Hello,
While in Sydney I picked up a computer magazine called atomic in the airport. It's a pretty good mag so I subscribed to it.
In each issue they include a recommended spec for a budget system, performance system and extreme system (each with Intel/AMD options). Seen as a lot of people ask for specs based on a certain budget I thought it would be a good idea to post their specs and the prices for the spec at the OcUK store.
BUDGET
Intel - £421.74
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (£78.71) [info]
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R (£68.14) [info]
AMD - £364.17
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ (£42.29) [info]
MSI K9N Neo V3 (£46.99) [info]
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) (£41.11) [info]
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 Pro (£93.99) [info]
Noctua NH-U9F (£35.24) [info]
Samsung SpinPoint S 160GB (£34.06) [info]
Lian Li PC-7S (£70.49) [info]
Note: atomic recommend the AMD Athlon 64 AM2 X2 3600+ if you want to go with AMD but OcUK don't stock them so I've gone with the next best thing. Due to the fact that the intel processor is twice the price of the AMD one you could choose to upgrade to a 4800+. They also don't state if they would go with a X1950 Pro 256MB or a 512MB so I went with the higher one.
PERFORMANCE
Intel - £755.44
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 (£160.96) [info]
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (£76.36) [info]
AMD - £717.85
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6400+ (£117.49) [info]
Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (£68.14) [info]
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz (£82.24) [info]
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC (£176.24) [info]
Thermalright Ultra-120 (£41.11) [info]
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (£58.74) [info]
CoolerMaster Stacker 832 (£159.79) [info]
Note: Another judgement call as OcUK don't stock the recommended motherboard for AMD and the processor price jump between intel and AMD was way too big so I went with the 6400+ instead of the atomic recommended 6000+. Feel free to say if you think the motherboard choice for the AMD could be improved. If you're in to in-your-face cases with lots of fans I'd recommend the 830 Evo over the 832.
EXTREME aka fun time
Intel - £2291.15+
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX9650 (£681.49) [info]
EVGA nForce 680i SLi (£152.74) [info]
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-9136C5 (£252.61) [info]
XFX GeForce 8800 GTX XXX x 2 (yes, that's two of em!) (£704.98) [info]
Zalman Reserator XT Hybrid (£252.61) [info] * I cannot guarantee this is compatible with the processor/motherboard as I don't have a clue about watercooling.
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB x 2 (£246.72) [info]
<< Insert Case of your choice >>
Note: Prices are at posting. Where hardware is on weekly special I've used normal pricing.
Feel free to post suggestions. The hardest spec to do was the performance one. I think there's some good options there but defiantly room for improvement or cutting back if required.
While in Sydney I picked up a computer magazine called atomic in the airport. It's a pretty good mag so I subscribed to it.
In each issue they include a recommended spec for a budget system, performance system and extreme system (each with Intel/AMD options). Seen as a lot of people ask for specs based on a certain budget I thought it would be a good idea to post their specs and the prices for the spec at the OcUK store.
BUDGET
Intel - £421.74
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (£78.71) [info]
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R (£68.14) [info]
AMD - £364.17
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ (£42.29) [info]
MSI K9N Neo V3 (£46.99) [info]
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) (£41.11) [info]
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1950 Pro (£93.99) [info]
Noctua NH-U9F (£35.24) [info]
Samsung SpinPoint S 160GB (£34.06) [info]
Lian Li PC-7S (£70.49) [info]
Note: atomic recommend the AMD Athlon 64 AM2 X2 3600+ if you want to go with AMD but OcUK don't stock them so I've gone with the next best thing. Due to the fact that the intel processor is twice the price of the AMD one you could choose to upgrade to a 4800+. They also don't state if they would go with a X1950 Pro 256MB or a 512MB so I went with the higher one.
PERFORMANCE
Intel - £755.44
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 (£160.96) [info]
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (£76.36) [info]
AMD - £717.85
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6400+ (£117.49) [info]
Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (£68.14) [info]
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz (£82.24) [info]
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC (£176.24) [info]
Thermalright Ultra-120 (£41.11) [info]
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (£58.74) [info]
CoolerMaster Stacker 832 (£159.79) [info]
Note: Another judgement call as OcUK don't stock the recommended motherboard for AMD and the processor price jump between intel and AMD was way too big so I went with the 6400+ instead of the atomic recommended 6000+. Feel free to say if you think the motherboard choice for the AMD could be improved. If you're in to in-your-face cases with lots of fans I'd recommend the 830 Evo over the 832.
EXTREME aka fun time
Intel - £2291.15+
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX9650 (£681.49) [info]
EVGA nForce 680i SLi (£152.74) [info]
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-9136C5 (£252.61) [info]
XFX GeForce 8800 GTX XXX x 2 (yes, that's two of em!) (£704.98) [info]
Zalman Reserator XT Hybrid (£252.61) [info] * I cannot guarantee this is compatible with the processor/motherboard as I don't have a clue about watercooling.
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB x 2 (£246.72) [info]
<< Insert Case of your choice >>
Note: Prices are at posting. Where hardware is on weekly special I've used normal pricing.
Feel free to post suggestions. The hardest spec to do was the performance one. I think there's some good options there but defiantly room for improvement or cutting back if required.
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when you see the price and decide to come back down to earth.....
