Looking for a high end gaming system

[kinkladze10]

My old Gaming pc is on its way out and for what its worth its probably going to be easier to start from scratch.

I've bought a premade system from you guys before and I must say I was very impressed, I could do it myself but I'm just too lazy and I doubt I'd be able to get anywhere near the attention to detail that you did with all the wires etc.

I don't really want to spend more than £2k (including VAT)

It's been a while since I've looked at the rig scene and so I have a few questions, I'm hoping someone can help.

1) Intel or AMD ?
I've always gone AMD in the past, mainly because what I heard was they were better for games and gave better performance etc. Looking at some of the prices of the intel chips, it looks like you can spend some serious money with intel, I'm looking to hit a sweet spot price wise but I don't know if this is still the case or not so I'm hoping someone can help.

2) I'm guessing I should be going Dual core and 64 bit?

3) Is SLI still the way to go? I'm looking for a rig where I can go to any of my current and future games and whack the settings on ULTRA HIGH and enjoy it without any problems, I have a big 21" w/s monitor with the resolution set to 1680x1050 I noticed the latest Nvidia cards look quite beefy namely this:

768Mb XFX 8800 Ultra, PCI-E (x16), Mem 2160 MHz, GPU 612 MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV

Would that be ok to run most games with the full settings?

4) whats the deal with ram nowadays, I notice that 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8888, 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12 is more expensive than 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8888, 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12

I don't want to have any memory problems so which would be best, again I'm guess the 2 gig Ram is faster than the 4 so would this give the best performance overall?

5) Which motherboard should I be looking at, this time around it would be nice to have something future proof if possible.

6) Finally I was having a play with the configuarable systems, whats the view on the below are there any modifications or alternatives I should consider?

one alternative I was looking at was possible going for the 4mb Ram option saving £200 and bumping up to a higher processor or would this be a bad idea

Thanks in advance

Base Specifications
Akasa Mirage-62 V2 Midi Tower Case - Hi-End
**3XS-CORE DUO NFORCE 680 SYSTEM**
Asus Striker Extreme NF680i SLI, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
850W Coolermaster Real Power Pro RS-850-EMBA 85% Eff ATX12V V2.2 SSI EPS12V v2.91 4xPCI-E/8xSATA
Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty (Mainland UK)
Scan System Configuration
45cm Akasa Round Floppy Drive Cable
45cm Akasa SATA/SATAII (3G) Day Glo Blue UV HDD Cable, 1 x R.angle connector with secure latch
120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan, 3 Pin, 2 Ball Bearing , Ultra Quiet and Long life
Ahead Nero v7 - Essentials Suite 1 *OEM for Data, Audio, Photo, Video and TV
90cm Round IDE (PATA) Cable BLACK *UV* Newlink (NLRB-399UVK)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound for CPU and Chipset Coolers
Corsair Dominator Airflow Fan (Fits onto the Memory slots to cool the memory)
Scan System Configuration (Details confirmed at checkout stage)

Qty Selected Specifications
1 *No Custom Colour Required*
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 S775, 2.67Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB, Conroe Core, 4M Cache Retail
1 Zalman CNPS9700-NT nVidia Tritium Super Aero Flower Cooler
1 *No System Overclocking*
1 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8888, 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12
1 768Mb XFX 8800GTX Extreme XXX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 2000 MHz, GPU 630 MHz, Dual DVI/HDTV
1 *No ATI VGA Card Required* (nVidia required)
1 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, NCQ, 4.6 ms
1 400 Gb Samsung HD401LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ
1 Mitsumi FA404M 1.44 Black FDD+Int USB2 7 in 1 Card Reader (SM/MMC/SD/CF/MD/MS) Fits in 3.5" FDD Bay
1 *CD/DVD Not Required*
1 Lite-ON LH-20A1S-11C LiteOn 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8 / -RW x 6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Retail
1 *No Sound / Specialist Card Required*
1 *No M/M Card Required*
1 ***NO MODEM/ADSL REQUIRED***
1 ***NO WIRELESS ADAPTOR REQUIRED***
1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit
1 NVIDIA DVD - Bronze edition - Dolby 2.1
1 MS OFFICE 2007 60 Day TRIAL Basic,SBE & Professional
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Monitor Not Required*
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Keyboard & Mouse Not Required*
1 *Gaming Mouse Not Required*
1 *Speakers Not Required*
1 *Heaphones Not Required*
1 **No Sound Proofing Required** Not Needed if Using Antec P180
1 *Hard Drive Not Required*
1 Standard 3XS System Warranty

Scan Finance Price
10 months no interest charges £87.93 Net Total £1,847.51
Classic Credit 24 Months £108.63 V.A.T £323.31
Classic Credit 36 Months £78.74 Total £2,170.82

[Noxvayl]

I that the system specified above that you want to order? If it is that is a seriously sweet PC m8 and you can upgrade you CPU next year to the new Intel nehalem core which is 45nm process and about 30% faster with your 680i motherboard so it is future proof. The CPU is flipping fast as it is and can be seriously overclocked if you like to perform even better

I think that is a sweet deal and can't see anything wrong with your configuration, everything is really good and will last longer than you would need.

Enjoy your PC m8

[kinkladze10]

thanks but what about going for the 4mb Ram option, that would save me around 200quid and give more memory which I really need to find somewhere to get back on budget?

With regards to this new processor is that a case of just taking the old one out and putting the new one it without any other changes?

any idea on how much it will retail for as well?

[tigerboyce]

.

1) Intel or AMD ?
I would definetly say intel, AMD were superior on the single cores but intel win hands down always now

2) I'm guessing I should be going Dual core and 64 bit?
Yes definetly, or quad core on a 2k buget. 64 bit is depending on wether you will get 2gb+ ream and arnt bothered about finding drivers

3) Is SLI still the way to go? I wouldnt bother with SLI, just get one decent card

I noticed the latest Nvidia cards look quite beefy namely this:
768Mb XFX 8800 Ultra, PCI-E (x16), Mem 2160 MHz, GPU 612 MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV

That is one SERIOUSLY powerfull card, it will fly through any game on max

Would that be ok to run most games with the full settings?
more than enough

4) whats the deal with ram nowadays,
Youll be wanting at least 2gb, if not four of some pc-6400 or higher. if you want a good overclock this will do but if you want a amazong overclock then the dominators will be good, but imho its a waste of money if your not OCing. just get more of the fast stuff rather than less of the completely insane stuff


5) Which motherboard should I be looking at, this time around it would be nice to have something future proof if possible.
you could have a look at a DDR3 board, but you will need DDR3 memory

6) one alternative I was looking at was possible going for the 4mb Ram option saving £200 and bumping up to a higher processor or would this be a bad idea
i think its a very good idea

Thanks in advance



Qty Selected Specifications
1 *No Custom Colour Required*
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 S775, 2.67Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB, Conroe Core, 4M Cache Retail Vgood but you might get Qcore on this buget
1 Zalman CNPS9700-NT nVidia Tritium Super Aero Flower Coolergood
1 *No System Overclocking*
1 2Gb (2X1Gb) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC8888, 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12i would step it down and get 4gb in my choice, but see what others think
1 768Mb XFX 8800GTX Extreme XXX, PCI-E (x16), Mem 2000 MHz, GPU 630 MHz, Dual DVI/HDTV Vgood, but definetly change this XXX to the ultra model, its £1 more
1 *No ATI VGA Card Required* (nVidia required)
1 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, NCQ, 4.6 msVgood speedy but quite noisy
1 400 Gb Samsung HD401LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQVgood
1 Mitsumi FA404M 1.44 Black FDD+Int USB2 7 in 1 Card Reader (SM/MMC/SD/CF/MD/MS) Fits in 3.5" FDD Baymaswell if its offered
1 *CD/DVD Not Required*
1 Lite-ON LH-20A1S-11C LiteOn 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8 / -RW x 6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Retailpretty good
1 *No Sound / Specialist Card Required*
1 *No M/M Card Required*
1 ***NO MODEM/ADSL REQUIRED***
1 ***NO WIRELESS ADAPTOR REQUIRED***
1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bitgood choice
1 NVIDIA DVD - Bronze edition - Dolby 2.1
1 MS OFFICE 2007 60 Day TRIAL Basic,SBE & Professional
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Monitor Not Required*
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Keyboard & Mouse Not Required*
1 *Gaming Mouse Not Required*
1 *Speakers Not Required*
1 *Heaphones Not Required*
1 **No Sound Proofing Required** Not Needed if Using Antec P180
1 *Hard Drive Not Required*
1 Standard 3XS System Warranty

Scan Finance Price
10 months no interest charges £87.93 Net Total £1,847.51
Classic Credit 24 Months £108.63 V.A.T £323.31
Classic Credit 36 Months £78.74 Total £2,170.82

oh and dont forget to change the asaka mirage case, get the TJ09

[kinkladze10]

Many thanks m8, very helpfull indeed, I've never been an overclocker so I'll go for the 4mb of ram to get back on budget.

Are quad cores out now and supported by applications?

If I go for the quad core is that going to be noticably different than the quad core?

[kinkladze10]

slight amend to go for quad core, dunno what this is like now

Silverstone TJ09B-W (Black) TEMJIN Aluminum Supertower Case inc Side Window
**3XS-CORE DUO NFORCE 680 SYSTEM**
Asus Striker Extreme NF680i SLI, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
850W Coolermaster Real Power Pro RS-850-EMBA 85% Eff ATX12V V2.2 SSI EPS12V v2.91 4xPCI-E/8xSATA
Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty (Mainland UK)
Scan System Configuration
45cm Akasa Round Floppy Drive Cable
45cm Akasa SATA/SATAII (3G) Day Glo Blue UV HDD Cable, 1 x R.angle connector with secure latch
120mm Akasa Amber Case Fan, 3 Pin, 2 Ball Bearing , Ultra Quiet and Long life
Ahead Nero v7 - Essentials Suite 1 *OEM for Data, Audio, Photo, Video and TV
90cm Round IDE (PATA) Cable BLACK *UV* Newlink (NLRB-399UVK)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound for CPU and Chipset Coolers
Corsair Dominator Airflow Fan (Fits onto the Memory slots to cool the memory)
Scan System Configuration (Details confirmed at checkout stage)

Qty Selected Specifications
1 *No Custom Colour Required*
1 Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, 775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache, Retail
1 Zalman CNPS9700-NT nVidia Tritium Super Aero Flower Cooler
1 *No System Overclocking*
1 4GB (4x1GB) Corsair XMS2 Dominator, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15, DHX
1 768Mb XFX 8800 Ultra, PCI-E (x16), Mem 2160 MHz, GPU 612 MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV
1 *No ATI VGA Card Required* (nVidia required)
1 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, NCQ, 4.6 ms
1 500 Gb Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ
1 Mitsumi FA404M 1.44 Black FDD+Int USB2 7 in 1 Card Reader (SM/MMC/SD/CF/MD/MS) Fits in 3.5" FDD Bay
1 *CD/DVD Not Required*
1 Lite-ON LH-20A1S-11C LiteOn 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8 / -RW x 6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Retail
1 *No Sound / Specialist Card Required*
1 *No M/M Card Required*
1 ***NO MODEM/ADSL REQUIRED***
1 ***NO WIRELESS ADAPTOR REQUIRED***
1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit
1 NVIDIA DVD - Bronze edition - Dolby 2.1
1 MS OFFICE 2007 60 Day TRIAL Basic,SBE & Professional
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Monitor Not Required*
1 *No Software Required*
1 *Keyboard & Mouse Not Required*
1 *Gaming Mouse Not Required*
1 *Speakers Not Required*
1 *Heaphones Not Required*
1 **No Sound Proofing Required** Not Needed if Using Antec P180
1 *Hard Drive Not Required*
1 Standard 3XS System Warranty

Scan Finance Price
10 months no interest charges £85.99 Net Total £1,806.86
Classic Credit 24 Months £106.24 V.A.T £316.20
Classic Credit 36 Months £77.01 Total £2,123.06

[Mossy]

Kinkkladze10

Please feel free to PM me your details and e-mail address I will be more than happy to discuss the best option for you. Thanks guys for giving good advice here almost done my job for me!

Regards

[Noxvayl]

thanks but what about going for the 4mb Ram option, that would save me around 200quid and give more memory which I really need to find somewhere to get back on budget?

With regards to this new processor is that a case of just taking the old one out and putting the new one it without any other changes?

any idea on how much it will retail for as well?

Yeah all you need to do is get a BIOS update which is very simple and then change your CPU and everything will be a ok

If you want to save a bit more for a CPU upgrade then maybe you should get the EVGA 680i motherboard which is about £40 cheaper... The striker extreme and EVGA are pretty much the same except the striker extreme has a few more extra's like software and the external sound card.

Edit: If you are going to use this PC for work and require the extra settings for access to work servers and what not then the Vista Ultimate is the way to go but the Home Premium is perfect for normal home use. Ultimate only has extra networking features required for office use in sophisticated networks, there are some security features that are nice but not necessary for home use as who will want to hack an average home PC. All you need is Home premium with a good AV like NOD32 to serve your needs as a home user. It also saves you another £40 pounds which helps
Your PC will rape all games that are going to come out for the next year and a half and if you upgrade your CPU next year you will be going strong for more than 2 years

[kinkladze10]

nice one, thx I'll go for that

cheers