Specification Opinions

[IanB001]

Hello

I'm planning a new PC build and would like your comments/opinions/suggestions on the specification.

The computer will be used primarily for some serious gaming and listening to music. It won't be overclocked, all components will be used at stock speeds. I'm unsure of the best operationg system for gaming/music, MS Windows XP or Vista. I've heard some nightmare stories about gaming and Vista. We have an extensive back catalogue of PC games and are unsure if these will run on Vista.

Before you highlight my deliberate mistake, yes that's only one graphics card at the moment, but I wanted the option to add an additonal graphics card at a later date.

EVGA nForce 680i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (122-CK-NF68-A1)£ 176.24
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX6850 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £622.74
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-8500 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N1066SR2GK)£135.11
Tagan TG1100-U96 1100W ATX2.01 Turbojet Quad SLi Silent PSU £152.74
1 x EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra SuperClocked SILENT 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (768-P2-E887-AR) £469.99
Sound Blaster® X-Fi Platinum - Fatal1ty Champion Series £149.99
2 x Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £69.31
Sony Floppy Drive - Black (HD-001-OK) £5.86
Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £19.96
OS (Option 1) Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-Bit & 64-Bit Edition DVD - Retail (66R-00020) £294.97
OS (Option 2) Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 £237.98
CoolerMaster Stacker 832 - Black Trim (No PSU) £152.74
Monitor Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP-HC 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £440.61
Logitech G15 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail (UK Layout) £52.86
Logitech G5 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse - Retail £37.59
Logitech Z-5500 THX® Certified 5.1 505 Watts Speakers - Retail £207.96

Total Cost: Wow!!!

I look forward to your responses, but please be gentle with me

Thank you.

Ian.

 

[stickroad]

Complete Overkill to be honest.

Drop the QX6850 and get the Q6600 and clock it up. I know you say you dont want to overclock but your seriusoly wasting your money on that CPU. Overclocking is fairly stariaght forward, just read a few guides on the net and their are always people on here that are willing to help.

Also add a aftermart CPU cooler like this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-039-TR

Go for one of the P35 Chipset boards. The EVGA 680i offers nothing over one of the P35 Chipsets other than SLI which at this point in time is not a good investement. By the time you want to add a second card, your current GPU will be old tech.

You dont need 8500 Rated Memory. You could quite easily get 4GB of Memory with the amount of money you have to spend. Something like this will be fine:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-019-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

You do not need 1100 wattage of power. The Corsair HX 620 will be plenty.:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-CS

The Ultra is a waste of money just go for a 8800GTX. The Ultra is not worth nearlly £100 over a 8800GTX.

Change the DVD Drive to a SATA one, like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-088-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=951

Go for Vista defiently, some people like to over exagerate about Vista and its problems, which arent nearlly as crictical as some people make out. Vista Ultimate is a waste of money in my eyes, if you dont know what difference between Ultimate and Home Premium then you are better to go for Home Premium 64bit. Also think about getting OEM instead of retail, since this is a new machine, very unlikely that you will be changing your motherboard any time soon.

 

[easyrider]

Yup a really imbalanced system thats not worth the money.

Vista Ultimate and yet only 2 GIG of Ram.

Why buy an extreme edition when running at stock?

Just because stuff is expensive doesn't mean its good.

Two Ultras and a 3 GHZ C2D = Bottleneck

 

[IanB001]

Complete Overkill to be honest.

Drop the QX6850 and get the Q6600 and clock it up. I know you say you dont want to overclock but your seriusoly wasting your money on that CPU. Overclocking is fairly stariaght forward, just read a few guides on the net and their are always people on here that are willing to help.

Still not sure about the overclocking as I'm not very techy but I know what you mean about the price of the QX6850.

Also add a aftermart CPU cooler like this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-039-TR

I assume the CPU cooler would only be required if the Q6600 was overclocked?

Go for one of the P35 Chipset boards. The EVGA 680i offers nothing over one of the P35 Chipsets other than SLI which at this point in time is not a good investement. By the time you want to add a second card, your current GPU will be old tech.

I understand what you are saying about the motherboard regarding the P35 vs the 680i. As you say, by the time I were to add an addtional graphics card the current card could be old tech. However, at least I would have the option of buying 2 state of the art cards at a later date to run in SLI. Just trying to think ahead a bit

You dont need 8500 Rated Memory. You could quite easily get 4GB of Memory with the amount of money you have to spend. Something like this will be fine:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-019-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

Fair comment about the memory, but isn't faster memory better?

You do not need 1100 wattage of power. The Corsair HX 620 will be plenty.:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-CS

Apologies for the power supply. I'm never quite sure how to calculate the power requirements of the components. Do you think that this 620w power supply would offer enough juice for future upgrades?

The Ultra is a waste of money just go for a 8800GTX. The Ultra is not worth nearlly £100 over a 8800GTX.

Will I still be able to play games at maximum resolution on the selected monitor?

Change the DVD Drive to a SATA one, like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-088-SA&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=951

Fair enough.

Go for Vista defiently, some people like to over exagerate about Vista and its problems, which arent nearlly as crictical as some people make out. Vista Ultimate is a waste of money in my eyes, if you dont know what difference between Ultimate and Home Premium then you are better to go for Home Premium 64bit. Also think about getting OEM instead of retail, since this is a new machine, very unlikely that you will be changing your motherboard any time soon.

Ok, perhaps Home Premium would be better, but 64bit? How about drivers and the games? 64bit drivers are a bit thin on the ground aren't they, and games aren't really designed to run in a 64bit environment?

What's the difference between OEM and Retail versions of Vista besides the price? There must be something I'm missing as the difference in price is significant, there must be a reason.

Thank you.

Ian.

 

[IanB001]

Yup a really imbalanced system thats not worth the money.

Vista Ultimate and yet only 2 GIG of Ram.

Why buy an extreme edition when running at stock?

Just because stuff is expensive doesn't mean its good.

Two Ultras and a 3 GHZ C2D = Bottleneck

Hopefully this would be a more balanced system with the recommendations made by stickroad.

Sorry for being a noob, but that's me thinking that more expensive means better performance

Can you explain your comment "Two Ultras and a 3 GHZ C2D = Bottleneck". I understand the 2 Ultras and 3Ghz part, but what does C2D mean?

Thank you

Ian.

 

[WarBird]

Can you explain your comment "Two Ultras and a 3 GHZ C2D = Bottleneck". I understand the 2 Ultras and 3Ghz part, but what does C2D mean?

C2D = Core 2 Duo

he means that cause the cpu is only running at 3GHz it will hold the cards back

 

[IanB001]

C2D = Core 2 Duo

he means that cause the cpu is only running at 3GHz it will hold the cards back

*Slaps head* Doh!!! Got it. Thank you

Ian.

 

[popejpii]

Ok, perhaps Home Premium would be better, but 64bit? How about drivers and the games? 64bit drivers are a bit thin on the ground aren't they, and games aren't really designed to run in a 64bit environment?

What's the difference between OEM and Retail versions of Vista besides the price? There must be something I'm missing as the difference in price is significant, there must be a reason.

I'm interested in this as well, is Vista 64bit worth it? And how are microsoft making life difficult with OEM Vista?

 

[topshot]

64bit drivers are about now but check with you hardware m'fr to make sure and yes its worth it as only 64bit OS will allow you to use over 3.5gb of RAM

Vista OEM HOME premium is same as retail version but doesnt have the phone support etc.

Also you cant just swap the OEM versions to a new PC, you activate it by phone and they will ask why it needs re-activating, if you tell them your Mobo etc broke then they wont have a problem.