Eliteism or Overkill ?

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once a dedicated OC'er, ive since lost my way wiv 2days current specs.

I want to update my rig, and was hoping jus for an upgrade, but as usual... seems like a new system is in order to obtain a worth while jump... question is... how high do u go.

Heres my current spec:

AMD 64 3500
Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI
2GB 3200 Corsair DDR
2x 6800GT 256MB Cards
2x 74g WD Raptor Drives
2x 19" Samsung Screens

i've always been a AMD man, but looks like they've lost there way against intel right now. so new proccessor, mobo & ram are required. as ive said, im well behind on spec right now. main use of my pc is gaming. but i always end up wiv many an application open; including dreamweaver and photoshop etc... so multitasking is important. i guess im after 2 options, 1st being the cheaper perhaps incorportating my existing gfx cards and raptors with a dual core etc... and then 2nd overkill option wiv the quadro and 2x 7800gtx's.

and what the hell r these 1000w psu's about. i swear my rig runs off a 550w. is it really needed ? :p
 
AccessDenied said:
i swear my rig runs off a 550w. is it really needed ? :p

Nope, only for Quad SLi rigs with 8800gtx's really.

I was going to post some advice, but it'd be far better if you just look around at the existing hardware reviews/comments made by forum members already.

Do a bit of research!
 
have been m8. and have since realised im 2 generations behind on gfx's cards... so these do require replacing.

also in another thread, adrenline pumping 1 ... people r ripping in 2 the poster 4 going all out on a spec but chosing only a 19" screen. will i not see an improvement on gfx if i went all out on cards but kept my existing screen. should i look in2 replacing that aswell ?

appreciate any feedbac as my existing rig was purchased from OC and my new 1 will b aswell... hijacking another thread doesnt seem appropriate if u no what i mean.
 
Yeah I know what you mean.

They were ripping into him because he was probably getting SLi and was only using a small resolution, whereas you'll be using a larger one (with two 19" acting together as a single wide I presume?).

If you're in to overclocking (if you're not I really suggest you look into it) then an AM2 solution would be best for you as they're slightly better bang for buck than core 2 duo chips.

If you're even going to be overclocking a tiny fraction, definitely go core 2 duo. When overclocked even the cheapest will outperform the most expensive AMD chip.

Getting 2 7800's would be a waste of money in my eyes.
 
that was a typo... getting confused wiv these cards, as i said, didnt realise im 2 generations behind... 8800's would b on the cards i think. neways. thanks 4 the suggestion. ill do a lil more research and post bac wiv a proposed spec. then hopefully people can point me in the right direction.

price wise. initially was thinking about £1000. but lets say 1500. dont need case, dvd, or main hdd. (will prob want large storage drive tho)
 
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These are parts from the computer I have just built (minus the bits you said you don't need). It is within your £1500 budget and I am very happy with the performance of the system so far:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - £185.64
EVGA nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £176.24
Team Xtreem 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz - £176.23
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - £387.74
Enermax Galaxy 850W EGA850EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU - £170.36
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ATA-100 16MB Cache (OEM) - £105.74
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard - £89.29
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754/775) CPU Cooler - £45.81
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD (OEM) - £75.19

= £1,425.11 inc. VAT and shipping
 
ive been done a lil research and looking to get the most for my money ive come up with this so far;

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail - £176.24
How far can i expect to overclock this to ?

Motherboard (Budgetted £150) Not known yet. - £150
Im looking for advice regarding chipsets. Check post here

RAM - Not known yet - £230
need to do more research into PC2-6400 & 8000/8500+

2x BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail - £521.68
Chosen because cheapest GTS 640MB card with lifetime warrenty. sum cards boast ACS3 Silent Cooling System. Is it really silent. noise is an issue i will b looking to reduce.

HDD. Using my existing 2x 74GB Raptors as my main drive.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 500GB ST3500641AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM - £78.71
Data Drive - Cheapest 500gb sata drive. Possibly look to get a 2nd as a mirror

2x DVDRW (Budget £50) - £50
Any particular drives to choose? looks all the same now

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Soundcard - Retail - £58.74
Worth getting the professional edition for the xtra £30?

PSU (Budget £100) Not known yet. - £100
Preference towards a quieter psu, advice needed/research to b done

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


That comes in it around 1500 quid. which is *** im looking to spend. but im also lookin in2 getting a new case aswell. so dont want the cost 2 increase as this would b an additional cost. advice on missing parts would b appreciated or alternative recommendations if u think id b better off another way.
 
E6600 - a lot of people reporting successful clocks of 3.6ghz and beyond, but the magic 3.6ghz number is still what most people would aim for.

Mobo- Seeing you are going for Vista I would scrap the idea of SLI GTS and get a single GTX as the state of SLI within Vista is quite poor atm afaik. GTX coupled with the mature 965i chipset based mobo would make a very solid system

RAM- Anything with the Micro D9 stuff for silly speeds, such as the Crucial Ballistx and Corsair Dominators series, as well as the Cellshock and Team Xtreem stuff.

HDD- get the 7200.10 instead of the older 7200.9

PSU- Corsair 620HX :)
 
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

Seasonic M12 Modular 700W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply

Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

CellShock 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit

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

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM x2

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard - Retail

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

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

Total : £1,426.24

Not to sure what sort of case your after?

What do you think?
 
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Personally I'd drop the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, especially if you are going to be overclocking. I would go for something a bit more powerful such as the Tuniq Tower 120, Thermaltake Ultra 120 or Noctua NH-U12F (this gets my vote).
 
I don't have any problems overclocking on my Freezer 7 Pro. If you've got the money, certainly get one of the better coolers. However, if you want a great cooler for an excellent price, the Freezer is for you.
 
Zefan said:
Yeah I know what you mean.

They were ripping into him because he was probably getting SLi and was only using a small resolution, whereas you'll be using a larger one (with two 19" acting together as a single wide I presume?).

If you're in to overclocking (if you're not I really suggest you look into it) then an AM2 solution would be best for you as they're slightly better bang for buck than core 2 duo chips.

If you're even going to be overclocking a tiny fraction, definitely go core 2 duo. When overclocked even the cheapest will outperform the most expensive AMD chip.

Getting 2 7800's would be a waste of money in my eyes.

You can't SLi and use two monitors and get different out puts as far as I'm aware.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
I don't have any problems overclocking on my Freezer 7 Pro. If you've got the money, certainly get one of the better coolers. However, if you want a great cooler for an excellent price, the Freezer is for you.

I agree, but as he still has a bit to spare in the £1500 suggested budget I would definitely go with the more powerful cooler.
 
c2d seems a very cheap option ive ordered a new e6600,asus p5ne 32sli and team extream c4 pc6400 ram for £514.00 the kit in my current rig when i first bought it was almost £700.00 so i gotta say c2d is a lot cheaper and more cost effective
 
nicktay2605 said:
These are parts from the computer I have just built (minus the bits you said you don't need). It is within your £1500 budget and I am very happy with the performance of the system so far:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - £185.64
EVGA nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £176.24
Team Xtreem 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz - £176.23
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 (PCI-Express) - £387.74
Enermax Galaxy 850W EGA850EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU - £170.36
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ATA-100 16MB Cache (OEM) - £105.74
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard - £89.29
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754/775) CPU Cooler - £45.81
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD (OEM) - £75.19

= £1,425.11 inc. VAT and shipping
im thinking on a system based on the same ram and cpu as u have nicktay but ill be using the asus p5ne32 sli board could u tell me is this board the same reference design as the bfg/evga,and does it have the same problems
 
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