£700 new build help required

Fifer · 23 Jan 2008 at 13:18

Hi guys

As title, looking to spend no more than £700 on a new build. I dont need a gfx, monitor, keyboard, mouse or case.

I am probably needing a new PSU (current one is a Tagan 420w). My gfx is a XFX 8800gt xxx edition. I think my case is ok which is a coolermaster wave. I also have a 74gb raptor which is almost 3 years old.

I would like to raid my drives with another 74gb raptor, if possible.

The rig would be mostly used for gaming and some overclocking etc but would like it to be fairly future proof. May decide at some point to try SLI but not that important just now.

Definatley want a quad cpu and 4gig of ram.

Any thoughts would be well received.

Thanks

RichieM · 23 Jan 2008 at 14:25

You'll need a 64Bit Operating System for 4Gb of RAM.
To give you an idea I just spent under £700 on:-
Asus P5K-E WiFi motherboard,
E8400 CPU (Dual core, don't see much point of running Quads yet)
2Gb of Cosair PC6400-C4,
36Gb Raptor,
2 x 500Gb WD hard drive,
Asus GeForce 8800GT,
Corsair VX450W psu.
So without the gfx your looking at well below £600

Fifer · 23 Jan 2008 at 14:51

This was what I was thinking. Is this any good?

Hiper 630w HPU-4M630 SLi Certified PSU £49.99 (£58.74)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £144.99 (£170.36)

Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (WD740ADFD) £77.99 (£91.64)

Asus Striker II Formula nForce 780i (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £194.99 (£229.11)

2 x OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N1066SR2GK) £64.99 - £129.98

Total £713

RichieM · 23 Jan 2008 at 15:04

I'd be cautious on the memory, Asus motherboards can/are be very fussy on memory - especially with PC2-8500.
I've not looked at the Striker tho.
I was going to go for 8500C5 memory but the performance comparison to 6400C4 does not warrant the price difference (in my opinion)

Fifer · 23 Jan 2008 at 17:55

Thanks for the info, but what memory do you recommend?

Any other ideas?

hp7909 · 23 Jan 2008 at 18:16

Fifer said:
Hiper 630w HPU-4M630 SLi Certified PSU

Avoid Hiper, they've got issues

I'm sure current Tagan has about if not more 28A (combined) on the +12V Rail BUT since budget allows it get a new PSU that is good & will last. Recommend this one

Fifer · 24 Jan 2008 at 07:46

Thanks for the helps guys!!

Anyone else care to give their input

TIA

TheRedZealot · 24 Jan 2008 at 08:00

Probably that the mobo is way overpriced.

bloodline76 · 24 Jan 2008 at 08:16

I wouldnt spend more than £100 on the mb, it wont get you much more for your money and then you can always spend the £100 saved on a new mb in six months time or something when the features might be better used.

Shrapnel · 24 Jan 2008 at 12:51

Agree that the Corsaid 520HX PSU is the weapon of choice at the moment. Also agree that the motherboard seems really expensive. Not sure why. Have a look at the aBit IP35-Pro. Great motherboard with a handy external CMOS reset switch for when you push it too hard!

split · 24 Jan 2008 at 13:33

I think your main concern here is whether to SLI or not.
Most seem to think it's a lot of money for a small gain.

Same might be said with 2 raptors in raid.

Fifer · 24 Jan 2008 at 20:27

Thanks for all the replies. I eventually decided to go for;

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply
Noctua NH-U9F CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)

Now cant wait for Saturday to come