Gaming PC - Advice needed!

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 01:36

Hey all,

I'm currently looking into building a new computer, mainly for gaming, but I have various dilemma's on which components to use. I've got roughly a budget of £1,200 - £1,300.

Currently what I had in mind was:

OCZ GameXStream 850w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply (£117.49)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case (£64.61)

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard (£89.29)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (£17.61)

Samsung SH-182MRSMN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter(£21.14)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache (£66.96)

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - (£370.11)

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator DHX PC2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) (£146.86) OR

Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB) (£146.86)

Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£140.99) OR

EVGA nForce 680i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£170.36)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (£234.99)

I've heard from many different forums that the MoBo (EVGA nForce 680i SLi) has issues with the Corsair Dominator series? in which it doesnt work properly and tends to "fry" the memory. Is this correct?

Does this look any good? Specifications and running games wise?

This will be my first build if everything goes to plan, but I would rather consult people with more knowledge and experience than I have. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Gee

Cupra · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:14

id go for this, i kept the same case as thats a persona preferance. personaly id not get this soundcard and use onboard so i could have 4gb of ram but here we go anyway

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:34

EVGA GFX Card? Dont they have bad reviews, same as the Ballistix?

truebluecfc · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:37

Gee said:
EVGA GFX Card? Dont they have bad reviews, same as the Ballistix?

I wouldnt of thought so, there all the same card with different bundles & warranty, some being overclocked etc.

Jaffa_Cake · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:38

Gee said:
EVGA GFX Card? Dont they have bad reviews, same as the Ballistix?

They are all the same card - EVGA has a nice 10 yr warranty too.

Tbh I would ditch the expensive RAM and get some cheaper G. Skill HZ stuff and then OC it to 1100MHz along with the CPU "More bang for your buck".

Don't think the Noctua fits on that mobo though paul. Tuniq tower will i'm quite sure.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:40

Jaffa_Cake said:
Tbh I would ditch the expensive RAM and get some cheaper G. Skill HZ stuff and then OC it to 1100MHz along with the CPU "More bang for your buck".

Seeing as this will be my first build, I haven't got the slightest idea on how to overclock, without probably screwing up my components.

truebluecfc · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:42

Gee said:
Seeing as this will be my first build, I haven't got the slightest idea on how to overclocke, without probably screwing up my components.

Good time to learn, its fairly simple tbh ... and really its quite hard to 'screw up compenents' unless your really silly or daft. Theirs plenty of help with regards to overclocking and people on here are always willing to help.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:45

Well in that case, maybe a little OC'ing. I'm not sure yet.

As for the RAM and MoBo, ditch the Dominator and P5N3?

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 03:05

Bump?

Jaffa_Cake · 12 Jul 2007 at 03:21

Its 3:20 AM give us a break

The P5N32's are horrible with memory and tend to not even post with 4gb of ram above 667Mhz.

Ditch the dominator - It's nothing special unlike the G. Skill HZ/Ballistix PC5300 which will hit the same speeds as the dominator PC8500 at 1/3 of the price!.

I would get paul's spec with the RAM replaced by G. Skill HZ PC6400. Save yourself some money.

/gone to bed.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 03:30

Hmm, how about the EVGA 680i Mobo? From the reviews on OcUK it has very good over clocking potential and an excellent all around board.

toosepin · 12 Jul 2007 at 05:32

How about this:

Sean_UK · 12 Jul 2007 at 05:36

paul_64l said:
id go for this, i kept the same case as thats a persona preferance. personaly id not get this soundcard and use onboard so i could have 4gb of ram but here we go anyway

That would be my choice with amount quoted too.

toosepin · 12 Jul 2007 at 06:29

Oops! Meant to stick the Q6600 instead of the E6600 in my spec.

JeffHoon · 12 Jul 2007 at 06:52

No Windows Vista 64-bit?

Kirth Gersen · 12 Jul 2007 at 07:27

Can't help but feel that the analysis on this page is missing something?

What could that be?

Oh yes, a monitor

We can't really propoerly spec a gaming rig without understanding what it will show up on. Gee, if you only have a 17" or 19" monitor with 1280 max resolution, that GTX will be going to waste!

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 13:52

No monitor needed, have a dell 21inch Ultrasharp

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:40

Thoughts on

?

stickroad · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:41

That PSU is a bit of a overkill. Change it to one of the Corsair ones:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=123&subid=823

Also change the DVD Drive to a SATA version:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-084-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=349

You could also change the Memory to something like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-090-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

No need for 8500 Memory to be honest.

I haven't heard much about that cooler but i would recommend one of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-002-NC

And is their any reason going for a SLI board?

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:49

Well later on in the year, I may be adding another GFX Card to my setup, so with it being a SLi board i'm ready if I want to add another.

That DVD Drive is a SATA Connection, "- Serial ATA Connection" as it says on the specification sheet. As for the cooler, it placed first in a LGA 775 CPU Mega Test on a well known review site.