Spec for new PC

toffee_paul · 7 Mar 2007 at 21:33

Hi,

Can I get some opinions on this spec please.

HARD DRIVE...
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
- £97.51

CPU...
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
- £197.39

MOBO...
Asus P5B Deluxe (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- £122.19

MEMORY...
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
- £113.96

CASE...
Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Silver)
- £81.06

TOTAL (inc. VAT + Shipping) = £627.33

I'm hoping for a PC that will last me a good 2-3 years, will this do the trick?
I'm not sure about the choice of motherboard, can someone recommend a good one for overclocking.
Onboard sound/video not important at all, just need a solid reliable chipset that overclocks well.
I haven't forgot about the video and sound cards, they'll come when my next pay check arrives!

Thanks,
Paul

Cupra · 7 Mar 2007 at 21:42

do you have a pci express graphics card as u will ned it to run. also you need a PSU as the case doesnt come with one. very high recommended one is the corsair 620w

melbourne720 · 7 Mar 2007 at 21:43

Great spec, I have that case, it is a silent running massive beast of case, looks great.

I'd go for an 8800 GTS for graphics, and just use onboard sound.

Will_3rd · 7 Mar 2007 at 21:46

toffee_paul said:
I'm hoping for a PC that will last me a good 2-3 years, will this do the trick?
I'm not sure about the choice of motherboard, can someone recommend a good one for overclocking.
Onboard sound/video not important at all, just need a solid reliable chipset that overclocks well.
I haven't forgot about the video and sound cards, they'll come when my next pay check arrives!

Should be good for a while, can be upgraded easily if need be, M/B looks good.

toffee_paul · 7 Mar 2007 at 22:15

Thanks for the help guys,

Forgot the board won't take my old AGP card!

Can't afford a new video card yet so I think I'll have to go for a motherboard with on-board video.

Can anyone recommend the Gigabyte 965P DS3?

The Gigabyte mobo is also in the OCUK Value bundle...
Intel Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6600 2.40GHz Retail / Gigabyte 965P DS3 / 2GB GeIL PC2-6400C4 DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Is the GeIL RAM as good as the OCZ in this case?

Thanks, Paul

Will_3rd · 7 Mar 2007 at 22:18

The DS3 is pretty good, a lot of people have them.

The OCZ and Geil are pretty similar, the latter has better timings iirc.

semi-pro waster · 7 Mar 2007 at 22:21

I can recommend the Gigabyte DS3 but it doesn't have onboard video either unfortunately, generally it is only mATX motherboards that do, however they are usually very limited in terms of overclocking options. Maybe just buy a cheap stopgap such as a 6200 to get you up and running along with the DS3 then keep it as an emergency card or sell it off later.

The Geil Ram is good also, it has slightly better specifications than the OCZ.

toffee_paul · 7 Mar 2007 at 23:11

Thanks again guys.
I've decided on the following stuff...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB ST3400620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£82.24) £69.99

Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case - No PSU (Silver)
(£81.06) £68.99

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£197.39) £167.99

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£82.24) £69.99

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)
(£115.14) £97.99

MSI GeForce 6200 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£29.36) £24.99

Total (inc VAT & shipping) = £602.65

Can someone quickly recommend a PSU. I forgot the case doesn't include one! I remember the days they all came with PSUs!

Anyway, I see people getting 500/600/700W PSUs, surely thats too much! I like to play the latest games and do some moderate overclocking but I don't want to go overboard on a PSU. So can I get a couple of recommendations bearing in mind I'll be forking out for a new video card soon (to replace the MSI GeForce 6200 stopgap).

Thanks,
Paul

semi-pro waster · 7 Mar 2007 at 23:17

The Corsair 520w is probably the best on the market currently at around £70. However if you can't stretch to that then either the Akasa Paxpower 500w or the FSP BlueStorm 500w, both at around £55 would be my suggestions. Neither of them are modular though and the Corsair is built to very high standards plus comes with a 5 year warranty.

toffee_paul · 7 Mar 2007 at 23:38

What do you mean by modular mate?

Also, I'm a bit worried in case the case isn't suitable for the PSU I buy.

Here is a pic of the interior of the case I plan to get. pic of the case.

The power cable on my current PSU isn't particurly long and there isn't much give between the connector and the motherboard socket. Admitedly my setup is old (Athlon XP 1800!) but I'm worried the cable won't be long enough!

What do you think?

Thanks,
Paul

oneilldo · 7 Mar 2007 at 23:41

modular means that you only need to insert the cables to the PSU that you will need to power components. Hence you won't be left with a load of cables coming from your PSU that you dont use/currently need.

toffee_paul · 7 Mar 2007 at 23:47

Ah i see. But does it improve anything power usage wise?

I think I'll go with the Akasa Ultra Quiet 500W Paxpower PSU as it says it has an extended power cable.

Also, does anyone know which revision Gigabyte board Overclockers is selling at the moment.. 1.0 / 2.2 / 3.0?

Thanks
Paul