Building Project - New & Updated

[Xaneden]

Hey Guys,
I've started to decide on a final specification, though I'm still a tad unsure of what to go for as far as several components are concerned. In these cases, I have given 'multiple choice' options, and I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on which of the choices you'd go for and why, or indeed if there is another which is even better. Of course, by all means do the same when I've only given one option for a component.

Oh, and I've highlighted in red the product I'm currently inclined to go with (where applicable, and where I'm not being totally indecisive.

Here goes...


Processor - Maximum of Around £250.
Option 1 - £180.89 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Option 2 - £252.57 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600


RAM - Maximum of Around £170.
Option 1 - £143.35 - 2x1Gb Corsair TwinX XMS2: DDR2 PC6400 800mhz, 240 Pin: CAS 5-5-5-12


Motherboard - Maximum of Around £170.
Option 1 - £149.57- Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi + Scan's £10 BIOS Flash for Conroe Support
Option 2 - £133.35- Asus P5WD2-E Premium + Scan's £10 BIOS Flash for Conroe Support


Graphics Card - Maximum of Around £200.
Like many others, I'm a little wary of spending too much with DX10 arriving in the foreseeable future. I'm therefore looking at spending around the £150 mark (probably no more than £200). The X1800s that Scan were selling looked good, but they seem to be sold out or with no pricing (on the Saphire version). Therefore, any suggestions/advice on these or any other cards in that price range would be appreciated.


Hard Drive - Maximum of Around £80.
I'm effectively looking for the fastest SATA (150/300) drive I can get that isn't a Raptor.

Those (Raptors) are out of my price range, and although I'm sure no consumer drive can beat it for performance, if someone could point out the best of the bunch, it'd be much appreciated. Capacity isn't a big issue, as this will be a boot drive, not a data one, and thus 80gb to 160gb would be plentiful. If you feel 2 of a certain drive in a striped RAID would be a good choice, please mention it, though I'd prefer to go with a non-RAID system is possible.


PSU - Maximum of Around £80.
Option 1 - £65.67 - Tagan EasyCon TG530-U15 530w

Any suggestions need to be modular or if not modular, something really special. Also, I am looking for a PSU with similar specs to the one above, but with more SATA power connectors.


Soundcard - Maximum of Around £80.
Option 1 - £56.98 - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM


Case - No Set Maximum (As Yet).
Option 1 - About £250 to £300 - Mountain Mod's U2-UFO
Option 2 - £101.63 - Coolermaster Stacker
Option 3 - £58 Special Price - Chenbro Gaming Bomb 2
Option 4 - £151.21 - Coolermaster Stacker 830



Aside from a monitor, optical/floppy, keyboard and mouse, I think I have all the components needed covered above. If there's something really obvious missing though, please be kind enough to point it out.

Thanks for any help you guys can give.

[MantisCSS]

looks nice. i like either of the stackers. they are both nice cases.

[Oobie-]

WOah, conroe 6600 is expensive...

I would go for that though as the 4mb of L2 cache should help in processing (even though I read an article about how some of the AMD 64 and X2 CPU's are being axed and they all seem to have 1mb of L2 cache...they are leaving the ones with 512kb as it has been tested that the higher mb of L2 cache doesn't seem to help that much :s)

That ram is sweet, although I think the 5-5-5 sucks

THe mobo seems fine - I haven't read a review on it though although like all new mobos I see something being wrong with it

THe soundcard - looking at the fatality series makes my pants shrivel that one looks good

THe PSU - tis cool, would be cool to find out the amps running on the main rails

I will have a look at the HDD and GFX when I find my computer shoppers XD

[Xaneden]

Thanks a lot for the feedback so far guys.

[ExceededGoku]

How much you got to spend?

[Xaneden]

How much you got to spend?

Not got an exact amount as of yet, but I've added a maximum figure I'm prepared to spend for each component in the first post.

[Xaneden]

Updated the motherboard bit; the Deluxe version seems a little lacking in one or two areas.... Does anyone know of a worthy i975x competitor?

[owen1978]

At the moment the best cpu & mobo combo is unknown with retail chips, i was going to buy a E6600 on release but i am considering the E6400 as it has beem able to reach 485fsb on the DS3.

I would spend extra for some better ram, the ones below have been causing a stir at xtremesystems more ppl here should take notice best bang for the buck!

http://www.memory-configurator.com/products/10553.html

If you can hold on for a month it should be a lot clearer, i have been planning my build for 4 months here it is...

[Xaneden]

Thanks a lot for your help Owen; I'll be looking into a few of the components you've got listed.

I like the look of the PC you've spec'd up, though concerning the RAM, isn't it best to go for the 800mhz (or, even though it's out of my budget, the 1066mhz) variety?

[dave87]

My only suggestion for the PSU would be a Seasonic - not modular - but that will be fixed with the upcoming m12 (due to be released at the same time as the new S12).

Otherwise I'm pretty much scuppered with regards to the rest of the system, with uni coming up I've been looking at laptops not desktops

EDIT - and with the case - see if you can get the original stacker - still one of the best cases about imho.

[owen1978]

Thanks a lot for your help Owen; I'll be looking into a few of the components you've got listed.

I like the look of the PC you've spec'd up, though concerning the RAM, isn't it best to go for the 800mhz (or, even though it's out of my budget, the 1066mhz) variety?

Read this thread, it should explain all

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=101692

Basically teamgroup have release some quality ram that uses D9 Micron IC's which are being used in high end ram.

There first set released were 3-4-4-8 timings but these have now been replaced by the 3-3-3-8 timings, these can reach speeds of 1000mhz easily from their default speeds.

These are exceptional for the price and makes people paying out £££ on high end ram look very silly!

[Xaneden]

Wow, very impressive RAM; I'm looking into getting hold of a 2gb kit if I can. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any UK resellers, the nearest one being Ireland (the link you've given). Do you know whether this Memory Configurator company is reliable etc?

[Xaneden]

Just spotted a new product on the Tagan website: EasyCon XL series. Anyone know anything about these; they look impressive from the pictures, but no details as of yet.

[owen1978]

Wow, very impressive RAM; I'm looking into getting hold of a 2gb kit if I can. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any UK resellers, the nearest one being Ireland (the link you've given). Do you know whether this Memory Configurator company is reliable etc?

Yep reliable, bought mines from there speedy delivery

[Xaneden]

Considering I've never properly overclocked anything other than a processor before, would you say getting these RAM DIMMs to run at 800mhz would be straightforward and without trouble? I read through that thread, though I'm not too sure of some of the benchmarking they did.

[owen1978]

The actual teamgroup rep said on their support forum that the 3-3-3-8 sticks which i have shown you should easily reach 1000mhz.