£600 Base Unit Spec Please

[Daniel]

£800 Base Unit Spec Please

Hi,

I have £800 to spend on a base unit.

I have keyboard, mouse, OS and a decent monitor already so won't need those.


My requirements are:

1. I do a bit of video editing and encoding. I'm thinking quad core and 4GB ram.

2. I want something that will last a while as it's not often I have money. I was thinking of a X38 motherboard so that I can have a couple of CPU upgrades in the future when the prices drop on the later intels.

3. I suffer with noise sensitivity so need something as quiet as possible. This is very important to me.

4. I enjoy gaming so would like something that can run the latest games.

5. I'm not really into overclocking but may have a play in the future.



I currently have a P4 3.2Ghz so I'm guessing a new system will be a very nice boost



Thanks for your help,
Dan

 

[jak731]

how about something like
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £113.99
(£133.94) £113.99
(£133.94)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.99
(£18.79) £15.99
(£18.79)
PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £91.99
(£108.09) £91.99
(£108.09)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Abit IP35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
Sub Total : £445.92
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £79.78
Total : £535.65

you need a case

im not sure if that is the quietest 8800GT around so confirm that before buying it.

i couldnt fit an x38 chipset MB into your budget without sacificing performance in other areas.

the cooler will allow for some Overclocking, but watch the temps if you do anything extreme.

check do you need the features on the abit IP35-PRO, if so you need to change the MB as i have only put the IP35 in the spec.

i hope 500GB is enough for the time being otherwise you may need a bigger budget if you want a lot more storage space.

 

[Daniel]

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

In order to get a X38 motherboard and a case I can stretch to £800.

A 500GB HDD is fine.

I have edited original post to show £800

 

[jak731]

for 800

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Point of View GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (8717344966320) £129.99
(£152.74) £129.99
(£152.74)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £113.99
(£133.94) £113.99
(£133.94)
Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.99
(£18.79) £15.99
(£18.79)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £129.99
(£152.74) £129.99
(£152.74)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £34.99
(£41.11) £34.99
(£41.11)
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ) £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Sub Total : £591.92
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £105.33
Total : £707.20

changes

a better cpu cooler, the tuniq is one of the most highly recommended here

the 8800GTS is a bit faster then the 8800GT, depending on the res you game at, this may be a worthless change.

x38 Mb

i also put in pc2-8500 ram, i know that the q6600 wont need it to reach 3.6GHz, however if you consider getting a 45nm quad in the future, pc2-8500 RAM is good to have if howver you will stick with a q6600, just get some pc2-6400 RAM.

you still need to pick your own case.

 

[Daniel]

Thanks for your help.

Can I please ask if a 1600MHz FSB motherboard would be more future proof than a 1333MHz FSB?

Thanks
Dan

 

[jak731]

no lga775 MB is really futureproof at this stage as intel will be changing sockets soon. then their next cpu range is out i think

 

[Daniel]

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

I have put together another list of components and wandered if you could please take a look and let me know if all is compatable and if it is a good system.

I chose Samsung HDD as I have one already and am pleased with how quiet they are. The DVD is also LG as I have always used those and never had a problem. I added a Gigabyte X38 board because for some reason I have always wanted a Gigabyte board and have found their support website easy to use and fast loading.

After reading some reviews I also went for the BFG 8800GTS. I checked and it will fit in the Lian-Li case.


Heres what I got:


LG GH20NS10 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS5 Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Lian-Li PC-B25B Aluminium Midi-Tower - Black

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition"
2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)

Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ)

Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU

Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail


Thanks for your time, it's appreciated.
Dan