Buying my first scan 3xs system, advice?

[Betty_Swallocks]

Ultimate is a waste of money. All you get is some silly little extras like animated desktop pictures and a couple of rubbish games.

Home is very basic. You don't get any of the cool stuff that makes Vista stand out over XP. It's designed for entry level PCs with insufficient power to run Premium.

Premium is definitely the way to go in my opinion.

I wouldn't wait for Windows 7. That's still quite a long way off.

As to your processor/mobo combination there is something to be said for futureproofing, however the i7 is still pretty much an unknown quantity. The motherboard bioses aren't very mature (in that any bugs won't have been found and ironed out yet) whereas Core 2 systems are pretty much rock solid by now.

Whether you want a dual core or a quad still depends pretty much what you want to do with it. If you do mostly gaming then a dual core E8500 or E8500 will still give you the best results, very few games can make use of 2 cores let alone 4 so the higher clock speed of the Core 2 Duo processors will be an advantage.

If your focus is mainly going to be things like 3d graphics rendering a quad would be better. Bear in mind though that the software you would be using would have to support multi core.

[yupyupno]

if you're just going to use it for sims 3, and nothing more graphically challenging, then you might be better off with this: http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ConfigureSystem.asp?SystemID=877

Its core 2 duo, not overly powerful, and not too weak, will do everything you ask it to, and half the price.

You may get the urge to play something a little more demanding, but to be honest the quad cores are still very very good, and if you overclock them, you'd get almost the same performance as the i7.

just have a look at that, tweak it and lets have a look.

@Vadim

i don't expect to touch the sytem for at least a year and a half, give me time to save up the monies to buy whatevers out there

its an expensive hobbie this haha!

[Mark_Solo]

Hi again folks,

Thanks for the continuing advice about various aspects of the modern PC Much appreciated.

I've had a little mess about with the spec I made, just wondering if this looks a bit more tidier? Feel free to add or take anything away from it still though, still thinking about bits and pieces. This brough the price down to just over £2k which I was happy with as well.

Spec:
Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
Case: Coolermaster RC-1100 V2 Cosmos S (Sport) Black Silent Full Tower Case
CPU: Intel i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4.8GT s QPI 8MB Cache Retail
CPU Coolers: Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme 120mm Heat Sink Fan
Overclocking: 3XS System Core-Logic Overclocking*10 - 20%*
Memory: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics - Multi GPU SLI Options Available: 1GB XFX GTX 280 2210MHz GDDR3 602MHz GPU 240 Cores (Far Cry2 Included while stocks last)
ATI Graphics - Multi GPU Crossfire Options Available: *No ATI VGA Card Required* (NVIDIA Required)
Power Supply Unit: 620W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU (Single Graphics Card)
System Drives: 300 GB Western Digital WD3000GLFS VelociRaptor 10000 rpm 16MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 1000 GB Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa 3.5" Internal Multi Memory Card reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: *DVD Writer Not Required*
Blu Ray Reader Writer: LG GGC-H20L - Super Multi DVD Writer & Blu-Ray + HD-ROM Reader
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card 7.1Ch
Gaming Network Card: *Use On Board Network Port*
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: *Wireless Adaptor Not Required*
Case Cooling Fans: 120mm Coolermaster Internal Case Fan with BLUE LED
Lighting Effects: *Lighting Effects Not Required*
Operating system: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bit
Software - Application: MS OFFICE 2007 - 25 Usage 60 Day TRIAL Basic SBE & Professional
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: Cyberlink Power DVD V7
Software - Security: *No Software Required*
Software - Hottest PC Games: *No Software Required*
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
Gaming Keyboard : *Gaming Keyboard Not Required*
Gaming Mouse Option: *Gaming Mouse Not Required*
Gaming Mouse Mat: *Gaming Mouse Mat Not Required*
Speakers: *Speakers Not Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty
and the default stuff:
3XS X58 Core i7 System Asus P6T Deluxe - Intel X58 - Sok 1366
2 x 120mm AK-183-L2B Akasa Amber Case Fan Akasa 8 Pin Extension cable
Thermalright Ultra 120A & Ultra120 eXtreme 120mm Fan Wire Clips Thermalright LGA1366 Bolt-Thru-Kit
Silverstone FP51B Black Transfer Bracket Acronis True Image Home 2009
45cm Akasa Rounded Floppy Drive Cable Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty (Mainland UK)
Scan System Configuration

I stuck with the i7 but mainly because I just want to spend the money lol.
Anyway see what you think.

Cheers

[leepen@scan]

I think I want your system

Honestly, there's very little that would outperform this system. There's a card due for release extremely soon that may be worth looking at later on today . Investing in a Socket 775 platform for a gaming rig would be a bad move, given that there's only one more generation of CPU's due to be released for it over the next few months.

The only finishing touches I might add would be an SSD or a second Raptor disk and then put it in RAID0 - May be over the top for your use but the ubergeek in me can't be contained!

[Philipp]

There's a card due for release extremely soon that may be worth looking at later on today.

Oh yes yes yes Ruben once NDA has lifted I will be contacting you about this

Investing in a Socket 775 platform for a gaming rig would be a bad move, given that there's only one more generation of CPU's due to be released for it over the next few months.

Completely agree here a dual core solution will bottle neck your systems performance, Remember systems are never just doing one thing at once..... Core I7 is a more expensive solution but I personally believe the additional cost is justified... All in all there isn’t going to be anything that’s going to touch a 3.7Ghz Core I7 CPU performance wise for some time yet…..

[Jay]

If you can build your on then 775 is the best way to go but, like the OP, if you are buying a 3XS system you want it to last you 5 years without having to do much if any upgrading. This system looks like it will be more than upto the job.

[Vadim]

i just seen the 295 cards

http://www.scan.co.uk/shops/nvidia/GTX295.aspx

[Philipp]

Just adding them to the site now

[leepen@scan]

Crysis in 1920x1200 - 8x AA 8x AF - the 295's give about 50fps with those settings using a Core2Quad.

Imagine that with an i7

NDA is lifted should anyone wish to query them.

[Vadim]

Crysis in 1920x1200 - 8x AA 8x AF - the 295's give about 50fps with those settings using a Core2Quad.

Imagine that with an i7

NDA is lifted should anyone wish to query them.

and it runs much cooler with less power than the ATI dual gpu card: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.ph...=16737&page=12

not bad at all

[Mark_Solo]

Hello again everyone,

Thanks for the continuing replys and help with me brining together a system. Having seen what's been said the 295 card is becoming very tempting as well.

Just one final question from me, not sure I've read it anywhere but how long does it take on average for you guys at Scan to build a system and get it out to the customer? Just so I can get my timing right for placing an order when the time comes.

Thanks once again to everyone who's helped and contributed
Cheers all

[Philipp]

Mark,

Sorry for the delay in replying,

Your looking about 5-10 days, it really depends on the current level of workload.

Feel free to PM me closer to the time and I should be able to give you some accurate dates.

Cheers

[Mark_Solo]

Hi Philipp,

Sorry to bother you with a silly question but how do I go about PM'ing you to get some firm dates on a build? I am still playing around with my spec at the moment. But I have some holiday's coming up from work so wanted to get the PC ordered and delivered while I was at home. I am off for 9 days starting next Tuesday, but I could make the order before then if it's going to beneficital for you guys if your having a partilcularly busy time or need to wait for parts etc.

Anyway if you can let me know that would be great.
Thanks for all your help,

[DavidM]

Unfortunately PM is turned off until 15 posts I believe

[Philipp]

Hi Mark,

You’re going to be looking around the 16th for build and hopefully delivery on the 20th.

If you need anything feel free to post up here or email me on philipp@scan.co.uk

Cheerios

[Mark_Solo]

Hi again Philipp,

Thanks for the very speedy reply as always, much appreciated
Just a quick additional question though, the dates you quoted in your reply.

Are the dates you quoted the dates as if the order was placed today or dates running from next Tuesday when my holiday start? Just looking for a bit of clarification there.

Many thanks again,