Critique my spec

JoDaMa · 23 Mar 2008 at 21:57

Hi there,

Thinking of building a rig before I go off to university in the autumn, not really too sure whether to keep a laptop or have a desktop. (Can any of you guys at uni, give me some advice on that one?)

Here's a quick spec I threw together in 5 minutes or so:

Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail
(£35.24)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR4 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£123.36)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD2500AAKS)
(£44.64)
Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black/Silver) - Retail
(£23.49)
Dell Ultrasharp 2208WFP "Limited Edition" 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black Dell Ultrasharp
(£193.86)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
(£70.49)
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
(£70.49)
Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£152.74)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£149.21)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA804)
(£41.11)
Enermax Aurora Premium Brushed Aluminium Keyboard - Black
(£44.64)
Creative Inspire T3100 2.1 Speakers
(£29.36)

Total inc. VAT and delivery from ocuk: £1011.09

I'm looking at a budget of ~£1000.

Cheers guys.

stinka · 23 Mar 2008 at 22:03

get rid of the razer coperhead there crap, i got one to replace my ms intellimouse explorer and it was utter **** ive gone back to the ms explorer

imo id try and fit an 8800gts 512 in instead or even an 8800gt over the ati but thats me

i wouldnt get an antec 900, id be getting a lian li pc7

JoDaMa · 24 Mar 2008 at 08:49

Thanks for the reply, i've taken note of the mouse and I would change it to a logitech G5, i've got an older one at the moment and I find it really comfortable to use.

The 8800gts is quite a bit more expensive than the 3870 (~£30) or so, but im tempted.

Why would you not choose the antec 900 out of interest?

Thanks

melbourne720 · 24 Mar 2008 at 09:09

For a 22" display a 8800 gts is the best match imho.

Also if you get an NVidia gfx card, then no need for the x38 motherboard and you can get a £80 P35 mobo like the Asus P5K. That way the upgrade to the gts pays for itself.

mogwai · 24 Mar 2008 at 10:17

If you go for one of the new 8800 GTS it would be better to X38 as it supports PCIe 2 and the P35 does not.

Grumpy · 24 Mar 2008 at 10:22

My OcUK ATI 3870 512 handles res up to 2048x1536, surely that is high enugh for a 22" monitor? Plus it was only £94 +VAT

easyrider · 24 Mar 2008 at 10:26

Grumpy said:
My OcUK ATI 3870 512 handles res up to 2048x1536, surely that is high enugh for a 22" monitor? Plus it was only £94 +VAT

The 8800 GTS or GT wipes the floor with a 3870 i'm afraid and is only 30 quid more

easyrider · 24 Mar 2008 at 10:27

Thiras said:
Why would you not choose the antec 900 out of interest?

Thanks

Cramped shoody build quality.

Better cases out there for the same money

Antec P180 ,Lan LI,Akasa eclipse

easyrider · 24 Mar 2008 at 10:28

You really need 4gig of ram too in this day and age with vista ect..

JoDaMa · 24 Mar 2008 at 11:50

Cheers easyrider, some good info there.

Does anyone here go to university, or has been in the past? Im interested to see whether people think a laptop or a desktop would be more beneficial at uni.

Thanks

easyrider · 24 Mar 2008 at 11:56

Thiras said:
Cheers easyrider, some good info there.

Does anyone here go to university, or has been in the past? Im interested to see whether people think a laptop or a desktop would be more beneficial at uni.

Thanks

Laptop for university mate

Dell Vostro