Advive on new PC

[mattrowe77]

Hi,

I have a budget of £1200 and i'm looking to build a high-end PC which can be easily overclocked. I want it to run all top-end games for at least 2 years but i want to buy hardware (esp. motherboard) that will allow me to continue to upgrade well beyond that.

I've been looking at Intel Core Duos and would like at least 2Gb memory, preferably 4Gb. I'll also need graphics card, DVD writer, SATA hard drive and sound card.

I'll need a new case with cooling and power sufficient for some serious overclocking. I also want to get a copy of Vista Ultra.

The only item i don't want right now is a Monitor - my 19" CRT can work a little longer until i can save up for a 22" LCD.

I know it seems lazy asking for all this help but i've been looking for weeks and am no nearer to deciding what to go for - all help appreciated!!

 

[Admiral Huddy]

What res is that monitor capable of?

If it's capable of resolutions of 1920 + then get yourself an 8800GTX. Mine looks great If, not then settle for a GTS.

As for others components..this is what i'd go for right now:

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail - £234.99 inc VAT

Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £140.99 inc VAT

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) - £82.24 inc VAT

Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £68.14 inc VAT

Enermax Galaxy 850W EGX850EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU £158.61 inc VAT

comes to £684.97 plus your graphics card and acase plus P&P



My choice only though.. Comes to well under your budget.

The motherboard will allow for some decent Overclocking too.

 

[Alex UK]

How about this...

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£370.11) £314.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£43.46) £36.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
(£50.51) £42.99

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£64.61) £54.99

Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
(£14.09) £11.99

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (Socket AM2/LGA775) Heatsink
(£37.59) £31.99

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2
(£105.74) £89.99

Gigabyte GA_P35_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£111.61) £94.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£234.99) £199.99

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£19.96) £16.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
(£7.04) £5.99

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

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
(£64.61) £54.99

Sub Total : £1,006.87
Shipping : £10.95
VAT : £178.12
Total : £1,195.94

This is absolutely everything you'll need, bang on budget.

 

[stickroad]

Here you go:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 "LGA775 Conroe" 3.00GHz (1333FSB)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit X2
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

Total : £1,193.02

The E6850 is the better choice at the moment. Quads arnt really needed yet. Yes theirs a few games that can take advantage of 4 cores but that isnt to say that people with Dual Cores, them games will be unplayable.

If you stick to the E6850, later on when Quads come into play a bit more you will be able to upgrade to one of the Native Quad Cores.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

How about this...

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£370.11) £314.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£43.46) £36.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
(£50.51) £42.99

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£64.61) £54.99

Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
(£14.09) £11.99

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (Socket AM2/LGA775) Heatsink
(£37.59) £31.99

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2
(£105.74) £89.99

Gigabyte GA_P35_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£111.61) £94.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£234.99) £199.99

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£19.96) £16.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
(£7.04) £5.99

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

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
(£64.61) £54.99

Sub Total : £1,006.87
Shipping : £10.95
VAT : £178.12
Total : £1,195.94

This is absolutely everything you'll need, bang on budget.

Is the PSU rated high enough for both the GTX and quad core?

The E6850 is the better choice at the moment. Quads arnt really needed yet. Yes theirs a few games that can take advantage of 4 cores but that isnt to say that people with Dual Cores, them games will be unplayable.

If you stick to the E6850, later on when Quads come into play a bit more you will be able to upgrade to one of the Native Quad Cores.

or you can just bit the bullet and get a quad core and up the speed to 1333MHz anyway. You'll need min of PC2-5400 RAM though.

 

[Alex UK]

Is the PSU rated high enough for both the GTX and quad core?

Yes it is, that Corsair can handle any single GPU system within reason. I would also agree with going Quad Core. In two years time no doubt there will be many games which make full use of all four cores.