New / Spec

[Senor-Cojones]

Hey there,

Have only just registered, so am a first time poster, but have been viewing the site for a while now. Seems that (almost) everyone makes a 'check my spec' post, so thought Id join the club! Basically I need a new system for uni- Im going to start my second year doing Games Design, so need something that is pretty future-proof and can handle the latest games. Not going to think about overclocking it until at least after xmas, as Im hoping to do an upgrade to the 9800 (if its out) and also upgrade to water cooling. Another thing- Im trying to make it as silent as possible (i.e. fans on low) Have thought about buying the following but just wondered peoples opinions. Have about a £2000 budget but am willing to stretch if entirely necessary.


-Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink (Socket AM2/LGA775)
£27.99 (£32.89)
-Linksys WMP55AG Dual-Band Wireless A+G PCI Adapter
£6.99 (£8.21)
-SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition
£39.99 (£46.99)
-Razer DeathAdder Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail
£34.99 (£41.11)
-Everglide Titan Monster Gaming Mat
£11.30 (£13.28)
-Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard - Red
£21.99 (£25.84)
-Enermax Infiniti 720W EIN720AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
£109.99 (£129.24)
-Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
£71.99 (£84.59)
-Thermalright HR-05 SLI Chipset Cooler
£13.99 (£16.44)
-2x Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
£23.98 (£28.18)
-2x Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM
£229.98 (£270.22)
-OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM
£269.99 (£317.24)
-G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-6400C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
£149.99 (£176.24)
-Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£16.99 (£19.96)
-BFG nForce 680i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£129.99 (£152.74)
-Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
£5.99 (£7.04)
-Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
£159.99 (£187.99)
-Samsung SM-226BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black
£199.99 (£234.99)
-Thermalright HR-03-PLUS (8800 GTX) VGA Cooler
£31.99 (£37.59)

Sub Total : £1,558.10
Shipping : £54.95
VAT : £282.28
Total : £1,895.33


I think it sounds good but just curious on peoples opinions, and also if all the components will fit together nicely and be 'future-proof' until entirely necessary to upgrade (i.e. not being able to get 30+fps out of whatever game).

Cheers Hope to be posting again soon
Senor-Cojones

 

[Senor-Cojones]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

I was considering one of the P35 boards but wasnt 100% sure about it- the main reason I chose the 680i was basically all down to the amount of pci-e slots really (I was considering sli/physx/etc- but obviously with 4 cores and a single gtx ill do fine).

So ill change to the;

-Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £124.99 (£146.86)

Still wanting the raptors- its more of an ego thing Want to be in games a few secs before everyone else lol but that said it is a substantial saving by changing them!

Not amazingly convinced by Vista at all at the min (until sp1) so i think thatll come in on the xmas upgrade

Monitor wise... tbh at the min im on a (barely) 15 inch monitor, so anything bigger is going to be amazing for me... which 24 inch monitors would you recommend though?

Once again thanks for the prompt reply

 

[Senor-Cojones]

Im amazed at the knowledge base of this community (especially at this time of night! )

Youve definately made me reconsider things- and I think this new spec is actually a lot better than before!

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £74.99
(£88.11) £74.99
(£88.11)
Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £369.99
(£434.74) £369.99
(£434.74)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink (Socket AM2/LGA775) Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink (Socket AM2/LGA775) £27.99
(£32.89) £27.99
(£32.89)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £59.99
(£70.49) £119.98
(£140.98)
Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £124.99
(£146.86) £124.99
(£146.86)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £57.99
(£68.14) £115.98
(£136.28)
SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Razer DeathAdder Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail Razer DeathAdder Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail £34.99
(£41.11) £34.99
(£41.11)
Everglide Titan Monster Gaming Mat Everglide Titan Monster Gaming Mat £11.30
(£13.28) £11.30
(£13.28)
Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard - Red Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard - Red £21.99
(£25.84) £21.99
(£25.84)
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) £71.99
(£84.59) £71.99
(£84.59)
Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin £11.99
(£14.09) £23.98
(£28.18)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £269.99
(£317.24) £269.99
(£317.24)
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99
(£7.04)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £159.99
(£187.99) £159.99
(£187.99)
Thermalright HR-03-PLUS (8800 GTX) VGA Cooler Thermalright HR-03-PLUS (8800 GTX) VGA Cooler £31.99
(£37.59) £31.99
(£37.59)

Sub Total : £1,523.11
Shipping : £24.95
VAT : £270.91
Total : £1,818.97

cant be bothered to format it all correctly again (might edit in the morning) but basically theres better components and the 24inch monitor.

I dont mind you totally redoing my spec- I know a fair amount about computers, but I have no idea when it comes down to value for money and overclocking!

The main reason I chose the third party cooler for the gtx was that I would be able to have it silent, or with a low speed fan attached- as im a bit hesitant with any stock cooling.

2 questions tho- does anybody know if the 120-ultra will clear the in built cooling on the above p35 mobo? and... the p35 mobo comes with 'wireless' installed- but its a bit vague, will it just allow me to connect to a router to access the net or will i need to buy a wireless nic?

cheers guys goodnight!

 

[Senor-Cojones]

Ok so Ive had a serious think about things and ive now come up with this;


Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty 7.1 Champion Series Soundcard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller (XP/Vista Compatible)
Akasa All-In-One 21 Function Panel (Black) - Retail
Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black)
Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin x2
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Heatsink (Socket 754/939/940/LGA775)
Linksys WMP55AG Dual-Band Wireless A+G PCI Adapter
Samsung SM-245B 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition
Razer DeathAdder Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail
Everglide Titan Monster Gaming Mat
Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard - Red
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
Thermalright HR-05 SLI Chipset Cooler
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Thermalright HR-03-PLUS (8800 GTX) VGA Cooler
Gigabyte GA_P35_DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Sub Total : £1,633.06
Shipping : £54.95
VAT : £295.40
Total : £1,983.41

Ive chosen the Samsung 24 inch monitor as I play a lot of FPS games (Unreal/CS:S) and Ive heard that the Dell can have trouble with FPS games- can anyone confirm that?

Is the 120-ultra likely to clear the cooling on the mobo? If it is then I can remove the Northbridge cooler.

Do people think that this spec is coming together and near enough perfect in terms of value for money and 'future-proofing' (to an extent)?

Any advice and new/changes to the spec would be most welcome. Once again thanx guys

 

[Senor-Cojones]

I already have windows xp- and am not planning to upgrade to Vista until after sp1... so havent included that as yet, but its definitely a future upgrade so I can dual boot.

I think quite a lot of the price actually comes from peripherals and items like that- as I notice a fair few specs on the forums dont usually include them (but I need a whole new system)

the ds4.... is the only difference from the ds3 the cooling?

Im open to all ideas and want to save money as well as have a computer that will last me for a fair while (altho my next upgrades are likely to be water cooling, 9800gtx, vista and penryn- not necessarily in that order and not necessarily too soon either)

thanks for the input

 

[Senor-Cojones]

Thanks

I did actually add in 4gigs- but forgot to put that when I was posting it lol-

Ok... im convinced- vista, dual booting with xp- to be honest actually I never realised it was as cheap as that for vista. And also the Dell monitor.

Added the cooler for the GTX as I liked the idea of having it running without a fan (although I was going to buy a fan just in case) as I wasnt sure of the noise of the stock fan- but have since removed it from my spec. If its that much of a problem for me I can always buy one later!

I think your latest spec stickroad is near perfect and what Im likely to be buying then!

Sorry for all these posts, just want to make sure Im getting the best I can

btw... I am crazy