New rig provisional specs - your thoughts please

IceWolf

IceWolf

IceWolf

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Joined
7 Dec 2002
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1,860
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Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Ok having got some advice and done some reading i am looking at the following components for a new gaming rig.

Planned OS: Vista Home premium oem £76
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-037-MS

Planned Graphics card: BFG 8800GTX OC £370
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-035-BG

Current HD (OS and programs): Western Digital Raptor 75gb 10,000 rpm
Planned extra HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £75
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-120-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=768

Planned PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 650W £83
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-063-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=103

Planned CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £150
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-128-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793

Planned motherboard: Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 £83 [concerned though about no heatsink on Southbridge]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-061-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=565

Planned RAM: 4gb of something compatible with this motherboard and cpu, to run at stock or 3.0 ghz overclock [which people keep saying is easy...]

Current Optical dive: HP DVD/RW combo

Current case: Antec Super Lanboy [i like the 2 120mm fans, and good access]

Current monitor: 43" pioneer plasma 1024x768 (for gaming scales to 1280x768)
Planned monitor for travelling with (also for Xbox 360 use): Something 19" widescreen - all the ones on OCuk look good - will probably use headphones as speakers are something extra when travelling <£125
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=17&catid=276&sortby=priceAsc

That's all of it folks :) Mainly need help with RAM, monitor and motherboard. Thanks guys :D I can't wait to run this baby when Crysis and UT3 come out
 
Looks good, but I'd change the motherboard to the DS3P and you have to consider is 4GB really worthit? its not a bad choice considering your be running Vista and as you've said it will be a gaming machine and really for gaming you only need 2GB of RAM but if you want to go 4GB then go for it. Keep us informed.
 
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I'd change the motherboard to the DS3P as it has the features of the DS4 for about £5 extra and is the latest revision of the DS3 so any bugs should be ironed out.

4gb might be slightly overkill at the moment but OCZ PC5400 4gb kit for ~£140 seems decent enough.

I'm afraid I'm not sure on the monitor though, maybe have a look in the monitors sub-forum? :)
 
I have the same case, and am also keeping it while I upgrade. Sorry to be the bearer of bad information, but the GTX does not fit inside the case.

See here: http://www.tosk.co.uk/8800/

It's pretty much the only reason why I'm not going to order a GTX, I just love this case too much. I was thinking though... if you're not going to use all 4 HDD slots, you can just cut out the middle of the 5 bits of metal in the HDD bay (have a look to see what I mean). I'm sure the card would fit then. I'm thinking of doing this, but the GTX is probably too expensive anyway - so I'm going for a 2900XT or a GTS 400Mb.

Hope that helps a little.

Edit: And if you decide to go for the GTS instead, put the extra £100~ towards the Samsung 226BW 22" Widescreen. I'm using one right now, and it's an IMMENSE bit of kit- really, really nice and is recommended by all the owners. Has been consistently selling out on OcUK too. :)
 
Get the DS3P instead of the DS3, it's a revised board, works out some of the issues with the DS3 (RAM compatibility mostly). Same price.

As for RAM, you only really need 2GB for now, but if you've got the cash for 4GB, 2x2GB sticks gives more room for expansion than if you got 2x1GB now and got another 2x1GB later. Besides RAM is cheap these days.

As for 19" monitors, I can recommend the Belinea 19" widescreen, i'm using it at the moment and it's very nice and crisp, no backlight bleed etc.
 
I have a 19" viewsonic vx922. When choosing a monitor I had one thing in mind, that it doesnt give ghosting or lcd lag which would be a compromise from my previous 17" sony trinitron crt. I tested it with a digital camera running 3dmark through both screens. Although I could find differences (100th of a sec IIRC) I thought it was more than acceptable, especially considering ping in online games.

I cant compare to a really big monitor but going from 17" to 19" is a bonus, although rarely I miss the ability to thi 1600*1200 which my crt could do whereas the LCD can only do 1280*1024.

If there is a better monitor for gaming Im unaware and considering 99% use of the monitor is not gaming it does well there too.

DS3p is available for £75, and Ive even spotted an AB9 quad gt for £74.xx. However p35 motherboards seem to be better in a few areas. Id like a gigabyte p35 ds3p or ds4 not sure a p35 dq6 would hold its value too well being a top of the line board with last gen memory support.
 
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things i would change


Planned Graphics card: BFG 8800GTX OC £370
to
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

580MHz Core, 320MB 1700MHz GDDR3 Memory, 96 Stream Processors, SLi Ready, Lifetime Warranty with BFG Direct £200

reason why is Current monitor: 43" pioneer plasma 1024x768 (for gaming scales to 1280x768) at that res my current x1900xt will be able to play crysis in its full glory all be it in dx9 mode, so this graphics card should be more than enough, but i wouldnt use a plasma for gaming anyway - no matter how big it is, this is probably your pc's biggest major flaw, plasmas have a short lifespan, also they tend to get major screenburn with still images, also noticed ths gtx wont fit in your case so you have to change to this anyway

mobo to an asus p5b deluxe, ive got the p5b and i would say its a monster overclocker and works amazing with 4gb of ram

RAM

i would just get the cheapest set possible if i was you since you dont know how to overclock, or how it all works because it wont make any difference to you, and with the asus p5b you can decide to go down either route of 2*2gb or 4*1gb

monitor for travelling with

i dont fully understand what you mean by this, but for travelling the smaller the monitor the better, but if your going to be lugging a whole pc about with you, why not just get a decent monitor with a decent gaurantee in case of an accident whilst travelling

so i would either reccomend the cheapest monitor you can get hanns g 19 inch or reccomend the dell 24inch because it has a 4 year next day pick-up service in case it gets damaged

dell 24inch closes the deal here simply due to your current monitor, but the gts will struggle with its high res


now this next point is the main one

That's all of it folks :) Mainly need help with RAM, monitor and motherboard. Thanks guys :D I can't wait to run this baby when Crysis and UT3 come out

crysis aint out yet and may not be out for another year, games get delayed all the time, within a year any pc you buy will be out of date, if your getting a new pc purely to play the latest games which arent even out yet i would wait, wait until the games come out, then build your new pc, but if you need a new one now to do something else, everything you have came up with is ifne along with my changes
 
thanks for all the advice guys. :)

Firstly, if i go the gigabyte route i'll get the DS3P, if not i'll look at the Asus.

Secondly I've been using the plasma for gaming for the last 2 years and it is great - if i run 1280x768 it scales really nicely and gives some free AA due to the built in scaler. I used to be in the OCuk UT2004 clan and played Counter Strike Source to quite a high standard on it - rather than holding me back it actually made it easier to spot enemies, for precision aiming and dodging incoming fire. To be honest i have run games at higher resolutions in the past on my previous monitor and i think you are all missing out by using small monitors with really high resolutions. What really makes good use of high resolutions are 60" plasmas / LCDs as you need the extra pixels to fill that huge space. But for immersion and general gaming you can see so much more detail on a large screen than you ever will on a 20" monitor. I usually play using my Xbox 360 these days as i sold my old gaming rig to my brother LAST YEAR when i was waiting for Crysis and UT3 to come out. :rolleyes: Running at scaled 720p the detail and textures on Gears etc... are phenomenal, even in split screen, where i can still see perfectly what is going on. Far cry, HL2, Doom 3, Quake 4, Fear all looked fantastic on it and because i sit around 2m away it really fills your field of view. Sure a higher res would be ideal, and a native widescreen one at that, which is why i am going to buy a 60" 1920x1280 plasma next year, by which time this one will be 3 years old.

Sadly i am a medical student and this year i have to go live in accomodation at various different hospitals before i qualify, and since i bought a 19" Hanns G for my Mum i figure it would be portable enough to take with me to use for the 360, and leave the PC at home for the weekends. No TVs in the rooms they provide - criminal...

If I get the 8800 GTX then i will have to buy a new case - will look for a list of compatible ones. I like getting high end cards where possible as i usually only upgrade every 2 years - luckily, as you say, at 1280x768 that should have performance to spare even on new games for AA etc... It should also be capable enough for when i get the newer plasma.

Lastly RAM - i have heard that Vista can make use of extra RAM and my old rig ran 2gb back since Battlefield 2 needed it to run smoothly 2 years back. Since this is a move into DDR2 for the first time I don't really want to have to buy a new set of RAM next year when things start NEEDING more than 2gb (god help us.) If i get it now the difference between 2gb and 4gb is around £60, which is relatively good value for money considering it is twice as much. :) Could someone just clarify what speed RAM the E6600 needs to run at stock, as ideally i would like slightly higher rated stuff for a little future proofing and comfort zone if i try clocking it at all.

Thanks again, and i will be waiting a couple of months until my next term's student loan arrives before upgrading anyway, as i want a confirmed release date for at least one of those two games :p
 
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Oh and before people get upset about my misuse of my student loan, i also work all day saturday and Sunday in a shop and throughout my holidays, to pay for car insurance, petrol, and rent to my Mum. I figure a £800 upgrade every 2 years is reasonable. :)
 
For Ram all you actually need is PC4200 (i.e. 533mhz which actually runs at 266.7...r because it is DDR2) since the FSB is quad pumped so that is 4x266.7...r giving you 1066mhz as required. However I'd definitely go for PC5300 or PC6400* at least as with the multiplier on the 6600 being 9x you can get 3ghz or 3.6ghz respectively while running the Ram at stock speeds although this obviously depends on cooling and the capability of the chip.

*nb as I'm sure you are aware not all Ram is created equal so some will overclock better than others but as a minimum they must be capable of 333mhz to be PC5300 or 400mhz to be PC6400. :)
 
icewolf i know what your on about when talking about big screens, im using a 32inch ws lcd hdtv myself which has a native res of 1360 * 768, but plasmas are bad for pc's and gaming, lcd's are far superior, if your going to get a new bigger screen later on make sure its an lcd, you can get a 46inch 1080p lcd from sony for £1500, im sure in a years time this price will have dropped to £1000 or less, as for the GTX im pretty sure you would be better off with the GTS i dont see any point in buying high end GPU's they depreciate in value so quickly, in a years time you will be able to get a card faster than the GTX for less than £200, from now on im only going to buy graphics cards that are less than £200, spending £350 on my x1900xt was a complete joke, if i had stuck with my x1800xt i would still have £350 sitting in my pocket and still be able to run all games on full, if you have the spare money go for it, but if you wanna save some cash just get a GTS, the gtx is only slightly faster, which you wont notice on your poor res
 
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ok - i will look at some real world benchies at 1280x768 before getting the 8800GTX. Thanks for the advice on the RAM semi-pro wrestler. Also got some nice advice from The Duke on another thread.

Lastly my friend has a nice LCD and they do look very nice at 32" for gaming and that would be the minimum sized screen i would have at home. However the new plasmas are still bigger and richer for image quality, especially in dark / black areas. Since i use my TV a lot for HD DVDs, and from looking around my local TV store I will still be going with plasma for my next upgrade as you can just see more details - I think LCD vs Plasma is a very polarised issue with some people prefering the look of one or the other. Since image quality on films, games and HD TV is so good now I just think it is worth having something big enough to see ALL the details without having to squint - I just find it much more relaxing. Thanks for your advice on the other components though Psycho Sonny :)
 
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