Spec Check Lads

Nyell

Nyell

Nyell

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Joined
2 Mar 2007
Posts
5
Lads I've decided that I want my 1st gaming PC. I realise two of the items are out of stock but I'm sure they'll return.

Firstly the motherboard is good but which is the best 680i motherboard for value (I heard this one can overheat) and performance.

Secondly can the Zalman fit the case and onto the motherboard?

Thirdly do I need a seperate soundcard?

Forthly does anyone know the best 22" lcd for gaming?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £329.99
(£387.74) £329.99
(£387.74)
Zalman CNPS9700-LED Aero Flower (Socket AM2/939/754/775) CPU Cooler £38.99
(£45.81) £38.99
(£45.81)
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) £117.99
(£138.64) £117.99
(£138.64)
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB WD1500AHFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM £136.99
(£160.96) £136.99
(£160.96)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £167.99
(£197.39) £167.99
(£197.39)
Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £129.99
(£152.74) £129.99
(£152.74)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86

I already have a 320gb internal SATA HD & Dlink Wireless PCI Card

Also can anyone spec me a better looking PC or one they'd go for for this price.!.

;)
 
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Raptor isn't really worth it IMO

You might want to change the M/B if you aren't looking to do SLI

Part from that it looks fine.
 
Nyell said:
Ok what motherboard is the best without Sli
Click to expand...

ASUS P5B, Gigabyte DS3/4 etc

Nyell said:
I want one with 2 pci-express and a PCI for new physics cards
Click to expand...

If you want one with twin PCI-Express lanes a 650 or 680 based M/B might be best. Physics cards again aren't really worth, haven't taken off and a lot of games don't support them. Besides most Nvidia or ATI will do the rendering for Physics related stuff.
 
1. Mobo - I'd go for the P5N 650 SLi, P5B, DS3/4
2. That Zalman should be ok, but I don't know for sure.
3. Onboard sound is high quality these days
4. Nope, sorry!

I agree with Will_3rd that the Raptor isn't worth it. A Seagate will be much quieter, much better value and be almost as fast.
 
Out of personal preference i'd suggest a Lian Li PC7 case, but I'm just a fanboy :p .
On board sound, like it has been pointed out, is high quality, it's only if you wish to use EAX or need a little bit extra to perfect the sound.
If you don't do overclocking then you don't really need a cpu cooler, the one that comes with the 6600 is more than adequate (read that it can even do quite well when overclocking).
But system looks good, have fun with it.
 
Boys...

I Game a lot on my Athlon 3000 with a xFx 6600 GT & K8-Upgrade Asus MOBO on CSS.!. (no OC'ing)

I thought that it was about time to be serious about gaming and all the parts.

I want to get the best out of my graphics card. Does this mean that a less advanced board will compromise on performance or have no affect unless I OC.

Also I say when in Rome do what the Romans Do.

So if your overclocking I'm going to give it a go (next year) or at least I'd like to think I can... that's when my air conditioned house comes in Handy. :rolleyes:
 
Some boards clock more than others. Those mentioned often get 400-500MHz FSB with some decent case airflow. When they are the same price as regular boards, we say get the better clockers!
 
I don't know huge amounts about Ram but I'd probably suggest swapping the Ram for some Geil PC6400 C4 as it has better specifications and is cheaper at the moment.

As for the heatsink, you might want to consider the Noctua NH-U12F, Scythe Ninja or Tuniq Tower. All of which are cheaper and perform very well. :)
 
stinka said:
IMO:

id swap the mobo for an evga 680i, id add a e6300

id swap hdd for 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB in raid 0

id swap cooler for Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

also i woul be getting geil ram as mine is faultless running at 917 mhz 4-4-4-15

monitor wise i have the belinea 22w cheap and great for gaming but id also look at the v7

stinka
Click to expand...

Have to disagree there mate. instead of e6300 get an e6400, its the best for the money and you dont have to spend that much on top of 6300 cost. e6600 is too pricy in my opinion and who needs that much cache anyway?

Definitely not arctic freezer cooler, they do offer you bang for buck but its not a worthwhile investment for your expensive cpu. they ran hotter and the fan, omg, you have it running for about 3 months and will feel like you have a f18 sitting under your desk. I'd say that zalaman is one of the best out there. IMHO tuniq, titan amanda and thermalright ultra 120 cooler are too heavy and add unwanted tension to the motherboard. Noctua is a little lighter so you could opt for that, but zalman flower is the best choice I reckon.

As for geil ram..hmm.. one of my mates had 3 geil ram (ultra 6400) and had to rma every single one cause it didn't even run the stock speed stable, although I reckon that its more motherboard compatibility than anything. I'd recommend getting d9 micron chips based ram like crucial or team group. I personally got team xtreem 6400 ram and its the dogz dangles imho. OCZ sli ram is probably the cheapest ram with d9 chips but I dont know of anyone running it so do some research.

Other than that your rig is pukka :D
 
I disagree i'd take a 4300 for £90 anyday over a 6300 £112 ish 6400 £140 ish
the performance/price difference isnt that big a gap and afterall i think
these dual cores are worth a years usuage at max until quad core is a lot
cheaper well that's my plan anyway a 4300 untill a quad core is sub £150.
Which might be sooner than we all think but probably in about a year.
But if money was no issue i'd get a 6400.
 
geff_r said:
I disagree i'd take a 4300 for £90 anyday over a 6300 £112 ish 6400 £140 ish
the performance/price difference isnt that big a gap and afterall i think
these dual cores are worth a years usuage at max until quad core is a lot
cheaper well that's my plan anyway a 4300 untill a quad core is sub £150.
Which might be sooner than we all think but probably in about a year.
But if money was no issue i'd get a 6400.
Click to expand...

True that. I'd say the 4300 or 6400 are better choices when you are looking performance/buck. I've got 6400 so I'm over the moon about it and would recommend it to any1 but I read up a lot of reviews about 4300 and its a hell of a chip.
 
I've taken all your advice on board and this is what I've ended up with

EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI TVO
Zalman Flower Cooler CNPS9700
Corsair 620W PSU ATX
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Socket 775 2.4GHz
EVGA S775 nForce 680i SLI ATX 7.1 Channel Audio Lan
Corsair Memory 6400 2x1GB XMS2 6400 CL5
WD3200KD Hard Drive x 2 (already own 1)
Wireless Dlink PCI DSM-520 (already own)

Let me know what you think... I'm open to criticism
I thought matching the MOBO with the Graphics card might help

And a few other bits

Can you suggest a Keyboard for gaming

and a 22" Monitor
Now if I want to Overclock what software do I need
 
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