Spec check

mcc49

mcc49

mcc49

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Joined
24 May 2004
Posts
2,022
Yes its another episode of 'Check my spec please' on General Hardware forum.

My current PC spec is an A64 3400, 1gb DDR RAM with a 6800GT powering a Dell 2407 and it is now struggling to get decent framerates doing 1920x1200.

The parts I am thinking of buying are the following-

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit x2

Akasa TIM Clean CPU & Heatsink Cleaner

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX ACS3 SILENT 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler

Scythe S-FLEX 1200RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 pin x5

Silverstone TJ09B-W (Black)

Asus Commando Intel 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Total Cost £1612.49

+ a Seagate 320gb 7200.10 hard drive I currently use.

But before I go ahead and buy this in the middle of the week, theres a few odd ends I would like to tie up. The cpu/motherboard/RAM is pretty much set in stone as I did quite a lot of research into them.

My first concern is the Corsair 620W PSU, do I really need the 620W model for my spec? I plan to overclock the C2D6600 to 3.6ghz if possible. Should I drop it down to the 520W model?

The 5x 120mm fans was originally going to be the Noctua ones but people are saying they have poor air pressure making them a poor choice for use with heatsinks. I plan to use 2 of the fans to replace the Tuniq fan and the 8800GTX fan and use the other 3 as case fan on the TJ-09. Are the Scythes good fans or should I change back to the Noctuas?

Also the Scythe S-Flex fans come with a molex to 3pin mobo connector, does using this adapter undervolt the fan so it spins at lower RPM? As I dont want the fans spinning at full whack if its not needed and will need to consider a fan controller if it doesnt undervolt.

I will be using the 320gb seagate as a primary drive (3 partitions, dual booting XP with Vista and 3rd partition for files) which I assume should be fine? As I never used partitions before.

I dont normally upgrade PC's, just build a new one every 3 years hence I want it to last at least 3 years just like this current PC has.

Cheers :)
 
I'd probably change the RAM for faster 800MHz, the motherboard and CPU look superb though. I'd keep the 620W PSU cause with the GTX and big overclock its going to be quite demanding, you should still have a fair bit to play with in that too.
 
cool but like I said the RAM is dead set as Ive seen first hand how stupidly well they clock with tight timings, I might just oc it just a bit if it runs hot as silence is my main priority in this setup hence I will be stripping all the stock fans on the TJ09 for aftermarket ones.
 
Well if you aren't going for anything big then I would stick with the 520W. Or what you could do is save some dollar and go for this OCZ bang in the middle of the two corsair PSUs.
 
the OCZ has LED fans tho and LED is a big no no for me, cant stand them. Also does anyone know the answer to my question about running the fan using the 3pin mobo headers? will it undervolt the fan?
 
The OCZ does have an LED but if you don't have a windowed case then its fine, its performance you are after. Not sure about the fan query, obviously with a fan controller you could determine just what speeds you want the fans at.
 
The TJ09 does have a side window I am afraid :( , guess I ll just shell out for the corsair 620 for the 'peace of mind' factor.
 
One of the reason I went for the commando over the 650i chipset is I need more more than 4 SATA ports, another is that its by Asus and I like their hassle free asus update for the bios.
 
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