First ever build - Spec advice please

Stiffler05

Stiffler05

Stiffler05

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Joined
13 Jul 2005
Posts
132
Hi guys,

This Friday I'm getting paid so am looking to upgrade my current dell pc (p4 3ghz, 1gb ram, 6800gt). This is the spec i've come up with so far. I'm on a budget and £650 is really my top price. I don't need a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

CD-041-PO Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £20.99 £20.99
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) £66.99 £66.99
MB-063-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_S3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-063-GI) £79.99 £79.99
CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN) £97.99 £97.99
GX-053-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO) £139.99 £139.99
HS-017-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR) £12.99 £12.99
HD-046-WD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD) £46.99 £46.99
MY-112-CS Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-112-CS) £87.99 £87.99

Subtotal £553.92
VAT £96.94
Total £650.86

- I know i've only included a gig of ram, but i'm not sure i can justify the extra £75.
- As i understand the Gigabyte S3 is the same as the DS3 except lacking the solid capacitors. So should I be expecting the same possible high fsb speeds to help me overclock the E6300?
- Can the case psu be changed at a later date if i wanted to upgrade to the G80 or R600?

Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

Steve.
 
I would opt for the seagte 7200.10 range afa hdd goes. Yes u can change the psu later. I'd personally go for the DS3 as i has a very good reputation and doesn't cost much more.
 
ok, cheers.
Is there a particular reason to go for the Seagate? are they faster or more reliable?
I guess i could go for the DS3, its just that someone in the forums said the only difference was the capacitors and that they only lower the lifespan of the MB by a year or so.
 
Its not only that they last slightly longer, they also provide a more stable supply to various components. Also remember the fiasco a few years back with with mobo's and exploding electrolytic capacitors ? Yes the seagate's are the fastest sata drives on the market atm due to perpendicular recording, being beaten only by raptors and the like.
 
wizardmaxx said:
due to perpendicular recording
Click to expand...

Fastest drives? The perpendicular recording only lets them get more data into less space on the platter if I'm not mistaken. Both Seagate and WD are good makes, I'd take the Seagate though because my WD was quite noisy compared to my Seagate.
 
ahh ok. excellent cheers.

Think i'll take your advice and go for the 250gb seagate and the DS3.

One other thing i wondered was - How much would having 4x512mb sticks of ram hinder my overclocking?

If i get my system up and running and have my E6300 OCed to @3ghz, and then whacked in an additional 1gb of ram (2x512mb on top of the 2x512mb already inside), could i expect the same clocks from the ram/cpu?
 
Pulseammo said:
Fastest drives? The perpendicular recording only lets them get more data into less space on the platter if I'm not mistaken. Both Seagate and WD are good makes, I'd take the Seagate though because my WD was quite noisy compared to my Seagate.
Click to expand...

The reorientation of hard drives has begun: The first drives to use perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to pack more data into less space are out. And our tests reveal that they not only boost storage capacity but perform faster as well.
 
Yeah you should be alright with 4sticks on an intel system. The problems are more likely to arise if you try to use different brands etc, then you may see some stability or timing issues there. You'll obviously have to run as fast as the slowest or least reliable stick.
 
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