Please Review My First Build

mstaxi · 4 Mar 2008 at 15:19

Hi I am planning to build this system
It is mainly for burning DVD CD's ect and running games like The Sims 2,
also gets used for a lot of Internet.

Processor - E8400 = £176.24
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 =£111.61
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) = £74.01
Power - Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 = £70.49
Ram - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz £58.74
Windows XP Home =£56.39
Graphics =Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GV-RX385512H) = £135.11
Case - Antec 900 = £65.79
CPU cooling - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler = £17.61
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound = £4
Wired Mouse and Keyboard
Scythe Card Reader & Floppy Drive - Black = £19.99
Speakers - Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers - Black = £105.74
Monitor = LG L1900R Fantasy 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Red = £158.61

I am going with XP Because its stable and drivers widely available and I know it inside out, when Direct X 10 comes out with software to match I will consider Vista then.

Scottly · 4 Mar 2008 at 15:31

You forgot your floppy drive.

Also you can probably save yourself £4 and not buy the thermal paste, the cooler should come with some in the box.

mstaxi · 4 Mar 2008 at 15:44

Why do I need a floppy drive,for the 7 years I have run my current system upgrading on the way,I have never used one so why bother,the only other peripheral I will add is a card reader which if you notice has a card reader and floppy capabilities, the stock paste is good but not as good I heard as this addition. Many thanks for your time though

Scottly · 4 Mar 2008 at 15:48

mstaxi said:
Why do I need a floppy drive,for the 7 years I have run my current system upgrading on the way,I have never used one so why bother,the only other peripheral I will add is a card reader

I was being facetious. You don't need one. But you should you know, all the cool cats have one, we use them to copy like it's 1991.

Good times.

ChoÞÞer · 4 Mar 2008 at 16:02

looks alright, but maybe going to xp pro?

Scottly · 4 Mar 2008 at 16:05

ChoÞÞer said:
looks alright, but maybe going to xp pro?

There's no point unless he has specific need for domain access or Remote Desktop.

1337z0r · 4 Mar 2008 at 16:41

Sims 2 does not need a good graphics card, unless you intend on playing more GPU dependent games later on.

Shrapnel · 4 Mar 2008 at 16:42

Looks a good build there mate. Semi-Pro Waster would be proud of such a collection.

mstaxi · 5 Mar 2008 at 23:58

What is a semi pro waster..????
Also revised and bought this set up
Processor - E8400 = £176.24
Motherboard - Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard = £111.61
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) = £74.01
Power - Akasa Ultra Quiet 500W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.2 PSU - Black Nickel = £52.86
Ram - Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA1065) - £50.71
Windows XP Home =£56.39
Graphics =BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail = £145.69
Case - antec 900 = £65.79
CPU cooling - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler = £17.61
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound = £4
Keyboard - Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Keyboard - Blue/Red/Purple = £23.49
Mouse - Razer Krait 1600dpi Professional Gaming Mouse - Retail = £23.49
Speakers - Logitech Z-4e 2.1 Speaker System = £52.86
Monitor = LG L1900R Fantasy 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Red = £158.61
Burner - LG GSA-H55NBRL 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - Retail = £19.96
Dvd = LG GDR-H30NBL 16x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM = £11.74
Overclockers Prices impossible to beat...!!

Skeeter · 6 Mar 2008 at 01:47

mstaxi said:
It is mainly for burning DVD CD's ect and running games like The Sims 2,
also gets used for a lot of Internet.

......
Processor - E8400 = £176.24
......

Seriouly, for what you plan to use, that CPU is atleast £100 more than you want to spend!

Buy an E2200 now and then upgrade to an E8xxx or Q9xxx in a years time when they are more than the cost of the E2200 cheaper....

jasonmorris · 6 Mar 2008 at 12:41

I still have to use a floppy drive for SATA drivers for the hard disk and SATA DVD Drive when installing XP. Obviously don't need this with Vista.

RoEy · 6 Mar 2008 at 14:54

Scottly said:
There's no point unless he has specific need for domain access or Remote Desktop.

I've read Home doesn't support dual cpu's. Is this true?

RoEy

V|per · 6 Mar 2008 at 15:52

mstaxi said:
the stock paste is good but not as good I heard as this addition. Many thanks for your time though

The Stock paste IS MX-2, as arctic cooling is the manufacturer of the paste and the heatsink

Never hurts to have some for re-mounts though if need be...

RoEy said:
I've read Home doesn't support dual cpu's. Is this true?

RoEy

Dual cpu's, as in, 2 physical cpu's, possibly not, but it's fine with dual cores and quad cores

Skeeter said:
Seriouly, for what you plan to use, that CPU is atleast £100 more than you want to spend!

Buy an E2200 now and then upgrade to an E8xxx or Q9xxx in a years time when they are more than the cost of the E2200 cheaper....

Totally agreed, depending on what the machine is to be used for...

SexyGreyFox · 6 Mar 2008 at 20:12

Scottly said:
I was being facetious. You don't need one. But you should you know, all the cool cats have one, we use them to copy like it's 1991.

Good times.

Corel Draw 3 on 30 disks - phew.

mstaxi said:
What is a semi pro waster..????

If we tell you we will have to kill you.