New rig

[barros]

Hi guys, last time i posted i was after a rig for around £700 for a friend now i am after one for myself, budgets probably £600 but if the extra £100 will improve the rig by a high standard im willing to go upto it.

Looking at playing a lot of FPS on it but not using it for much else.

I have an idea on certain parts but not sure which manufacturers sell the best components.

Thanks
Barros

 

[stickroad]

Do you need just the base unit?

What Res will you be playing at?

Will you be doing any overclocking? Highly suggest if your not already thinking about it.

 

[barros]

Just need the base unit, and 1280 x 1024 is the max my monitor will allow.

Would also like a decent set of headphones, should i post that in the Sound city section though ?

Barros

Edit: Never overclocked before, what are the pros and cons ?

 

[Tk7]

If you take a look at the spec I have in my sig, you'd be happy with something like that.

You could use one of the new P35 chipset motherboards, and maybe something like the E6550. That cpu looks excellent value for money.

I also game at 1280x1024, and I use a 8800 GTS 320mb. It pretty much eats everything I throw at it, so i'd recommend one of those.

Overclocking nowadays is pretty simple, assuming you get decent hardware and follow the guides available. There are some stickies in the Overclocking & Cooling forum, follow those and you won't have much trouble.

The cons of overclocking aren't much to worry about, provided you follow the advice here. Worst case scenario is that you fry one of more of your components, but as long as you are careful and overclock in small steps, it should never get that far.

I'm not much for putting spec's together, but i'm sure one of the regular speccers can jump in here..

 

[Mattus]

Edit: Never overclocked before, what are the pros and cons?

Pros: normally easy, free performance, fun/interesting if you're into computers
Cons: takes time, gotta make sure it's stable, can require better cooling

Depends on your attitude TBH. I like it - my CPU's overclocked from 1866 to 3150Mhz, so I have a CPU that's faster than Intel's £600 chip which I bought for £90.

Some people don't want the hassle, though, and want something that 'just works'.

 

[barros]

Sounds like its worth doing if you get more for your money, any ideas on what makes are best for overclocking ?

Barros

 

[Mattus]

The cheaper Intel Core 2 Duos are fearsome for overclocking. My E6300 is overclocked by over 60% and that's a pretty typical overclock. You want a motherboard with the P965 or preferably P35 chipset - I like the Gigabyte DS3. Then you need some RAM... the Crucial Ballistix PC5300 overclocks very well. I've got mine running at 900Mhz from 667, and it would go further if my mobo was up to it.