New setup - what you think?

gee3000

gee3000

gee3000

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Hi guys, been thinking about a new system upgrade for work to last me the next 3-4 years. I have the following in mind:

Total Budget: £700 +VAT +P&P
  • [CPU:] Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3ghz) - £110.89 +vat
  • [MOBO:] Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 - £81.39 +vat
  • [RAM:] G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) - £69.99 +vat
  • [GFX:] OcUK (PNY) GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-E) - £93.99 +vat
  • [CASE:] Lian Li ARMORSUIT PC-P60 - £125 +vat
  • [PSU:] Corsair TX 650W - £45.11 +vat
  • [MISC PARTS:] Please recommend..

TOTAL PRICE: £526.37 (+vat and postage)

I will be keeping my current 80gb and 500gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10's.

Please offer recommendations for missing parts for this system and also anything which may be worth upgrading in order to make the system last me 4 years.
I plan to overclock as much as possible to get best performance!

Note: Please consider and provide prices without VAT.
Note: Some prices mentioned above are from other suppliers :)

Much appreciated,
Gee.

PS. I made a thread a couple of weeks ago but it just completely lost me :| so sorry for repost!
 
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get 2gb of ram or 4gb if using 64bit vista and an 8800gt.

2gb and the 8800 will come to around £150

dont waste your time with water cooling due to your budget just make sure you have an inlet fan and exhaust and consider a sound card if you have the money (search forums for opinions, its on there)

also dont get a raptor for your setup im guessing its a general purpose rig and you will never notice the difference (apart from your empty wallet and full hdd)

also get a corsair 650w its cheaper and all you need, and do you really need an 8400? why not over clock a 2 series.
 
Thanks for your advice!

- I found the Corsair TX 650W you suggested for £53 inc. vat & free delivery! :)
--- What is the difference between 'modular' and non?
- I scrapped the water cooling and 10k hdd plans :)

Can you please be more specific on which ram would be best? I would like to overclock this system as much as possible.

- Which RAM would you recommend for a budget of £100.00?

Also, I already bought a PNY 8800GT from OcUK (£93.99 +vat & postage) but was considering returning/selling it to buy a better card (gts, gtx, oc?? i'm clueless lol) even at more cost. The card is 100% unused as it doesn't fit my current 4 year old mobo :P So if anyone wants to buy it off me - £90.00 + postage.

- Which graphics card would you recommend for a budget of £150.00?

I decided to go with the E8400 as I heard it was a good overclocker (starting at 3ghz). Any reason not to get it? My main aim is performance in general use and gaming :D

Thanks a lot.
 
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Modular just means you only plug in cables into the PSU that you need thus potentially reducing the mess inside the case.

Card is fine if you ask me and you won't get much better for £150 budget.

As for RAM there's a whole world of choices and you won't need the £100, just get a decent set of 6400 with low timings and enjoy.
 
Thanks a lot mr_x_plosion.

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)

I was wondering, would that ram give me optimum performance with overclocking? or is there any ram which would perform better oc'd?

Also, 2gb or 4gb?
I don't know the advantages/disadvantages of 64bit over 32bit, and guess I would have to get 64bit cpu and os to take advantage of the 4gb ram?
-- EDIT: Sorry, just realised the E8400 is 64bit, and apparently there is no reason to install anything 32bit. So I guess I'll be getting 64bit vista, and will get the ram you recommended.
 
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Yea you may aswell get 4Gb, also with it being 2x2Gb sticks you will have room to go up to 8Gb if you feel the need in the future.

That RAM will allow you plenty of headroom, I would imagine you will have no problem getting up to 4Ghz with that set-up.
 
Great, I've modified the first post to reflect the 8800 GT and the G Skill ram. Thanks a lot for your help.

Now, what sort of overclock could I get out of this system? :D and what would be the best way of going about it?
 
Will you be having an after market cooler too? On stock cooling i'm not sure how far you would get. Best to have a read around and see what others have got out of that chip, not clocked one myself.

Look at Thermalright, Scythe, Tuniq and Noctua for good coolers.
 
From past experience stock coolers have been too noisy and inefficient at their job. I currently have a Zalman CNPS9500 LED on my P4 Prescott.
» http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=160

The website claims it will fit a core 2 duo, but would it fit my new setup? Or would you recommend another CPU cooler? I've been recommended the Tuniq Tower before, so may go for this.

What sort of overclocking can I achieve with this system and a Tuniq Tower cpu cooler?

Many thanks :)
 
I was going to reconsider the PSU for a modular one (25 quid more) but since my case won't have a window, I don't have to worry about how the wires look as long as they're neatly out of the way for airflow ^_^

Perfect, I will try my Zalman cooler - so I guess I'm ready to order :D
Anyone else have any comments or suggestions on this system? I'd really rather get and would appreciate as many opinions as I can get :)

Ps. **** have a finance scheme whereby I can pay £30 deposit for the mobo, cpu and psu and pay the balance in 9 months ;D
 
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Get Tuniq Tower for cooler,
I dont think you will need PC8000 ram as well, PC6400 will do the job more than fine.
You will probably need to underclock it anyways since you wont be getting over 500fsb which it has on stock.

I would get modular PSU as well. Apart from that rest looks fine.
 
I will check how my Zalman performs first, if not good enough I will order a Tuniq Tower :)

Sorry I'm a dumbass and don't understand what you mean about the ram! Underclock? >.< I'm hoping to achieve 4ghz.

Is modular really worth the extra money? Any other benefits apart from neatness?

Thanks :)
 
gee3000 said:
I was going to reconsider the PSU for a modular one (25 quid more) but since my case won't have a window, I don't have to worry about how the wires look as long as they're neatly out of the way for airflow ^_^

Perfect, I will try my Zalman cooler - so I guess I'm ready to order :D
Anyone else have any comments or suggestions on this system? I'd really rather get and would appreciate as many opinions as I can get :)

Ps. **** have a finance scheme whereby I can pay £30 deposit for the mobo, cpu and psu and pay the balance in 9 months ;D
Click to expand...

m8 your gonna have to edit out the competitor name
 
gee3000 said:
I will check how my Zalman performs first, if not good enough I will order a Tuniq Tower :)

Sorry I'm a dumbass and don't understand what you mean about the ram! Underclock? >.< I'm hoping to achieve 4ghz.

Is modular really worth the extra money? Any other benefits apart from neatness?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

underclocking will happen automatically, dont worry about that, and hes correct get PC6400.

the tuniq tower would be much better, but it makes quite a bit of noise. so i recomend the the equally better but deadly silent noctua NH-U12P.

also jsut for curiosity, why should prices be w.o vat?
 
Considering your suggestions for a modular psu and pc6400 ram, please advise on the following?-

Modular PSURAM
PC6400 as recommended. Choices choices..@ shaffaaf27: Sorry, edited :) I will definitely keep the Noctua NH-U12P in mind, but later. I prefer prices without VAT because that's all that will be going out of my pocket at the end of the day (once I claim back the VAT).
 
one can claim back vat :o (living off island;):D)

as for PSU, if you can stretch to it, try and get the corsair HX520.
if you want 8GB ram get two of the first g.skill set you posted
 
8GB was just a consideration as it was available for a pretty low price :)

Any particular reason for your PSU suggestion? I'd want something quiet if possible.

And yes, one can claim back vat paid on most business expenses :)

Thanks ^_^
 
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