Spec please :)

Scougar

Scougar

Scougar

Soldato
Joined
30 Jan 2007
Posts
15,505
Location
PA, USA (Orig UK)
Hi chaps,

Don't normally do this as always do the whole review/researching process first and make own mind up, but BEFORE I start looking this time for a friend:

£750-800 guide price. (excludes a case as already have one, but need decent PSU).

1) Price with OCUK 24" monitor (or similar)
2) One without.

Notes: Rig is gaming, so probably best going with E8xxx series stuff rather than quad, min 4gb as he wants vista (oem most likely), and would prob benefit from PCI-E 2 for future proofing, as he doesn't upgrade often, and doesn't want complexity of faffing about with multi-card graphics. DDR3 is way to pricey ATM, so definately DDR2.

I will be building it so have no probs installing anything :)

Thankyou :)
Matthew
 
Should really say this is base unit only, or base unit + monitor :)

Currently:

CPU: E8400 (To be O/C'd)
HSF: Undecided (Recommendations?)
M/B: Asus P5Q-E for features, o/c'ing and deluxe has too many net ports.
RAM: GEIL Black Dragon 4GB 5-5-5-15 (2gb x2)
GPU: 4870 512mb (maybe 4850 o/c'd). Not sure on 260/280 yet.
PSU: Corsair TX650W (As long as it's single rail, haven't checked yet)
HDD: Not sure yet, depends on price of other components. (Recommendations?)

Matthew
 
hdd, i would go with samsung every time...cant really comment on the hsf as i use water. But a thermalright 120 extreme or a tuniq?

On the ram i would probably go for PC 8000 if u want to OC (is the ram u chose PC6400?)
 
i'd go with jarman on the hd/cooler and memory, have a look at the G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5.

hard disk wise go for the samsung f1 640gb if you can get it into the budget.
 
j.jarman said:
hdd, i would go with samsung every time...cant really comment on the hsf as i use water. But a thermalright 120 extreme or a tuniq?

On the ram i would probably go for PC 8000 if u want to OC (is the ram u chose PC6400?)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help guys :)

Yeah, the Black Dragon RAM is 6400 but it does O/C very well (of course never guaranteed!). Taken a look at the G.Skill and put it on just in case however as only £6 extra, and guaranteed at 1000mhz anyway, so prob safer bet :)

Put the sony DVD dual layer re-writer down (£16.44) the Samsung F1 (but specs on 500Gb do look better for £12 less, so any reason for the 640?) and taking a look at the tuniq and thermal right stuff now :)

Also seeing about a q6600 rig but as primary is gaming I think a higher clocked e8400 will still be better if I can get him to 3.8-4Ghz easily with a tuniq tower?

Matthew
 
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Ok,

Come up with the following:

Build One - Best Poss for Money
CPU - E8400 C2D - £115.14
M/B - Asus P5Q-E - £103.39
RAM - G.Skill DDR PQ PC2-8000C5 4GB - £76.36
GPU - HD 4870 512mb - £182.11
PSU - Corsair TX650W - £64.61
Heatsink - Tuniq Tower 120 - £35.24
HDD - Samsung F1 640GB - £58.74
DVD - Sony DVD+-RW Dual Rewriter - £16.44
Monitor - OCUK 24" - £234.99

TOTAL: £887.02

Build 2 - Value for Money
CPU - E8400 C2D - £115.14
M/B - Asus P5Q-E - £103.39
RAM - Black Dragon 4Gb 6400 - £70.49
GPU - HD 4850 512Mb - £117.49
PSU - Corsair TX650W - £64.61
Heatsink - Tuniq Tower 120 - £35.24
HDD - Samsung F1 500GB - £46.99
DVD - Sony DVD+-RW Dual Rewriter - £16.44
Monitor - OCUK 24" - £234.99

TOTAL: £804.78

All OCUK prices. Obviously more tempted by the £80 more expensive rig, but it isn't my cash. I could drop price with the PSU to a cheaper model, but for £64 that's an awfully good unit.

Any other recommendations than the OCUK 24" monitor?

Matthew
 
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i'd suggest a look/post into the monitor forum tbh.

i've just got a 20" samsung widescreen and i'm very happy with it, maybe have a look at the 22" samsungs.

i'd go with the 4870 gfx card over the 4850.

any reason for not looking at the p5q pro motherboard ?
 
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Hmm.. haven't factored Vista into the price :*( (he would prefer Vista).

mp260767 said:
i've just got a 20" samsung widescreen and i'm very happy with it, maybe have a look at the 22" samsungs.
Click to expand...
Will post in monitor section as suggested :) Thanks.

mp260767 said:
i'd go with the 4870 gfx card over the 4850.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's my feeling as well... trying to get him the best I can and prefer the better cooling the 4870 brings if possible.

mp260767 said:
any reason for not looking at the p5q pro motherboard ?
Click to expand...
Not really.. I will be looking into it more, but just thought the p5q-e was considered better than the p5q pro. (deluxe is silly money for just stupid amount of net ports). Will look into it further as not to clued up on the p45 stuff yet (as I've been checking out X38 stuff).

Matthew
 
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Final spec I advised to buy:

CPU - E8400 C2D 3Ghz
M/B - Asus P5Q Pro
RAM - OCZ 8500 HPC C5 4Gb (2gb x2)
GPU - Powercolor HD 4870 512Mb
PSU - Corsair TX650W
Heatsink - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Fan for Heatsink - Akasa Amber 120mm (Quite cheap and they are pretty quiet).
HDD - Samsung F1 500GB
DVD - Sony DVD+-RW Dual Rewriter
Monitor - Yaraku HDCP 24" (P or S not sure)VA

Thanks for the tips :)

Matthew
 
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i'd steer clear of the yuraku monitor unless OCuk deal with the warranty issue's themselves as the aftersale/returns experience i've had with yuraku has been very unpleasant.
 
The yuraku monitor is not an ocuk product (that i've seen). Did you actually mean DGM as the OCUK monitor is, or Yuraku?

Both OCUK and retailers with the Yuraku seem to be just as bad as each other with sorting out rma's etc.

Matthew
 
that cheap DFI x38
4gb GeiL Black Dragon
PSU 750 thermaltake
ATI HD4850
E8400
Tuniq Tower
500gb samsung spinpoint

Now, im not exactly sure if its in your budget but that would be best choice for now.
4850 will serve you well for now, when they get cheaper or the new versions come out you can add extra one for crossfire.

Tuniq Tower is a must for e8400.
That ram should be fine - my black dragons do ~1080mhz.

And pick either 20" or 24" monitor, 22 is a waste.
 
I picked the P45 as I know him, and he won't/can't be arsed messing with a crossfire setup just to run a game, so honestly no point getting an X38/X48.

If I'm wrong then the pro still has two 8x 8x pci-e 2 ports to crossfire with.

I gotta a better deal on the OCZ stuff guaranteed to run the speeds for o/c'ing and saved a few pounds. I want to o/c the 4870 with it's better cooler, and with the bigger res of the new monitor I thought it wise to get the higher bandwidth card with GDDR5. It should last him longer as well :)

Yuraku... well I have only heard good for the price with colour and speed comments about the monitor, and only today heard RMA nightmare stories. It's done now.... but thankyou for the heads up :)

I'm glad I looked at the stuff out now, as I'd like to go for something similar just with an X38 when I can afford it, and if I don't spend all the money on modding my S13 (Nissan 200sx) instead. lol

Matthew
 
Just a follow up as peeps may be interested in this as P5Q Pro board.

Spec:
CPU - E8400 C2D 3Ghz
M/B - Asus P5Q Pro
RAM - OCZ 8500 HPC C5 4Gb (2gb x2)
GPU - Powercolor HD 4870 512Mb
PSU - Corsair TX650W
Heatsink - Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Fan for Heatsink - Akasa Amber 120mm (Quite cheap and they are pretty quiet).
HDD - Samsung F1 500GB
DVD - Sony DVD+-RW Dual Rewriter
Case - Jeantech Phong (Original version)
Monitor - Yaraku HDCP 24" (P or S not sure)VA

Will be built but without the Vista O/S until say Thursday (being delivered). Will update when I get it all together for a pic hopefully and see what basic kind of o/c the chip and motherboard are capable of. I am hoping for at least 3.6Ghz, 3.8ghz would be acceptable, and 4Ghz would be perfect :) Won't push it much beyond that even if I can, as it isn't my equipment.

BTW... whatever your opinion about the OCZ memory with heatpipes... they look friggin' cool :D Didn't realise how big the are!
 
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System Built and Vista 64 Ultimate "beta" installed until his copy of Vista Home arrives.

First Impressions: Nice quick system and very impressed by the Asus motherboards nowadays with a lot of useful software supplied. ExpressGate (browse the web, photo editor etc without booting into windows), a host of overclocking software/fan profiles/asus prob/monitoring. MUCH better than a few years ago.

Not impressed by the installation of the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120. It can very easily be turned/rotated slightly. Not sure if it's because of the thermal paste supplied (Much too wet/slippery), or just a bad clamping design. Regardless of that... with an Amber 120mm fan (very slow and quiet), it seems to have good temps at idle @ stock. Haven't benched yet so will check further.

Thankfully, after installing the GPU drivers for Vista, it actually worked, so it looks like my own motherboard (Asrock 4CoreDual) just sucks at Vista, or perhaps just with pci-e cards ;)

I don't seem to have the Aero stuff working (No 3D tabs on windows), as I am unfamiliar with vista I haven't found the option to switch it on yet.. anyone? I did the Vista test and 5.7 I think (I know.. it is silly test).

One thing I would say it that having modular cables is a blessing and unfortunately, the PSU I chose doesn't have them lol. May have to do a fully reinstall of the hardware if I get time and put the cables under the motherboard etc, to smarten it up and help airflow.

I took a photo of the system, but forgotten my photobucket password lol. Will try again later.

Overclocking to follow. (I have only put the 4870 mem upto 1000Mhz for the moment, but not tested it in-game etc).

Matthew
 
Build follow up

Just a follow up on this really:

He is more than happy with machine, and his comment to me last night was... "it is SOOO fast." System running at 3.8Ghz and the 4870 is running sweetly with no issues :D

With all the negativity from people about ATI, thought I'd just share a little good news.
 
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