Expensive Build, need help

unwashed potato! · 14 Feb 2006 at 00:56

ok im going all out and starting from scrath and planning to build me the ultimate gaming pc for £1400 buying each part seperately and building it myself, buying from overclockers.co.uk.

here is what i have UPDATED (Version 3):

CP-127-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4400CDBOX) (CP-127-AM)
£289.95

CD-024-NE NEC ND4550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-024-NE)
£25.50

HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£61.95

CA-024-LL Lian-Li PC V1000 PLUS Silver Aluminium Midi-Tower (No PSU) (CA-024-LL)
£114.95

MY-079-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)
£129.95

GX-046-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3055) (GX-046-CO)
£329.95

MB-091-AB Abit AT8 ATI RD480 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-091-AB)
£74.95

HD-000-MI Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Silver (HD-000-MI)
£13.95

Subtotal £1,041.15
VAT £182.21
Total £1,223.36

leaving me with at most £180 to buy other bites and bobs. Advice needed on what i should get and any changes.

Im currently looking at PSU right now.

Thanks for any help i get.

p.s. My mum should hopefully be getting a new screen soon so i will be inherating her old one which is a CRT prob about 1280x1024 maybe bigger

unwashed potato! · 14 Feb 2006 at 01:34

Ok i will look into a different HD.

i was going to go with g.skill however in another forum i was told togo with Corsair RAM instead, how weird :S which should i do?

The v1000 apperantly gets good reviews, seen in the case forum. Does it do what i require.

I don't really plan on doing crossfire, be nice to have option for fututre but its not something i intend to one day do.

What are chipsets?

i will drop the SC then as it isn't needed and im on a budget which will just be better if it can be lowered any which way possible

unwashed potato! · 15 Feb 2006 at 21:11

ok i have updated what im planning on getting, ive taken off mouse, keyboard, SC, and changed to spinpoint 25gb sata2. the thing that concerns me with this HD is that it only has 8mb cache, where as other sata2 drives have 16mb. Is there a difference in speed?

unwashed potato! · 15 Feb 2006 at 21:27

why? whats the differnce? can that board still do dual ddr and sata2?

unwashed potato! · 15 Feb 2006 at 21:50

badbob said:
It's ATI's own "SLI" type thing, bit different though. You have a master and slave card. Although it appears crossfire motherboards are a bit buggy from the posts I've read. You also want to match up similar specced master/slave cards. Ie don't have a 1900XTX master with 1600XL slave (or vice versa)

Now this confused the hell out of me. what the heck is the differnce between a master and slave card? i only have one GPU listed, the ATI x1900 xtx.

Its ATI's own version of SLI, which is what the MB i have suggested is right? i dont knpow wht the reason for the suggestion of the other MB is?

unwashed potato! · 15 Feb 2006 at 22:16

yeah but isnt the one im planning on getting a crossfire, im sure it says it in the name of it. ill copy and paste it: MB-091-AB Abit AT8 ATI RD480 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-091-AB) thats crossfire right? so now what i am asking is what is the differnce between this board and the ASUS one?

also im not planning on crossfire yet, if ever, im just like having the option open to me as i mihgt eventually like year or 2's time. I can uise the card i have listed for now cant i and say i do want to crossfire i just buyy the crossfire version later on?

unwashed potato! · 15 Feb 2006 at 22:27

kinggost said:
Yeh they crossfire bords but he trying to say ati do crossfire witch is 2 cards working together and nvidia do there own thing called sli 2 cards working together

The lian li case is amazing i have one with all that stuff in my spec in it

oh ok? well i kinda already knew that, thought it was obvious when i was saying in first post that i don't plan on doing crossfire yet, maybe in future. Be like if somone said oh by the way, HD means hard drive.

im really leening towards the lian li v1000, if i do what do i need for it. PSU, and which? fans, and again which fans?

unwashed potato! · 16 Feb 2006 at 14:34

kinggost said:
The lian li case is amazing i have one with all that stuff in my spec in it

ok thats cool, ive added the lian-li v1000 to my shopping list, kinda over what i planned to spend on a case but whatever, its a werthy investment. only problem is fans, cpu cooler, gpu cooler, and PSU

of these what are required. i have looked into fans and found this: Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-024-AK) is this any good, is a new fans required?

Are CPU coolers and GPU coolers required?

What power supply power should i get and which make?

unwashed potato! · 17 Feb 2006 at 12:55

badbob said:
You could buy retail CPU and use stock CPU HSF for now. You can then replace the CPU HSF when you've paid the computer off and decided which is best.

Or you could buy OEM CPU and buy a CPU HSF straight away. OEM CPU's are cheaper, so the money saved can go towards the HSF.

And yes you do need CPU & GFX card HSF. Unless you have a really cool machine ie Pentium P200 where you can just get away with heatsinks, although a single slow 12cm is still needed to at least blow over mobo/ram/CPU heatsink.

As for PSU I would go for Enermax or Antec.

im so sorry but huh? im lost with all the cut down words, e.g. HSF, OEM, heatsinks?

Has the li-li v1000 case got 12cm fans included? if so are they any good? should i replace them?

ive updated my spec's again, with the asus board and i think nothing else

unwashed potato! · 17 Feb 2006 at 13:21

BigDom said:
OEM is in the form that is sent to manufacturers.. for software that means no nice flashy boxes. For hardware means the same but also, on CPU's, no HSF ( heat sink and fan ) - so have to buy an aftermarket one.

ok thanks for letting me know, was kinda confused by all the comoputer slang

so if you look at what i have listed in first post, what else do i require to get this machine running, and running nice and quetly as possible without being too expensive?

unwashed potato! · 17 Feb 2006 at 16:07

ok i have changed back to the older mobo i was going to use as someone mentioned it didnt work with the lian-li case. Does the one i have listed work with the li-li v1000 case? i've removed the fans as im going to check out how the fans supplied with the case are

im struggling for what power i need for the PSU and which one, as im looking for quiet ones that will be compatable with this system. Do you have any suggestions?

Im currently looking at the Thermaltake PurePower 680W ATX2.0 Power Supply for £82 VAT included. Is this any good. The tihng that im confused about is that it has 2 8cm fans, arent these supposed to be the lowedest, however it says it is almost silent, and there is another one, same make, which has 1 12cm fan and is 600W and it says it gives off the impression that this one is lower. Which is better?

unwashed potato! · 17 Feb 2006 at 22:08

kinggost said:
is he useing the Abit AT8 mobo or is it me not reading the whole thread

i was going to use the abit, then i was told to use the asus so i did as it was better and cheaper, then i was told the asus didnt work with the case im going to use so i went back to the abit. which is better?, i'd rather get the asus as it's cheaper and supposably better but obviously only if it works with the case

im currently looking at Thermaltake PurePower 600W from overclockers.co.uk. Is this any good e.g. sound, heat etc

how often do OC get stock in? the PSU i listed above it currenlty out of stock so i can't add it to my order list

((

im also a little bit confsued with my HD. Is this one of the fastest sata2 drives and quetiest drives available? if not which is better? is the p120 better?

unwashed potato! · 20 Feb 2006 at 21:47

HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£61.95
For the HD i have selected, i have been told that it is top notch, one of the best, however at another forum geekstogo i have been told to go with the p120 as thats even better, most problems with the one listed are fixed apparenlty with the p120. Quesitons i have are is this true? If so how much better are they? Also how much better are the raptor drives? i am considering these as they appear to be much faster, however im concerned about noise, and that if i will need more storage space?

CA-024-EN Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-024-EN)
£89.95
How is that PSU, it seems tro do what i need and is prepered for the future. Any other suggestions with similiar results?

unwashed potato! · 21 Feb 2006 at 20:57

ACESHIGH said:
Personally i think the Samsung SpinPoint HDD are very good.
The Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU is nice & should serve you well when combined with the rest of your rig.

ok then i guess thats my final specs then. Last question ever i promise, so with the PSU it says it supports SLI, i guess crossfire is also supported with it?

Just like to say thanks a million times over and over as i really have had so much very helpful help, and have created such an amazing rig in my opinion, and have lots of confidence when i go to buy this stuff, hopefully next week. Thanks again addy

unwashed potato! · 21 Feb 2006 at 21:43

badbob said:
Nvidia SLI and ATI Crossfire are incompatible with each other. For SLI you'll need identical Nvidia cards x 2 and a Nvidia chipset. For Crossfire you'll need a motherboard with Crossfire chipset, a master Crossfire card and a normal card (both same range ie 1900XT Crossfire and 1900XT normal) Single cards will work in either of course, but two Nvidia's won't work in a Crossfire motherboard, and vice versa (two ATI in Nivida chipset mobo)

what i said was does the PSU support crossfire as it says it supports SLI but i cant seem to see it say crossfire? thanks anywya for what you have said