Hi all, just joined need some advice

[TopGear]

Hi all

My 1st post on these forums, so hello everyone. I have been tracking the hardware scene for many years but im not what you would call a high spec enthusiast, I tend to buy something decent and keep it for a few years, I have had my current rig for about 3 years now spec below.

SPEC

550W Enermax PSU LN EG651P £87.75
Cmaster ATC-210-AX1 Blue Case £149.00

MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R S754 A64 £82.00
AMD A64 3000 s754 £149.30
Corsair Tx 1GB(2x512 3200)LLPT £159.00

ATI 9800 XT £305
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music £69.77

TDK 48x24x48 £62.12
x16 Pioneer DVD ROM IDE £34.00
Sony DRU810A 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Beige) (+ Extra Black Bezel) - Retail Box £34.05

1.44Mb Floppy Drive Samsung £5.95

Western Digital 400GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATAII/300 - OEM £74.42
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache SATAI/150 - OEM £??
Maxtor 30GB IDE £?

Whilst the pc is still of a decent speed, i do find it struggling in some of the more recent games, and does lag at times when trying to run several things at once. I was looking to upgrade before amd socket m2 but i felt it was not a worthwhile upgrade path and waited for core 2 duo, after jumping in on s754 last time around i decided to wait until core 2 had been out a while and the r600 had been released (seems to be taking forever). So now i am specing up a new pc to last me for the next 3 years, i have been doing quite a bit of reading up but some advice would be appreciated.

Looking at my current spec, i think the only thing i can rescue is the sound card, 400 gb harddrive and probably the case. I dont think the psu has the connectors for the new gfx cards and maybe i will need more than 550w.

Now this is the spec im considering

Memory
-------

I beleive pc6400 is the memory im looking at, i dont see any point in buying pc8500 memory at the moment

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit 4-4-4-12 (1.9V-2.3V)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL

possibly considering 4gb (worth while?)

GPU
---

Im looking at purchasing a direct x10 gpu, but i may wait until the x2800 is released and see what the price drop brings. I have been looking for decent comparisons of the 8800 series, more specifically does anyone know how the 2 8800 gts 320 perform in sli or 640? Is the gtx worth the extra cash over the gts, btw i play all of my games on my 19" screen at 1280 x 1024, and sometimes on my 32" sony bravia at 1360 x 768. Im not expecting the r600 to bring anything new to the market place, its probably going to be overpriced, 6 months late, heavy on power consumption and only slightly faster than a 8800 gtx imo.

CPU
---

Judging from the current crop of processors i may wait until Q2 for the 620's / 650's, however i have a few points to raise on the current chips, im looking at 6300, 6400 and 6600 in my price range, now besideds the 4meg cache and multipliers is there much difference between these chips. What i mean is if i get a 6600 and o/c it to a 3.2 would it run the same performace wise as a 6320 o/c to a 3.2 ??

Motherboard
-----------

I was considering a 680i chipset, although i probably wont be running sli so i have been considering alteratives. The 680i board i was looking at was the evga http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-EA&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=205, and the others are

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-221-AS - Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-124-AB - Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLi nForce 650
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-061-GI - Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3

some opinions on these boards?

Possible Spec 1
-------------

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit 4-4-4-12 (1.9V-2.3V)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (possibly E6320 when its released) o/c to 3.2 (hopefully)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB

£501.96 ex vat

Possible Spec 2
-------------

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit 4-4-4-12 (1.9V-2.3V)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (possibly E6320 when its released) o/c to 3.2 (hopefully)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB

£596.96 ex vat


Possible Spec 3
-------------

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit 4-4-4-12 (1.9V-2.3V)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz o/c to 3.2 (hopefully)
EVGA nForce 680 (Socket 775)
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB

£653.96 ex vat

Possible Spec 4
-------------

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit 4-4-4-12 (1.9V-2.3V)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz o/c to 3.2 (hopefully)
EVGA nForce 680 (Socket 775)
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB

£748.96 ex vat

Few questions
-------------

Am i going to see any significant difference between any of these possible specs for the difference in cost?
Is 4gb of memory worth it?
How much quicker would these specs be over my current computer?
is it possible to sli say a 320 8800 with a 640 or a gtx?
How much do you think i would get for my old pc if i sold it?
what psu for those specs from that list ? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=123&sortby=nameAsc&subid=&mfrid=289
Is the water cooling in this case any good and would it help me o/c any of those specs ? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-044-TT&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=715

thanks to anyone who contributes seems like a long post! wub

 

[MeatLoaf]

Welcome to the boards.

Spec 2 looks great.


Reuse your HDD and DVDRW but you may need a new PSU. How many amps does your current one provide on the 12v rail

Spec 1 + a new PSU would be my recommendation.

What res do you game at?

Wouldnt bother with 4Gb just yet tbh

 

[TopGear]

hi meatloaf, i do my gaming at 1280 x 1024 sometimes at 1360 x 768, and i believe my psu uses the following

"24 amps on the +12V rail, 46A on the +5V and 40A on the +3.3V. The -5, -12 and +5V standby rails are much lower rated, as usual - 1, 1 and 1.8 amps, respectively" rated at 550W

is a 8800 gtx overkill for that res?

 

[semi-pro waster]

I'd probably opt for specification 1 + a new PSU as well since an 8800GTX is likely to be overkill unless you get a screen with a higher resolution. A Corsair 520w or 620w would be my recommendations for the PSU.

I don't believe you can mix and match between wildly different cards for SLi, manufacturers might not be too important as you can normally flash the bios but if you are talking about mixing a 640mb card and a 320mb card I think it is a no go or I'd suspect that even if it did work you would only get the lower of the two specified cards for both.

The Asus P5N-E would be my choice of motherboard currently as I like Asus motherboards in general but also because it is supposed to overclock quite well, in part due to the ability to unlink the Ram with the FSB.

4gb isn't really necessary at the moment and it is one of the easiest upgrades to perform later anyway so I'd leave it right now.

I don't know how much your old system is worth, the only price checks are meant to be done in the Members Market anyway, which unfortunately you don't have access to yet.

 

[steve258]

If you intend to use this rig for 3 years without upgrading then I would personally go for Spec 2 and swap the mobo for P5N-E if you have the slightest possibility to use SLI in the future.

8800GTX is not overkill if you think that it's going to last 3 years, you may need the power of the GTX in a year's time to play all the new DX10 games at highest details, even at only 1280x1024.

im looking at 6300, 6400 and 6600 in my price range, now besideds the 4meg cache and multipliers is there much difference between these chips? What i mean is if i get a 6600 and o/c it to a 3.2 would it run the same performace wise as a 6320 o/c to a 3.2 ??

No there is no difference between different C2Ds except from multiplier and cache size, and in the case of E4300, the FSB speed. an E6320 (if I remembered it right it's a 1.86Ghz C2D with 4Mb L2) clocked at 3.2Ghz will outperform an E6600 @ 3.2Ghz since the E6320 will operate at higher FSB and RAM speed when clocked at 3.2Ghz.

Am i going to see any significant difference between any of these possible specs for the difference in cost?

There is also the option of E6600 with DS3 / P5N-E and 8800GTX, which will make the most significant difference for the cost increase.

Is 4gb of memory worth it?

Not atm I think, go for 2gb for now and get another 2Gb when you see the need later.

How much quicker would these specs be over my current computer?

A LOT QUICKER. It will blow your socks off.

is it possible to sli say a 320 8800 with a 640 or a gtx?

No, as said you can only SLI cards with the same spec, don't neccesary have to be from the same brand.

How much do you think i would get for my old pc if i sold it?

I'm not the best at estimating prices but I think £200+ for your CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, & PSU is reasonable.

what psu for those specs from that list ? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=123&sortby=nameAsc&subid=&mfrid=289

Would go for the M12 600W or the 700W if you want to SLI. Others like Corsair HX620W, Tagan TG600/700-U25 Dual Engine or the Enermax Galaxy are also worth considering.

Is the water cooling in this case any good and would it help me o/c any of those specs ? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-044-TT&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=715

WC can certainly help but a decent air cooler (Tuniq Tower, Scythe Ninja) is more than enough to handle a C2D @ 3.2Ghz.

Phew!! Hope that helps!!

 

[TopGear]

thanks steve258