My New PC Specification (comments please)

ZebraMan

ZebraMan

ZebraMan

Associate
Joined
1 Apr 2008
Posts
10
A few weeks ago my PC monitor became defective and as I had been thinking of building my own PC for sometime I decided that now was the time to have a go.

Intentional PC use is as follows:

1. Listening to music through a hi-fi separates system. (Primary Use)
2. Photo editing/video encoding.
3. General internet/office/email functions.

Proposed specification:

• Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
• Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) – OEM
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)
• Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x1GB)
• Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
• BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) – Retail
• M-Audio Audiophile 2496 – PCI Soundcard
• x2 Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKS)
• LiteON DH-20A1S-18C 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
• Coolermaster RC-1100 Cosmos S "Sport" Silent Full Tower Case
• Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey

One of the things I’m hoping to achieve is stability with this PC as my last PC (built by a small company where I used to live) has proved to be unstable, unreliable, and problematic from day 1! I simply want a PC that just works.

Can anyone make some suggestions as to alternative components I could use or comment on whether or not I’ve made a good choice before I go ahead and order the components.

:)

ZebraMan
 
i'd drop the pc8500 memory and get 2x2gb of pc6400.

mobo wise maybe look at the p35's, something like the gigabyte ds3p, abit ip35.

maybe swap the freezer 7 for something like the tuniq tower / Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme .

screen wise maybe have a look at the ocuk/samsung 24".
 
Welcome to the forums. The Ram is rather overkill, you can get 4gb of decent PC6400 for not much more cash and it will be more than sufficient for a Q6600.

Is there any particular reason for the Nforce 750i? The main benefit to Nforce motherboards is for SLi generally and the ability to unlink the FSB and Ram speeds, they don't, however, appear to be the most stable at the moment unfortunately although future bios flashes may alter this. Something based on an Intel chipset such as the P35 (older and relatively cheap) or X38 (newer and properly supporting Crossfire - not that it is normally worthwhile for most) would be good choices.
 
mp260767 said:
i'd drop the pc8500 memory and get 2x2gb of pc6400.

mobo wise maybe look at the p35's, something like the gigabyte ds3p, abit ip35.

maybe swap the freezer 7 for something like the tuniq tower / Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme .

screen wise maybe have a look at the ocuk/samsung 24".
Click to expand...

I will be running XP (32bit) so is having anymore than 3GB of RAM pointless? I didn't think that XP would recognise any more than 3GB.

I will take a look at the alternative components though. I'm quite taken with the reviews I've seen of the Dell 24" screen but will look at your suggestions. This is my first PC build so I'm open to all advice.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Welcome to the forums. The Ram is rather overkill, you can get 4gb of decent PC6400 for not much more cash and it will be more than sufficient for a Q6600.

Is there any particular reason for the Nforce 750i? The main benefit to Nforce motherboards is for SLi generally and the ability to unlink the FSB and Ram speeds, they don't, however, appear to be the most stable at the moment unfortunately although future bios flashes may alter this. Something based on an Intel chipset such as the P35 (older and relatively cheap) or X38 (newer and properly supporting Crossfire - not that it is normally worthwhile for most) would be good choices.
Click to expand...

The reason I chose Nforce 750i was I have specified a SLi graphics card so thought that in the future I may wish to add a second card... possibly future proofing myself a little. If I went with one that only supports Crossfire I'd have to change my graphics card to an ATI card. Correct me if I'm wrong?
 
You don't have to match ATI cards with ATI chipsets or vice versa, all it means by picking the other manufacturer is that you simply can't use the dual graphics card option. Most of the time you are better to just upgrade to a newer, faster single graphics card but it is up to you.

As for Ram, 32bit Windows XP has a limit of 4gb total system Ram which would include graphics card Ram so a 512mb graphics card would give you access to roughly 3.5gb of Ram for system use.
 
looking at the mobo the tuniq should be fine, capacitors are close to the cpu socket but should be cleared by the cooler without any problems, have similar on my old gigabyte ds3p and it fits fine.

as for which one, which ever is cheapest at the time you buy tbh.
 
If you not planing to overcklock then dont bother by spending ~£30 for tuniq, even the intel cooler will be fine or buy ac 7 pro and save some £s
Another point you not gaming then get ati 3850 or 3870 they cheaper and if i remember well ppl say they're better for video. And if you deiced on p35 mobo you'll have that option for dual card setup one day.
 
bayo000 said:
If you not planing to overcklock then dont bother by spending ~£30 for tuniq, even the intel cooler will be fine or buy ac 7 pro and save some £s.
Click to expand...

based it on what hes deciding to use the system for, specifically the listening to music, fan controller makes my tuniq inaudible, obviously if the music is played loud it wont make the slightest difference :D
 
mp260767 said:
based it on what hes deciding to use the system for, specifically the listening to music, fan controller makes my tuniq inaudible, obviously if the music is played loud it wont make the slightest difference :D
Click to expand...

Making the PC quiet is an important factor for me, so the ability control fan speed would be great. Do I need a seperate piece of kit to do this or will *** Tuniq Tower come with software which will allow me to set the fan speed?
 
bayo000 is right though, there is no need for a nvidia 8800 really. OK if he's going to use a 24" monitor the higher amounts of RAM on the GFX card are going to help, but a 3850 / 3870 with 512mb would be more than enough for what he is after.
Is good for videos while allows for gaming if he should choose to.
P35 chipset or the x38 (if you wanting to spend a little more) would be a better choice than the 750i.
Any particular reason why you are getting a cosmos - thats one big case (just curious)
If you do go for a dell (and I have the 2407WFP-HC) make sure you don't get the cheaper 248WFP - you might aswell get something else if you looking at that.

Best of luck.
 
Guardsmon said:
bayo000 is right though, there is no need for a nvidia 8800 really. OK if he's going to use a 24" monitor the higher amounts of RAM on the GFX card are going to help, but a 3850 / 3870 with 512mb would be more than enough for what he is after.
Is good for videos while allows for gaming if he should choose to.
P35 chipset or the x38 (if you wanting to spend a little more) would be a better choice than the 750i.
Any particular reason why you are getting a cosmos - thats one big case (just curious)
If you do go for a dell (and I have the 2407WFP-HC) make sure you don't get the cheaper 248WFP - you might aswell get something else if you looking at that.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...

The reason I've opted for the Coolermaster Cosmos case was down to it getting a good reviews and it does look really nice. A large case may not suit everyones tastes but with space not really being an issue for me I thought I'd go for it.

I'm really only looking at the 2408WFP as a monitor from Dell. Though following people's advice earlier today I'm also now looking at Samsung screens too.

I'm really unsure now about ATI vs nvidia for the graphics card selection. I'm going to have another look at it I think before I go ahead and buy the parts.

Are the nforce 750i motherboards really unstable?
 
Btw any reason why you going for oem cpu? For litle extra you get 3 years of waranty rather than the 1 year with oem.

Dont know if you can plug more fans to the tuniq controler (didnt even know it had one ;) ) but if you after quiet pc than you might want to get fan controler that you can plug all your case fans to.
I think ac 7 pro is quiet enuff i cant hear it at all but then i got 25cm side fan. :D When i turn the side fan off i cant hear my PC running at all tho.
There are softwares that you can use to adjust your fan speeds as well.
 
bayo000 said:
Btw any reason why you going for oem cpu? For litle extra you get 3 years of waranty rather than the 1 year with oem.

Dont know if you can plug more fans to the tuniq controler (didnt even know it had one ;) ) but if you after quiet pc than you might want to get fan controler that you can plug all your case fans to.
I think ac 7 pro is quiet enuff i cant hear it at all but then i got 25cm side fan. :D When i turn the side fan off i cant hear my PC running at all tho.
There are softwares that you can use to adjust your fan speeds as well.
Click to expand...

Actually the retail version of the CPU is now the same price as the OEM version (this weeks offer) so I think I would now actually get the retail version.

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom