Build Advice

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I've come into a bit of money recently and I've decided to treat myself to a new desktop as the old laptop I'm using is starting to struggle with newer games.

I've set myself a £2000 budget and everything will be needed, keyboard... mouse... speakers... case... monitor (is there any real benefit to using 2 monitors?) etc. I've decided on Windows 64bit so 4 gigs of ram is preferable and also only one graphics card as I still consider two to be a waste of money considering how quickly they come in and out of fashion :rolleyes:. I would also quite like to have a go at watercooling the processor and graphics card, although I am a complete and utter beginner in that department.

Thanks in advance... it has been a good 3-4 years since my last build so I am a bit behind on the times when it comes to what's generally deemed as decent, hence the asking for advice so I don't go and waste money (you could say I am doing that anyway!)
 
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You seem to have a good idea already, single high end graphics is the best way, also, with that budget you can get a good 22" widescreen, so 2 monitors isnt really needed.

Im currently half way through building a "good" system, however I already have a 22" monitor. my budget is around £1200, but im having to buy it 1 component at a time due to other finance priorities.

The difficulty im having, is that at the moment, theres a lot of new tech on the horizon, but that aside, my views are....

Intel proc...quad6600 G0 (95watt)
High end DDR2 P35 mobo, or X38
4 Gb DDR2 ram either 6400 or 8500 depending on budget

Another prob, DDR3 is being phased in but is very expensive...the general consensus seems to be that high end DDR2 is better than DDR3,
because of the absurd price and small gains of DDR3.

Graphics wise, a bog standard nvidia 8800 GTX is probably what you should be looking at.
although, new cards are just round the corner.

speaker wise, im going for the 2.1 aego M speakers in black, high quality, smart, and i dont want a surround system as routing all the cables and having speakers everywhere really dosent appeal.
 
lOcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM£254.99
(£299.61) £254.99
(£299.61)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail£153.99
(£180.94) £153.99
(£180.94)

Gigabyte GA_P35_DQ6 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard£109.99
(£129.24) £109.99
(£129.24)

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)£114.99
(£135.11) £114.99
(£135.11)

Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (WD740ADFD)£81.99
(£96.34) £81.99
(£96.34)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKS)£59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)

Asus DRW-1814BLT 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - Retail£19.99
(£23.49) £19.99
(£23.49)

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)£79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)

Thermaltake VA8003BWS Armour Super Tower - Black£81.99
(£96.34) £81.99
(£96.34)

Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)£22.99
(£27.01) £22.99
(£27.01)

LG L245WP 24" Widescreen HDMI LCD Monitor - Black£399.99
(£469.99) £399.99
(£469.99)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788)£59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)

Sub Total : £1,440.88Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout)Shipping : £24.95VAT is being charged at 17.5%VAT : £256.52 Total : £1,722.35
 
By just around the corner how close do you mean? I know there are always newer shinier things coming up but is it imminent or 2-3 months away?
 
Nvidias new cards are out in the next month or two, but they will be midrange rather than high end cards, so they might be a better option for re-sale when the next-gen high end cards come out....however if your wanting a 24"+ screen, the 8800GTX will still be the one to go for.

Just bear in mind, when the next gen high end cards eventualy come out, they will more than likely be pcie 2.0, so you may want a mobo that has pcie 2.0 slots(x38/x48)
 
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