Spec Check

Stag · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:22

ABIT IP35, P35, Socket-775, ATX, Silent Otes, GbLAN, DDR2, PCI-Ex16

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB, BOXED w/fan

OCZ DDR2 PC8500 2048MB KIT, Reaper HPC, 2x1024MB, Heat Pipe, (CL5-5-5-15)

XFX GeForce 8800GTS 500M 320MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDTV/HDCP,500/1600Mhz

Seasonic M12 600W, 120mm Fan, Modular Cables, ATX/EPS, 2xPCI-E, 20/24pin

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate English OEM DVD 64bit

Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM

Lian Li S80B

Is 64bit Vista worth it over 32bit? Should I plum for a 640mb card (I run at 16x12)?

C64 · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:28

OCZ DDR2 PC8500 2048MB KIT, Reaper HPC, 2x1024MB, Heat Pipe, (CL5-5-5-15)
No need get some crucial ballistix 5300 or 6400 to save a bit of money.

Stag · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:32

If I want to overclock/run my RAM faster won't it be worth getting the better stuff?

stickroad · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:33

If you are going to be overclocking i would be inclided getting an aftermart CPU Cooler, something like the Tuniq Tower.

Personally i would change the E6850 over to a Q6600. Benchmarks show that the E6850 beats the Q6600 on most of the games but having said that the Q6600 isnt far behind and the diffrence is minimal in reality. Also if you do any kind of encoding, multitasking etc.... then the Q6600 wins hands down.

Looks good, if you will be overclocking i would change the Memory to the Crucial Ballistix . Will hit 1000MHZ+ quite easily. Fantastic Stuff.

The Hard Drive to a Western Digital , slightly faster than the Hitachi Deskstar.

Is their any reason for Vista Ultimate, ive just installed Ultimate and to tell you the truth the features are pretty poor and isnt much diffrent to Home Premium. Go for a 64bit version.

I would personally go for the HD2900XT or the 8800 GTS 640 version. The 8800GTS 320 will be fine but might stuggle a bit with some games at that res.

Stag · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:40

Probably 6-12 months down the line I'll be wanting a 24" monitor, so I thought I'd get a new card then with the 8800gts 320mb tiding me over till then or should I just go for the pricier card now and just get the monitor later?

I'll swap the RAM as that stuff looks good. :cool:

HDD - The seek time on the Hitachi is quicker, in what way does the WD beat it, bandwidth?

C64 · 30 Jul 2007 at 23:54

No even the crucial ballistix 5300 can hit 1000 mhz

Stag · 31 Jul 2007 at 20:14

32 or 64 bit Vista, (will be primarily for games)?

Boah · 31 Jul 2007 at 22:40

Stag said:
32 or 64 bit Vista, (will be primarily for games)?

Unless you plan to get another 2GB RAM for a total of 4GB, get Vista x86. If you want to get x64 anyway, I'd probably get that additional 2GB at the same time. Be aware of any possible software/driver issues you may have though, you should do some research into your requirements beforehand.