Any improvements on this spec?

edY

edY

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Joined
9 Dec 2004
Posts
47
Hi all,

Looking to build a new rig for around £800 - uses are for graphic design applications/gaming. Here are my choices so far:

Asus P5Q Premium Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £172.49 inc VAT
OR
Asus P5Q3 Deluxe @ Wifi-N Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £172.49 inc VAT
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail £241.49 inc VAT
Gainward GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £137.99 inc VAT
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD1001FALS) £91.99 inc VAT
Corsair Dominator 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB) Supplied with Airflow Fan (TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF) £68.99 inc VAT
OCZ GameXStream 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply £80.49 inc VAT
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £50.59 inc VAT
Zalman CNPS9700-LED CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £45.99 inc VAT
Total £885

Any suggestions/improvements to be made?

What is the difference between those two Asus Mobos at the same price? - Is it just the DDR3 support? - If so, I'd be wanting to get DDR3 memory, right? - any recommendations for that around the same price?

Thanks :)
 
Just a thought if your spending that much on a board and cpu you might as well go for I7
CPU
Motherboard
and change the GPU to one of the GTX 260 - Clicky
All you need is some tripple channel memory and a different cooler.
 
capturezmh.jpg
 
if he was just gaming, then an E8500 like yours would be good (although perhaps not better than an overclocked i7 as they often reach 4Ghz+ too) but as it is intended for graphic design as well, quad core would be the best choice.

also I would get different RAM without the cooler, for about £10 more, you could get 8gb of DDR2 1066Mhz RAM and then add coolers later if you decide you need them. (although you'll be needing ddr3 memory if you decide to go for i7)
 
looks a good spec icey_haj, the blu ray drive and the cooler could be downgraded a little to get closer to the original budget perhaps (although that cooler is great)
 
Thanks for the replies - think I'm going to go with icey_haj's spec with a few changes.

siumatfung, What's wrong with the previous Zalman cooler?
Would I need that Coolermaster to run this rig?
I think I'm going to spend the extra £10 on the Western Digital Hard drive.
The Kingston ram looks nice.
I don't need the Blu-ray reader, but may in the future.

Any other tips/opinions? :)
 
Thanks for the replies - think I'm going to go with icey_haj's spec with a few changes.

siumatfung, What's wrong with the previous Zalman cooler?
Would I need that Coolermaster to run this rig?
I think I'm going to spend the extra £10 on the Western Digital Hard drive.
The Kingston ram looks nice.
I don't need the Blu-ray reader, but may in the future.

Any other tips/opinions? :)


That Zalman cooler is not compatible with socket 1366.

The Coolermaster V8 along with the Noctua NH-U12P are regarded as some of the best 1366 coolers out.

EDIT: You definitely need a cooler since you're getting an OEM version of the CPU (it doesn't come with any cooler).
 
I ve got Western Digital Hard drive and its very quiet and quick will definitely by another one, my first choice for HDD.
Icey Haj spec is what i would go for probably spend a little more and get a

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB
Noctua NH-U12P
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W ATX2.2

edit: Come with in budget if you don't need a Blueray
 
Thanks - can't decide between the
OcUK Value GeForce GTX 260 "Core 216 55nm" 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
or
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21133-04-20)

Looking at other threads on the forum I'm getting the impression the 260 would be the best option as its cooler and quieter - seems they both have equal performance.
 
Last edited:
Thanks - can't decide between the
OcUK Value GeForce GTX 260 "Core 216 55nm" 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
or
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (21133-04-20)

Looking at other threads on the forum I'm getting the impression the 260 would be the best option as its cooler and quieter - seems they both have equal performance.

That's right, you've answered you're own question. They both perform imilarly, yet the NVidia is cooler and perhaps quieter. The real clencher here is that its around £15 cheaper than the 4870 atm.
 
get the 4870. My fan on my xfx is inaudible as it only runs at 9% going up to 13-18% on 3hours furmark with temps know higher then 75c

Get Kingston i would say. Don't know much about memory though, what the warranty on the two like?
 
is the OcUk value 260 216 anygood?
why is it so much cheaper than the Evga and zotac cards.
(im thinkinh about upgrading my 8600gt)
is it the cooler where they skimp on quality?
anyone got an OcUk value card?
 
is the OcUk value 260 216 anygood?
why is it so much cheaper than the Evga and zotac cards.
(im thinkinh about upgrading my 8600gt)
is it the cooler where they skimp on quality?
anyone got an OcUk value card?

They're all Nvidia reference designed cards, made in the same factory etc. So they're pretty much identical to the EVGA, BFG and so on.

EVGA and others are more expensive because you're paying for the customer service and extended warranties that these companies offer.

The OcUK value GTX260 are Palit brand I think at the moment. I would go with the OcUK one personally. Just check out the warranty length.
 
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