New gaming rig ~£800 - what would you change?

Conrad11

Conrad11

Conrad11

Soldato
Joined
12 Jun 2005
Posts
5,361
Hi guys,

Looking to buy my new machine either tonight or tomorrow. I'll be keeping my 19" monitor, which i'll be running no higher than 1280x1024. It'll be used primarily for gaming and I also intend to overclock slightly. Here's what I've come up with so far:

- Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
- Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS Extreme 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
- OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
- Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
- Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 Pin
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-Bit - OEM
- Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

This all comes to about £815 and I'm really only prepared to spend a maximum of £850 if need really be. What changes would you fellas make to this configuration, if any? Would this all be adequate for playing new games in high detail and as well for overclocking?

Many thanks,

Conrad :)
 
Conrad11 said:
Hi guys,

Looking to buy my new machine either tonight or tomorrow. I'll be keeping my 19" monitor, which i'll be running no higher than 1280x1024. It'll be used primarily for gaming and I also intend to overclock slightly. Here's what I've come up with so far:

- Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
- Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS Extreme 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
- OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
- Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
- Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 Pin
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-Bit - OEM
- Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

This all comes to about £815 and I'm really only prepared to spend a maximum of £850 if need really be. What changes would you fellas make to this configuration, if any? Would this all be adequate for playing new games in high detail and as well for overclocking?

Many thanks,

Conrad :)
Click to expand...

See my sig! Just built it...
 
6833_Untitled.jpg
 
Do you really need vista ultimate, could drop that to premium, save a fair bit of money. I'd increase the hard drive, the 640gb samsung is only £7 more, 390gb more space for that price aint too bad.
 
You looking to add another 4850 or more HDD's later? Might want to consider a 620W Corsair instead, just to leave some headroom.
 
ok, excellent! As far as the motherboards go, I put the ASUS P5Q Intel P45, but AcidHell you've put a slightly more expensive version down. What does the extra cost for a slightly better model entail?

Thanks Ro55o, that HD option looks appealing.

Benihana said:
You looking to add another 4850 or more HDD's later? Might want to consider a 620W Corsair instead, just to leave some headroom.
Click to expand...

Probably not another HDD no and I haven't really considered putting in another 4850. Do you not think 520W is sufficient enough to cover things "long-term" then?

Conrad
 
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Unless you plan to add another 4850 then the 520W will be more than enough, even if you add in an extra hard drive. It's always a good idea to leave some headroom, but if don't need it, then it's not worth the extra money.

The P45 board you picked should be fine, I'm not quite sure what you get for the extra £25 on the E board.
 
usually with asus the more expensive the better and more options you have for overclocking. Also has a slightly better soundchip. But in your case probably not worth the £25.
 
Don't buy and expensive fan like those, get a zalman zm-f3, or buy x2 for the same amount for a nice push-pull setup on *** thermalright.

Also go for a WD 640gb AAKS, stunning drive, and 320gb really is nothing these days, and with storage being soo cheap it would be criminal to not go for a bigger HDD.

Otherwise good, no need to spend loads on the latest hardware as depreciation is ridiculous, just stick with midish range and upgrade more :D
 
the q6600 keeps fluctuating so i would wait until the price drops to bout £127 inc VAT.
£150 for one is way ott
it was £109 exc vat yesterday...
 
yeah, been researching a bit, some on these forums. It seems 4870 for only 1280x1024 would be slightly overkill. I won't be getting a monitor anytime soon, so I might save my money and stick with the 4850.

Conrad
 
It all depends when you upgrade, I would rather have the better gfx card for future proofing. Especially if you are not upgrading for a long time.
 
Conrad11 said:
- Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
- Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCS Extreme 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
- Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
- OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
- Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
- Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 Pin
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-Bit - OEM
- Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Click to expand...

Would go dual core and put the money into a better gfx card a 4870, and Ultimate is a waste of money and utterly pointless, you're paying an extra £60 for your e-peen.

I just bought a E7200 (£78), 4870 (£164) and Premium for £83.
 
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Edinho said:
Would go dual core
Click to expand...

I wouldn't with windows 7 being released next year. Direxct x 11 is released at the same time, Which is compatible with dirext x10 cards so no need for an upgrade. Direct x11 will make full use of multiple cores.

So unless your planning to upgrade before the end of 2009 I would get quad.
 
AcidHell2 said:
I wouldn't with windows 7 being released next year. Direxct x 11 is released at the same time, Which is compatible with dirext x10 cards so no need for an upgrade. Direct x11 will make full use of multiple cores.

So unless your planning to upgrade before the end of 2009 I would get quad.
Click to expand...
By that time quad chips will be lower in price, i dont see the point of getting quad cores for at least 2 years. and go for *** cheapest os are you going to use all its feature? if not waste of money.
 
mattheman said:
By that time quad chips will be lower in price, i dont see the point of getting quad cores for at least 2 years. and go for *** cheapest os are you going to use all its feature? if not waste of money.
Click to expand...

Some people don't upgrade for 5 years. Also I've already said just get Vista HP, unlike DX10 DX11 will be released on vista as well as w7. It has the same basic programming as DX10 so should be adopted early on from game developers.
As i said it depends when you next plan to upgrade. but the q6600 is a great value chip.
 
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