.

You don't need DDR3 at all or a crazy motherboard like that. Even for gaming at 2560 x 1600 one HD4870X2 is enough so I would save yourself some money and get a DFI P45 board. Plenty enough overclocking headroom there. Get PC8500 RAM for overclocking that Q9550 and you'll be golden.

By the time you might feel the need for a second X2 there will be far better single graphics cards to choose from. In fact with that in mind I would get a cheaper Nvidia GTX280 or even just a normal HD4870.

[moogle]

Hopefully if all goes well, I will be buying everything next week but I want to post the specs just incase there are issues I've not come across yet. I'll be buying everything from scan if I can as it's more convient. With that said, these are the main components!

ASUS ROG Rampage Extreme, S775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1066/1333/1600

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, Yorkfield Core, S775, 2.83 GHz, 1333MHz, 12MB L2 Cache, 8.5x

2x 1TB (1000 GB) Samsung HD103UJ Spinpoint F1

4GB (2x2GB) CorsairTwinX XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333MHz), CAS 9-9-9-24 (was thinking of getting the OCZ 4GB DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Intel Extreme XMP as I can get it up to 1600Mhz but not sure. Do I really need to get DDR3 anyway? Would a cpu and ram with both 1333 be better for overclocking? I have skimmed over some of the tutorial threads but still need to read it probably though)

1000W Corsair HX Series PSU (want a future proof psu incase I want crossfire or sli later on)

2GB Sapphire HD4870X2 (currently got a 22" and a 19" but might replace the 22" with a 24" monitor or higher in a year or so, this is why I am thinking of getting the 2GB version over the 1GB).

Here's the rest, just incase anyone wants to know!

Coolermaster RC-1100 V2 Cosmos S (Sport)
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Heatpipe Heatsink
A few 120mm Noctua NF-P12 Vortex-Control Quiet Case Fan
Scan Black Floppy Disk +Int Combo All in 1 Card Reader
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1* 64Bit

I don't plan on updating my computer again for at least 2 years, maybe 3... but I know technology is moving faster than it has ever done and will only get quicker in the future. I ideally want this rig to last a long time before having to do anything with it though.

Thanks for reading.

All looking good except for the DDR3. There is no massive performance difference between DDR2 and you should only be getting it if you want to upgrade to i7 or if the DDR3 price is equivalent or less or near to the DDR2 price for the same capacity or speeds. It doesn't need to be 1333 ram cpu and mobo for your overclock. Just what overclock are you looking. Hopefully with a good board and a good cpu you can get high overclocks. If you want another ROG board get the ASUS Maximus Formula II (I've got it and it overclocks real well with my Q9550). It'd probably be cheaper. Also how many is a few Noctua fans. They're quite a lot of money you know, for that price I'd be looking to get Sanyo Denkis but most likely you'd have to get them from America. Me I'd get Yate Loons, High or Medium and put them on a fan controller or undervolt them with resistor wire or solder a resistor on. Next where are you buying it from. I'm guessing Scan because of the Noctua fans and thats good as they have good prices and great support too.

That PSU is probably a bit of overkill, I'd get an Enermax one myself but if you prefer Corsair then it's your choice they both are good PSU's. With the price you save on DDR3 and the Rampage board you can easily get a 24" Viewsonic from Scan @ £165~ on Today Only when it comes on which is quite often. If you want to that is.

The rig will last as long as you want depending on what you will use it for. If you're gonna be using it to play the top end games all the time it won't bode well with the newer ones in a year or two's time. If it's not mainly for gaming then that would be fine.

Now all you need to say is what overclock are you wanting then ram choices can be advised.

[shomei]

With a budget like that you might want to get an i7 build..

I totally agree. If you are spending that kind of money it is probably best to wait and get a nehalem build, which will cost you about the same and you will get better performance for the same money. It just doesn't make sense to buy the absolutely high end stuff right now, when they are going to be replaced (and probably have major price cuts) in less than a month's time.

Apart from this, if you are only using the PC for 24' gaming then you might as well cut down on most of the components and get a Q9450 cpu, a cheaper X48 motherboard (like the DFI X48 LT http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=787773) or even a P45 board (http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=818509), 4GB of fast DDR2 memory (http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=26267), a 4870 1GB or a 280GTX video card and a PSU with lower wattage (like this one http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=446787)

[MSIC]

Anandtech had an article a few weeks ago all about PSU efficiency, and how if you really overshoot your load () you have a fairly inefficient system.

The analogy might be (in car terms) about getting a 6 litre V12 engine, when all you are going to do is motorway driving rather than track racing, and a 2.5 litre 16v would be better.

Of course, you can never tell what you'll have in the future, but i'd favour a high quality 500 to 600W PSU, depending on which graphics card you get.
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...oc.aspx?i=3413

[ChrisVick]

Thanks for the replies, I have taken on board everything which has been said.

The rig is mainly for gaming, I would like to be able to run warhead with max and 2x AA (at least) with a 24" monitor but I guess that's wishful thinking. Here's what I have decided so far...

Motherboard: I am still unsure on, I do like the Asus Maximus II Formula but with ddr2 1066, is 1200 the max I can overclock it to? Is that sufficiant for up coming games like Farcry 2 and Fallout 3?

CPU: For the small price difference, I think I'll stick with the Q9550, the Q9450 is tempting on the scan site as it's an OEM but I rather get a retail version.

HDD: I don't mind sacrificing one of these to help get a monitor.

Fans: The Yate Loon's do look very tempting, especially at that price. I was thinking of replacing the fans in the case with more quieter one's (if there are quieter fans on the market than the one's in the case). So my "few" was more 4 or 5 but the Yate Loon fan doesn't have the bells and whisles of the Noctua NF-P12s or boxed. I'll have to think about this a bit more as £25 vs £70 is a big difference for some quiet screws and the aesthetics of the Noctua NF-P12 fan.

Memory: The 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066) do look good, so I think I'll go for those.

GFX Card: A 280 is only £20-50 more but not sure if the price difference justifies getting it instead of a 2GB Sapphire HD4870X2. The price of the
1GB PowerColor HD4870 at £200 is looking to be something worth the money spent on it, especially if I replace the graphics card in a year or so time.

PSU: I've settled on getting the 750W TX Corsair PSU (http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=684732), will that be fine for everything I need?

Now with the addition of a monitor, I am thinking the 24" Dell E248WFP (http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=689620), or even the 24" Dell 2408WFP (http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=772061).

Here's what my basket looks like so far...



I can still get just the one hdd or get the Yate Loon fans to save myself even more money for the better Dell screen if it's a good improvement over the other one. Any advice on that would again, be very useful, my 19" Dell I've had for ages has good viewing angles and I've never had a problem with it, so that's why I am favouring them above any other company. Also with the free shipping, this is going to work out quite well if I can get max settings on the new games coming out with 1920x1200 resolution (my budget is £1700 by the way). As for the new cpu's coming out, I'd rather wait for a bit until programs and games can take advantage of it more, plus I don't really want to wait any longer to get a new rig (that child in me wants it now ). Thanks again guys.

[staffsMike]

I wouldn't buy that Monitor when everything else you are getting is so nice.

Tbh I would get a cheaper case, Antec 1200 maybe, something around £100 and then get the Dell 2408WFP.

Make sure you use www.scan.co.uk/todayonly as well

Also £150 on the motherboard is quite a lot. The £100 P45's are really nice that I mentioned before or you could get an X38/48 I suppose.

[MSIC]

It's a tough call, trying to work out what to spend a budget on, particularly when you get all excited about it (i know i would be).
I'm not trying to tell you how to spend your money (well..maybe a little), but just a reminder that there are times to splash that cash, and times when it may be wiser to cut back a bit.

There are 2 angles to what i'm saying.
1 - Law of diminishing returns.
Certainly from a speed / framerate / ooomph perspective, a £2000 PC will not be twice as fast as a £1000 PC. You pay more and more for less and less return, so whilst you have a £1700 budget, would you consider spending only, say, £1200 for virtually the same sort of performance?
2 - Peripherals.
In line with my first point, but i personally would always try to look at the overall value / cost of an entire PC, and spend up to a third(ish) on the peripherals (which i define as anything outside of the case, but could for arguments sake include the case itself). This certainly includes monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard, which all affect your experience and interaction with it. These also, as a rule, won't devalue as quickly as the PC internals and will see you through a few upgrades, hence spending more now. The difference between, for example, a 3Ghz and a 3.2Ghz CPU will be very small, the cost difference could get you a serious quality monitor upgrade, or even something like a 27".

Anyway, just some thinking points.

[Mossy]

Hey ChrisVick just give me a shout on the phone I will make sure your order runs through I will be in tomorrow till about 2.30 and I will also help you decide what to go for

[moogle]

Thanks for the replies, I have taken on board everything which has been said.


Motherboard: I am still unsure on, I do like the Asus Maximus II Formula but with ddr2 1066, is 1200 the max I can overclock it to? Is that sufficiant for up coming games like Farcry 2 and Fallout 3?

It can go beyond 1200 if your ram supports it. At my FSB the top setting will allow my ram to run at 1650mhz but my ram isn't gonna go that high. Plus I don't think those Corsair sticks will be able to do that. Maybe if you got the 9136 Dominator versions but Scan don't have them anymore.

CPU: For the small price difference, I think I'll stick with the Q9550, the Q9450 is tempting on the scan site as it's an OEM but I rather get a retail version.

Seems good, you can get an easy 4GHz overclock on the Q9xxx's but the Q9450 will require you to go to 500MHz FSB but the Q9550 only needs 471Mhz which will produce less heat.

Fans: The Yate Loon's do look very tempting, especially at that price. I was thinking of replacing the fans in the case with more quieter one's (if there are quieter fans on the market than the one's in the case). So my "few" was more 4 or 5 but the Yate Loon fan doesn't have the bells and whisles of the Noctua NF-P12s or boxed. I'll have to think about this a bit more as £25 vs £70 is a big difference for some quiet screws and the aesthetics of the Noctua NF-P12 fan.

Coolermaster case fans are naff they don't push much air. I had to replace mine in my Cosmos to suit my needs. Just ask yourself is the Noctua's worth the price? You can get the Yate Loons and get a Sharkoon silence kit or something like that (forgot the name but it's at Scan and it has rubber fan screws iirc) for a fiver. You can get a Zalman MFC-1 fan controller in black (nice brushed alu finish) which will match nicely on the case and can control up to 6 fans.

Memory: The 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066) do look good, so I think I'll go for those.

Seems okay Although for a build like this I'd get this http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=782925 (comes with a fan for the memory but that's ****, I'd use a modded OCZ XTC instead so maybe you can sell the fan off if you have no need) and it'd be better if you want to overclock your ram I assume otherwise you'd have no concerns about the MF2 being only 1200 maximum.

PSU: I've settled on getting the 750W TX Corsair PSU (http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=684732), will that be fine for everything I need?

That PSU will be fine, it's non modular though so be prepared to have all those cables hanging around inside or sacrifice some time to tidy them away

Also the Corsair has 5 years warranty but RMA center is in Netherlands so it'd cost you £25 a time to ship your PSU to them. Luckily Scan have said that they will ship it for you for it's warrantied life so no worries there. Just remember if you decide to buy it elsewhere.

Ditch the Arctic Silver 5 and get some OCZ Freeze, it's newer and performs better than that and even MX-2. If you can't get freeze from Scan get the MX-2 paste and be warned when using it the tubes are ****ed up. You'll squeeze and nothing will come out and the more you apply pressure it'll just slip and lots of paste will come out.

For the monitor, if you're dead set on that Dell then get it, although there has been the Viewsonic 24" for £110 cheaper than the Dell on Today Only so if you want you could wait till that comes on and get that, Viewsonic aren't crap screen makers right? Is it going to be a gaming system mainly? If it is then the Viewsonic would be good.

[ChrisVick]

I looked at the OCZ Freeze and I must admit, it does seem better so I might give it a go.

As for the monitor, my main one at the moment is an Asus 22-Inch (MW221U). I don't really like the bleed in from the back lights at the top and bottom, plus the viewing angle isn't that great but the response time is good, I could stick with it if I wanted to and save a few pounds. The Viewsonic 24" doesn't look too bad, definitely value for money, still a strong contender for how little it is.

I have thought of getting the 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), I have 2GB of it in this PC. I heard you can't really mix and match these new and older versions and the one's I have now were bought quite a while ago.

I'm definitely thinking about the fans, you did give the right name for the kit and it looks pretty good, also the fan controller looks like a nice thing to have. At least I won't have to rely on doing it through software or the gfx card control panel (I know some software can't recognise some fans though, so easier and more conveient to just use a fan controller I guess).

By the way moogle, what cosmos case have you got and would you recommend it?

Thanks again for posting staffsMike and MSIC, it all helps to give me a better understanding on what to get and how to best use my money.

Hey ChrisVick just give me a shout on the phone I will make sure your order runs through I will be in tomorrow till about 2.30 and I will also help you decide what to go for

Will do

[NightshadowUK]

As for the monitor, my main one at the moment is an Asus 22-Inch (MW221U). I don't really like the bleed in from the back lights at the top and bottom, plus the viewing angle isn't that great but the response time is good, I could stick with it if I wanted to and save a few pounds. The Viewsonic 24" doesn't look too bad, definitely value for money, still a strong contender for how little it is.

The negatives you see in your display come from it using a TN panel.

See - http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides...anel-types.php

Mike wasn't just recommending the Dell 2408WFP for the sake of it - it uses a S-PVA panel and is well known for being generally awesome.

[ChrisVick]

The negatives you see in your display come from it using a TN panel.

See - http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides...anel-types.php

Mike wasn't just recommending the Dell 2408WFP for the sake of it - it uses a S-PVA panel and is well known for being generally awesome.

I've read that some people have issues with the 6ms response time on that monitor. It seems a bit over-critical if you ask me but is there any truth to that? Thanks for the link, will give that a quick read.

[moogle]

I looked at the OCZ Freeze and I must admit, it does seem better so I might give it a go.

It's a good performing paste that you won't be sorry you got it.

As for the monitor, my main one at the moment is an Asus 22-Inch (MW221U). I don't really like the bleed in from the back lights at the top and bottom, plus the viewing angle isn't that great but the response time is good, I could stick with it if I wanted to and save a few pounds. The Viewsonic 24" doesn't look too bad, definitely value for money, still a strong contender for how little it is.

Hmm I've yet to notice some bleed on my TN's (Is a Samsung 226BW a TN? They just don't make this sort of information available easily do they?). I've got this HannsG 28" one and I was discussing with sleepyhead yesterday about it. I don't know much about viewing angles but I'm guessing it's where you can't see the screen or it starts to lose colour or go grey right? Well the one I have seems to have good viewing angles as I could keep going sideways until the text became too small to see properly but I could still see the screen. Even from above writing was legible but when sitting below as if the screen was on a wall above my head etc I could see distortion or something at the top of the screen. This happened with my Samsung too but I have to get really low or at a steep ish (under my desk) angle to witness the bleed/color distortion (HannsG). It's great for gaming too with the low response time but it is the TN version. There isn't a noticable backlight bleed on this either, on a black background or screen you should be able to see the bleed right? I can't see much brightness difference when staring at it though, could be that I'm blind but I'd say you'd need a tool to actually see the difference. I did pay £250 for it but it's currently £265 delivered at Misco (if you use quidco), I would recommend it and the one I got from Misco had no dead pixels. Sure there are other versions which might produce a crisp display with vibrant colours but I really haven't used the screen which requires that quality yet. I mostly game and browse the web. If you're going to use the screen for the inputs it has (USB or all those extra things the Dell has) or stuff that requires real clear colours like graphics work etc then get it. If it's for gaming and general PC use then I would just get one of similiar price and quality like the Viewsonic or if you want it big the HannsG.

I have thought of getting the 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 PC2-8500 (1066), I have 2GB of it in this PC. I heard you can't really mix and match these new and older versions and the one's I have now were bought quite a while ago.

Ah I'm guessing you have the 2x1GB versions. Is it 8500 of that older version you have or 6400 speed? I'll go have a read about mixing versions I think I skimmed past a thread with the same problem here on hexus.

I'm definitely thinking about the fans, you did give the right name for the kit and it looks pretty good, also the fan controller looks like a nice thing to have. At least I won't have to rely on doing it through software or the gfx card control panel (I know some software can't recognise some fans though, so easier and more conveient to just use a fan controller I guess).

Im not a hater for Noctua but at that price, I would be getting Sanyo Denki fans but they are hard to source in the UK and they'd cost a little bit more I think but they push a good amount of air for the noise they make and when they run at low voltages they still push a good amount of air. If you want the Noctua's for long term silence then if the budget can cope with the price then go for it if you want. Just putting the Yate's there for an alternative and better value option. The fans on my current case are quiet on low too and the only noise I can hear is the pump. Also I forgot to say those Samsung drives are real silent so thats another bonus, plus another user on here has had a great RMA turnaround time with them. You can also set the AAM on those drives too with a software tool and it's a setting stored on the drive.

By the way moogle, what cosmos case have you got and would you recommend it?

I had the Original Cosmos, it was good for my current setup at the time which was 5 drives and an AM2 setup consisting of an AMD 6000 CPU and I had an 8800GTS, temps were good but the stock fans didn't push enough air for my liking, although they were silent. It's mainly a watercoolers case as it's humongous. For your current choice I would be getting a Lian Li case as the quality on that and features would be far superior to a Coolermaster case. I don't think Scan stock Lian Li cases but you can easily get that elsewhere as a case won't break down since it's just a piece of metal

If you are getting the case because you already like it and nothing will change your mind then you can stick with it if you're going to change the fans.

It's about £12 cheaper here delivered. The Scan one includes a few more fans I think which is why it's V2, but with that £11 you can get like 4 YL's from the same place as the cheaper case

Theres more Lian Li's there too have a look at them and also check for reviews online. The 3GM Gamer reviews on youtube are great for looking at the case in action in a review rather than reading lots of text so if you prefer that check those videos out. If you want some links I'll get some.

Also the OCZ Vendetta 2 heatsink is available at Scan I think, and it performs very competitively with a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme heatsink but at £17-25 I think it's great value for it's performance. You might want to check that out too.

1 more thing, any reason for getting the floppy drive? It's not used much anymore except for installing raid drivers on Windows XP. Unless you're going to use it for the input ports it has then you can just ignore this question.

Hope these bits (which has turned into chunk ) of info help you with your build.



If you need help overclocking too just ask around here we'll be here to help.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I use the 2408WFP at work and it a fantastic monitor with excellent vertical and horizontal viewing angles. I read that the newer ones have solved the initial issues with ghosting.

[ChrisVick]

Looking up those links as I type this moogle! As for the floppy drive, I thought it might be needed to flash the bios unless that can be done as easily on a cd or usb flash stick now. I like your avatar, Azumanga Daioh is one of my favourite animes (especially love Osaka's shoe, soap and volleyball scenes ).

Thanks for the feedback on the monitor CAT-THE-FIFTH!