£800 First build. Spec me

Purino

Purino

Purino

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8 Mar 2007
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Need some input from the experts. I'm looking for a reliable rig to be used for office apps, photo/video editing programs, broadband internet, and the odd game. Don’t need software, mouse, keyboard, or monitor. Can be any colour. Won’t be overclocked. £800 budget, but can go over if you think it’s worth it.

Preferences are a Core 2 DUO 2.13ghz+ (2.40 if possible), and geforce graphics.
 
794.jpg


perfect for budget
 
I'd go for this I reckon, it isn't too dissimilar to that of paul_64l but I like the case slightly better. :)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £164.99
(£193.86) £164.99
(£193.86)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£22.31) £18.99
(£22.31)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £179.99
(£211.49) £179.99
(£211.49)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £42.99
(£50.51) £42.99
(£50.51)
Sub Total : £671.92
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
Vat : £119.50
Total : £802.37
 
but upgrade what instead of the 8800? and this way he wont need an upgrade for vista.
also i prefer semi pro wasterschoice of case just always use the cheaper cases for build specs
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz
Asus P5GZ-MX
Crucial 2GB DDR 533
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
2x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7.2K (Raid 0)
Antec Sonata II Piano 450W
LG GSA-H12N 18x DVD±RW

£767.73
 
What I will be getting:

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC)
(£99.86)

Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink
(£36.41)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£119.84)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
(£70.49)

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£252.61)

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
(£58.74)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£61.09)

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£88.11)

Shipping : £10.95
Total : £800.02

I am going to be overclocking mine however and using it mainly for games. You could take the cooler out and put in a DVD drive and it would be more suited to your purposes.
 
Thanks guys, those specs look great to me. As I said I don’t mind going over budget, so if Vista requires a good Graphics card I’ll go with the 8800, although I just bought a new copy XP Pro so it’ll be using that for now. The Lian-Li case appears to be the one you all agree looks best. I guess I’m veering more towards semi-pro waster’s spec, it has the 2.40 processor, no raid config (bit too much for me), and I prefer Geil to Gskill for some reason.

What’s the Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 Motherboard like quality wise? I’m hoping to use the mobo for a good few years, is it future-proof?
 
motherboards are only as future proof as the socket tbh.. but intel seem to keep the same sockets a while so should be ok. i have the board and its a good board in my opinion
 
noctua hsf....is that a new hsf on the market? is it better then the tuniq and the scynthe ninja's??

also why is everyone suggesting the 8800 with 320mb instead of the 8800 with 768mb? is it only because of price and lack of dx10 games available??
 
Winnter said:
768mb is the GTX version
Click to expand...

Yep, which would certainly be overkill for occasional gaming. There is also a 640mb 8800GTS but again probably overkill for these uses particularly if a big monitor is not being used.

xirokx - the Noctua is quite a new CPU cooler but it performs very well and is quiet so I'd recommend it along with the Tuniq Tower and Scythe Ninja. None stands out much beyond the rest for me so I'd just pick whichever one is cheapest or you like the look of. :)
 
thanks dude...

you know its all about keeping those temps low....hence my question :)

any chance of seeing any benchies in comparison to the tuniq and the ninja??

just wondering :)

thanks in advance...
 
Great ok, nearly pressing the buy button now. paul_64l thanks for answering my mobo question.

In semi-pro waster's spec all the cables I'll need are included with mobo & psu right? Also there being no separate heatsink means I don't have to buy thermal compound I guess? I've never installed a processor or motherboard before, so excuse my amateurish questions.
 
You will get all the data cables needed with the motherboard, the PSU is modular and will have all the power cables required.

Since you are getting a retail CPU the thermal paste or pad will already be attached to the bottom of the heatsink so all you need to do is attach the heatsink onto the motherboard over the CPU. :)
 
Thanks semi-pro waster, and everybody else who posted. I think it's time to order.

Apart from the one in the Ultimate Guide sticky, are there any other good step-by-step build walkthroughs anyone can recommend?
 
Well I’m not too happy with what’s happened regarding my order, but anyway I need advice once again from you helpful forumers. Need replacements for these two items in Semi-Pro’s spec, as both are now ‘out of stock’:

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £179.99
(£211.49) £179.99

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)

I don’t know enough about modern components to make the decision myself :D
 
You can swap the original graphics card for this one which is the same price and pre-overclocked slightly or alternatively either of the Asus 320mb 8800GTS or the EVGA 8800GTS 320mb Superclocked - also on This Week Only.

Case-wise the Akasa Zen is worth a look, well built especially considering the price, fits the graphics card and is cheaper than the Lian-Li but I suppose it depends if you like the looks. :)
 
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