Advice on £1500 spec

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Sul

Sul

Sul

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Hi,

£1500 including monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

So far I've spec'd:

  • Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
  • Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB)-
  • Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM
  • Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
  • Optiarc NEC AD7170S Serial ATA 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM
  • Seasonic S12 Energy+ 650W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply
  • Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
  • Thermaltake VA8003SWA Aluminium Armour Super Tower - Silver
  • BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Would like some advice on it! Thanks,

Sul
 
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FYI the Raptor isn't really worth it, two AAKS drives in RAID could better it.

You could change the Seasonic to a 620W Corsair.

For a £1500 build I would except a better cooler, check out the Noctua UHF-12
 
Ah forgot to mention that £1500 is including monitor, keyboard and those bits and bats too. Thanks - will take a look at components listed so far.

Not sure about RAID - one drive fails.. and all data is lost (assuming RAID 0).
 
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Mansize_tissue said:
If you want to save a bit of money, you could get some slower memory. Are you planning on running your memory above 400Mhz?
Click to expand...

I'm not going to bother overclocking (just yet anyway) but may in the future..

Any particular memory you think would be good?
 
Don't buy slower memory, just different memory. Get the Crucial Ballistix PC5300, it clocks to the same speeds that the Dominator is rated at, at much less money. Also ditch the Raptor, it's just not worth the price, get another 7200RPM drive (extra capacity by far for much less cash). Oh, and get the Corsair 620W PSU instead, it's made by the same company (Seasonic) to higher spec than their stuff, and is cheaper.
 
supernova9 said:
Don't buy slower memory... Get the Crucial Ballistix PC5300
Click to expand...

Isn't that a little contradictory?

Nevertheless, that's the memory i'd suggest. My only concern would be the voltages required to get it up to DDR2-1066 speeds. Anybody know how high the voltage needs to be pushed to achieve this?
 
I'm still a little new to overclocking.. wouldn't mind giving this a go, is 2.1V dangerous or is it quite stable? I'll be building this system for my sister so I don't want it to go poof whilst I'm away!
 
BillytheImpaler said:
2.1V
Click to expand...

Wow, is that all? I thought this stuff was rated at PC2-5300 at 2.2v. So the frequency can be pushed way up to 1066Mhz at lower volts than what it's rated to run at.

Sul, 2.1v isn't dangerous at all. I'd say, anything past 2.3v should be actively cooled; 2.1v is fine.
 
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Mansize_tissue said:
Can it still be RMAd even if overclocked; doesn't this void the warranty or anything?
Click to expand...
I wondered the same and couldn't find an answer on their web site so I phoned them. I spoke with Justin at the US/Canada toll free tech line and he said that anything was fine. "As long as they don't light on fire or anything like that we'll still honor the warranty."
He suggested that 2.5 was the high end of safe but people have gotten higher than that and are doing OK. 2.2-2.3V should not be a problem at all.

Tremendous customer service and support! :D
 
Mansize_tissue said:
Isn't that a little contradictory?
Click to expand...

No, you specced RAM that could not be clocked to the same speeds. That's slower. The crucial can be clocked to PC8500 speeds, that's not slower. But you know, he could be like you and buy a £300 case and PSU combo, then only have the cash for 512MB of value RAM! :rolleyes:
 
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