Gaming rig....yea or nah

1SikPuppy

1SikPuppy

1SikPuppy

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Joined
11 Aug 2006
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16
Right I'm new here so go gentle eh girls and boys....
Am going to be ordering a new Gaming Rig this week/or next depending on how it all goes and am thinking of everything listed below...we get £1500 interest free computer loans from work, so thats the budget I'm running to...will have to use my own funds for a case and monitor...so any suggestions there would be good...want a good sized case that will keep everything cool...and a 20-22" monitor for gaming...
Right here goes...


Asus P5N32-SLi Premium WiFi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard(MB-175-AS) £159.99
CP-129-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-129-IN) £314.99
GX-043-OK OcUK Galaxy GeForce 7900 GS OC SILENT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-043-OK) 2 @ £139.99 = £279.98
CA-006-SS Seasonic M12 Modular 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-006-SS) £99.99
SC-042-CL Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music + HS600 £29.99 Gaming Headset Bundle - Retail (SC-042-CL) £66.95
HD-078-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) 2 @ £62.95 = £125.90
CD-041-PO Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) 2 @ £20.95 = £41.90
MY-058-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) (MY-058-GL) £169.99

...so total comes to around £1480.14... :cool:

...thats what I've got so far...any help would be appreciated...I'm not an overclocker (yet) so initially this rig would run as is...
...is the 6700 worth the extra over the 6600...or am I better off keeping the £100 for something else...??
...I've gone for two cheap'ish SLi cards as I will probably have to replace them next year for DX10/Vista...any thoughts...??
...any ideas/thoughts/etc are appreciated folks, I'm not the kind of person who takes things to heart...lmfao...so...am I on the right track... ;)
 
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I would personally scrap the 2 graphics cards and go for a single card solution.

My choice would be the HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI at £252.61

I would also go for the e6600. Are you planning to be doing any overclocking? If so you will want a better heatsink.

Great choices on HDD, PSU and RAM!

Not to sure how goog a clocker the mobo is, hopefully some others will have some input.
 
...Cheers Hiper...the motherboard is the new Asus one for nForce...still not to sure about moving over to the dark-side and ATI at moment...have always had nVidia and they have always done me well...so if I was to go down the single card route but was to stick with nVidia which card would be my best bet...?? Heatsink I did forget to add, reckon the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro would be OK..?? And like I said I've never overclocked anything in my life before, but was concerned about whether the 6700 was a whole £100 better than the 6600...so reckon the 6600 could be the one...leave me some more funds towards graphics card, or case... ;) :D
 
The arctic freezer 7 pro is a good choice. Thats what i am using for my e6300 at 3ghz and i get good temps.

The ati cards are the best bang for buck at the moment. But the nvidea equivalent would be something like the OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-038-OK).
 
...any other comments...or is the "help me spec" kind of thread a bit to common... :( ...just really wanted a bit of advice and feedback from folk who seem to know more than I do about these things...one thing I have learnt as an engineer is "If you do not know...ask someone who does...."...which is what I was hoping for here....
...thank you to Hyper for his comments...taken on board...
...seem to be seeing that the Asus P5N32 Premium is maybe not quite worth the high initial cost..?? So I really am stuck here...if I do go over to ATI what would be my best bet..?? The Asus P5W DH..seems nice enough...
...this build has got to last me a good couple of years...other than maybe changing card(s) for DX10/Vista...so I am trying to use my money wisely...but have to build soon as we do not know how much longer the company will be offering the loans...rumour has it they will probably stop this side of Christmas...definately want a Conroe build and 6600 based seems to be the way...but motherboard and graphics card do seem to be my stumbling block...
...again thanks in advance for any help... :D
 
Nice setup, but agree that the 6600 is the way 2 go. Id also get a descent aftermarket cooler to go with it.

I'd personally go for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (£130)and the HIS ATI Radeon X1900 ICEQ3 SILENT Heatpipe ***Crossfire Edition*** 512MB (£225). You can always go crossfire later if u find a bargain on a second x1900xt.

Dont know if it does SLI though if thats a major concern
 
wizardmaxx said:
Nice setup, but agree that the 6600 is the way 2 go. Id also get a descent aftermarket cooler to go with it.

I'd personally go for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi (£130)and the HIS ATI Radeon X1900 ICEQ3 SILENT Heatpipe ***Crossfire Edition*** 512MB (£225). You can always go crossfire later if u find a bargain on a second x1900xt.

Dont know if it does SLI though if thats a major concern
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...Cheers wizardmaxx...decided I'd prob go with the Frezzer Pro 7 cooler, after Hyper pointed that one out...and SLi is not a major concern...just always had nVidia up to now...but I just want the best gaming rig I can get for my money that will last me a few years...so if its turning to ATI then so be it...the Asus P5W DH Deluxe does look a nice board, and I do like Asus MoBo, so that looks good...and the idea of adding a later card sounds good too...cheers mate... :D
 
...another question folks...not being to UP on these things...if I use the Asus P5W DH Deluxe and only use ONE GPU can I run an ATI card or a nVidia card...or does it only take ATI, or only ATI if I wish to use two cards on crossfire...?? Only am really stuck between a good ATI card or a GX2 nVidia...but if I'm not going to go two cards for now can I use either with this mobo..?? Cheers.........
 
You would need to use hacked drivers to get Nvidia SLI running on an intel 975x motherboard. However, you could use a 7950GX2, they start at £284.99+VAT, and SLI on 1 slot is supported by i975x motherboards.

I've got a E6700, because I wanted a system to run fast at stock speeds, which I can overclock next year 'IF' it starts to feel slow. I am very happy with my choice of processor.

I was going to by a GX2 myself, but in the end, the very low price of the Overclockers 7900GTO, which performs almost as well as a GTX caught my eye. Its a good card, and should see me through until a good DX10 card is released. Compared to my 6800GT its a super turbo.

Im gaming on a 24inch Dell widescreen @1920x1200 and the system handles that resolution just fine, with all the eye candy on max. Although I've not pushed AA very far, I can use AF at the highest setting.
 
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...cheers Corasik...what mobo you running dude...?? Must admit I have enough for the 6700, still unsure... :) ...at the moment I'm running a AMD64 3000+ and a XFX 6800GS on AGP so anything is liable to look pretty good...lmfao...I like a lot of others want a rig to play next years games like ET:QW, Hellgate, UT2007, etc...and a decent(ish) GPU now will have to be replaced next year for DX10/Vista...so am trying to run down the "middle ground" area with that...the 7900 GTO does look a good card for the money...ohhhh decisions....just hate how I always end up sitting on the fence for bloody weeks... :rolleyes: :D :D
 
1SikPuppy said:
...cheers Corasik...what mobo you running dude...?? Must admit I have enough for the 6700, still unsure... :) ...at the moment I'm running a AMD64 3000+ and a XFX 6800GS on AGP so anything is liable to look pretty good...lmfao...I like a lot of others want a rig to play next years games like ET:QW, Hellgate, UT2007, etc...and a decent(ish) GPU now will have to be replaced next year for DX10/Vista...so am trying to run down the "middle ground" area with that...the 7900 GTO does look a good card for the money...ohhhh decisions....just hate how I always end up sitting on the fence for bloody weeks... :rolleyes: :D :D
Click to expand...

Go with the 6600 mate... its the best Conroe out there...if you like nVidia then just go with what you know mate :)

Stelly
 
I went for the Intel Extreme D975bx-305 975X, fantasitic motherboard, although a little pricey. Was the easiest build I've ever had. Everything just went right. The feel and quality is better than the Asus, and Abit boards I've used in the past. And the board allows up to 50% overclock, the only downside, is that its bios recovery isnt as friendly as some boards, so if you overclock too far, and the system wont boot, its a bit of a pain to get it back to defaults.

But as at the moment, everythings running stock, I love it :)
 
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