Right that's it... time for a splurge (spec help)

[Jingo...]

No folks, despite the potentially misleading title, this is indeed a hardware thread


Having used my inspiron laptop for the past 3 years I am becoming fedup fast of the poor processing and gaming ability of this old work-horse.

I've enjoyed the flexibility gained from a laptops portability but now I'm looking for a bit of a powerhouse to enjoy gaming and the heavy-graphic works I undertake.

I have a good level of basic knowledge regarding main computer components but must confess pure lack of knowledge when it comes to things like power supply/cooling etc.

Ideally, I would love to be playing games like LOTRO/TF2/HL2 at max quality settings whilst also having the power to undertake heavy 3d rendering of architectural works etc.

I'm taking a bit of a wild stab but throwing up a budget of £800 but my naevity on the subject leads me to ask for comments whether this is appropriate and including a decent nice monitor also??

All help and specs etc would be most appreciated from all members

Cheers, J

 

[Kearney_1988]

Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler
(£35.24)
Belinea 2225S1W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
(£146.86)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
(£70.49)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz
(£135.11)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£62.26)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£110.44)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK)
(£55.21)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3250410AS)
(£39.94)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66G-02141)
(£56.39)


Sub Total : £605.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £107.95


Total : £724.81


Leaves you about £75 for the case on personal preferance

Didnt know if you needed OS or not

EDIT - Whoops forgot an optical drive

Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61)



Sub Total : £620.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £110.92

Total : £744.77

 

[bayo000]

Hyundai ImageQuest H22Wd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver Hyundai ImageQuest H22Wd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £124.99
(£146.86) £124.99
(£146.86)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) £64.99
(£76.36) £64.99
(£76.36)
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS Extreme 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS Extreme 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £119.99
(£140.99) £119.99
(£140.99)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) £46.99
(£55.21) £46.99
(£55.21)
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £22.99
(£27.01) £22.99
(£27.01)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £114.99
(£135.11) £114.99
(£135.11)
DFI Lan Party DK X38-T2R Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard DFI Lan Party DK X38-T2R Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £102.99
(£121.01) £102.99
(£121.01)
Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Sub Total : £687.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £14.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £123.00
Total : £825.85

bit over the £800, you could save money by going for p35 mobo or smaller hdd tho i added x38 (pcie2.0) as it bit more "future" proof and samsungs f1s are one of the fastest out there

9600gt, 8800gt and atis 3870xt would do as well and save you £s
not sure if you need keyboar/mouse and OS

 

[hp7909]

Dark horse...

power to undertake heavy 3d rendering of architectural works etc

• Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro PWM CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2) £11.99
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-01939) £59.99
• Antec Sonata Plus 550 Quiet Midi-Tower Case - NeoPower 550W Modular PSU (Black/Silver) £89.99
• Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave - Retail £44.99
• AMD Phenom Quad Core 9850 2.50GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail £139.99
• Asus M3A AMD 770 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £46.99
• Leadtek GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £89.99
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS) £51.99
• OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK) £59.99
• Sub Total : £610.90
• Shipping : £12.95
• VAT : £109.17
• Total : £733.02

For graphical work, need a good panel (S-IPS ) & perhaps large size (24") TFT which would stretch the budget but worth it IMO

 

[Glaucus]

This is what I would do.

It gives you a hdcp enabled futureproof monitor. encase you ever want to play HD videos.
The cpu can easily just be upgraded at a later date.

Edit - Missed the graphical work bit.

If you could go to about £880 you could get a
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Slight re-juggle

 

[Jingo...]

Thats great thanks chaps- to be honest I'm not one who is handy with upgrades etc, therefore I would much prefer to be spending more now and having it last longer etc.

Good call on the 24" monitor guys

Can you lot see there being any problems playing current games?

Also, if an extra £100 were to arise from somewhere- would there be any upgrades on the above spec that would be REALLY worth getting in your opinions?

Thanks again

 

[Glaucus]

for 900 I would do this, however with any big cpu cooler best to ask in case centeral just to make sure it fits.

 

[Jingo...]

Cheers acidhell2, how much of a performance difference do you think there is between the 800 & 900 options?

 

[Glaucus]

Cheers acidhell2, how much of a performance difference do you think there is between the 800 & 900 options?

Not a huge amount unless you overclock.
For games the more gfx ram the better. especially on a 24" monitor.

If your not over clocking then perhaps get the gfx card but not the cpu cooler.

You'll always see people spec different systems for the same price and that's purely down to how different people use there system and what they consider more important. In other words a lot is down to personal preference.

 

[Jingo...]

Noted thanks.

I've decided I'm going to build the machine myself- never done anything like this before (closest being upgrading RAM in my laptop) and really like the idea of sorting out my own pc. Are there any novice guides around or vital tips that I should take a look at or is it a case of swotting up etc?

Cheers

 

[Glaucus]

Noted thanks.

I've decided I'm going to build the machine myself- never done anything like this before (closest being upgrading RAM in my laptop) and really like the idea of sorting out my own pc. Are there any novice guides around or vital tips that I should take a look at or is it a case of swotting up etc?

Cheers

It's really very simple.
1) read you mobo manual. For settings and jumpers. it will also tell you how to install most thing.
2) static is a killer., cheap way of grounding yourself is to touch a bare bit of metal on a house radiator. However it can still build up after you touched it so do it every know and then. Then insure you don't short any circuitry with you fingers/hands
3) look up a guide on thermal paste as two little or two much increases cpu temp.

 

[hp7909]

Building guides:

• Tech Report's
• Corsair's

Don't go for the older G80 8800 GTS 320/640MB. Either go for the newer G92 8800 GT or GTS 512MB

For monitor, have look at this.