£1000 gaming PC - your thoughts/advice?

[Zsev]

1. And OCZ freeze is better than MX-2 apparently, buying any one of the three will give you a good thermal interface, you are likely to see fractions of degrees difference rather than 5. Infact how you apply the paste and the amount you use are probably more important factors!

2. Not rumours it is the truth, so I'm with you for an enthusiast board I would go with somebody else.

3. No Comment or rather I have already suggested the same thing earlier

1. Seems to be trading blows with the MX-2 in this review, which by the way is a reliable site. Hardware Canucks Review Also 2 quid cheaper in ebuyer for MX-2.

2. Been using abit boards all my life, shame to see such a reputable company leaving the mobo business.

3. Another case to consider would be the CM690, saving another 20 quid or so, with all the savings, he can probably fit in a Q9450 instead of the q6600.

[Webby]

As i said with the thermal pastes you will probably get more variation from how much you applied and how you seated the cooler than the gains you will see from the different pastes, so if MX-2 is £2 cheaper then that is probably the way to go

[moogle]

Oh yes, post a bit more here lucky (18 more) and you can get free delivery on all orders over £20 ex vat from Scan. Then if you decide to get the Corsair PSU's with the 5 year warranty then get it from Scan as they will help you RMA the PSU during those 5 years they've said. As for the pastes, if the MX-2 is cheaper then go for that, mind you you'll be in for a struggle to get the paste out
That is unless they've changed the tubes they store the paste in.

[luckyfives]

Well I have to say many thanks not just for the quantity and speed of your responses but also the quality. I notice that while we all have our preferences on brands, there is a fair amount of concensus on most of the parts, which is great! And it looks like I might be able to do this system for even cheaper which in current times is always handy. My musings on the advice so far:

Graphics Card
I guess I knew the 4870X2 wouldn't be fully utilised on a 24" monitor generally speaking. But when you consider this is a gaming rig with the aim of playing Crysis on high settings with at least 25 fps (AA on, etc), not sure if a 1GB 4870 would cut it. Also, assuming that the demanding nature of the newest games will only increase in the future, I thought it was a safe bet. But what you are telling me is that despite this being a hard core gaming rig, it's still not worth the money, better to upgrade later? If so fair enough, that should save me 175 quid!! I expect the 1GB version would be a lot quieter too.

OS / RAM
The only thing that puts me off a 64bit OS is the drivers for peripherals, or lack thereof. I have some old hardware like printer, webcam, mouse etc which I don't know if they'd be compatible? Also, for gaming, how necessary is it really to have more than the 4GB system ram? I Mean, for the extra 50 quid or so for more PC-6400, would I see noticeable gains in crysis, or CPU intensive tasks such as video editing?

Mobo, HDD, cooler - will take your advice on all this, didn't know the P45 technology existed, glad I asked!!!
Case - the reason I thought I'd stick with the cosmos was it's easy to work in but mainly because the reviews I've read say it is particularly sturdy and well sound proofed. No PVC window in the side, just nice solid steel and aluminium. My PC sits in my bedroom and may in the future sit in the lounge so sound is an issue. However 150 quid is alot for the case and if cheaper cases will do the same for less then I'm all up for it. As I'm not going to OC it too much I'd hope heat wouldn't be much of an issue and intend to fan cool.

CPU - like the sound of a Q9450, is it really worth an extra 85 quid though? If I went for that, would your ram recommendations change to match the FSB of this cpu? I would only want to overclock within stable limits of a fan cooled rig.

Again thanks to everyone who has contributed and any further comments most welcome!

[moogle]

But what you are telling me is that despite this being a hard core gaming rig, it's still not worth the money, better to upgrade later? If so fair enough, that should save me 175 quid!! I expect the 1GB version would be a lot quieter too.

Yes! I made a demo graph to better explain it here
If you get components in the red zone which aren't going to benefit you at whatever res you play at it'll be a big waste of money. That money saved will help you keep that gaming rig future proof longer than spending it all in one go. Here's an example, I bought a 8800GTS 512 in December 07 for £234, I could have gone the full way and got a 8800GTX for £100+ more (I think they were at the time). Now I can sell the 8800GTS for a bit £80-90 depending on how good I've kept it, use that £100 and get a way better card, which is better than the top card at the time. You're saving £175 and that's way more than what I saved. If you don't like selling though and think it's not worth the hassle then get the X2 I suppose.

However 150 quid is alot for the case and if cheaper cases will do the same for less then I'm all up for it. As I'm not going to OC it too much I'd hope heat wouldn't be much of an issue and intend to fan cool.

The Antec 1200 has a side window so you might not like it I suppose, but a Lian Li case would be much better quality at £150 and you can get big ones as big as the Cosmos for that price. They usually (I think always?) have removeable motherboard trays too, and the quality really is so much better than most. If you are going to be spending £150 take a look at them too as they would be better at that price, or take a look at Silverstone cases.

CPU - like the sound of a Q9450, is it really worth an extra 85 quid though? If I went for that, would your ram recommendations change to match the FSB of this cpu? I would only want to overclock within stable limits of a fan cooled rig.

If you're getting 800MHz mem get a Q6600, the only reason people would want these Q9xxx series CPUs would be to hit 4GHz etc.

Again thanks to everyone who has contributed and any further comments most welcome!

No problems

[luckyfives]

ok assuming i stick to the 32bit os which i already own, this is my revised draft spec based on your excellent feedback;

Antec P182 Case (sposed to be nice and quiet)
Q6600 G0 stepping
HD 4870 1GB
640GB WD AAKS
Arcitic silver 5
xigmatek s1283 cooler
DFI P45 TSIR2 mobo
2x2GB PC2-6400 Corsair
Corsair 620W modular PSU
Pioneer DVR-216DBK

Total cost between scan/ebuyer.... 764.40 BARGAIN! 200 quid cheaper than the original draft spec.

+would I need any internal cables for this lot?

Will add the following which i already own: SB X-FI audio, Vista SP1 32bit Home prem. Might also buy a media card reader.

This system should run just as fast if not faster than the original spec on post 1? seems good value to me.

Just need to decide if it's worth buying vista 64 bit and the extra ram 8GB, will it make my games run faster noticeably?

[Webby]

You will not really notice the difference between 4GB and 8Gb of RAM in my opinion unless you are doing really memory intensive tasks which gaming is not.

I would be tempted to move to 64 bit Vista anyway you get 2 major benefits first its a 64bit OS so all your memory is addressed and available secondly you get DirectX 10 and since this is all about gaming you may as well have the extra eye candy it provides.

Oh you can save a bit more cash buy getting this 4870 from Novatech £196 with free delivery http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...?HIS-48701#top
Or this pre overclocked one with after market cooling for £207.50 delivered http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...cat=930&page=1

[Pob255]

secondly you get DirectX 10 and since this is all about gaming you may as well have the extra eye candy it provides.

He still get's DX10 from 32bit Vista.
Not like you to miss that Webby


To Luckyfives
On the cpu cooler
Depending if you like pushpins or not I'd add on the Xigmatek bolt through kit as well
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=824662
Bolt through kits also give you better control when leveling out the temps of the 4 cores of a quad core

[Webby]

Sorry So used to people going on about shall I keep XP or move to Vista 64...

It wont happen again, well at least not if I actually bother to read posts properly

[Hicks12]

TBH the ram is only £36 on today only so i would be pushed to spend the extra and get 8gb, wont see much performance but will be good if you want to sell(same as ddr is expensive now|). But its up to you.

[luckyfives]

Webby thanks, how does the push pin kit work with the xigmatek, I can't see where it would fit with it. Definitely sounds like a good idea though, always scares me how much MB's bend when putting the cooler on.

When I click on your novatech link, the first one, the price is 229 quid delivered not 196. Maybe you are looking ex vat? Ebuyer sell one for 209.32 inc vat delivered which seems to be pretty good?

OK I think that really helps make up my mind, I'll stick with 4gb ram and 32bit vista for now as the extra money isn't worth it. Re-sale value is not high on my list of criteria.

I'm assuming that I won't need any extra cables they should all come with the hardware, right?

[moogle]

When I click on your novatech link, the first one, the price is 229 quid delivered not 196. Maybe you are looking ex vat? Ebuyer sell one for 209.32 inc vat delivered which seems to be pretty good?

Prices have gone up since he posted

[format]

ok assuming i stick to the 32bit os which i already own, this is my revised draft spec based on your excellent feedback;

Antec P182 Case (sposed to be nice and quiet)
Q6600 G0 stepping
HD 4870 1GB
640GB WD AAKS
Arcitic silver 5
xigmatek s1283 cooler
DFI P45 TSIR2 mobo
2x2GB PC2-6400 Corsair
Corsair 620W modular PSU
Pioneer DVR-216DBK

Total cost between scan/ebuyer.... 764.40 BARGAIN! 200 quid cheaper than the original draft spec.

+would I need any internal cables for this lot?

Will add the following which i already own: SB X-FI audio, Vista SP1 32bit Home prem. Might also buy a media card reader.

This system should run just as fast if not faster than the original spec on post 1? seems good value to me.

Just need to decide if it's worth buying vista 64 bit and the extra ram 8GB, will it make my games run faster noticeably?

Solid build, can't see any problems.
Depending how silence-orientated you are, you might want to buy 3 quiet(er) fans to stick into the case too

[luckyfives]

Sorry pushing my luck as you've all been very helpful but a few more questions;

1) I read these reviews on amazon which are less than impressive about the antec P182. Are they well founded?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/produ...owViewpoints=1

2) the hard drive, is it worth spending another 5 quid or so to get the one with the 32mb cache instead of the 16mb cache?

3) will i need to buy any extra cables or will they all come with the hardware?

[Powderhound]

Sorry pushing my luck as you've all been very helpful but a few more questions;

1) I read these reviews on amazon which are less than impressive about the antec P182. Are they well founded?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/produ...owViewpoints=1

2) the hard drive, is it worth spending another 5 quid or so to get the one with the 32mb cache instead of the 16mb cache?

3) will i need to buy any extra cables or will they all come with the hardware?

You'll have no issues fitting a Corsair 620W PSU in there; I was fine with the similar 65W non-modular. The fan is far enough away and the cables are long enough. The door is a bit flims, but as long as you aren't stupid with it, it should be OK.

[Zsev]

some cables you may need depending on where you buy your rig from. Ebuyer usually ship their goods with all necessary cables.

sata cables
DVI monitor cable
kettle plug (although I'm certain corsair PSU's come with these)

oh, get some yate loons and dust filters too while you're at it.