Please help me get this systems specs bang on :-)

Brook · 5 Jan 2007 at 04:30

I was hoping you guys could help me get my next system all spec'd up and sorted :-)

Apologies for this being long, but I've tried to include all the bits of info I think you might need in order to help me.

The spec below is over my original budget (but I blame you all for that lol) and I thought I would hold on till the end of this month before ordering as Vista should be out by then, hence its in the list below. One question re vista tho... will I be able to run my current programs on it? Perhaps thro some kind of emulation (if so will it be crap? Main programs are photoshop and dreamweaver - both latest versions).

There are a few things I am not too sure about, in particular; which ram to get (a few choices listed below... I can't tell which is best) and whether or not to spend an extra £80 now and go for the e6600 C2D or stick with the e6300 for a year and then get a better CPU next year. I imagine the 6600 will prob not cost much more than the £80 I'd have to spend now (or is that wishful thinking?). How much better is the 6600? Should I just take a deep breath and go for it? If so do I need to reconsider my Motherboard? How overclockable is it? (the 6600)

Here's what I have listed... have I missed anything? Is it a good set-up?

The main thing you guys are going to want to know is, what will the system be used for...

It will be used mainly for photoshop work, along with occasional video editing... and general work use - which is web design. I will need to have multple programs open such as photoshop, dreamweaver, IE, O Express, etc etc

Will I play games on it? Tbh, prob not, but I may do once in a blue moon, and I may give it a go and get carried away, hence I have kept my options open and put in a 1950pro, but in all honesty I may never play a game on it (sorry I know that doesn't help much!).

Anyway here's the gear:

(They are from different shops as none of the shops stock every single item at the best possible price - plus I have some gift vouchers from amazon which I need to use up (shop 3). However if overclockers.co.uk is willing to price match I am more than willing to order from them :-)

).

Shop 1:

ASUS P5B DLX/WIFI-AP Pentium 4/Celeron/Pentium D/PentiumEE/65nm dual-core/Core2Duo/Core2EE
£124.94

Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86ghz - Skt775 Fsb1066 2mb Cache Boxed In
£120.01

Sapphire X1950Pro 256MB 256bit GDDR3 Dual DVI TVO PCI-E
£116.99

Antec SLK3000B Black Super Mid Tower Case - No PSU
£29.98

Hiper 580W Type-R Modular PSU SLI/CrossFire Certified - Blue
£57.58

Seagate ST3250624AS 250GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache
£55.19

SHOP 1 TOTAL: £504.69

SHOP 2:

Thermaltake Big Typhoon 4 in 1 Heatpipe (Socket 939/754/775/478) CPU Cooler
£29.32

Microsoft Windows Vista Business 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
£93.99

Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer
£21.56

-----------------------
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 4-4-4-15 Timings, 1.8-2.1v VDIMM
£166.84

OR

Geil® Ultra DDR2 2.0GB PC6400 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 1GB) 800MHz (4-4-4-12) with Aluminium heat spreader
£ 169.19

OR

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400
800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 4-4-4-12 Timings, 1.9-2.1v VDIMM
£176.24
------------------------

Shop 2 max total: £321.11

Shop 3

Samsung SM205BW 20 inch WSXGA+ TFT LCD Monitor 700:1 300cd/m2 1680 x 1050 6ms DVI
£199.99

GRAND TOTAL:
£1025.79

OMG!! Didn't want to spend that much but got carried away lol

If I add another £80 to get the e6600 instead my grand total becomes £1105.79

The other option is for an extra £25 I could get the 512MB version of the ATI 1950pro

I don't need to get the monitor right now, so may wait on that, especially as they seem to be dropping down in price faster than last year. I could get two 19" widescreens for roughly the same price (Belinea 1925S1W) although the res isn't as high as the Samsungs 1680 x 1050 (Belinea is 1440 X 900) but of course I benefit from two reasonably sized screens instead of one :-)

I'm very interested in what you guys think, you know far more about this stuff than I do.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brook · 6 Jan 2007 at 04:17

Thanks both.

Steve - yes I am going to overclock, I am however a newbie to it all (although I did OC my current system, but as it was my first attempt only used cheap fans etc so it was nothing to shout about). This time I want to get as much out of the system as possible without too much risk.

I will prob get the Asus Commando now instead of the P5B DLX as I heard its due out here next week, and may also consider Corsair Dominator ram which is £195 to go with it

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2 Dominator,DDR2 PC2-6400,240 Pins, NonECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP

If you think it's worth spending an extra £30 that is.

I am also seriously considering the e6600 (extra £80) and the extra £25 on the 512 MB graphics card. And then putting off getting a new monitor until later in the year as my CRT is ok for now.

What do you think? I think I'm mad! But it's infectious after reading everyone elses threads!

Brook · 6 Jan 2007 at 16:35

Thanks again all :-)

steve258 said:
standard PC6400 DDR2 800 will take an E6600 to 3.6Ghz. But by all mean if you can afford go E6600.

That's interesting (told you I was a nube!). That's good too so I can save some money on ram then :-)

Prob about 40 quid as Geil/gskill do some good uns at £160

Here's the info about Commando: http://zeus.asus.com/hq/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1480&l1=3&l2=117&l3=0 some people who have already tested it say its the best 965 OC'ing board they have used (better than the P5B DLX) it's meant to be out next week and is pre-order on some other sites.

I will look into a better PSU... although I did like the look of the hiper one, looked like a quality build.

Re the graphics ram - would more ram on the GPU be better for photoshop work?

If the e6600 will last me longer, I will prob go for that, as i don't really want to have to upgrade if I don't have too in the future (apart from the monitor).

Brook · 6 Jan 2007 at 17:38

The striker has been a flop - overpriced and people still awaiting better bios updates.

This is what Tony from xtremesystems said about the Commando:

Asus have released what i feel is the ultimate i965 board. Part of the ROG line of boards this has to be the best ram overclocker i have tested to date. 1300+ DDR is quite possible with this board with good memory and 1100+ with 4x1gb flex from OCZ was fully 24hr prime stable.

Stickroad - there are a few boards that are coming out that people are commenting on... but we could wait forever if we kept holding on.. the commando sounds like it will be one of the best and is due out next week in the UK :-)