Spec help please!

ublebub

ublebub

ublebub

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6 May 2007
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Hi guy, i've finally convinced myself to buy a new pc but i can't really justify more than about £500. I'm not a serious gamer since my current £250 dell doesn't allow it :( but i could see myself getting into it. having read through a few threads i've come up with the following:

CPU e6320
MOBO Gigabyte 965P-DS3
RAM Crucial Ballistix 2Gb PC2-6400C4 800MHz
GPU Innovision 8800GTS
CASE Antec Sonata III
HDD WD Caviar 160Gb

I reckon this comes to just over £500

I already have a belinea 22" monitor- I know that 1680x1050 is probably quite large for this gfx card but i already feel ill at the thought of spending £180 on it and was considering the x1950xt for £110 to save some cash.

Does this spec look ok or could some things be changed to make it cheaper/better

I also wanted to know:

Is the case and psu (earthwatts 500w) ok for the 8800?
Is the motherboard the right one (not sure about the difference between this and the other ds3 models)

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
Really? I kinda thought that to run upcoming games (crysis does look pretty good) at a large res would need at least the gts. Also it's though lack of funds rather than lack of want that i havn't been into games. If there's not going to be a noticable improvement from the 8800 over the x1950 then i'll go for the cheaper one- you're the expert ;)
 
The GTS is a massive improvement over a x1950 but it just seemed to not make sense, not a gamer and a 8800.

This is my spec, slightly over budget:
575spec.jpg
 
Thanks for the help

i've heard good things about that psu but with a £500 budget it seems to compromise somewhat on getting a better cpu- is there something particularly bad about the one supplied by antec?

Also what is the difference between that motherboard and the ds3 for ~£60? btw i'm hoping to try overclocking - is the arctic cooling fan a good choice?

Cheers
 
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Having had a look i think that motherboard may be more than i need- i doubt i will be upgrading for quite a while so don't think theres not a lot of point going for p35 chipset.

I'm still not sure about case/psu. The antec sonata seems good value since it comes with a psu. Will the 8800 fit in the case ok?

Please let me know what you think- i'm really trying to get the best bang for buck that i can!
 
The Antec Sonata is not on this list but many other cases is which a 8800 will fit in.. might be worth having a look and see if you like something there.. if you do at least you know that your graphics card will fit in the case! :p

http://www.tosk.co.uk/8800/

Cheers
Tom
 
Jaffa_Cake has spec'd you a brilliant rig there. If you have some more cash then I would go for a CPU cooler (Tuniq Tower, scythe ninja, Noctua or Thermalright 120 Ultra) to get your e4300 up to 3GHz. Otherwise CHANGE NOTHING :D

Once it is at 3GHz the performance will be pretty much as good in games as any other conroe at 3GHz.
 
I agree- the spec looks awesome but more than i can really afford. I was really hoping that someone could justify the reasons for the changes particularly the motherboard and psu. I agree that paying the extra £30 for the extra cache on the processor is probably not worth it.

Thanks for all the advice anyway :)
 
No problem.

Drop the CPU to an e2160 or e2140. Save a £15-£25

Drop the RAM to OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5. Save about £12.

Any less and you'll have to drop the 8800.
 
I'd rather get at least the e4xxx series cpu and am happy with the ballistix at this price. I'm going to ask again why i need to get a £100 motherboard that supports p35 when i have no intention to upgrade to penryn. I've found the ds3 for £60 and from what i've heard it clocks well.

Also, why spend over £100 on psu/case when the antec sonata III is £75 and looks nicer? is there an issue with the 8800 and this case/psu?

I'm really grateful for all the help but please could someone tell me why i should get something rather than just telling to buy it on faith?

Thanks in advance
 
I tested an e2160 against an e6600, both at 3.015GHz, in otherwise identical systems, and they were practically identical in games. Some times the e6600 was a bit ahead, but no more than 10%.

DS3 is fine, buy it. Regarding the PSU, the 8800 GTS needs a decent 500W PSU with 26A (I think) on the 12V rail, and that corsair one is know to be reliable.

You can get the Antec case/psu if you want, but make sure that PSU will be powerful enough for the 8800 GTS.
 
melbourne720 said:
I tested an e2160 against an e6600, both at 3.015GHz, in otherwise identical systems, and they were practically identical in games. Some times the e6600 was a bit ahead, but no more than 10%.

DS3 is fine, buy it. Regarding the PSU, the 8800 GTS needs a decent 500W PSU with 26A (I think) on the 12V rail, and that corsair one is know to be reliable.

You can get the Antec case/psu if you want, but make sure that PSU will be powerful enough for the 8800 GTS.
Click to expand...

Good advice from melbourne, all of the c2d's can clock to similar speeds and are almost exact @ benchmark at the same clocks.

If you want to drop a little more off the price you can get about £543 delivered.

Maybe drop the PSU to the OCZ StealthXStream 600w although I beleive its quite noisey.

And the CPU to a E2160, thats £543 delivered if those 2 parts are changed from the spec above.
 
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