Buying advice - new rig

[jakc]

I posted a thread earlier on in the year - here
However, I had to save some money and id like to get further confirmation that you think the following spec is ok - please point out anything that you think could be improved upon or parts that ive but in my basket that are not good value.


Cases: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black Case
Powersupply: Coolermaster 620W Real Power PRO M620 Powersupply
Intel Motherboard: Asus Striker Extreme Socket 775 680i QUAD Core Ready DDR2 3X PCI-E Vista Premium Ready Motherboard
Intel CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping CPU - oem
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler Intel Celeron (Skt 775), Intel P4(Skt 775), Intel Pentium D
PC Memory: OCZ 4GB KIT 2x2048MB GOLD DDR2 800MHZ PC2-6400 Memory
Desktop Hard Drive: Seagate 400GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA 2 Hard Disk Drive
CD/DVD RW: Samsung 20x SATA Lightscribe DVDRW Dual Layer Black
Graphics Card: XFX PV-T80G-GHD9 Geforce 8800GTS XXX Edition, 320MB GDDR3, PCI Express, 580/1800mhz, Dual DVI, TV OUT Graphics Card
Soundcards: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - oem


The 8800GTS XXX Edition is not in stock - please recommend a card that is in stock.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[licenced]

The 320MB version of the 8800GTS is the old generation - go for a 512MB model, which is the new gen and a lot faster.

If you're not planning on going SLI ever (and you would struggle with that PSU) I would go with a P35 based motherboard - the ASUS P5K or similar.

Any reason to go for the Fatal1ty version of the soundcard, rather than the cheaper non-Fatal1ty version?

Dave

[Blitzen]

Take a look at the spec i posted for you in that linked thread.

BTW...the sound on that board is 7.1 HiDef so you wont be disappointed.

[meansizzler]

Take a look at the spec i posted for you in that linked thread.

BTW...the sound on that board is 7.1 HiDef so you wont be disappointed.

with poor DAC's, motherbaord audio has alway been pants, even a cheapo sound blaster x-fi xtreme audio will sound better than any mobo audio, as for the DD Live/DTS connect, have it your way if you want to lossy audio, as thea udio is being compressed when it is passed to the amp..., buy a dedicated sound card and stick with the analogue outs...

[jakc]

too much choice.........
really appreciate everyone's help though. Hardware is not my forte - dunno how you lot do it.

Antec P182 Gun Metal Black Case vs Centurian 534 Silver ? Prefer look of Antecs I think.
BFG 8800GTS OC 512MB (Blitzen rec - any disagreement?)

If you're not planning on going SLI ever (and you would struggle with that PSU)

I dont think so - surely an 8800GTS 512mb will keep me happy for a long time on its own? However, are you saying that the PSU could be improved upon?

Mobo I have no idea about. Going on Blitzens advice:
Abit IX38 QuadGT ?

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping CPU - any arguments here?

Everything else I think again came from Blitzens advice.

Im still torn between using my old Audigy 2ZS pro platinum S-Blaster card against upgrading to X-Fi.
Im not too fussed about sound - ive got a creative 7.1 speaker system id like to use with, however most movies i watch are not DTS/surround (downloaded) and my current card sounds great with games. Please talk me out of this if u disagree.
- just re-read Blitzens post about the onboard sound being 7.1 hi-def - this should keep me happy to begin with - will it work ok with my creative speaker setup? However looking at m-sizzlers remarks, I may need to upgrade or wak in my audigy 2zs card.

Just keep in mind im trying to keep this <&#163;1k, hopefully nearer the &#163;750-900 mark.

[Blitzen]

with poor DAC's, motherbaord audio has alway been pants, even a cheapo sound blaster x-fi xtreme audio will sound better than any mobo audio, as for the DD Live/DTS connect, have it your way if you want to lossy audio, as thea udio is being compressed when it is passed to the amp..., buy a dedicated sound card and stick with the analogue outs...

Have you heard the audio on my board.
Didnt think so!
Strange how people say something is rubbish when they have no experience using it. Onboard sound has come a long way.
It is actually very very good.

Yes...it will work fine with Creative Speakers.
It works with any speakers/headsets.

[AndrewJ]

I agree with Blitzen, *kewl av btw * my onboard HD audio easily matches my X-Fi Audio 7.1, and has a damn sight less problems.

[jakc]

ok, then ill skip off the x-fi soundcard. Id like to keep my front panel from my Audigy 2zs pro anyhow, so ill compare the onboard vs my old card.

Having a few issues configuring the system - not getting some products as choices - might have to change these on phone. However heres what I got now:

Antec P182 Gun Metal Black Case
Corsair 620W HX Series Modular SLi Powersupply, ATX, EPS 12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty
Abit IX38 QuadGT Socket 775, Dual DDR2, SATA Raid, IEEE 1394, HD 7.1, Vista HW Ready Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache CPU - Retail - G0 Stepping
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler Intel Celeron (Skt 775), Intel P4(Skt 775), Intel Pentium D
Corsair 4GB Kit (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 800MHZ DDR2 Memory
Seagate 400GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA 2 Hard Disk Drive
Samsung 20x SATA Lightscribe DVDRW Dual Layer Black
XFX Geforce 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition 512MB PCI-E, DDR3, Dual DVI, HDTV, Vista Ready Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD

The Alpha Dog was only 512mb card I could choose under configure.
With "Configuring the Product" & "Configuring the Operating System", im looking at £933 (inc VAT)

Everytime i open up a PC I end up breaking something, therefore I def want YoYo to build it. However whats "Configure the OS" actually mean? Install Vista from the DVD? I might opt out of this as Im likely to make it either dual boot with XP 32bit or triple boot with Ubuntu as well.

If you see anything on the list above that does not look right (goes against your advice given) please say so.

[meansizzler]

Have you heard the audio on my board.
Didnt think so!
Strange how people say something is rubbish when they have no experience using it. Onboard sound has come a long way.
It is actually very very good.

Noob by name, noob by nature, do you even know what HD Audio is?, I have read various schematics on it, all freely available on the Realtekpage, do you know about beam forming, 2 way Audio, DDL, every wired a front panel header, do you ever know that it's wires differently from AC-97, I uhave listened to variosu HD-Audio Codecs, from Realtek, Sigmatel, Adi/Soundmax eg.. ALC-888, 662, 662D, do you know what the D stands for?, if not then best putting some tape over your mouth... while they provide basic audio which most users are happy with, they are still pretty basic when compared to soundblasters/M-audio cards, bad for gaming, no hardware acceleration, poor DAC's. for stereo their fine but for multichannel audio you really want to invest in a soundblaster, try listening to a MLP/TrueHD soundtrack and you wouldn't go back to on board audio..

As for the OP, I switched from an Audigy 2 ZS to X-Fi, didn't notice much difference, the crystalizer is pants, only thing you gain which is an advantage is the CMMS Stereo Surround mode in vista, which last time I checked was not available on the ZS, only in XP...

Stick with the ZS...

Also get a Scythe Ninja Heatsink, don't be a cheapo, will be better at cooling that quad core.. I have the Asus P5KC board soI know it fits... only 1 hard drive?...

Have a look at my build here...

silentpcreview.com | View topic - Silent P182 Setup, Hard to Beat!!!

[Blitzen]

Noob by name, noob by nature, do you even know what HD Audio is?, I have read various schematics on it, all freely available on the Realtekpage, do you know about beam forming, 2 way Audio, DDL, every wired a front panel header, do you ever know that it's wires differently from AC-97, I uhave listened to variosu HD-Audio Codecs, from Realtek, Sigmatel, Adi/Soundmax eg.. ALC-888, 662, 662D, do you know what the D stands for?, if not then best putting some tape over your mouth... while they provide basic audio which most users are happy with, they are still pretty basic when compared to soundblasters/M-audio cards, bad for gaming, no hardware acceleration, poor DAC's. for stereo their fine but for multichannel audio you really want to invest in a soundblaster, try listening to a MLP/TrueHD soundtrack and you wouldn't go back to on board audio..

As for the OP, I switched from an Audigy 2 ZS to X-Fi, didn't notice much difference, the crystalizer is pants, only thing you gain which is an advantage is the CMMS Stereo Surround mode in vista, which last time I checked was not available on the ZS, only in XP...

Stick with the ZS...

Also get a Scythe Ninja Heatsink, don't be a cheapo, will be better at cooling that quad core.. I have the Asus P5KC board soI know it fits... only 1 hard drive?...

Have a look at my build here...
silentpcreview.com | View topic - Silent P182 Setup, Hard to Beat!!!

I am well aware what you are trying to explain in your remedial kind of way. If you think its fine to just come and flame anyone then you are a massively bigger idiot than your first post suggests! (if thats possible).
You are talking utter rubbish.

BTW...Schematics....shut up! Reading any kind of schematic on an electronics device (particualrly with your apparent low intellect), would be useful to very few. Especially if you were trying to gauge sound quality.

We are lucky that there are so few like you misleading the many!

(if you care to look at my profile i have been an electronics engineer for a very long time so please dont try and explain principles of basic wiring).

[jakc]

bit of diagreement is a good thing - teaches me more about the hardware im getting.
However, ill stick with the onboard to begin with and and slot my ZS in their at some point later.

Ive got a spare 750GB Seagate which I intend to put in there as well.

Scythe Ninja Heatsink you say? 2nd opinion?

Also, is going to the Ready Made PC section, clicking on " Yoyotech Intel Viper MKII" and configuring it the best way to get a spec together - Its good cos I guess it only shows me hardware that works together, but perhaps im being limited by the choices? For instance the graphcis card im still limited to the Alpha Dog where as id prefer to go with Blitzens choice of the BFG 8800GTS OC 512MB.

[staffsMike]

I've used the ninja in 3 builds now, it's a great cooler. I also have the freezer 7 pro and would honestly get the ninja over it everytime. The freezer is good but the scythe is a lot better and next to silent where the freezer gets a bit noisey for my liking.

Your PC will run very quietly with the ninja, built one almost exactly the same just the older GTS and 520w corsair which I would also recommend as you don't need 620W.

Onboard sound is fine these days, deffinatly worth a try before you buy something else.

[Blitzen]

bit of diagreement is a good thing - teaches me more about the hardware im getting.
However, ill stick with the onboard to begin with and and slot my ZS in their at some point later.

Ive got a spare 750GB Seagate which I intend to put in there as well.

Scythe Ninja Heatsink you say? 2nd opinion?

Also, is going to the Ready Made PC section, clicking on " Yoyotech Intel Viper MKII" and configuring it the best way to get a spec together - Its good cos I guess it only shows me hardware that works together, but perhaps im being limited by the choices? For instance the graphcis card im still limited to the Alpha Dog where as id prefer to go with Blitzens choice of the BFG 8800GTS OC 512MB.

Haha
Its not disagreement.
Meansizzler is obviously wrong in his 'guessing' and is has ZERO CREDIBILITY' as his first words were that of a ten year old flamer.

Fortunately fools like him turn up very rarely, talk their talk they have found on another forum, then disappear back to the crusty sheeted bedroom they came from

[jakc]

Your PC will run very quietly with the ninja, built one almost exactly the same just the older GTS and 520w corsair which I would also recommend as you don't need 620W.

I know Blitzen you mentioned that it would be better to "shop around" for a PSU but i want YoYo to build the system so I need to come to a satisfactory choice over PSU. Is 620W overkill for that spec? Please recommend one thats good, and pref not gonna drain my electricity away for no reason.

Thanks

[Blitzen]

The 520 or 620 Corsair will both be fine.

[jakc]

Another forum mentions that I should perhaps splash out on a better mobo such as the asus p5k.

Advantages of this mobo over what I currently have in spec?