new spec

Josh Mason

Josh Mason

Josh Mason

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Joined
3 Jul 2007
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11
Hi everyone, im trying to build a pc over my summer holiday. I have a budget of about £700-£900. I wont try to overclock at least for a long time. Im looking for a system that i will be able to upgrade in the near future.

It needs to be a full system, so mouse/keyboard/monitor all included. I was wondering if anyone could give me a spec for about the price range i have given. I wont be building it until August at the earliest, so i dont know if there will have been price cuts by then.

Could anyone help give me a good spec? :)
 
Had a look through overclockers main page and decided on a few things i will need...

160gb hard disk
2gb ram
vista - 64 bit worth getting?
20" monitor - interested in the dell widescreen one
New ATI 2600 range looks good, im quite into gaming so would be nice to have a decent graphics card. Not too sure about graphics card at the moment? which is worth getting?
 
Josh Mason said:
Had a look through overclockers main page and decided on a few things i will need...

160gb hard disk
2gb ram
vista - 64 bit worth getting?
20" monitor - interested in the dell widescreen one
New ATI 2600 range looks good, im quite into gaming so would be nice to have a decent graphics card. Not too sure about graphics card at the moment? which is worth getting?
Click to expand...
I saw a couple tests of 8600gt vs 2600xt and it beat it by a fair bit, The 2600XT's do have quite good performance gains in Crossfire though =/.
 
Should have everything you need:-

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
(£52.86)

Leadtek GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£234.99)

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
(£96.34)

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£18.79)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
(£17.61)

Samsung SM-206BW 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black
(£178.59)

Enermax Noisetaker 535W EG565AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU
(£58.74)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788)
(£70.49)

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail
(£61.09)

Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
(£38.76)

Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU
(£29.36)

Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 110 - Retail
(£22.31)

Total : £897.50
 
Here you go mate, this spec is brilliant for the money:

Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 160GB 1600AAJS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
(£35.24) £29.99

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£18.79) £15.99

Gigabyte GA_P35_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£93.99) £79.99

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (320-P2-E811-AR)
(£187.99) £159.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
(£70.49) £59.99

LG L204WT 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
(£170.36) £144.99

Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 - Retail
(£35.24) £29.99

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£72.84) £61.99

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Silver
(£58.74) £49.99

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
(£17.61) £14.99

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit
(£64.61) £54.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz
(£61.09) £51.99

Sub Total : £754.88
Shipping : £14.95
VAT : £134.72
Total : £904.55

Firstly, the 160GB is Western Digital, so very fast and reliable. A decent SATA DVD drive, nothing special there. The motherboard is based on the new 'P35' chipset, and so will be compatible with the new Intel 'Penryn' CPU's arriving early next year. The Graphics card is brilliant, much better than the ATI 2600 series, which aren't actually that good. I've included 64Bit Vista as it offers future compatibility, and many of the issues have been ironed out now. The monitor is 20" as requested, and is a decent LG panel. Included a decent Logitech Keyboard/Mouse combination. The Corsair PSU is the best around at the moment, and will handle anything for the next few years. The case is the best for the money and offers very good cooling and build quality. CPU cooler is very good and will allow you to overclock. The RAM is again, probably the best around and is very highly clockable. The CPU is a Core 2 Duo, and when overclocked can perform very nearly as well as the more expensive E6600. Enjoy mate.
 
Not sure if i would need such a powerful graphics card, im only playing a few strategies and World of Warcraft at the moment, although i guess i'll get a few new games soon. Would it be worth slightly downgrading the graphics card for a better processor? Had a look at some cases also, is the Antect Sonata with 500W psu worth getting?
 
The trouble is there aren't any really good midrange cards out - if you get a little cheaper graphics, it gets a lot worse in terms of performance.

e2160 IS a good processor - check out my review in the CPU forum. In general PSUs that come with cases aren't as good as separate dedicated PSUs.
 
As above, the E2160 is a brilliant CPU, and when overclocked can very nearly match the E6600. The Corsair PSU and Lian Li case is a much better option than any PSU/Case combination.
 
Back with a few more questions :)

Would it be worth getting the E4400 instead of the E2160? Does it clock better? Is it just the same chip with a bigger cache and clock speed or am i missing something? :p

Also, speaker/sound card wise, would you recommend i start by just getting speakers and running the sound from on board and later upgrading to a decent sound card?

Thanks
 
e4400 - could be good, have a look in the CPU forum, see what people are getting their chips to. Or take a punt. That 10x multi does look promising.

Soundcard - I'd start with onboard, it's quite good, perhaps upgrading to a separate card as the mood takes.
 
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