Proposed new system

[Rhyst]

Im thinking of buying the system below. I have chosen this SLI mobo as I can add another card when I need to and also overclock it a bit too.

My concerns are the PSU power wont be enough to run 2x 6800GT's.

Anyone got any comments. Prices are in £ (pounds)

* I am buying this system after playing Battlefield 2 on my friends PC.

Ebuyer
------

CPU
AMD (Venice) Athlon 64 3500+ 939pin 512Kb L2 Cache 90nm Retail £153.23

MOBO
Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SLi SKT939 NF4 Retail box £110.62

GFX CARD
Inno 3D GeForce 6800 GT AGP8X 256MB DDR3 + DVI + TV out + Dongles (Fan) Retail Box 082687 £212.74

RAM
OCZ Performance Dual Channel Kit 2x512MB DDR433 PC3500 CL 2.5-3-3-7 £88.07

HARD DRIVE
Seagate Barracuda ST3200822AS 200Gb 8Mb Cache 7200RPM £57.86

MONITOR
AG Neovo F419 19" TFT 12ms 500:1 (Analogue & DVI) Monitor - Black £161.69

KEYBOARD
Saitek PZ08AU Gamers Keyboard - USB £25.06

SPEAKERS
Creative Labs SBS560 5.1 Speaker System £32.29

WIRELESS INTERNET
Linksys Etherfast Wireless Access Point + Cable/DSL Router With 4Port Switch No modem £25.52

Shipping Surcharge: £2.70
SubTotal: £877.02
VAT: £153.52

Total: £1030.54


Overclockers
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CASE
Arctic Cooling T2 Silentium Silent Midi Tower Case - 350W Seasonic Silent PSU £49.95
Subtotal £49.95
Shipping (Amtrak Next Day (Mon-Fri) - UK Mainland) £9.75

VAT £10.45
Total £70.15

OVERALL COST = £1100.59

I already have a NEC ND3540A DVD-RW.

[Chemical_Ali]

have you read this from madshrimps:

''The included Seasonic may be considered underpowered for today's standards, however; it’s adequate if you don't plan on trying to stick an Athlon FX-57 with SLI graphics inside. The HDD does have SATA connectors and Seasonic PSUs are known to be reliable and conservatively rated, meaning your most likely going to be OK even if you decide to do some overclocking. The rails are decent considering today’s CPU's draw from the 12V rail which is to remain below 18A, the Seasonic 12V is rated at 17A.''

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...57&articID=319

[StormPC]

One 7800GTX is cheaper and faster than two 6800GTs, and if you wait too long between buying cards you may not be able to use SLI without buying two identical cards.

Also, you like OCZ RAM? Why not get yourself a Modstream 520 as well? Killer PSU at a reasonable price.

[Nox]

or a PC P&C 510 Deluxe <cough> very suitable for that system!

Nox

[YorkieBen]

I have doubts over whether that PSU is suitable for your system, especially if you wish to add a second 6800GT later. Unfortunately that case you have specified has a propriety psu - i.e. you cant replace it with a standard ATX psu.

You would have to choose a different case instead. Apparently the Silentium case isnt that quiet anyway (which wont matter anyhow as you are buying a 6800GT with stock cooling )

[Rhyst]

Thanks for your comments.

Someone else has also pointed out my error of picking an AGP card not PCI-E.

I also had reservations on the case PSU.

Oh well all fun and games - back to the drawing board.

If anyone wants to spec me a gaming unit + 19" TFT + 5.1 speakers + wireless router + keyboard then I would appreciate their time.
Budget = £1100

[Merlin4458]

im sure one of these kind hexi members will give u a hand, as much as they pretend they hate speccing sytems they really do love it :

[Rhyst]

I havent specced a system from new since my beast of a 486 DX 100mhz! So Im having a lot of funny learning about all the new technology avalible. Bit harder these days, I remember for example, it was whether to get 8mb RAM or stick with 4mb. Doom II in high graphics mode was a beautiful sight.

[noah]

have a read of this its a sticky at the top of this forum (magic how stickies are invisible) and i thnk its pretty useful.

personally id look for a case from silverstone/antec/coolermaster/lian-li/akasa they all do good models that are well respected and im sure you can find one you like the look of. if silence is your thing then look at the antec sonata 2 or akasa eclipse as they have 2x120mm fans in them.

[Rhyst]

similar budget, schmexy pc

Silence isnt "my bag" per se, just looking for speed/noise/budget- balance between the 3.

[arthurleung]

I think you better get a better speaker. AND an Audigy2 ZS or other similar high-end audio card. If not your BF2 will sound crap. At least find a set of 5.1/6.1/7.1 which is THX certificated (I know THX is not a very good standard, but it is still a mid-high end speaker set indicator)

You better get 2x1G ram or 4x512M in order to play BF2 smoothly. Not enough memory will slow down the game despite your have the 3500+ and the 6800GT.

I would recommend getting a 20" Dell (2001FP/2005FPW) instead of a 19" AG Neovo. If not you will be wasting the potential of your 6800GT.

[Rhyst]

I have played BF2 on my friends pc, he only has 1gb ram and his pc is a lower spec than the pc's speced above and its fine.

I have a budget of around £1k. Its too easy to add £50/£100 here and there and double the cost. I need to balance cost with performance.

To be honest I will probably not go the SLI route not and get the PC spec on the link but with an AMD 3500+ Veince Core CPU.

[ed^chigliak]

One 7800GTX is cheaper and faster than two 6800GTs, and if you wait too long between buying cards you may not be able to use SLI without buying two identical cards

I think you will be lucky to get a matching card when you come to upgrade later. Stuff changes pretty quickly so it's a case of getting the SLI now or simply don't bother. Now the 7800GTX turns up offering the same performance as previous SLI setups at a lower price. So where does that leave SLI? When I think about it only a pair of 7800GTX cards would be worthwhile because in every other case there is a cheaper single card solution.

Call me old fashioned but what exactly is the problem with selling an old card to buy a newer one? Why do people want two old cards side by side making twice the noise & generating twice the heat. SLI isn't more future proof IMO it's just a marketing tool to wow the punters. It's also the fastest graphic solution available if you pair the top GPUs. That's pretty much how I see it but hey maybe I'm missing the point.

[YorkieBen]

there is no need to get thx speakers unless you are a sound freak. on board sound and those speakers will do you okay

[BenW]

I have the logitech Z2200 which are THX certified and they sound awesome at every volume level! Haven't heard other THX certified speakers but mine are great, only running on a soundblaster live (Needs to be upgraded) but still sound great with some EQ adjustments

[Butcher]

have you read this from madshrimps:

''The included Seasonic may be considered underpowered for today's standards, however; it’s adequate if you don't plan on trying to stick an Athlon FX-57 with SLI graphics inside. The HDD does have SATA connectors and Seasonic PSUs are known to be reliable and conservatively rated, meaning your most likely going to be OK even if you decide to do some overclocking. The rails are decent considering today’s CPU's draw from the 12V rail which is to remain below 18A, the Seasonic 12V is rated at 17A.''

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=get...57&articID=319

TBH madshrimps, and liquid3d in particular know about 100% of jack all about computers. I wouldn't trust their reviews. 17A is a poor 12V rail.