I’m a *total noob* to rig building, so I’ve been reading various forums trying to figure out specs for a decent rig. I’ll be playing Black Shark, Lock On, FSX and probably some Crysis and CoD. I’d like to buy something that has some decent potential for OC-ing and upgrading in the future but also performs really well out of the box. My initial idea was to buy the top of the range everything and worry about the overdraft later but it seems that buying slightly lower spec and OC-ing represents better value. How about: -
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £264.49
Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £252.99
Corsair 6GB DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (TR3X6G1600C9) £155.24
BFG GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE 896MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (BFGEGTX260MC8960CXE) £264.49
Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10000RPM SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD3000HLFS) £229.99
Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU £103.49
NZXT Rogue Crafted Series Micro-ATX Case - Silver/Blue (No PSU) £100.04
Samsung SH-S223Q/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail £21.84
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (30SB057000000) £21.84
Samsung SM2693HM 26" Widescreen LCD Monitor (LS26KIEEFV/EDC) £344.99
Total £ 1,759.39 (bloody hell it adds up to a lot)
A few questions: -
1) Should I go for an i7 920 or something a little cheaper like a Q6600. From what I’ve read it looks like for a total new build the i7 920 is good value with plenty of OC-ing potential. 940/965 wasted cash?
2) Similarly – although the GTX 260 isn’t top of the line, it seems like decent value compared to the 280/295. Is there a big difference for what I’m going to be using it for? Also, is the particular GTX 260 I’ve picked out the best value, or should I go for a slightly cheaper one and OC myself? Or are 280/295 a better deal?
3) What’s the difference between the Asus P6T (£206.99) and the Asus P6T Deluxe (£252.99)? Am I going to notice much difference?
4) How about RAM? Is this too fast or slow for the system? What’s the best value?
5) Is the NZXT case any good and/or big enough for the GTX 260? I want something small but ideally able to fit SLI if I need/want to upgrade to dual (or more?) 260’s at some point.
6) VelociRaptor – I wonder if it’s worth going for a cheaper/slower 7200RPM (SpinPoint F1 320GB is only £40) drive now and then upgrading to a SSD when the prices come down later this year/next year?
7) Do I need anything else? For example, a cooling fan, and if so what’s a good one? I looked at water cooling but I think it’s a bit beyond my skill level/OC-ing needs right now.
8) Is the system I’ve spec’d out total junk or am I heading along the right path? If I could get the total cost down a bit it’d help – any suggestions welcomed.
Thanks for your time and apologies for being a total noob.
Cheers,
Jimbo
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £264.49
Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £252.99
Corsair 6GB DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz (3x2GB) Triple Channel DDR3 (TR3X6G1600C9) £155.24
BFG GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE 896MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (BFGEGTX260MC8960CXE) £264.49
Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10000RPM SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD3000HLFS) £229.99
Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU £103.49
NZXT Rogue Crafted Series Micro-ATX Case - Silver/Blue (No PSU) £100.04
Samsung SH-S223Q/RSMN 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail £21.84
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (30SB057000000) £21.84
Samsung SM2693HM 26" Widescreen LCD Monitor (LS26KIEEFV/EDC) £344.99
Total £ 1,759.39 (bloody hell it adds up to a lot)
A few questions: -
1) Should I go for an i7 920 or something a little cheaper like a Q6600. From what I’ve read it looks like for a total new build the i7 920 is good value with plenty of OC-ing potential. 940/965 wasted cash?
2) Similarly – although the GTX 260 isn’t top of the line, it seems like decent value compared to the 280/295. Is there a big difference for what I’m going to be using it for? Also, is the particular GTX 260 I’ve picked out the best value, or should I go for a slightly cheaper one and OC myself? Or are 280/295 a better deal?
3) What’s the difference between the Asus P6T (£206.99) and the Asus P6T Deluxe (£252.99)? Am I going to notice much difference?
4) How about RAM? Is this too fast or slow for the system? What’s the best value?
5) Is the NZXT case any good and/or big enough for the GTX 260? I want something small but ideally able to fit SLI if I need/want to upgrade to dual (or more?) 260’s at some point.
6) VelociRaptor – I wonder if it’s worth going for a cheaper/slower 7200RPM (SpinPoint F1 320GB is only £40) drive now and then upgrading to a SSD when the prices come down later this year/next year?
7) Do I need anything else? For example, a cooling fan, and if so what’s a good one? I looked at water cooling but I think it’s a bit beyond my skill level/OC-ing needs right now.
8) Is the system I’ve spec’d out total junk or am I heading along the right path? If I could get the total cost down a bit it’d help – any suggestions welcomed.
Thanks for your time and apologies for being a total noob.
Cheers,
Jimbo