Won't be able to hold onto the current rig for much longer, so I have to build a home pc almost starting almost from scratch. I want the most powerful rig for the money that I can overclock on air, and is reasonably quiet too.
So far I have ordered a Dell 2407FWP - had to go 24" as it is for tv/dvd as well as gaming and need the connectivity. Used the 2405 before so know what to expect and not bothered about banding as using it in desktop mode.
I will also be hanging onto the stuff I already own which is pretty much top drawer - Logitech 5500 5.1's,G5 mouse,Saitkek II keybard ,Seagate 750gig 7200.10, Nec 18x 7170A DVDRW,Gigabyte 7950GX2.
Plus I have already decided I will get an 8800 next month so will be selling my 7950GX2 when the time comes.
That leaves me to buy case, psu, fans, cpu, memory, and motherboard. Not too bad. I have a budget of almost 1900 quid just for these items. And will be getting the lot from OcUK in a single purchase this week.
So here are my thoughts :
Case : Akasa Mirage 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU (CA-017-AK) £98.64
plus Akasa Eclipse 62 Thermally Advanced Side Panel (CA-016-AK) £23.44
Comment : Had the Eclipse before and agree with peoples comments about it being the best air cooled case out there. Prefer the look of the Lian-Li's but the Akasa is the easiest to work on and the simplest for cooling - 1 fan in, 1 fan out.
PSU : Seasonic M12 Modular 700W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-007-SS) £146.86
OR
Enermax Galaxy 1000W EGA1000EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU (CA-029-EN) £205.61
Comment : The Enermax seems to have messier cabling compared to the Seasonic over having a no. of molex and sata connectors hard wired on, and only has 3 pci-e connectors versus the Seasonics 4 pci-e. However I will be going to an 8800 next month, and presumably a 2nd one at some stage when the 590 mobos hit. So I supposed I would need the 1000w.
CPU : Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme Edition X6800 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-130-IN) £693.24
OR
Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-129-IN) £370.11
Comment : Not sure if E6700 will achieve same overclock as way more expensive extreme
Memory : G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-8000 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-010-GS) £358.36
OR
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS) £205.61
Comment : From what I have read on these forums the 6400's have the same IC's as the 8000's. Can they reach 400mhz though ? And would the 8000's overclock to this with better timings ?
Motherboard : Intel Extreme D975bx-305 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-010-IN) £170.36
Comment : After reading lots on these forums this seems to be the most stable of all with no reboot issues over 400mhz, and with the conductive paint mod allows a lot of oveclocking. Of course if the 590 mobos were out I would at least be guaranteed sli would be an option.
CPU Heatsink : Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR) £21.14
OR
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
Comment : Not sure about clearance issues with the Ninja on the Intel Bad Axe especially blocking the first 2 dimms sockets. Also have heard stories of people receiving theirs scratched up. Had no issues at all with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro in the past.
FANS : 2 X Scythe S-FLEX 1200RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 pin (FG-004-SY) £12.87
mounted with
Acousti Ultra-Soft Arrowhead Fan Mounts - 8 Pack (FG-001-AF) £3.47
Comment : I find ambers too noisy and too buzzy when 7volted. And the Scythe 800rpm's don't put out enough airflow. Neither do Nexus or SilentX. So settled on the 1200rpm Scythes
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
So far I have ordered a Dell 2407FWP - had to go 24" as it is for tv/dvd as well as gaming and need the connectivity. Used the 2405 before so know what to expect and not bothered about banding as using it in desktop mode.
I will also be hanging onto the stuff I already own which is pretty much top drawer - Logitech 5500 5.1's,G5 mouse,Saitkek II keybard ,Seagate 750gig 7200.10, Nec 18x 7170A DVDRW,Gigabyte 7950GX2.
Plus I have already decided I will get an 8800 next month so will be selling my 7950GX2 when the time comes.
That leaves me to buy case, psu, fans, cpu, memory, and motherboard. Not too bad. I have a budget of almost 1900 quid just for these items. And will be getting the lot from OcUK in a single purchase this week.
So here are my thoughts :
Case : Akasa Mirage 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU (CA-017-AK) £98.64
plus Akasa Eclipse 62 Thermally Advanced Side Panel (CA-016-AK) £23.44
Comment : Had the Eclipse before and agree with peoples comments about it being the best air cooled case out there. Prefer the look of the Lian-Li's but the Akasa is the easiest to work on and the simplest for cooling - 1 fan in, 1 fan out.
PSU : Seasonic M12 Modular 700W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-007-SS) £146.86
OR
Enermax Galaxy 1000W EGA1000EWL ATX2.2 Modular PSU (CA-029-EN) £205.61
Comment : The Enermax seems to have messier cabling compared to the Seasonic over having a no. of molex and sata connectors hard wired on, and only has 3 pci-e connectors versus the Seasonics 4 pci-e. However I will be going to an 8800 next month, and presumably a 2nd one at some stage when the 590 mobos hit. So I supposed I would need the 1000w.
CPU : Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme Edition X6800 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-130-IN) £693.24
OR
Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-129-IN) £370.11
Comment : Not sure if E6700 will achieve same overclock as way more expensive extreme
Memory : G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-8000 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-010-GS) £358.36
OR
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS) £205.61
Comment : From what I have read on these forums the 6400's have the same IC's as the 8000's. Can they reach 400mhz though ? And would the 8000's overclock to this with better timings ?
Motherboard : Intel Extreme D975bx-305 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-010-IN) £170.36
Comment : After reading lots on these forums this seems to be the most stable of all with no reboot issues over 400mhz, and with the conductive paint mod allows a lot of oveclocking. Of course if the 590 mobos were out I would at least be guaranteed sli would be an option.
CPU Heatsink : Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR) £21.14
OR
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) £35.24
Comment : Not sure about clearance issues with the Ninja on the Intel Bad Axe especially blocking the first 2 dimms sockets. Also have heard stories of people receiving theirs scratched up. Had no issues at all with the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro in the past.
FANS : 2 X Scythe S-FLEX 1200RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 pin (FG-004-SY) £12.87
mounted with
Acousti Ultra-Soft Arrowhead Fan Mounts - 8 Pack (FG-001-AF) £3.47
Comment : I find ambers too noisy and too buzzy when 7volted. And the Scythe 800rpm's don't put out enough airflow. Neither do Nexus or SilentX. So settled on the 1200rpm Scythes
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Last edited:
