Spec check please

Jumpingmedic

Jumpingmedic

Jumpingmedic

Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
1,509
Location
Behind you!
Looking for a brand new system with a budget of £1000... obviously that won't buy top of the range stuff but I'm hoping for a decent mid range system, and since I've currently got an Athlon XP2400 with a Geforce 5900 the only way is up.

I had some doubts about dual cores since I still have a lot of games that don't use dual core but still eat up resources like mad. But after a post in the cpu forum I've settled on dual cores. This is my spec so far:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Abit AW9D-MAX Intel 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)

Couple of other things as well of course... vista, dvd rewriter etc.

First thing: any noob mistakes? Will everything fit into everything else? I know quite a bit about hardware but sometimes I get lost with all the numbers and speeds and stuff. Is the PSU going to be able to handle the load?

Next: how does the system look? The total cost comes to just over £1000 with shipping and vat which is within budget for me, but is that the best I can do with my money?


Any help greatly appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read this!
 
Last edited:
Looks good, would change the RAM to a 6400 kit though, something by Geil or OCZ otherwise you won't be able to overclock by much.

The PSU should be able to cope with that setup no sweat.

You could change the CPU to 6300/6400 if you want to save some more cash
 
If you are wanting to overclock I would change the board to a Gigabyte DS3 you will get good overclocks with your chip and it would be better value for money. I would change the RAM to GeIL or OCZ 6400 the prices at the moment for these modules are very very good! PSU will be fine for that system, more than enough! If you want something quiete on the HDD front, go for a Samsung, I don't like WD myself I have one and its noisy. If you aren't bothered by sound then get a Seagate they are reliable and slightly faster!

Apart from those points decent setup there!
 
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-061-GI

That the board you mean? It's a lot cheaper (which I like!) I assume it's a 1066 FSB though?

I'm not normally one for overclocking too much but this board might tempt me into it.

You were right about the RAM too, found some nice 6400 chips.

I thought about the 6300/6400 cpus but I wanted the 4mb L2 cache and I think it's worth the price hit.

Also changed to a seagate HD same specs but £5 more, but if they're more reliable I guess thats worth it, noise doesn't bother me, my room's already a level 5 noise hazard anyway :)

Ok new list (pending approval!)

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)


Sound good? Thanks again for the help.
 
Looks a much better spec now, if you are going to overclock though you might want to consider an after-market cooler as the retail one with your E6600 won't cool the chip very well after the MHz increase. I also found the retail fan to be quite noisy and inefficient, just a thought. I have an E6600 too and with no overclock I upgraded the CPU cooler to a Noctua NH-U12F now its very cool, and quiet :)
 
as stated a differnet mobo (fatal1ty 650i becuase you're on nvidia?)

Scrap the Corsair PSU. They're good , yeah, but they're rediculously overpriced. OCZ 600W, or FSP 550W
 
Stabhappy said:
as stated a differnet mobo (fatal1ty 650i becuase you're on nvidia?)

Scrap the Corsair PSU. They're good , yeah, but they're rediculously overpriced. OCZ 600W, or FSP 550W
Click to expand...

Good catch thanks... I don't know what i was thinking with that PSU, guess I just clicked the first one I saw ^_^ I'm a salesman's dream.

Changed to

OCZ GameXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply


I've got a gigabyte mobo now

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

That's ok for Nvidia right?
 
Bleh, one last question; is my CPU (Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail) a 64bit cpu? It says 64 bit technology on the specs but I read somewhere earlier that it was a 64bit emulator :confused:

I need to be certain it'll run normal 64 bit programs since i'm getting the 64bit version of Vista.
 
Ok it's done... heads up spie, another £1k for the pile ^_^

No-one tell me about any cheaper stuff now coz you'll make me cry :)

Thanks all for your help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom