Advice for a gaming setup

Tarzan

Tarzan

Tarzan

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Joined
10 Sep 2008
Posts
16
Ok guys, first post here....I'm trying to set up a gaming rig for the 1st time & need some help. Below is a spec ive put together so tell me what u think :D

apols for the layout cant remember how 2 screen print :0

Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£123.36)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - (£130.41)
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case (£66.96)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - (£169.19)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) (£68.14)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (£4.69)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) (£70.49)
Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - (£18.79)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Reaper HPC Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR10662GK) (£46.99)

Total : £770.62

The aim is to overclock but not right away so hence the exclusion of a aftermarket cooler (will come later). Also I assume no sound/network cards are needed? sry for my nooby questions but i'm still running single core AGP so a little out of touch with all these new MB's.
 
Last edited:
Hi, claimed.

For gaming, a faster clocked dual core is better, games are only just starting to take advantage of two cores, almost none use four.

The 620GB samsung F1 drive is faster than the 750, so I'd go with that.

You don't need to buy any thermal paste as the heatsink comes with it ready applied, and most aftermarket heatsinks come with it applied as well. If you do want to buy some, I recommend either MX-2 or OCZ freeze, they both give lower temps than AS5, don't require a setting time, and are non-conductive.

You may as well buy a cooler now, shipping costs money, so it's better value to buy in one go :p
 
Thanks for that fast response...yes I have read that duals are better for gaming but thinking more long term, I assume a quad would be better? so I'm happy to 'suffer' for a bit if I can take advantage later on. :D
 
I have had a Q6600 (Current), e8500, e5200, e4200... with quad OCed ato around 3.2 and a dual OCed to a little under 4, you will not really notice a diff in much of anything. the quad has a better chance of lasting longer, if you OC. Just a pity about the power draw.

I would go with a P45 rather than P35, and then go with 2 x 4850 in crossfire or the single 4870. I have been swapping between 4850xf and single 4870 for weeks now and finally settled on 4850XF. Its not that much faster, but it made enough of a difference for me to go with it - that is stock 4850 xf vs OCed 4870.

Edit: Oh and get at least an HX 620....
 
Points taken ty. Would a TX650W suffice or is modular better? also any suggestions on the P45 Chipset....just trying to keep my costs down without compromising performance.
 
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