Check my spec mk 2

Ok, I've asked around about various things, looked at more reviews, benchmarks etc and now I feel a little more enlightened So here's what I'm thinking of getting:

Athlon X2 3800+ 161.95
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1800 GTO ICEQ3 111.95
G.Skill 2GB Zx 129.95
Zalman Aero Flower 27.95
Zalman Silent HDD cooler 13.95
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB 52.95
Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire 59.95
Seasonic S12 430W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply 44.95
Asaka Eclipse case 69.95
Akasa 120mm Fan 9.95

Which comes to £803 when you add VAT on. I'm looking for good performance but also for it to be very quiet (the HDD cooler will go in another machine that could use it if it doesn't do anything for the hard drive as it appears to be a quiet drive.)

So... two questions:
a) Does this look ok?
b) Can someone recommend a possibly cheaper mobo without crossfire as I have no intention of using crossfire in this system ever

Maybe this motherboard?

Abit KN8 nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-086-AB) Price: £44.95 (£52.82 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Looks fine, you could go with a Gigabyte SLi motherboard for £49.95ex Vat which is passively cooled so will be quieter and will work just as well as the Crossfire motherboard

Out of interest... what would be the first thing you would change on this? And how much would it cost?

if i were to change anything id go am2, it would cost hardly anything

For noise I'd get a zalman gpu fan

Oooh, cheers... That was my initial thoughts, but then I thought I'll get a card with a quiet stock fan... and save myself money. But I'm only saving a fiver... Out with the HIS and in with the PowerColor for a saving of 15 quid... then on with the VF900 for 20 quid

MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-070-MS £93.94 Including VAT

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-164-AM)
£109.95 +VAT

a)Patriot 2GB (2x1GB) PC7200 900MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £252.57 Including VAT at 17.5%
or
b)GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) for just £109.95 +VAT
somethng like that

Hmm... How much better do Tagan work with them?

I know the HDD cooler is not needed but I want to try it out and see how much difference it does make... and I can always stick it in another machine if it makes sod all difference anyway
Good call on noticing I'll need two fans

How do the Freezer 64 and the Aero flower compare noisewise?

Future proofing isn't much of a concern at all... quietness is a concern, but cost (and faff) is so I'm not going for watercooling

Hi

I'm the tech manager at OCUK - I also build all our systems. With Asus boards, seasonic do not allow the board to call for power on the 5V rail correctly on certain models. We use Tagan in all our builds along with Asus boards and have never had a problem. They are extremely quiet, modular cabled for neat and easy wiring (= better airflow)

The case (same as mine - See links below for pics!!!) [GREAT CHOICE BY THE WAY!!!!] has space for two 120mm fans in a push/ pull config (one pulling cool air in from the front, one blowing hot air out the back) which makes for outrageously good airflow - trust me on this! This makes the hard drive cooler a complete waste of money as the front fan blows cold air straight across the hard disks .Go for the Akasa Amber - Great Airflow, SUPER silent. (FG-024-AK)

The Arctic Freezer 64 Pro won custom PC Magazine's group test out of 40 HSFs and ran 11 degrees cooler at idle than the reference AMD HSF and 19 degress cooler under load on an FX55 clocked to 2.8 GHz (FX 57 Speeds).The fins are bent on the bottom 3 to cool the MOSFETS and VRMs of the mobo too which should help stability when overclocking. Its also just as quiet, half the weight and half the price so this ones a bit of a no brainer I think you'll agree!! lol

Another small pointer, with respect, you would be mad to go for a PSU less than 480W with todays thirsty graphics cards. A 430W will power this rig no problem but it will be near its limit. It won't go bang or anything but when PSUs are working flat out, they get warm which means the fans kick in harder and faster. From an economical point of view, a decent PSU will last you at least 3 to 4 years of heavy use so I'd always advise people to go for the biggest quality PSU you can afford at the time. If you were going the crossfire rout, you'd need an FSP sparkle 600W due to the 12V rail requirements or a minimum of 500W for high end SLi cards.

My Rig:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g307/andyocuk/DSC00181.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g307/andyocuk/DSC00182.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g307/andyocuk/DSC00178.jpg

Hope this helps.

I'm in work all week if you need any help. We are always there to help you spec up a decent rig!

Cheers for all the advice... I'm doubting I'll ever go crossfire with this system as I'll probably be fully upgrading in another year when I'm loaded (About to do my finals... so starting work soon... Not being poor will be nice )

Are you in work next monday? I'm kinda busy most of this week and was going to order next week... so would be cool to ring up and chat about what would be good then get it ordered

No worries, consider it sorted. Just call support number on the website and ask for me!!!

Talk soon

Best Regards

Andy.

AndyOcUK said:

No worries, consider it sorted. Just call support number on the website and ask for me!!!

Click to expand...

Now there's some quality customer service!

Picked up some useful info in this thread too. Those Arctic Freezer 64 Pro's seem to get suggested in almost every 'spec me' thread, sounds like a great product!

Yeah, the arctic freezers rock!!! Check this thread out of our new OCUK MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (arctic freezer 64 pro cooled!!!)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17580432

Andy
OCUK Tech.

Hey Andy,

Only just dawned on me... as I'm a student atm I'm currently without a landline and mobile phone companies charge a fortune if you've ran out of free minutes
Any chance I could email you to chat about what I'm after?

Cheers

Now thinking:

Athlon X2 3800+ 161.95
Powercolor X1800 GTO 104.95
G.Skill 2GB Zx 129.95
Arctic Freezer Pro 64 14.95
Zalman Silent HDD cooler 13.95
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB 52.95
Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire 59.95
Tagan 530W Modular 61.95
Asaka Eclipse case 69.95
Akasa 120mm Fan 9.95
Akasa 120mm Fan 9.95
Zalman VF900 20.95

Which is £836 inc. vat.

How's this looking now? Not wanting to go crossfire... so is this mobo overpowered?

Sounds fine,But I'd go for the Western Digital Drive equivalent. They are a bit quieter. Other than that, sounds great.

Best Regards

AndyOCUK
OCUK Tech Dept.

=AndyOcUK]Hi

I'm the tech manager at OCUK - I also build all our systems. With Asus boards, seasonic do not allow the board to call for power on the 5V rail correctly on certain models. We use Tagan in all our builds along with Asus boards and have never had a problem. They are extremely quiet, modular cabled for neat and easy wiring (= better airflow)

Click to expand...

Is that what's causing the non boot grief some people with DFI boards (and others) are getting?
Iv'e heard of switch bounce, but the above is new.

Hmm... just looked up the hard drives on storagereview.com
The WD appear to be marginally louder... but speedwise the same... not sure how to go tbh :|

split said:

Is that what's causing the non boot grief some people with DFI boards (and others) are getting?
Iv'e heard of switch bounce, but the above is new.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing the other day...

Mortah said:

Hmm... just looked up the hard drives on storagereview.com
The WD appear to be marginally louder... but speedwise the same... not sure how to go tbh :|

Click to expand...

I'd stick with Hitach, but WD are good too. Just avoid Maxtor.