New Rig

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 01:33

Hey everyone, hope you are all well....

I'm hoping soon to be getting myself a new rig. I've had my current one for a long time now, so will be getting a new up to date one for Vista, and one which will also last another few years.

I'm hopefully going to be getting a Dell 2407WFP monitor, and some Logitech Z-10 speakers to go with my Saitek Eclipse 2 keyboard, Logitech MX518 mouse, Creative X-Fi Soundcard and Enermax Liberty 500w PSU which I already own as well as the usual DVD-RW and FDD.

So I'm looking for a CPU, Motherboard, Memory and Graphics card.

On the OC site, I've been looking at the bundle compromising of Intel Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6600 2.40GHz Retail, MSI 975X PowerUP Edition and 2GB Corsair PC2-6400C4 DDR2 Dual Channel Kit.
How does this rate? I won't really be overclocking so I'm looking for good performance straight from the box.

As for graphics card, I've been looking at the Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express). All the GTS spec's look very similar so I was picking this as its had good reviews and mid range price.

I look forward to your replies and opinions, if you can give me your honest opinions I would appreciate it as I would like this PC to perform really well and last a few years as well as not being OTT on price.

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 08:08

masslac said:
Add a good after market CPU cooler and it'll also over clock really nicely should you change your mind about looking into that.

How does the Intel P965 chipset perform? Would it be last, or would it be worthwhile in spending a little extra to get the 975X on the MSI board?
Seeing as I've had my current set up for so long I've gone a bit out of touch with the chipsets etc..

Also will my 500W PSU be able to cope with a C2D and a 8800GTS?

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 10:20

mishima said:
Its a Enermax Liberty 500w PSU, hidden in the original post I think its up to powering the system, especially if you haven't got any overclocking planned. Enermax are excellent PSUs!

thanks you beat me to posting it....at least it should be able to cope. Its relatively new and I have been impressed with it.

At least I know I'm not the only person posting and looking on these forums so early in the morning.

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 11:14

mishima said:
I saw some cops chasing some chavs in a car too on the way back, they zoomed past me and then the copper was on his tail, they were bombing it!!

Coffee on the go!! that looks so nice...

Not to turn the topic into a anti-chav rant, but that sounds typcical of chavs, dont suppose there were in a Nova or something really badly modified?

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 14:22

the faitful chaved up nova's, uninsured, cheap body kit and burberry peaked caps...not that i dislike chavs or anything lol

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 22:47

But anyway....any more advice regarding my original post?

Willbo · 13 Mar 2007 at 23:49

no worries, any excuse to have a dig at some lovely people

thanks for all your help, should be ordering towards the end of the week.
another question....the Logitech Z-10 speakers are connected via USB? Do they still require a sound card? I read one review and they never mentioned it, they only mentioned connected by USB but surely that cant be right

Willbo · 14 Mar 2007 at 17:11

Well I've ordered the Dell 24" TFT, and I've just bought the Logitech Z-10 speakers for my new setup to go with my Akasa Eclipse Case, Enermax 500W PSU, Saitek Eclipse 2 keyboard, Logitech MX518 mouse and Creative X-Fi Soundcard from my existing pc.

Obviously depending on whats on offer tomorrow, but I am decided on CPU, the C2D 6600.

As for the rest, I'm still not quite sure what memory or mobo, as I would like a mobo which is the 965 chipset seeing as people recommend this more than the 975. But i would also like a mobo which is compatabile with bore dual core and quad core for future use, unless someone says this isnt necessary. I've been recommended the Asus P5B, but i've also been looking at the Asus P5B-E Plus and the Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650.

As for memory, I'm favoring the GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz. I've only heard good about it, but what about the PC8000 stuff? Is that only really for machines which will be OC'ed?

Graphics card, I will probably sell my X1900 XT and use the money I get to help purchase a 8800 GTS. Either the BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail version or the Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail. Is there any real difference between the two?

Willbo · 14 Mar 2007 at 22:59

Commando seems good, but a bit too expensive for me really. Am leaning towards the Asus P5B Deluxe at the moment, along with the Geil 2gb kit which was recommended to me earlier, seeing as the PC8000 memory is a big step up in cost.

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 00:43

So thanks to all your help, especially yours Mishima, I've decided on C2D 6600, Asus P5B Deluxe and 2GB of GeIL PC2-6400 Memory.

Final question, how does the stock CPU Cooler rate? If its quite quiet and good at cooling I might leave replacing it with the Scythe Ninja for the time being.

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 01:03

Well the way I'm thinking now as well, my brains kicking into gear, and I'm holding fire on the graphics card. I'm going to wait til the R600 cards and DX10, and then get a new card then. I'm building a PC which I want to last a fair while, so instead of buying an 8800 now, I think I'm going to do the good thing and wait for a bit longer to see how things pan out. Besides I'm sure my X1900 XT 512MB can cope for another month or so. I know my bank balance will.

So I probably will get the Ninja now seeing as I've put off buying a new GFX card, especially if it does make such a big difference on noise levels. Is the fan included? Will it fit OK into my case (Akasa Eclipse)?

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 10:55

Just had a look at your review! Very cool! Does it not have a fan with it? just looked at the installed picture and couldnt see one, how quiet is it?

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 13:02

mishima said:
Yeah it comes with a Noctua S12:

It's very quiet, I can barely hear it its my case fans that are making the only noise in my system really!

sure looks good, nice and big too

should make use of the size of the eclipse case

how does it fit to the board & cpu? just standard? i'm new to the intel lga sockets as I've been an AMD person for the last 5years

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 13:24

Well I'm waiting to see what weekly offers OC have, but havent seen them yet. So will probably be ordering tomorrow now, but I'm going with......

Intel Core 2 Duo 6600
Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard
2GB of GeIL PC2-6400 Memory
Noctua NH-U12F CPU Cooler
QPAD XT-R Gaming Surface Mouse Mat
150gb Western Digital Raptor (maybe)

To go with my current parts....

Dell 24" Widescreen TFT
Akasa Eclipse Case
Enermax Liberty 500w PSU
Creative X-Fi Soundcard
DVD-R/W & Floppy
Saitek Eclipse 2 Keyboard
Radeon X1900 XT 512MB Graphics card (keeping this until the next wave of DX10 cards come out)
Logitech Z-10 Speakers

Willbo · 15 Mar 2007 at 16:42

Am only thinking about the 150Gb Raptor as a fast boot drive. I currently have a 160Gb Samsung as my boot drive and a 200Gb Seagate as my backup (which vanishes in Windows and is unable to delete some folders) So I was tempted to get a Raptor as boot drive and move Samsung to back up.

Appreciate your advice and opinions. Its nice to have something which isnt as main stream and with the trend as you say. Thanks for the help you've given me so far