Big upgrade planned - help needed

MrKeeno

MrKeeno

MrKeeno

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Joined
13 Mar 2004
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Derry
Hi all

This is more or less a completely new system bar the HD drive. I’m looking to spend around £1500 on:

Case
Mobo
Processor
Memory
Graphics Card
Operating system

I’m after a fairly hefty setup that will run the newest games at full settings. I also play eve a fair bit and would like to run two clients on my dual setup. Hoping the system will last me about 3 years so will need to have overclocking potential. The setup below has came over budget but maybe you lot could offer some advice on what to cut back on.

I really want to keep the case as my old one is knackered + I really like the idea of the water-cooling being built into the case. It’s been a good three years since I kept up with the technology (no need as no current setup has lasted well), . I await your guidance.

One more thing - Stability is a must.

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) -
(£370.11)

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-9200 1150MHz Passive/WaterCooled Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2FX11502GK)
(£352.48)

Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX6700 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB)
(£640.36)

Thermaltake VD4000BWS LCS Kandalf Full Tower - Black
(£164.49)

LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£19.96)

Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£205.61)

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66R-00838)
(£129.24)

Total : £1,895.12

I’m hoping I haven’t made a total fubar of this :D

I know it is expensive, but last time round I spent good money and the system served me well.
 
I object to the case on the fact it looks ugly and the description is complete mince but that does seem a decent price considering it has watercooling built in so don't let me put you off that. :)

The Ram is way overkill, you can get PC6400 2gb kits for around £60 or 4gb PC5400 for around £135 which will both do you absolutely fine.

The CPU is about double the price of the next one down and you can overclock the cheaper one to a similar sort of limit I believe.

I'd pick a SATA DVDRW, a cheaper motherboard unless you really really want an Nforce 680i based one (and even then I'd get the EVGA or BFG) and I doubt I'd bother with the Ultimate edition of Vista.

In fact, this is what I'd go for, saving around £700 with no significant loss of performance after overclocking. :)

Thermaltake VD4000BWS LCS Kandalf Full Tower - Black £139.99
(£164.49) £139.99
(£164.49)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £314.99
(£370.11) £314.99
(£370.11)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99
(£75.19) £63.99
(£75.19)
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£21.14) £17.99
(£21.14)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £291.99
(£343.09) £291.99
(£343.09)
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2VU6674GK) £114.99
(£135.11) £114.99
(£135.11)
Sub Total : £1,013.93
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
Vat : £179.35
Total : £1,204.23

//edit, forgot the PSU so add in the Corsair 620w and it is around £600 cheaper overall.
 
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Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
£291.99
(£343.09)

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard£69.99
(£82.24)

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2VU6674GK)
£114.99
(£135.11)

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

Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink
£30.99
(£36.41)

Akasa Mirage 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU
£83.99
(£98.69)

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
£84.99
(£99.86)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788)
£63.99
(£75.19)

Sub Total : £1,073.91
Vat : £190.20
Total : £1,277.06


pcspeccy2.jpg


And save yourself around £600-£700 as you really dont need anything much better than this and everything overclocks well, you could with the spare cash buy yourself a really sweet monitor or save it and later on go SLi but i wouldnt go spending it all now. Tell us how you get on.
 
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Thanks for the replies so far guys.

What are the main differences in the versions of Vista? pro's/con's

I suppose the ram is a wee bit overkill :)
 
semi-pro waster said:
You don't get MCE built in, remote desktop or drive encryption with the Premium edition rather than Ultimate. Full features listed here. :)
Click to expand...

Cheers m8

TBH the features on the ultimate edition I would use, if I got the cheaper version I would just end up buying the software.
 
If you have the money you might as well go for a 680i board, I have the EVGA in my new setup and its been brilliant so far, no problems with it and overclocks very well. If you are going to get Vista 64-bit go for 4Gb of ram, it does make a difference. Up until recently I was having some problems with memory in Vista (got loads of BSOD's with 4GB) but a couple of changes in the bios soon fixed the problems. Now have 4Gb of Corsair and I have noticed a difference over 2GB, not just in games but in general performance.

Go for the Q6600, team that with a 680i board, get 4GB of ram and a decent psu such as the corsair HX620 and you will have the base for a very good system. Rest of the suggested parts seem good, though I don't know if I would go for the Kandalf case, it probably wouldn't be a whole lot cooler than a decent air cooler such as the Noctua.
 
Ended up with the following.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £63.99 (£75.19)

Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink £32.99
(£38.76)

BFG GeForce 8800 Ultra 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £449.99 (£528.74)

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2VU6674GK) £99.99 (£117.49)

Abit IN9 32X-MAX WiFi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £179.99 (£211.49)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £294.99 (£346.61)

Total £1354.65

Bit of a nightmare to set up but a very powerfull system. The heatsing is huge and a very tight fit on the MB due to the heat pipes. Didnt bother buying a new case as my Chieftec full tower is still good enough for the job. Northbridge runs very hot on this board so i'll be looking at installing a fan on the NB heatsink.


Thanks for all your help guys.
 
You bought an 8800 Ultra? Would have got the GTX instead as you can overclock them to the same sort of speeds, for around £100 less. I would have got a P35 board like the Asus P5K Deluxe too.
 
if your expecting any of those rigs to last 3 years or more then, HA, it aint gonna happen

It will still be ok in 3 years time but you'll have the very bottom of the range dx10 card by then.

I would wait for the next model of dx10 card and get that and I would expect to have to buy a new one after a year ish.

unless by "last 3 years" you meant word processing...in which case, buy a type writer
 
MuSsEr said:
if your expecting any of those rigs to last 3 years or more then, HA, it aint gonna happen

It will still be ok in 3 years time but you'll have the very bottom of the range dx10 card by then.

I would wait for the next model of dx10 card and get that and I would expect to have to buy a new one after a year ish.

unless by "last 3 years" you meant word processing...in which case, buy a type writer
Click to expand...

HA ??

M8 everything is progressing so quickly there is never a good time to buy. Im happy that this system will see me through the next few years. If your the type that upgrades every year just to have the latest and greatest, then fair do's. Just not me.
 
MuSsEr said:
if your expecting any of those rigs to last 3 years or more then, HA, it aint gonna happen

It will still be ok in 3 years time but you'll have the very bottom of the range dx10 card by then.

I would wait for the next model of dx10 card and get that and I would expect to have to buy a new one after a year ish.

unless by "last 3 years" you meant word processing...in which case, buy a type writer
Click to expand...


Sounds like some jealousy there Musser, pretty immature comment and not the nicest thing to hear when he just spent loads of money on a new rig. You may be right, but then waiting for the next thing is pointless because computers advance so quickly.
 
lol, why would i be jealous? my pc does me fine right now and when I get back from my honeymoon in 3 weeks time I will be changing to new cpu, mobo and ram anyway (if i really wanted to waste all my money I could afford the PC he just bought in 1 months wages)

i love people who cry immaturity on forums coz they think theyr oo so big and mature, how in any way at all was my comment immature?

I was mainly pointing out that PCs do not last very long unless you keep upgrading them because games soon overtake the hardware

although it would appear that he doesnt mind running in low everything judging by the fact he has only just upgraded from a 9800xt
 
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