Yet Another Beginner Build - Please be Kind !

[PaulBrum]

Ok All – yet another complete beginner post!

I’m looking at building my first system (Gulp) and really appreciate any advice you could give me.

I use the PC for a number of different uses – gaming (will want to play the latest games, Crysis etc) as well as editing, coding and burning video, office functions (MS suite), a lot of internet use and downloading (usually via VUSE bit torrent software), skype-ing, watching films / IPlayer and listening to audio tracks. I quite often have a number of (5 or 6) programs running at the same time.

I have a Neovo HW-22 monitor (at 1680 x 1050), Creative 5.1 speakers and an Epsom Stylus Printer. Broadband is wireless, through a Zyxel G-202 wireless USB adapter (with a matching P-660HW router).

I currently have a Medion P4 MD 8386 running XP SP3.

Rather than buy a completely new system every 4 years as I have done in the past, I’m looking to spend around £450-500 on a robust system that will be fairly simple to upgrade / overclock over the next 4 years or so as and when components reduce in price and I get confident enough to mess about in the Bios. I will want to run Vista Ultimate 64bit which I already have a copy of.

My readings and studies have led me to the following outline spec:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR, Kentsfield Core, Socket 775, 2.40 GHz 1066MHz 8MB Cache, OEM £143.36

GPU: 512MB Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic, PCI-E 2.0, 2200MHz GDDR3, GPU 675MHz, 800 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV £147.78

RAM 4GB Corsair (2x2GB) TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18 £39.84

Storage: 750 GB Western Digital WD7500AACS Caviar Green, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms £69.56

Optical: Samsung SH-S223Q/RSMN 22xDVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6, x14 RAM, SATA L/Scribe 3 Bez Retail+Nero £19.42

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 OEM PCI Sound card £21.72

Case: Coolermaster Mystique RC-631S-B Black Tower Case w/o PSU £57.49

PSU: 650W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, energy efficient, quiet & cool, fully compatible, 5yr warranty £80.10


As you can see, I’m already up to £575 and that’s without a Motherboard, CPU fan and wireless card!!

Is there anyone out there who can:

1. get this closer to £500 including Motherboard and CPU fan which I am struggling to Spec
2. Let me know if I am over speccing for what I do (bearing in mind the description above) and if so, suggest a better / more economic spec.

I’m really not keen on AMD CPU’s (don’t ask me why though as I’m not completely sure!) and I love the look of the 4850 Toxic card.

All help really appreciated – I’m keen to start after a months research!

Paul

[NightshadowUK]

Hey welcome to Hexus. Just a few ideas to take or leave:

Save £25+ by getting an E7500 in favour of the Q6600, quad cores currently have limited use (unless you're serious about video editing / heavy processing) and you can always upgrade to a 45nm quad (much less heat than a Q6600) at a later date.

Save £25+ and drop the TOXIC HD4850 in favour of a standard one.

Spend an extra £8 and grab a 1TB Samsung SpinPoint.

Have a look at the Coolermaster CM-690 - £64.

Maybe save a few quid by looking at PSUs closer to 500W as they'll still provide more than enough juice.

[nick1]

If your motherboard has on board sound (most do) there's no need spend £21.72 on a sound card.

[NightshadowUK]

In my experience if you've got 5.1 and are watching movies a seperate soundcard works wonders.

Just last week a friend of mine went from onboard to a cheap-o Audigy and the difference was amazing.

[PaulBrum]

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (102-B50102-00-AT)

Just seen this on Overclockers - saves me best part of £20

NightshadowUK - agree I would prefer a separate sound card and for £20 odd it seems value for money.

Anyone any thoughts on a CPU / motherboard combination - would have liked to go for the Core 2 Duo E8600 but god its expensive. Reason behind the Core 2 Quad above is that it's more future proof / easliy overclockable - or am I talking through my behind ??

Paul

[NightshadowUK]

A lot of people here have had serious problems with OCUK so I'll point you to these and say no more:

- SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping

- 512MB HiS HD 4850 ~ £122.92

CPU wise if you were going with one of the 45nm quads I'd be all for it but the latest batches of Q6600s haven't clocked very well and they run hot. I wouldn't look at the E8600 as you're paying a premium for a clock speed that can easily be achieved by any of the lower end 45nm Core 2 chips.

As for the motherboard, I'd be looking at the P45 offerings by Biostar and DFI.

[Pob255]

Or a geforce 9800gtx+
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...-DL-DVI-I-HDTV
£115

however not too sure about that particular card/cooler
I think it's made by Plait

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is what I came up with from Scan:

Edimax EW-7128G 54Mbps Wireless PCI Card £13.04

Coolermaster Mystique RC-631S-B Black Tower Case w/o PSU £57.49

650W Xigmatek NRP-MC651 80%+, Easy Swap, Output Protection, ATX 12V V2.2, EPS V2.92, QUAD SLI PSU £57.04

512MB Sapphire HD 4850, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 1986MHz GDDR3, GPU 625MHz, 800 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV £123.96

Intel Core2 Duo E7400, Wolfdale Core, S775, 2.8GHz, FSB 1066MHz, 3MB Cache, 10.5x Multiplier, Retail £102.66

Biostar TP45D2-A7, iP45, Sok 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 667/800/1066, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £71.29

4GB Corsair (2x2GB) TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18 £37.94

500 GB Samsung HD502IJ Spinpoint F1, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ £41.39

LG GH22NS40 22x DVD±R, 16xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM £12.64

Total: £517.45

Some of the items are also on Today Only BTW!!

Since you are a member of Hexus you also get free postage from Scan if you have more than 20 posts!

Here are some reviews of the PSU:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/163...ply/index.html

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling...spx?i=3231&p=7

The PSU is made by CWT so it is pretty decent!! It is also modular.

Here is a review of the graphics card:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...e_hd4850_dual/

[PaulBrum]

CAT - thanks for the suggestions, especially like the PSU which I will be going with.

I've had a rethink on the CPU following comments received and am now looking at Core 2 Duo E8400 or E8500 on the basis that they are based on 45nm process, which I believe will give me greater futureproofing / upgrading potential despite the additional cost (currently around £140-£150).

What I am struggling with though is motherboard selection - Could anyone recommend a motherboard that is:

1. Idiot proof
2. easily overclockable
3. will allow for future upgrading

I will also (presumably) need a CPU cooler if I am going to overclock in the future - any recommendations for one of these?

I've come to the conclusion that I am going to be spending at least £550

As usual, help really appreciated

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If I was overclocking I would get a E7400. Since it has a 1066mhz FSB it has a higher mutliplier than an equivalent E8*** series processor. This should mean easier overclocking. From what I have seen on forums people have got it upto 3.5ghz+ and even more.

Unless you can get a good deal on a E8*** brand new off Ebay(I have seen some new E8400 processors go for around 100 to 120 quid) I would not spend more than £100 to £120 on a dual core. Above this I would spend the extra and get a quad core processor!!

You can get a P45 pr P35 based motherboard for £100 and under which should give you a decent overclocking capability. With a 45nm dual core you do not need a hugely expensive heatsink too. There are many decent ones for £20 and under.

A good example is the Akasa AK965 which costs around £10 from Scan. If you were getting a quad you would defintely need to spend at least £25 on a good cooler.

This means that you will not be really spending much than £550 in total.

An E7400 at 3ghz+ is still fast enough for most games IMHO!!

[Blitzen]

Save £25+ by getting an E7500 in favour of the Q6600, quad cores currently have limited use

I dont think that is very good advice.
To say they have limited use aswell is waaaayyyyyyy off the mark!
The Q6600 is DEFINITELY worth the extra £25.

Not only will there be no noticeable difference when gaming, (only in synthetic benchmarking, and even then minimal), it will do most other things quicker.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I personally think that an E7400 for around 100 quid or an E5300 for around 80 quid is the most I would spend on a dual core IMHO. Any more any you can get a Q6600,Q8200 or a Phenom II 920 for between 140 to 160 quid. All of these should get to 3ghz relatively easily as long as you have a reasonable overclocking motherboard.

[staffsMike]

I agree with blitzen, no need to get the E7500.. get the E5200 or E5400 which strangley scan are selling for less than the E5300.

Me personally though I would get an AMD quadcore or dual core based system

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Just saw this PC on Ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155475

I wonder if it is any good for the OP??

[staffsMike]

http://www.dmxdimension.com/dell-uk/...codes-coupons/

Second one down looks good, with a further 10% off

zooStorm looks pretty good though, just depends what's running it.

[NightshadowUK]

I dont think that is very good advice.
To say they have limited use aswell is waaaayyyyyyy off the mark!
The Q6600 is DEFINITELY worth the extra £25.

Not only will there be no noticeable difference when gaming, (only in synthetic benchmarking, and even then minimal), it will do most other things quicker.

The Q6600 had its hayday when it was hovering around the £110 mark, but for £150 it makes no sense.

And I stand by quads in general having limited use for the average user i.e. the things Paul described in his first post (bar video editting depending what package he's using).

Me personally though I would get an AMD quadcore or dual core based system

Aye AMD does currently have a better upgrade path, it'd be worth looking into.