Spec Check and Help

CalamityDaunt

CalamityDaunt

CalamityDaunt

Associate
Joined
30 Jul 2007
Posts
5
Hey there. Here are the current components that i am thinking about purchasing and would just like some help with some questions and other items that are needed. First things first here are the components that i have picked first. I currently have a mouse, keyboard and monitor so they are fine.

specfx7.jpg


Now the questions.

First off the processor. Is it worth while getting the Q6700 quad instead of the Q6600? Would it be a waste of cash for the small difference?

I am completely stumped on the motherboard. Should i go with a more stable P35 motherboard, or should i get a 680i just in case i would like to upgrade in the future?

What case would you recommend for optimal airflow and suomething that could maybe be used with water cooling if i decide i want to overclock in the future. I'm kinda leaning towards the stacker atm but its a hard choice.

Also would you recommend any other items that i have missed or replacements for the ones that i have currently chosen?

Im basically trying to create a kickass system for around £1500-£1700 so any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions feel free to ask :D

Calamity
 
CalamityDaunt said:
Now the questions.

First off the processor. Is it worth while getting the Q6700 quad instead of the Q6600? Would it be a waste of cash for the small difference?

I am completely stumped on the motherboard. Should i go with a more stable P35 motherboard, or should i get a 680i just in case i would like to upgrade in the future?

What case would you recommend for optimal airflow and suomething that could maybe be used with water cooling if i decide i want to overclock in the future. I'm kinda leaning towards the stacker atm but its a hard choice.

Also would you recommend any other items that i have missed or replacements for the ones that i have currently chosen?

Im basically trying to create a kickass system for around £1500-£1700 so any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions feel free to ask :D

Calamity
Click to expand...

1. It's a waste of cash - the Q6600 will clock to those speeds and beyond easily.

2. Go P35, it's performance increases over other boards are worth it, plus they have compatibility for DDR3 memory in a number of boards - more useful for the future. And it accomodates the Penryn processors due out.

3. "Optimal airflow" is not really an issue - pretty much every case has sufficient airflow to cool the kit you're ordering. Just make sure your case fits an 8800GTX.

Get 2x2GB sticks instead of 4x1GB - greater space for future upgrades. Also your PSU is stupidly overkill - get the Corsair 620W PSU, it'll handle anything. There is no need to spend £1500-1700 on a new machine when you could spend £1000 wisely and get equivalent performance.

What monitor do you have? just to check whether the graphics card is worth it.
 
Hi CalamityDaunt, Welcome To The Forums :cool:

CalamityDaunt said:
First off the processor. Is it worth while getting the Q6700 quad instead of the Q6600? Would it be a waste of cash for the small difference?
Click to expand...

The Q6700 is a bit of a waste of money, just get the Q6600 and clock it up.

CalamityDaunt said:
I am completely stumped on the motherboard. Should i go with a more stable P35 motherboard, or should i get a 680i just in case i would like to upgrade in the future?
Click to expand...

Go for one of the P35 Chipset boards, they are very reliable, solid and fantastic overclocking potinal. The 680i boards are only useful if you want to go SLI. Though at this point in time SLI is a waste of money unless you game on a 30inch screen. Not enough games take advantage of a SLI configuration. The performance you get out of SLI just dosent justify the cost you get out of that second card.

CalamityDaunt said:
What case would you recommend for optimal airflow and suomething that could maybe be used with water cooling if i decide i want to overclock in the future. I'm kinda leaning towards the stacker atm but its a hard choice.
Click to expand...

The Akasa case is fantastic, amazing build quality and cooling is of a very high standard too.

I think you can do slightly better with your money, so hows this:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink
Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-6400C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache X2
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard - Retail
Asus DRW-1814BLT 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - Retail
Seasonic M12 Modular 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU

Total : £1,401.55

Ok, you should be able to overclock the Quad to 3GHZ+ and with good temps. Dont worry about if you havent ovclocked before, its fairly stright forward, just read a few guides before hand. Their are also people on here that are willing to help you if you get stuck.

The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink is one of the best air coolers around and at the price that it is going for now, it is a steel. Since it dosent come with a fan i have just added the Noctua NF-S12 which will do the job perfectly.

The Abit IP35 Pro is a fantastic P35 chipset board, very reliable, solid and great overclocking potinal. It also fully supports Intels upcoming 45nm processors (Penryn). The board you picked out is vastly expensive and a slightly older chipset.

The G.Skill 4GB DDR2 is very reliable memory and you wont have any problems with it.

The 8800GTX is a fantastic card, very powerful and pretty quite too.

The Western Digital Hard Drives are very reliable and quite.

If your spending that amount f money a Soundcard is a must. The diffrence between hearing sound from the onboard sound controller and a deicated sound card is huge. So the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 will be fantastic.

The ASUS DVD Drive connectos to your motherboard via SATA connection, this means you can cancel the onboard IDE controllerwhich will help with boot times. Also you can get rid of them ugly IDE cables.

The Seasonic PSU is one of the best power supplys around, very reliable and very quite. The PSU you have choosen is such an overkill, you will never use 1200wattage of power.

The Akasa case is amazing, brilliant build quality and cooling is of a very high standard too.

Now i have also added Vista Home Premium for you, i know that you may not want to move to Vista now but i highly recomend dual booting along with XP, its a great way to experinace Vista fully but if you do come across any problems you can still use XP. You will also be able to ultlize all 4GB of Memory that i have put in for you.
 
thanks for the input guys. Yeah i had a feeling the Q6700 was a waste.

Cheers on the tips for 2x2gb instead of the 4x1gb.

I currently have a 19" flatscreen monitor but that will be the next thing that i upgrade :D

Ill have a look around on the site again and post what i come up with :p

BTW what would be the preorder wait time on the Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" as i plan to order the components this weekend and would that be worth getting over the standard?

Calamity
 
Last edited:
CalamityDaunt said:
I currently have a 19" flatscreen monitor but that will be the next thing that i upgrade :D
Click to expand...

If your spending as much as you are, you can quite easily get a nice 24inch screen in that budget.

CalamityDaunt said:
BTW what would be the preorder wait time on the Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" as i plan to order the components this weekend and would that be worth getting over the standard?
Click to expand...

Yes if your willing to wait definetly go for one.
If you order before hand, it will most probally get shipped on the day they are realeased providing its a week day. :)
 
CalamityDaunt said:
OK cheers, wasn't sure if i would miss anything if i just got the home version. What exactly is the difference apart from the price?
Click to expand...

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

Go for Home Premium.

You also dont need them Hard Drives really go for the Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-120-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=940

Ands whats with all the Fans?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom