Spec me a PC

Associate
Joined
24 Jan 2003
Posts
394
Location
"Are we there yet?"
Upgrade help, confused over memory

The time has come to upgrade, I've put up with my aging AthlonXP 2000+ long enough and I need some thing to play this years selection of great games on. i.e. Bioshock, Crysis, Hellgate:London etc.

I've always had AMD in the past, but I've been considering changing to Intel this time, I have around £700 to spare, but can go up to £1000 if necessary, although I'd prefer not to. I've browsed around the OcUK site, but as my PC knowledge is now at least 2 years out of date, I'm not sure which parts are compatible with which other parts.

Can someone please advise me on a suitable PC spec that will allow me to play the current crop of games, and hopefully continue to do so for the next few years.

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
I take it you already have monitor,keyboard, mouse e.t.c and only need base unit.

Also will you be overclocking?

Also anything you want to salvage from old P.C, i.e HDD, case
 
Last edited:
Yes already have those although I'm considering a new keyboard as mine is about 8 years old. Not sure about overclocking, havent tried it before, so it's not a priority. Also thinking about upgrading to Vista. I also needed a new PSU less than a year ago, Can't remember the make, but its 350W, 400W peak according to the specs on the side. Will that be enough or will I need a new one?

Ill transfer the stuff off my old HDD, but it tends to thrash a lot so it's probably on it's way out. I may keep the Audigy soundcard, unless theres better onboard the new mobo.
 
Last edited:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £58.99
(£69.31) £58.99
(£69.31)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC2 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £307.99
(£361.89) £307.99
(£361.89)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £51.99
(£61.09) £103.98
(£122.18)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £151.99
(£178.59) £151.99
(£178.59)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Gigabyte GZ-X2 Black Midi Case No PSU £28.99
(£34.06) £28.99
(£34.06)
Asus DRW-1814BL 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - Retail £15.99
(£18.79) £15.99
(£18.79)
Sub Total : £840.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £149.07
Total : £1,000.92

To get best possible experiance of crysis, you'd need a quad CPU, 64 bit OS, 4 gig RAM and 8800GTX imho.

Only prob is not sure if that case is big enough for 8800GTX, that GPU is a monster
 
Thanks for that mate. From browsing on here a bit more, I might wait another month, see whats out then. Need to save up a little more for that list anyway. And I've got a bit more money coming in then, although most of it is already accounted for. Can I get a spec at the £700 mark too please? Maybe get a new PC now, and upgrade a few choice bits in a months time.
 
This spec is a little over £700 but is definitely worth it. This will play all current and upcoming games with ease, and will provide a nice platform for some upgrades further down the line.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
(£14.09) £11.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£43.46) £36.99

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£176.24) £149.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
(£64.61) £54.99

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£68.14) £57.99

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
(£58.74) £49.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)
(£7.04) £5.99

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£19.96) £16.99

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
(£115.14) £97.99

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit
(£70.49) £59.99

Sub Total : £612.89
Shipping : £10.95
VAT : £109.17
Total : £733.01

;)
 
Alex_UK's done a nice £700 spec although get the 64-Bit of Vista so you can add another 2GB of RAM down the line.

I'd also maybe considering Overclocking, especially since you can get a cheap E2160 and Overclock it 2.8GHz fairly comfortably and even more for hardly any performance loss and saving you a few pounds in the process.
 
Last edited:
truebluecfc said:
Alex_UK's done a nice £700 spec although get the 64-Bit of Vista so you can add another 2GB of RAM down the line.
Good point, I forgot about that. Go for 64Bit to ensure your system is future-proofed.
 
Been looking through, and it seems that the 8800GTX wont fit into the gz-x2 case. I have found a case it will fit, but the case wont fit on my desk. theres a shelf above my desk at 480mm. I have found several cases that will fit on my desk, but how do I find out if the gfx card will fit inside them?
 
Yes! Thanks mate, I've been going through the case list one at a time trying to find specs and reviews but this is the answer I've been looking for.
 
Quick question. Now I've got some of the bits, I'm curious as the manual for the Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R Mobo says that DDR2 is supported at 800/667 MHz. Does this mean that the 1066MHz Memory I'm thinking of ordering, won't work, or should I just get 800MHz memory for it? Thinking of getting the Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit if its any help.

Thanks for all your help.

Also, should I stick to the stock cooler that comes with the Core 2 Quad Q6600, or get the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro? I run SETI@Home 24/7 so the CPU will be at 100% load nearly all the time. I've chosen a Coolermaster Wavemaster case as it's one of the few that take a GTX8800 and fit on my desk. Will there be problems fitting a different Cooler in that case and the mobo I have?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom