6 years since I last built, help with new spec pls!?

stormduck

stormduck

stormduck

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Location
Basildon, Essex
Hi folks, it's been 6 years or thereabouts since i last built a pc for myself through overclockers, and i've spent the last few weeks researching on here and the overclockers shop for a new setup. The majority of its use will be general internet, but the thing i need the updated hardware for is video editting with adobe software and dvd burning, along with film watching. I'm not a gamer. Any advice or pointers on what i've chosen is much appreciated!!

Abit IX38 QuadGT Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£135.11)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.66GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
(£117.49)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) (£17.61)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) (£64.61)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Reaper HPC Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR10662GK) (£46.99)
OcUK GeForce 8400 GS 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£24.66)
Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£17.61)


Akasa SATA-2 45cm Silver Data Cable x2 (£9.38)
Coolermaster Centurion 534 - Silver/Black (No PSU) (£46.99)
OcUK Huntkey 550W PSU (£41.11)
OcUK Value Hanns-G HW191D 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver (£111.61)
Belkin Pro Series Dual Link DVI Cable 3M (CC5001AED10) (£23.49)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-01939) (£70.49)
 
If it's for adobe video editing/photoshop go for the Intel C2D Q6600 instead.

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Right, I've had a stab at it. I've chosen a more expensive, but better quality monitor, as you said you'll be watching films on it so I believe it's worth it.

Quad Core is much better than Dual for video editing and adobe software.

An X38 motherboard might be un-neccessary because you don't game and it really just offers PCI-E 2.0 over what a cheaper P35 board could offer (choice is up to you).

4GB of RAM is neccessary for Vista 64-bit.
 
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I get the impression the 6600 is the more popular, it's the one i initially chose but changed for the 8200 purely because it matched the higher 1333fsb that the mobo stated. I guess the 6600 will easily reach a higher fsb with some slight changes in the mobo which i'm not frightened of, but may not have any need to anyway. But my first thoughts were that the 8200 will be a bit more future proof? Or am i missing the point!?

Many thanks
 
The Q6600 can match the same FSB and above as the 8200 when overclocked. The real advantages of the Penryn architecture (E8*** & Q9***) is that it runs cooler (45nm), has SSE 4.1 and can overclock further. Ideally, a 9-series CPU would be ideal for you, although they are more expensive. But basically, more cores = better when it comes to multi-threaded software.
 
I'm officially rated an A class doughnut for not seeing the difference in Core 2 and Quad Core! I'm so glad i put this post up before buying this gear! Thanks VERY much!

Chim - 6600 it is then, and i agree about the x38, my previous choice was an Abit P35-E, Abit because i've got one in my old pc! I presume PCI-E 2.0 will only interest someone wanting more from a gphx card? 4gb ram is no probs. I'll have a look at the monitor and your other suggestions tomorrow in more detail, many thanks.

ace modder - cheers

chemirical - gotcha, there's not much point for me getting a cooler + more expensive processor as i shant be overclocking much if at all. I'll probably be blown away with standard ratings by the capability compared to my xp1500 centrino laptop that i use on a daily basis!
 
4 sticks would supposedly overclock better if you wanted that from them. But imo, I think 2x2GB is better, I only choose them 'cos they were cheap with tight timings. If you get a P35 board and overclock go for either of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-131-AB&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-241-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

The P35-E doesn't have comprehensive enough cooling for it to be overclocked all the time. It'd burn out eventually.
 
It's knowledge like that that the website's spec sheet just doesn't include, nice one, P35 it is, I originally favoured the PRO with its 6SATA connections, but i'd only need 4 as far as i can think - 2 opticals, 1hd with room for one more in future. I intend on using an ATA H/D as a no.2 drive till it packs up, even if it is a bit of a noisy western digital 80gb.

I'd forgotton about the ram timings till you mentioned it, i spent ages a few years ago learning what each number meant and now i've forgotten them! I'll stick with the lower the better.

Thanks to your help i've had a re-jig -

myspec1.jpg


I had a WD pack up on me and at the time the Seagate Barracuda, admittedly 5400rpm, was very quiet and works well so unless things have changed it's what i've included.

Reading the Enermax it sounds of superior quality, any need for the modular design over the 'silent' version?

I understand the importance of spending a bit more on gphx, but i was never interested in learning about it the last time round so i'm even more out of date with it!

I may still consider the Lian-Li, i had narrowed it down to those two before you mentioned it

And that monitor's pretty damn sexy - i see the advantage of going up 1 inch to get the res at a better proportion.

Let me know what you think, many thanks
 
stormduck said:
Reading the Enermax it sounds of superior quality, any need for the modular design over the 'silent' version?
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Modular just means you don't have any unnecessary cables hanging around inside your case, disrupting airflow. Looks neater aswell if you have a windowed case.

stormduck said:
And that monitor's pretty damn sexy - i see the advantage of going up 1 inch to get the res at a better proportion.
Click to expand...

Some of us are happy with what we have, but if you need an extra inch who am I to argue? ;)
 
Will_3rd said:
you can drop the SATA and Monitor cables they will be included with the Motherboard and Monitor most likely.
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Best to ring and ask before order.

OP said he needed 3 sata connections, my mobo only came with 2 cables, so he might need an extra one.

Monitor should come with all cables though.
 
Read in a review the Abit IP35 comes with 4 SATA cables & if I remember correctly you should get a monitor cable with your graphics card.
 
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Yep my Abit IP35 Pro came with 4 SATA cables so no need to buy them separately.

The 206BW does come with a DVI and VGA cable.
 
Nice one people. I forgot to take off the monitor cable as i know it comes with one, but wasn't sure about the sata cables. I will only need two for the time being so that should be covered by the sounds of it! Saves me a few quid :)

Grumpy - So does that mean the cables that you don't need can be pulled off?
Some of us are happy with what we have, but if you need an extra inch who am I to argue?
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Well every little helps (can you tell where i've just spent my bank holiday monday!? Samsung state the monitor reaches the optimum 16:10 widescreen ratio, although i think i've seen that on a 19" thinking about it...hmmmm :confused:
 
Thanks very much for the help mate. Lian-Li it is. I had a dream about playing a flight sim last night, quite bizarre and it's kind of egged me on to thinking about a more advanced gphx card so i think i'll stick a post in that section and ask people's opinions on spending £100 on a card for something better.
 
If you have £100 to spend on a gfx card then go for the cheapest 9600GT you can find.

Most important thing for your uses (video editing) is quadcore and 4gig RAM which your latest spec has

As you haven't specified a budget, maybe look at getting a 24" monitor. They are reasonably priced these days and you will notice a massive difference from the extra size when watching films, and the extra resolution will be good for general desktop / editing work.

As a general pointer, if you typically don't upgrade very often (6yrs...) then it is probably worth pushing the boat out to get something which will last.
 
All ordered :) Went for the 8800GT 512, and upped to the 525watt psu, thought it best for when i put 2hd's and 2opticals in plus as chim said in another post, the 8800gt. Also added the Lian-Li.

A 24" would be too big for the space the setup is going. The 'desk' that i'm making can only be 65cm wide to fit in the space in the home. But you're right about pushing the boat out a bit more for something that will last better/longer, hence the decision to get the 8800gt.

Many Thanks for everyone's help! Fingers crossed i can get it built over the weekend
 
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