Help with new System

PaoloUK

PaoloUK

PaoloUK

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Joined
15 Dec 2007
Posts
126
OK, so its time for me to upgrade my PC some but I'm not the most knowledgeable. I use the PC for everything from net browsing to gaming so will be building something to handle games like CDO4 which I play a lot at the moment and Crysis (when I get round to getting it :p ) Anyway, my current system:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+
A8N-SLI Premium
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT
Thermaltake PurePower 680w PSU
1GB RAM (2 X 512mb)
SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio

I use 2 screens at the moment, a Dell CRT from way back when but it's been great all these years. The other is a SyncMaster 710v which I hate and shall be replacing very soon in the new year.

Anyway, I'm hoping to stagger the upgrade a little bit, just so money stays in the green and and I have plenty of beer money for the festive season :D

What I'm after once I'm finished is:

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI
Thermaltake PurePower 680w PSU
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)
SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio
Antec Nine Hundred Case

I'm after just general advice, I'm not going to be OC'ing it or anything as I'm clueless at it and just don't want to start playing and break things lol.

My plan was to buy the CPU, Mobo and Ram now and fit it with my GFX Card, Sound Card and PSU in my existing case then just add the new GFX and Case later on.

Thanks in advance and be gentle :p
 
overclocking is quite easy once you read the guides etc.

personally just get an arctic freezer 7 pro or a tuniq tower, and overclock that quad.

as for the gpu... i think that a GTS or a GT would be better value for money than a GTX.

if, as you say, you're staggering the buying, then i hear that there's going to be a new offering from nvidia in february.

also, welcome to the forums.

claimed.
 
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If you're completely adamant that you're not going to be doing any overclocking whatsoever, then you might as well stick with the stock cooler. Thing is though like Ben M said, overclocking is really easy once you read up on it a bit, and that cpu clocks really well as well. You should be able to get it to 3.2 Ghz with relative ease and that's better than any other Q6xxx (as far as i know anyway).

as for the gpu... i think that a GTS or a GT would be better value for money than a GTX
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Seconded. The GTS is pretty much the equivalent of a GTX and it's cheaper (and more overclockable so I've heard). Thing is though if you don't plan on playing with too much AA and not massively high resolutions, you coudl go for the GT and save yourself even more money.

One other thing, unless you're using a 64bit OS, there's no point in having 4gb of RAM, as it doesn't use it all anyway. Go for 2 gig if you're not, because I doubt you'll notice the difference unless you do lots and lots of things at the same time lol
 
I just bought the Q6600 and purchased the Arctic Freezer cooling 7 Pro cpu cooler which seems to have been very effective.

If I were you I wouldnt get the Antec 900 case but thats purely based on the fact that it is an ugly basket!!!! (Personal preferance really). That and the big side window is plastc and therefore retaining more heat.
I have just bought and am now using the Antec P182 which is a beautiful case, both visually and practicly.

If you are able to wait, it would be wise to do so when looking into th GTX graphics cards as I believe newer versions are coming out in february (somebody correct me if im wrong). If you want to buy something now you can get just as gooda 8800GT as the GTX (just 512MB instead of the 768MB).

I just bought the EVGA 8800 GT Overclocked. This comes with 10 year warranty, plus step up feature (some like it some dont, I havent tried it yet), plus it comes with a free copy of Crysis.

I dont know anything about thermaltake PSU units, I would say that 680w is a bit excesive if you are not going to be using crossfire/sli (2 GPUS').
A PSU that seems to be highly rated in these forums is the Corsair HX 520W Modular. I have also just bought this based on many valued opinons from the more experianced posters on this forum.
 
good point closeratio about the ram. I am running 32bit XP and currently running virtual server plus games and doesnt really affect the performance of my machine and im only using 2GB Ram. Saying that im looking at getting 4GB (2x2GB) 1066 when the price drops a little so I can run a couple of virtual servers at the same time. But like closeratio says, unless you gonna be doing anything heavy you can get away wih 2gb
 
OK, I've just read elsewhere about 32bit OS's not really needing 4GB. So, would this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-119-CS be ok?

Does changing the CPU cooler void warranties? If it doesn't do much for non overclocked CPU's then I should be OK with the stock one for now yea?

As I said I can wait to update the GFX card so I'll leave that till new year and see what the deal is then, although this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-041-EA looks tempting :D

I'm not looking to change the PSU, it's been fine for me and isn't that old.

Will keep checking for anyone else's views/help and will probs try and order it before Super Sunday starts tomorrow.
 
that ram will be fine but pc2-8500 isnt needed unless you plan to overclock your q6600 to over 3.6ghz, up to that speed pc2-6400 is enough assuming that the ram does not overclock at all. for the price of those, just get the 4GB kit you origanally planned.

changing the cpu cooler does not void the warranty. a better cooler will lower temps even at stock.
 
Never got round to ordering at weekend but I'm just about to, settled on:

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)
Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)
Thermaltake PurePower 680w PSU (Already Own)
SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio(Already Own)

Will decide on a case and gfx card in the new year.
 
Well I thought that, but some people seem to suggest that its better to have 2 in case one fails so you don't lose too much data but I don't know, my initial idea was to get one 500gb or 750gb as I already have a 320gb and plan to get another external in time (I do a lot of work that needs moving about).

Anyone got views on that?
 
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