Does this spec look OK?

GSDog · 26 Oct 2008 at 20:58

I am building a new rig which I will be ordering in about a week or two. Budget is £1200, including monitor. I want the machine to be quiet (hense the fan controller), fairly future-proof and be able to overclock when it starts to struggle.

Here is the spec I have made so far, questions are below.

Will the 520W be enough to power all that and maybe another 4870 running in crossfire in the future?

Is that G-Skill RAM any good? I would like to be able to push the E8400 to around 4Ghz sometime. I wasn't sure whether to go for the 6400, but thought the PC2-8000 would give a better chance at hitting 4Ghz with the E8400.

Is there any new hardware within my budget worth waiting for coming out in the next 4 weeks?

What would you change in that spec and why?

Thanks.

EDIT: Forget to say, the rig will be used for gaming, some movies, playing HD/Bluray movies to my TV and a small amount of photo/video editing.

RJC · 26 Oct 2008 at 21:07

Pretty good spec, the PSU should be able to cope, done a quick look on PSU calculator to give a ruff idea of power usage with crossfire and pulls 488w,
If your planning on overclocking it would push that up.

MrJB · 26 Oct 2008 at 21:22

do you already own a 32 bit copy of vista? If so you can order a 64 bit DVD for 10 Pounds roughly. Thats what i did for my new build that i will be ordering soon. Otherwise it looks pretty nice

GSDog · 26 Oct 2008 at 23:02

RJC said:
Pretty good spec, the PSU should be able to cope, done a quick look on PSU calculator to give a ruff idea of power usage with crossfire and pulls 488w,
If your planning on overclocking it would push that up.

Thanks. I think I'll go for the 620W version then as I will be overclocking and adding a Bluray optical drive and maybe another HD sometime. It'll be a bit more future proof too.

j.bucka said:
do you already own a 32 bit copy of vista? If so you can order a 64 bit DVD for 10 Pounds roughly. Thats what i did for my new build that i will be ordering soon. Otherwise it looks pretty nice

No, I currently have Windows XP that'll be going with my laptop when I sell it.

Thanks for letting me know about that though, I didn't know.

beefybarn · 26 Oct 2008 at 23:19

If you want it to be quiet why not get a thermalright T-Rad as well.

rz30 · 26 Oct 2008 at 23:29

My senses tell me to go for a 720Watt PSU, after all it's an expensive build, get a power surge protector as well.

GSDog · 26 Oct 2008 at 23:51

beefybarn said:
If you want it to be quiet why not get a thermalright T-Rad as well.

I was thinking about getting one but I don't really want to void the warranty on the card. I will see how noisy the powercolor is when I get it. If it's too noisey then I will fit one.

Freelanc3r · 27 Oct 2008 at 00:22

rz30 said:
My senses tell me to go for a 720Watt PSU, after all it's an expensive build, get a power surge protector as well.

There really isn't need for that high watt of a PSU. 620watt could handle that spec + more. You could probably run two 4870's on that psu. It's peak is probably about 680w, corsair have been known to 'down watt' there PSU's in product description to cover their backs.