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

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 02:34

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

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.

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?

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.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 13:52

No monitor needed, have a dell 21inch Ultrasharp

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:40

Thoughts on

?

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.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 15:09

Well from looking what people have said to choose as a MoBo, being the P5K Deluxe, it doesn't look like it will be able to fit such a big CPU Cooler as it has those pipes around the socket. Will it fit?

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 15:46

After reading many reviews I've finally come to a decision on what to get, with help from the OcUK folks

This should see through many hardcore games throughout the years. Any last comments/suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks
G

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 16:20

I probably wont be overclocking tbh, if that makes a different in components. And after reading about that P5K Deluxe, I've chosen that one, due to the fact that the P5N32 board has issues with certain ram as you were saying.

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 17:04

If I were to stay with the spec I chose, with the P5K Deluxe, would that still be alright for gaming purposes etc?

Gee · 12 Jul 2007 at 18:47

What would you recommend for a CPU Cooler? A tower or fan one?

That Thermalright Ultra 120 looks pretty decent although are they suitable for the mobo? cos I've heard they're over the recommended weight.