Your opinions and comments welcome...

[ethan]

Hi all,

Firstly apologies as I know there are lots of threads like this, but you all seem a friendly and helpful bunch so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm looking to build a new PC for gaming (mainly Pro Evo Soccer, RTS games) and some programming (web) etc.

Looking to spend around £800 on the setup and I know the below is slightly over, I'm a bit out of date with my knowledge as my last machine was built 3 years ago so wanted your views and any issues with my selected components?

- ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail
- 500w Seasonic S12-500 SLi aPFC PSU Silent ATX2.0 2xPCI-E 4xSATA ATX12v-1.3 & ATX12v 2.01
- 1Gb Corsair XMS2, DDR2 PC5400 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12
- 250 Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 9.0 ms, NCQ
- 256MB Sapphire Radeon X1950Pro, PCI-E(x16), Mem 1400MHz GDDR3, GPU 580MHz, 36Pipes, VIVO
(*** Didn't feel the need to buy the most powerful graphics as I keep reading about DX10 ***)
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Ready
- NEC ND-5170A-0B Black x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM UK
- Antec P180 Advanced Tower Case, Black (no PSU)

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.

[MSIC]

Very nice setup, it will run nicely.
The only obvious thing from my perspective is that over the last 6 months to year, 2 Gig of RAM has become noticable and increasingly beneficial, compared to 1 Gig. Also all core 2 duos are very powerful, so from a budget perspective i'd knock the CPU down a notch and double the RAM.

Other than that, very nice.

Edit: If you are interested in DX10, you may even be better to get something like a nVidia 7600GT for now (approx £85) and then get a better card in a year. The 7600GT's are still good cards (but the one you mentioned is better, just more more money)

[Blitzen]

Get the more powerful RAM and 2gb of it aswell.
Things like BF2/Oblivion really struggle with load times and lag if only using 1 gb.

This for example: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=427440

Other than that...Nice system tbh.

[ethan]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions guys. I did originally plan to have 2GB of RAM, but the price for 1GB sticks seem quite high. I'm not really planning on overclocking so would using the cheaper/value corsair stuff be OK and is there other brands that are better (value) than corsair?

MSIC - I'll take a look at the graphics card you mentioned, I only really play Pro Evo and RTS games like Age Of Empires, Total War etc. so as long as it'll cope, I'll be happy.

Thanks again.

[Smirnoff]

Even cheaper generic modules with Hynix, Samsung, Winbond or value Geil chips would perform well; the performance gap between brands like Corsair and generic stuff doesn't justify the bloated price unless you're planning on overclocking. Even then, I have known people have better overclocks on generic RAM than name brand. Just avoid ultra cheap or re-branded chips like Seitec, Rambo and Legend.

Smirnoff

[kasavien]

2Gb corsair value select PC5300 would be fine and you would deffinately see the benefit of having the extra ram

[MSIC]

MSIC - I'll take a look at the graphics card you mentioned, I only really play Pro Evo and RTS games like Age Of Empires, Total War etc. so as long as it'll cope, I'll be happy.

RAM does seem expensive at the moment, I agree, so perhaps the answer is simply to buy 1 gig now (perhaps 1 single stick) and then add in a few months time.

As for the graphics, I use a 7600Gt to power 1680 x 1050 resolution and am happy. Certainly for a regular 17 or 19" monitor it is powerful enough. What monitor / resolution do you have?

[RavenNight]

Definately go for 2GB of RAM if you can. Also agree with the other guys, grab a 7600GT until the DX10 cards are out. Better still you could just wait a few months if your needs aren't pressing, RAM prices are starting to fall so you should save some money there and Intel's Quad Core could lower the price of the Conroe.

[Yellowbeard]

RAM prices are all over the place for sure but, 2gb is the better option.

[ethan]

I was wondering if a 380W Seasonic S12-380 aPFC Hi-End PSU would be suitable for the rest of the components (Don't really plan to overclock) as it's over half the price of the 500W model?

Thanks.

[Yellowbeard]

With the system spex you have listed above, no, that power supply is not a good choice. If you cut a corner on your PSU every other component you buy will suffer.

[Hans Voralberg]

Dont judge the PSU on its wattage only mate, the 380W seasonic is a (by review) and i used it, very stable PSU. I think it'll cope well. Also if ur on a budget, get a E6300 and oc it. Not massive difference between the two on the type of apps ur running anyway

[R0xy0urs0x]

nice build m8 looks awesome

[MSIC]

If you cut a corner on your PSU every other component you buy will suffer.

I think I know what yellowbeard was trying to say here, but to be clear there is no 'suffering' or lesser giving of power going on with a lower-spec PSU.
It'll either deliver adequate power, or it won't.

With the specs as listed (particularly with a lower powered graphics card), it will be fine.

If however you want to buy a super-duper DX10 graphics card (and i'm talking about the info available on the new nVidia 8 series) you may want more than 380W PSU, unless you also want to upgrade the PSU with the graphics card. Also if you want QuadCPU power, the more the merrier.

[Yellowbeard]

I think I know what yellowbeard was trying to say here, but to be clear there is no 'suffering' or lesser giving of power going on with a lower-spec PSU.
It'll either deliver adequate power, or it won't.

With the specs as listed (particularly with a lower powered graphics card), it will be fine.

If however you want to buy a super-duper DX10 graphics card (and i'm talking about the info available on the new nVidia 8 series) you may want more than 380W PSU, unless you also want to upgrade the PSU with the graphics card. Also if you want QuadCPU power, the more the merrier.

The worst thing I was suggesting is that if you heavily tax a PSU by running it at maximum output all the time, the PSU can begin to get very hot and allow a bit of AC current to bleed thru. Very high quality PSUs allow a much smaller amount of this bleed (ripple current) as no PSU can totally prevent it. However, with cheaply made or SEVERELY underpowerd PSU, over time this ripple can damage your components. HDs and video cards are especially succeptible to this.

[MSIC]

Fair point, i agree with that.