Sorry another spec me thread

[welding11]

Hi everyone,

I am going to build my own pc for the first time with a bit of help from someone who has. Basically i am going to be using it to play games mainly and the usual web surfing etc.

I would like a system that is going to last a while without OCing because i am new to the whole thing, I will be doing at a later date though so this needs to be taken into consideration.

Realistically i want this system to last a few good years and still be able to play new games relatively smooth.

I have tried to look at stuff but all to confusing for me because there is so much and new to it all. Any help would be appreciated.

My budget is around £1000-1500 and that is for everything if i can go cheaper that would be nice but not to important. Last thing i think im going to order end of june just wanted to get spec now, dont know whether that matters or not

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums. I've aimed this fairly mid-range including everything bar speakers so you can raise/lower the price easily, it will allow overclocking easily but should be quick enough at stock speeds for most people.

Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Gun Metal Black) £78.99
(£92.81) £78.99
(£92.81)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £139.99
(£164.49) £139.99
(£164.49)
OcUK Value L2442WD-VA 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £189.99
(£223.24) £189.99
(£223.24)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-01939) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Abit IX38 QuadGT Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £114.99
(£135.11) £114.99
(£135.11)
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ) £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
XFX GeForce 8800 GTX Extreme 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PV-T80F-SHE9) £179.99
(£211.49) £179.99
(£211.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ) £39.99
(£46.99) £39.99
(£46.99)
Samsung SH-S203DBEBN 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) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775) £35.99
(£42.29) £35.99
(£42.29)
Microsoft Black Value Pack 2.0 - OEM (S82-00029) £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
Sub Total : £998.88
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £25.32
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £179.23
Total : £1,203.43

 

[welding11]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'm not questioning your choices dont know enough to do that im just wondering the difference between having a duo rather than quad?

Also the monitor i may have to go smaller,not for definete will that make any difference?

 

[semi-pro waster]

Quad v Duo is an argument that depends on your general uses, as near to a consensus as has been reached is that unless you are pretty heavily multitasking or you are using software that takes advantage of 3+ cores then Duo is better for gaming in most cases. However if you are planning on keeping the PC for a long(ish) time then it might be worth just going for quad core and overclocking as/when you need to. The 45nm Wolfdales (the E8X00 range) are quicker clock for clock than the 65nm chips they are replacing (the E2X00, E4X00 and E6X00 ranges) so for a given speed of say 2.4ghz the E8X00 chip will be quicker.

Basically they are all very quick, just some are quicker still. The Wolfdales are also overclocking very well although the quad core 45nm chips (Yorkfields) strangely aren't quite so good it appears.

As to the monitor, if you don't have the desk space for a 24" screen then 20" or 22" would be fine, I don't see the point in going for a cheaper video card really though, the 8800GTX is at a pretty good price considering the performance it gives.

 

[welding11]

Ok i am planning to keep my pc for I would say at least two years how it is depending on how everything is performing and then for even longer if all still ok.

For that sort of time I am keeping it what would you recomend uprade to quad core or just stay with duo and upgrade later on. If upgrade to quad what would your recomended one be with the spec you have given me (sorry like a say still new so just getting to grips with differnet things )

 

[semi-pro waster]

If you are thinking about quad core then I'd go with a Q6600, it is the older 65nm technology but they overclock very well and it is even slightly cheaper than the E8400 that I picked originally. You could also change the Ram to decent PC6400 to save a little bit more cash, something like the Corsair PC6400 XMS2 would be fine for your needs.

 

[welding11]

So with everything took into consideration if i went with this spec with probaly a quad core would this last me a few years with playing decent games such as crysis?

To mean it al looks good and you know what you're talking about from reading the forums

The one last question is the psu i know you chose one in the spec but what do you have to think about when choosing one because one person i have spoke to make it sound slike you need everything top end like 1000w psu or what ever they are?

 

[semi-pro waster]

It should last you a fair while, I can't give you exact figures as it depends on you what you find acceptable but it is definitely a decent system. I did pick the X38 based motherboard as it supports PCI-E 2.0 and 1600 FSB so in theory you should be able to upgrade from that base easily in the future if you want to. If you are unlikely to want to do so or will buy a whole new system when necessary then you could pick a P35 based motherboard and save more cash but it comes down to your priorities.

The PSU is easily sufficient for any single graphics card system, there is a tendency to overestimate the requirements and while it is better to have too much power available than too little you would be paying for quite a lot of capacity that you are never likely to use with a 1kw PSU. If you have dual graphics cards, watercooling and 8+ hard drives then you have an excuse for a 1kw PSU, otherwise you probably don't need one.

 

[welding11]

would this be ok

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz Guaranteed to run at 3.00GHZ (1333FSB) - Retail

Would that be fine with the rest of the spec and also would i need any extra stuff, like to keep it cool, im not sure?

 

[semi-pro waster]

The CPU is fine with the specification although I wouldn't bother getting the one guaranteed to hit 3ghz, there is nothing special about those chips other than OcUK will take it back and replace it if it doesn't reach 3ghz. I'd save a couple of quid and just buy the ordinary version unless you want the guarantee.

There is already a very good CPU cooler in the specification in the shape of the Noctua NH-U12P so you shouldn't need anything extra for cooling. You could add two more 120mm fans to the case but I think the fans pre-supplied with the case will be sufficient.

 

[welding11]

Ok thanks for all your help and im going to definetily go ahead with this sec.

Like i said before i will probaly get in a month or two hopefully a month.

Thank you again

 

[shaffaaf27]

heres my try

 

[welding11]

Thnaks for another spec its practically identical. I am thinking of going for that mouse and a different keyboard.

What is the major difference between the two motherboards or is it just preference?

 

[shaffaaf27]

didnt fully see semi-pro waster

and i see its mostly the same.

tbh either mobo will be fine, its just i have had a bit of experiance with GB bios, and they are simple and effective