Please spec me a Conroe system for about £1000ish

PlasmaZombies

PlasmaZombies

PlasmaZombies

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6 Dec 2005
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Hi all,

I have spec'd up the below and wondered what everyones view is? These prices may be a little out of date as I got them on the 22-06-06. I would say my main budget for this system is £1000

I have only specified a 7600GT as this is a interim graphics card until DX10 cards are established, then I will spend about 250 or so on one maybe. My current monitor is the Viewsonic 2025 20.1", would this card be OK to display graphics well at 1680 x 1050 resolution??? My case is a TT Soprano so all I need help with is just internals of the case.

Thanks in advance!

Motherboard

Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi 975X - (MB-152-AS) £176.19

CPU

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 Retail (CP-128-IN) £252.57

Cooler

Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler (HS-003-SY) £31.67

Memory

GeIL 2GB PC5300 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel (MY-034-GL) £129.19

PSU

Tagan 530W ATX2.01 Easycon Modular (CA-008-TG) £72.79

GPU

BFG GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-e (GX-025-BG) £117.44

DVD±RW

NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE) £25.79

Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB OEM (HD-079-SE) £61.69

TV Card

Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 MCE TV Tuner (GX-027-HA) £59.87

Total - £927.20
 
(CA-008-TG) Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
Price: £61.95

(MB-020-DF) DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Price: £129.95

(CP-127-IN) Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Price: £154.95

(HS-003-SY) Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket 478, 754, 939, 940, LGA755)
Price: £26.95

(MY-012-GS) G.Skill 2GB DDR2 LA PC2-5300 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-5400PHU2-2GBLA)
Price: £99.95

(GX-112-SP) Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Price: £221.95

(SY-008-ZA) Zalman VF900-CU Quiet Copper VGA Cooler
Price: £20.95

(HD-079-SE) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Price: £52.50

(CD-043-LG) LG GSA-H10ABAL 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Price: £20.95

(GX-027-HA ) Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Media Centre Edition TV Tuner
Price: £50.95

Subtotal: £841.05
Shipping (City Link Next Day): £9.95
VAT: £148.93
Total: £999.93

You won't be disappointed with this. The Conroe E6400 is still better than an FX-62, and will overclock like hell with the G.Skill DDR2-667MHz memory, and since Crysis will really be the only DirectX 10 game out until 12 months from now, the (extremely cheap) X1900XT will keep you very happy until then. :D
 
Úlfhednar said:
(CA-008-TG) Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
Price: £61.95

(MB-020-DF) DFI Infinity 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Price: £129.95

(CP-127-IN) Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Price: £154.95

(HS-003-SY) Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket 478, 754, 939, 940, LGA755)
Price: £26.95

(MY-012-GS) G.Skill 2GB DDR2 LA PC2-5300 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-5400PHU2-2GBLA)
Price: £99.95

(GX-112-SP) Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Price: £221.95

(SY-008-ZA) Zalman VF900-CU Quiet Copper VGA Cooler
Price: £20.95

(HD-079-SE) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
Price: £52.50

(CD-043-LG) LG GSA-H10ABAL 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Price: £20.95

(GX-027-HA ) Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Media Centre Edition TV Tuner
Price: £50.95

Subtotal: £841.05
Shipping (City Link Next Day): £9.95
VAT: £148.93
Total: £999.93

You won't be disappointed with this. The Conroe E6400 is still better than an FX-62, and will overclock like hell with the G.Skill DDR2-667MHz memory, and since Crysis will really be the only DirectX 10 game out until 12 months from now, the (extremely cheap) X1900XT will keep you very happy until then. :D
Click to expand...

I have to say that is a really good spec there.... sill wouldnt use that PSU

Stelly
 
Stelly said:
I have to say that is a really good spec there.... sill wouldnt use that PSU
Click to expand...
I use Akasa PSUs where possible, but I've heard nothing but excellent reviews in regards to the new Tagan range. Which PSU do you think would be better with the spec I posted?
 
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Stelly said:
ok I would change the Tagen and the GeIL memory... for memory go Gskill

Also change gfx card to XFX GeForce 7600 GT XXX Edition 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI

Stelly
Click to expand...

Firstly, thanks for your suggestions peeps :D

What does the XFX 7600 GT XXX offer over the one I spec'd apart from about £20 or so difference and cooler packaging :cool: ? I'm sure I could easily overclock the 7600 GT I spec'd to the XXX speeds. I also don't want to spend so much on a X1900XT DX9 card when DX10 is only like 6-8 months from being released. This system will last me about 2 or so year with only minor upgrades in between.

Also, I know the E6600 is about 100 quid more expensive but I believe it's worth it over the E6400 for the 4MB cache. I'll be ordering this system about 3-4 weeks after conroe is released anyway. Just making sure I have my head clear before parting with so much cash.

Instead of the Tagan, how about this: -

Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN) - £70.44

My PSU has got to be Modular as I want a damned tidy case.

Whatever system I get I'm gonna see loads of improvement as my current poo setup is:

Athlon 3200 XP
512Mb of DDR2100 generic (had 1GB dual channel crucial ballistix but they went FUBAR :mad: )
Ti-4800LE. (had a 9800Pro but that went FUBAR as well :mad: )

Cheers guys!
 
PlasmaZombies said:
Firstly, thanks for your suggestions peeps :D
Click to expand...
You're quite welcome, it's our pleasure. :)

PlasmaZombies said:
What does the XFX 7600 GT XXX offer over the one I spec'd apart from about £20 or so difference and cooler packaging :cool: ? I'm sure I could easily overclock the 7600 GT I spec'd to the XXX speeds.
Click to expand...
The XXX Edition comes with a nice factory overclock, and will overclock further on stock cooling than a standard edition will. If you're really not interested in an X1900XT then, as Stelly suggested, I would recommend going for this instead.

PlasmaZombies said:
I also don't want to spend so much on a X1900XT DX9 card when DX10 is only like 6-8 months from being released. This system will last me about 2 or so year with only minor upgrades in between.
Click to expand...
I do see your point and understand it, believe me, but I think most people would agree with me when I say you won't be expecting DirectX 10 games for another twelve months yet. If you buy a DirectX 10 graphics card in six-to-eight months time, the only game you will be able to play until the end of spring or early summer is Crysis, and by that time we will already be on the second or third refresh of DirectX 10 cards and your R600/G80 will unfortunately be obsolete and/or old hat. :(

In my opinion, you should get an X1900XT now while they're stupidly cheap and enjoy top quality gameplay until Q2/Q3 of next year, as all the videos you have seen of Crysis up to now have been recorded on that graphics card. Not to mention that you'll be able to sell it for nearly the same price at that time, as a lot of late adopters (like myself) who aren't interested in DirectX 10 yet would be looking for a decent offer on DirectX 9 cards instead.

PlasmaZombies said:
Also, I know the E6600 is about 100 quid more expensive but I believe it's worth it over the E6400 for the 4MB cache. I'll be ordering this system about 3-4 weeks after conroe is released anyway. Just making sure I have my head clear before parting with so much cash.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I am going to have to disagree again. The E6400 is equal to an FX-62, and the E6600 isn't actually far ahead despite the 4MB L2 Caché. Both will completely spank any AM2 processor into the stone age with an overclock, so you're really best-off saving a bit of money here. You'd be paying £100+ for an extra 10% performance at best.

PlasmaZombies said:
Instead of the Tagan, how about this: -

Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN) - £70.44

My PSU has got to be Modular as I want a damned tidy case.
Click to expand...
Looks good to me.
icon14.gif


Either way, the bottom line really; The system you specced costs pretty much the same as the one I did, but the one you specced is seriously underpowered in comparison. You really would be getting a lot less bang for your buck if you took that option, and I am sure others would agree.

I am not trying to force your hand, just purely trying to give you the best deal possible. Give it a lot of consideration before you decide, it would be unfortunate to spend so much money on a system that wouldn't perform as well as it could for the same cost.
 
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Why do people keep recommending the DFI board? They've proved themselves with AMD but are nowhere near of that standard on Intel. Not only that but the Infinity series is the 'budget' option, and theres hardly an abundance of features. Get the Asus.
 
trojan698 said:
Why do people keep recommending the DFI board? They've proved themselves with AMD but are nowhere near of that standard on Intel. Not only that but the Infinity series is the 'budget' option, and theres hardly an abundance of features. Get the Asus.
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Maybe that it's a lot cheaper than the Asus and comes to budget, and you still get a great performer. :confused: My spec wouldn't have been as attractive at all with the Asus, wouldn't really benefit from any increase in performance with the Asus, and would've been over budget. If you go for the Asus, you have to downgrade something else here.

This is coming from someone who uses Asus boards where possible, by the way. :) My last board was a K8V-SE Deluxe, but I needed a cheap PCI-E to hold me off until I built a new system.
 
trojan698 said:
There are alternatives to the one mentioned in the opening post, the P5B & P5B Deluxe for example.
Click to expand...
P5B Deluxe looks good, and would definitely be a good alternative to the DFI Infinity. Still more expensive though, and wouldn't offer a performance increase to speak of.

P5B looks ok though for a cheaper system. :)
icon14.gif
 
Úlfhednar said:
P5B Deluxe looks good, and would definitely be a good alternative to the DFI Infinity. Still more expensive though, and wouldn't offer a performance increase to speak of.

P5B looks ok though for a cheaper system. :)
icon14.gif
Click to expand...

I have always preferred Asus for motherboards although I've never had a DFI.

I've played about and I'm only about 50 quid over the 1000 mark which I could stretch to. So how's this: -

http://img323.imageshack.us/my.php?image=compspec1yr.jpg


Also, what sort of figures would I be looking at benchmark wise? 6500 3dmark06?
 
PlasmaZombies said:
I have always preferred Asus for motherboards although I've never had a DFI.

I've played about and I'm only about 50 quid over the 1000 mark which I could stretch to. So how's this: -

http://img323.imageshack.us/my.php?image=compspec1yr.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks like a winner to me mate.
icon14.gif
Not only do you have an X1900 in there, you got to keep your Asus board and E6600. :) Don't think you can out-do it at all.

PlasmaZombies said:
Also, what sort of figures would I be looking at benchmark wise? 6500 3dmark06?
Click to expand...
Dunno mate, but you will have one of the most powerful computers available, put it that way. :)
 
Úlfhednar said:
Looks like a winner to me mate. Not only do you have an X1900 in there, you got to keep your Asus board and E6600. :) Don't think you can out-do it at all.

Dunno mate, but you will have one of the most powerful computers available, put it that way. :)
Click to expand...


Sorted then! Most systems tend to depreciate about £10 a week as I was tracking one example system for about 6 weeks and would check every friday. So hopefully by the time it comes out it will be slightly cheaper :D but otherwise that will do me. I'll be gunning for around 3.2Ghz on that conroe as well so the machine will absolutely fly :D :D
 
PlasmaZombies said:
Sorted then! Most systems tend to depreciate about £10 a week as I was tracking one example system for about 6 weeks and would check every friday. So hopefully by the time it comes out it will be slightly cheaper :D but otherwise that will do me. I'll be gunning for around 3.2Ghz on that conroe as well so the machine will absolutely fly :D :D
Click to expand...
Aye, I was thinking about going Conroe but decided it would be best to wait until around September when prices plummet, so I would suggest doing the same. Of course, I have changed my mind now, and am probably going to get myself a Socket 939 4400+ instead. :)
 
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