New Build Help Required

8ball2253 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:24

Hi there everyone,

I just need some help on a new build. I'm off to uni this september to hopefully study medicine and I need a new PC for the 13 week holiday i have now, then as my main source of entertainment for movies games etc at uni. I also need it to be small(ish) size and not too loud when running under load.

I have a budget of around £600 (ideal, can stretch to £650) and would like this PC to be able to run COD 4 at max 1680 x 1050 and FSX at max/ultra at the same resolution, with a comfortable FPS, 20fps+

I also need this PC to have lots of processing power, so I'd most likely go for the Q6600 at stock speeds (no overclocking) and an aftermarket cooler.

I had this build in mind

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler
Asus P5Q PRO P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Reaper Memory HPC Edition Dual Channel
Asus HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 Top Edition Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card With Free Battle Forge Game While Stocks Last
Casecom Black Mid Tower Case - Front Blue LED 120mm Fan - With Side Window
Arctic Power 500W PSU With PCI-E 2x SATA, 20+4 ATX12V 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail Boxed
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
Microsoft Wireless Black Optical Desktop 1000 - USB - Keyboard and Optical Mouse

Comes to £645 inc next day delivery

Any help please? Comments/improvements on the chosen build.

I'm welcome to any suggestions on a brand new build

Thank you!

Sparx · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:30

I'd remove your image, or try the correct etailer's forums your looking at!.. You can't advertise other etailers on here, and we all know were that's from..

But if you give me a moment I'll try spec you a rig on Overclockers here..

Plec · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:33

If you can stretch to £650 i would upgrade to a better quality PSU - Corsair would be a good alternative.

goujon945 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:35

Welcome to the forum!

Im not sure displaying a basket from another store is a wise idea mind you! The graphics card is overkill imo, i would get a 1gb 4870 for about half the price and get a better case or PSU or both. Ive bought a couple of cheapo cases before and always regretted it after a month or so

Tbh im not sure investing in a high end skt 775 rig is wise. With the socket being pretty much eol i would go for an AMD rig. Maybe a X2 720 with a 790GX/FX/X mobo.

8ball2253 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:38

It seems to me intel perform better at gaming on FSX and COD4. Or maybe i've been mistaken?

I also invested in that motherboard because i couldnt seem to find a 1033mhz FSB with ram support for the 1066mhz dual channel. plus Asus have been very good experiences for me

Sparx · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:38

This seems pretty good to me..

By the way, just a note - I'm not sure if your aware or not but you have no optical drive (CD/DVD) in there? Unless your using one you already have?

You've also got the option of paying another £20 or £30 whatever it is to go from the 4870 to 4890 but I can't justify the price different for a few FPS mind you..

I also went for a more nicer 'gaming' orientated mouse and keyboard for you than the ****ty M$ wireless combo crap you picked.

Just under your budget! Hope this helps..

goujon945 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:43

^^ Pretty good spec

I still wouldnt spend £230 on an eol mobo and cpu tho. Maybe try to source them 2nd hand - Q6600, P35 are cheap these days if Intel is a must.

8ball2253 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:43

Sparx said:
This seems pretty good to me..

By the way, just a note - I'm not sure if your aware or not but you have no optical drive (CD/DVD) in there? Unless your using one you already have?

You've also got the option of paying another £20 or £30 whatever it is to go from the 4870 to 4890 but I can't justify the price different for a few FPS mind you..

I also went for a more nicer 'gaming' orientated mouse and keyboard for you than the ****ty M$ wireless combo crap you picked.

Just under your budget! Hope this helps..

That rig looks killer. Mind you i do prefer a wireless keyboard and mouse because it frees up desk space at uni. Yep my old PC (custom build 2 years ago) died on me a few weeks ago, so ive got an old samsung DVDRW (IDE however...) i can whack into this

would this rig do well at COD4 at 1680x1050 and give me a nice experience at FSX (considering i play FS04 at full, something that looks better than that would do it for me haha)

sorry just a quick question. i know quad core is futureproofing, but for gaming and movies etc. can a E8400 do the job?

goujon945 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:48

8ball2253 said:
sorry just a quick question. i know quad core is futureproofing, but for gaming and movies etc. can a E8400 do the job?

Yup an E8400 would do that but with not much in it price wise i would get the quad. Tbh any recent cpu could do that, AMD and Intel are pretty much equal in terms of gaming performace but Intel is faster for encoding.

And that spec would easily max out COD4 at 1680x1050, cant comment about FSX though

Sparx · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:50

You'd have no problems playing at max settings on CoD4 and I'm quite positive FSX could do the job too with that rig, even with an E8400 as well - however there's only a £4 difference between the E8400 and Q6700 at OcUK unless you have one spare, second hand or from a friend cheap or something? But the HD4890 is more than enough for those games..

As for the mouse/keyboard - well I'm not a fan of wireless 'nor do I have much knowledge on the best wireless combo for them so if you really want too - just take out the mouse and keyboard I suggested and just go for a wireless combo of your choice, however you won't beat a good wired gaming mouse/keyboard - but that is ultimately your own personal choice so do as you please ! Haha..

The mouse/keyboard did cover £49.98 of that anyway and I know you can get a wireless combo for about £30/£40 so yeah.

8ball2253 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:51

goujon945 said:
Yup an E8400 would do that but with not much in it price wise i would get the quad. Tbh any recent cpu could do that, AMD and Intel are pretty much equal in terms of gaming performace but Intel is faster for encoding.

And that spec would easily max out COD4 at 1680x1050, cant comment about FSX though

seeing as though Q6600 has been phased out by these new 45nm processors, which is the best quad that would futureproof me enough for the next 5-6 years of uni?

thanks for the help so far guys, appreciate it.

i do have an AMD 6000+ in the rig that mysteriously died on me, with a 2 year old asrock agp mobo and new 2gb ram. i really dont know what happened. one day i turned it on, after 30 seconds it goes off again. turn it on again its off by 5 seconds. no idea- could be cooling perhaps but ive never had cooling issues, the side is open all the time

cmndr_andi · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:56

This Q9550 is only £40 more and is a faster 45nm chip - so it will give you better performance in CPU bound tasks, but the q6700 is a very capable processor even though it is 65nm.

As for futureproofing for 5-6 years - I don't think even a top end i7 rig can last that long and play contemporary games well. If you want to do that get the q6700, save the £40 and put it towards an upgrade 3 years down the line.

Sparx · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:56

8ball2253 said:
seeing as though Q6600 has been phased out by these new 45nm processors, which is the best quad that would futureproof me enough for the next 5-6 years of uni?

thanks for the help so far guys, appreciate it.

i do have an AMD 6000+ in the rig that mysteriously died on me, with a 2 year old asrock agp mobo and new 2gb ram. i really dont know what happened. one day i turned it on, after 30 seconds it goes off again. turn it on again its off by 5 seconds. no idea- could be cooling perhaps but ive never had cooling issues, the side is open all the time

Well, lasting 5-6 years is a tough one, because no CPU really will, haha.. But to prolong it, the best for a Socket 775, I'd go for the Q9550.. Quite cheap nowadays it seems and it is on the This Week Only offer as well conveniently for you if you order soon!

How's this? Including the Q9550 and your diabolical wireless ****, haha..

8ball2253 · 18 Jun 2009 at 23:59

Sparx said:
Well, lasting 5-6 years is a tough one, because no CPU really will, haha.. But to prolong it, the best for a Socket 775, I'd go for the Q9550.. Quite cheap nowadays it seems and it is on the This Week Only offer as well conveniently for you if you order soon!

How's this? Including the Q9550 and your diabolical wireless ****, haha..

haha that pc looks awesome. i just remembered my mums taking my laptop when i go uni and ive got a wireless keyboard and mouse for that so ill use that. in that case that rig goes down to 620ish. shame i wont be ordering this week though

any idea on how high the q9550 would go to?

and before anyone asks i prefer working on desktops to laptops, and that laptop really wont cut it as my only source of games/movies at uni

Sparx · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:01

It will only be £179.98, it's only another tenner! That's nothing.. Not too bad if you ask me - so I wouldn't worry..

When exactly are you ordering?

No probs.

8ball2253 · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:07

well i am either ordering 2 weeks from now, and am debating this:

should i order it run it on my copy of xp i used on my other pc or
order a pc when windows 7 is released- benefit from windows 7 and reduced component prices.

i hate vista.

goujon945 · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:09

Or use the Win 7 RC untill the retail version is released?

8ball2253 · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:11

is it stable enough to run as a main operating system with games/office and stuff?

im especially concerned with drivers for all these new components im whacking in

goujon945 · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:12

I think so. There is a huge thread on here abut it

Sparx · 19 Jun 2009 at 00:13

Yes, definately. The drivers are perfectly fine and suitable - hell the majority of Vista drivers work. I've been running the Win 7 RC 7100 since it was released.. It's rock solid, not had a single problem with driver issues, running games, reliability or a crash or BSOD.. It's stunning, haha. Much better than Vista ever was on release.

Use the free RC release!