New system advice

Besty77 · 20 Nov 2008 at 12:09

Hi

Im looking to build a new system and ive picked the following components from OcUK, can anyone spot any problems/improvements?

Im looking to run Fallout3, Farcry 2 etc etc at 1280*1024

** Overclocked Bundle ** Abit IP35 Pro XE Motherboard / Intel Q6600 Quad Core @ 3.20Ghz / 2GB (2x1GB) OCZ PC-8500 RAM / Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler

Gainward ATI Radeon HD 4870 "Golden Sample" 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £179.99

Thermaltake ToughPower 750W Power Supply £79.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS)

Asus DRW-20B1ST 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Rewriter (Black) - OEM

Many thanks

GM2 · 20 Nov 2008 at 16:14

Well, I'm not sure - but it seems to me you can buy the components for £324 - if you're prepared to OC yourself.

So, if it were me:

I'd get a Asus P5Q board - P45, not P35 as in bundle.
Base Q6600
4 Gb of 6400 RAM
Freezer Pro
PowerColor 4870 1024Mb (same price)
Corsair 620w PSU
Samsung F1 640 GB (better reputation at the moment and bigger for little more)
Optical

ro55o · 20 Nov 2008 at 16:40

If your only gaming at 1280*1024 then I'd go for a 4850, at that resolution a 4870 is overkill, it's more suited to 1680*1050 and 1920*1200. That should save you about £70. As said above build it yourself for less.

I'd recommend a P45 board instead of the P35, something like the Asus P5Q intel P45.

That PSU is overkill again, if you change the graphics to a 4850 then the 520W corsair PSU will be more than enough, or any other modular PSU around this power will be fine.

I'd agree with GM2, go for 4gb of ram instead and the samsung F1 HDD are great for the price.

Besty77 · 20 Nov 2008 at 20:11

Thanks a lot much appreciated, for the Asus board is the Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 ok? it has crossfire support which ill probs get eventually, seems to be a hell of a lot of P5Q edition boards!

Also im running XP and im happy with it so is there any point in going to 4gb ram? id heard that it doesnt recognise anything over 3gb?

QlimaxUK · 20 Nov 2008 at 20:18

that is true, but personnally i go for 2 GB, its more then enough to run anything and as long as your using dual channel is faster since you dont have that extra 1 gb chip off to one side causing problems

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...00C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX8500D2K2/2G the prices of ram have all been slashed over the years so i would choose this one now that you can buy any speed of DDR2 for <£30

GM2 · 20 Nov 2008 at 21:54

P5Q Pro is a great board.

Not a huge amount of point going to 4Gb until you go 64-bit, but at less than £40 for 6400, it's not a big spend. You're then ready for Vista 64 sometime in the future

520w Corsair would be plenty for this, but if you really think you might Crossfire, you might be better with either the 650w (non modular) or the 620w modular.

As ro55o also said, 4850 would do you fine and save quite a bit. You could always add another in a year or two when they're cheap

Besty77 · 22 Nov 2008 at 19:43

Thanks a lot guys, im now on my new Q6600 @3.3Ghz, i got the 4850 like you recommended and that saved me 70-80quid and im getting 13,000+ in 3D Mark06 so its all good.

cheers