£1500 for a Core2Duo Rig

[Demon[KcsF]]

OK after my last failed attempt to raise cash for my new rig I have finally managed to secure the funds to do it, so here goes

Case - Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case & Window (BU-000-AK) £97.41
Motherboard - Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-152-AS) £152.74
CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £229.11
RAM - Undecided - please recommend some
Gfx Card 1 - ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-045-CO) £252.61
Gfx Card 2 - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £246.74
HDD Primary - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-WD) £108.04
HDD Secondary - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £73.97
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
PSU - Seasonic M12 Modular 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-006-SS) £117.49

Total £1314.35

Think I have listed everything I need there , other stuff coming from current rig

If I have missed anything or if anyone can suggest any better/alternative components please do so.

Cheers

Bry.

 

[Goodeh]

OK after my last failed attempt to raise cash for my new rig I have finally managed to secure the funds to do it, so here goes

Case - Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case & Window (BU-000-AK) £97.41
Motherboard - Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-150-AS) £140.99
CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £229.11
RAM - Undecided - please recommend some
Gfx Card 1 - ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-045-CO) £252.61
Gfx Card 2 - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £246.74
HDD Primary - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-WD) £108.04
HDD Secondary - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £73.97
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
PSU - Seasonic M12 Modular 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-006-SS) £117.49

Total £1301.60

Think I have listed everything I need there

If I have missed anything or if anyone can suggest any better/alternative components please do so.

Cheers

Bry.

The GEIL pc6400 is superb for Ocing. I'd say the raptor doesn't offer huge leaps and bounces in peformance (for the cost) over a 2nd barracuda.

May be worth swapping your "Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI" for Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail, only a small price difference, what resolution do you game at, is crossfire that needed? You may be better off getting one 1900, then upgrading to dx10

I may reccomend a slightly higher wattage psu, maybe 650?

Raptors and crossfire needs lots of power

looks good though, hope you get lots of fun out of it!

 

[-Ad-]

Looks good matey.

What about a monitor. Unless you have 24" or above then there is no point in getting crossfire. Im running a HIS X1900XT on my dell 2007wfp and it is perfect. Plus i couldn't recommend this monitor more highly.

RAM wise, look at the 'G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB)', or even better some TEAMGROUP Xtreem PC2-5300 (2x1gb). i have the teamgroup stuff running at PC2-1000 with the max voltage allowed by the warranty (2.3V) and it bloody flies !!!

Also forget the WD raptor. I see them as overrated and stupidly overpriced. Save the money and just get another one of the seagate drives.

New M12 psu looks good, but have a look at the corsair HX 520W.... I lvoe mine plus it has over 50A on the 3 different 12V rails combined. Sweet as a nut !

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

I'd say the raptor doesn't offer huge leaps and bounces in peformance (for the cost) over a 2nd barracuda.

Was thinking that, but allways wanted a Raptor.

May be worth swapping your "Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI" for Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail, only a small price difference, what resolution do you game at, is crossfire that needed? You may be better off getting one 1900, then upgrading to dx10

Will the X1950XT-X card work in Crossfire with an X1900XT Mastercard?

I run a 1680x1050 res.

I may reccomend a slightly higher wattage psu, maybe 650?

Raptors and crossfire needs lots of power

Any you would suggest?


Cheers

Bry.

***EDIT*** Wanted a small fast HDD just for windows thats why I am looking at the Raptor ***EDIT***

 

[Datamonkey]

If your going for the e6600, the 975 chipset is the way to go, i suggest the p5w dh, the 965 on the p5b is good for the 6400's and below from what i have seen.

Ram i would go for g-skill 6400hz, 2gb. excellent stuff i have 4gb of the stuff on my p5w dh, all running my 6400 at 410mhz fsb so 3.28ghz


other than that looks good.

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

If your going for the e6600, the 975 chipset is the way to go, i suggest the p5w dh

My bad, it was meant to be the p5w dh..........DOH!!!!!!!!

Bry.

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

Looks good matey.

What about a monitor. Unless you have 24" or above then there is no point in getting crossfire.

Monitor is the HP f2105 running @ 1680 x 1050

Bry.

 

[hyper_piper45]

I run at 1650x1050 with a single x1900xtx and it is fine, so an x1950xtx will be great, unless you wanted to go for the 7950 gx2.

As for ram i recommend the geil ultra pc6400.

i would also swap the ninja for the infinity as it is meant to be better.

Also maybe get the 700w m12 although i think the 600w would be fine but not as future proof.

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

Not going Nvidia, but I would really prefer Crossfire and am now tempted to get the X1950XT-X Crossfire setup

Bry.

 

[hyper_piper45]

A x1950xtx xfire setup would be serious overkill gaming at 1680x1050.

But if you can afford it DOOO IT!

 

[-Ad-]

A x1950xtx xfire setup would be serious overkill gaming at 1680x1050.

But if you can afford it DOOO IT!

agreed. Mine playes Fear, farcry, css on max settings easily with 4xAA and 16X AF. i reckon either save money with an X1900XT 256mb then get directx card and vista in jan, or go the full hog for an x1950xtx

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

OK revised rig

Case - Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case & Window (BU-000-AK) £97.41
Motherboard - Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-152-AS) £152.74
CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £229.11
RAM - Undecided - G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS) £205.61
Gfx Card 1 - ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-045-CO) £252.61
Gfx Card 2 - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £246.74
HDD Primary - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-WD) £108.04
HDD Secondary - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £73.97
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
PSU - Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) (CA-004-CS) £117.49

Bry.

 

[V|per]

As you want the raptor purely for windows, isn't 74gig a bit overkill...

Then again, saying that, i suppose its only gonna knock 30 quid off by getting a 36 gig...

 

[FreeStream]

OK revised rig

Case - Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case & Window (BU-000-AK) £97.41
Motherboard - Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-152-AS) £152.74
CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £229.11
RAM - Undecided - please recommend some
Gfx Card 1 - ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-045-CO) £252.61
Gfx Card 2 - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £246.74
HDD Primary - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-WD) £108.04
HDD Secondary - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £73.97
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
PSU - Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) (CA-004-CS) £117.49

Only thing I have changed is the PSU, still not sure on what RAM to get tho.

Bry.

CPU + mobo + Case + HDs + PSU = fine.

You certainly do NOT need crossfire for that res, I need it more than you at 1600x1200.

One His X1900XT or a His Master card if you must have the ability to crossfire in the future. Save the money for a kentsfeild chip for a DX10 card in 6 months.

Mem: G.Skill/Geil PC6400 C4 stuff.

CR.

 

[Datamonkey]

ok,

anther couple of suggestions.

Hdd stick with it, the 74gb raptor with 16mb cache is nice and quick, excellent os/ gaming disk. xp and games such as bf2 load nice and quick.

Graphics, as the others have said, i wouldnt bother with crossfire, on the 20" panel, i used to run 2 x 20" lg's before i sold them to get a 24" dell.

The x1900xt will be fine at that res. Save the money towards getting a next gen dx10 card in about 8 months time.

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

OK revised rig

Case - Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case & Window (BU-000-AK) £97.41
Motherboard - Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-152-AS) £152.74
CPU - Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN) £229.11
RAM - Undecided - G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS) £205.61
Gfx Card 1 - ATI Radeon X1900 ***Crossfire/Master Edition*** 512MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-045-CO) £252.61
Gfx Card 2 - Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £246.74
HDD Primary - Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-087-WD) £108.04
HDD Secondary - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £73.97
CPU Cooler - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
PSU - Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) (CA-004-CS) £117.49

Bry.

Ok, final setup.

I am sticking with Crossfire as I hope to get an uber monitor some time soon.

Cheers for all the input guys

Bry.

 

[xirokx]

wait for quadcore

 

[Demon[KcsF]]

wait for quadcore

Was thinking that, but aint they gonna be very pricey?

Bry.

 

[xirokx]

you got a good budget, by the time they released early quarter 2007 you budget should be even healthier.......

why settle for conroe now when you can get the best in just a few months..

your current system is good and will definately keep you going until quadcore arrives at the moment you would be spending a lot of cash for quite an increase in performance but to me personally as I know quadcore is not far away I couldnt justify it to myself spending 1500 for conroe et al when I could have double that of what conroe offers in just a few months...

ultimately decision is yours.........if intel want sales their prices have to be affordable

 

[-Ad-]

Was thinking that, but aint they gonna be very pricey?

Bry.

I don't see what all the fuss is with quad core. You can run prime95 on 3 cores and game. Whooopty doo

Dual core is sufficient for gaming hard and doing other things such as encoding.

What are you going to be using your rig for mostly ?