£500 budget, looking to to fine tune selection!

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hi all,

im looking at upgrading from an athlon XP 1800+ and 1GB DDR 400.

i have a budget of £500 for a CPU, Memory, Graphics card, PSU and mainboard.

would like something that will last me a long time, futerproofing if you will.

Im looking at using my new system as a media center PC running windows vista home premium. also video editing is a possibility!

had a quick look around, here is what i've come up with:

CPU: Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 (£176.24)

Mem: GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC-6400 800MHz (£64.61)

Graphics Card: BFG GeForce 8600 GT (£91.64)

Mainboard: Asus P5K (£103.39)

PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 550W (£63.44)

All adds up to £499. just really want to know if im spending too much or not getting my moneys worth.

all comments / suggestions more than welcome.

thanks in advance,

Dave C
 
Looks a good spec to me, although there's a couple of things I might be tempted to change.

I'd maybe look at the Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R, it can take DDR2 and DDR3 so it makes it more futureproof, and it's about 82 quid on this week only offer.

There are many types of memory like the Geil stuff you have listed. They're all about the same if you're running at stock, but some overclocker better then others. You haven't mentioned wether you'll be oc'ing, but if not the stuff you have listed is just fine.

The graphics card will do for what you have said, although i'm sure you're aware that it'll struggle in games a bit.

I'm not too familiar with the PSU you have mentioned, but if you were to get a Corsair HX 520w instead you'd not be disappointed. It's about the same price and they're very reliable.

Overall you'll see a huge difference from your current rig :D
 
havent really thought about overclocking. havent a clue on how to!

i appricaite the advantages of o'clocking, just dont want to **** anything up. will certainly look at the points raised!

thanks a lot dude :)
 
Tk7 said:
There are many types of memory like the Geil stuff you have listed. They're all about the same if you're running at stock, but some overclocker better then others. You haven't mentioned wether you'll be oc'ing, but if not the stuff you have listed is just fine.

Which would you recommend as the best overclocker?
 
I can only really echo what's said by others as far as memory goes. A lot of people recommend the Crucial Ballistix ram, it's meant to be very good at oc'ing.

I use some OCZ Platimun rev stuff, it seems to be ok so far, although I only have it mildly overclocked.

Probably best to check the memory forum, there are plenty of others with more experience then myself.

djcawthorne RE overclocking, it's fun to do, and nice to get free performance. The gear you are looking at would at least get you a mild overclock. You'd really need to buy an aftermarket cooler though, the quads can run pretty hot when clocked.

If you have any questions regarding overclocking, check the stickies on the overclocking/cooling forum, and there are plenty of people here that could help you. The main thing i'd say though is take it steady, don't go mad and try a huge overclock straight away. If you take it step by step and be careful, there should be nothing to worry about.
 
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thanks TK7, most helpful. you've saved me £20 and im sure you've help me a great deal.

reguarding coolers - any ideas? iz Zalman the way forward?

thanks very much :)
 
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Zalmans ok but i'd be looking more at Thermalrights Ultra 120 Extreme and a very quiet fan. If you're not overclocking it might be overkill but you can run that fan so slow it'd almost be passive! I set one guy up with an E6750 running at stock 2.66 but at .9v, all fans at 5v, totally silent and temps don't go past 42C in TAT stress :)
 
justintime. thanks. the cooler seems overkill, as you mentioned. if i was to look into a "mild overclock" would a cooler of such a level be required? could you recommend a middle man to the stock cooler and the one mentioned above that would do a good job?

thanks
 
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