Suggestions for a £700 Build... Sorry :(

scorchiooo

scorchiooo

scorchiooo

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Joined
1 Jun 2007
Posts
13
Hi there.

I know you are all probably sick to death of suggesting system specs, but I am at a bit of a loss. Been a while since I last upgraded and things have certainly moved on. I have done a bit of reading and spec'd a system, but I would like to run it past some people who know a lot more about this than I so I don't make any mistakes.

I mainly use the computer for gaming, 3D modelling and music creation. So it has to be a bit of an all-rounder for a relatively low budget.

Here is the system I have in mind:

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz

Motherboard:
Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680

Memory:
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Graphics Card:
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI

Power Supply:
OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

Total:
£587.94 (£690.83 inc VAT)


I already have hard drives, monitors and I will be buying a pro soundcard at a later date, so onboard sound will be needed in the short term.

I am unsure whether to go for the P35 chipset as I quite like the idea of putting in another 8800 for SLI in a couple of months and as far as I know the 680i chipset is one of the few with dual x16 PCI-E lanes (correct me if I am wrong) that will allow me to do that. I won't be over clocking just yet. I usually run things at standard for a few weeks to make sure all is well. Then I will buy a nice heatsink and let rip.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated as I am bound to have missed something.

Thanks in advance...

Scorch
 
Think about the P5N-E SLi

board its based on the 650i chipset. Is a awsome clocker, but only has dual 8x PCI-E slots, but you shouldn't notice a drop in FPS. It will also save you a bit of money,

then you can change the memory to some cruician Ballistic memory, as this a better clocker.
 
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So perhaps something like this?...

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) £5.99
(£7.04) £5.99
(£7.04)
Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink £32.99
(£38.76) £32.99
(£38.76)
Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £107.99
(£126.89) £107.99
(£126.89)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663) £67.99
(£79.89) £67.99
(£79.89)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £171.99
(£202.09) £171.99
(£202.09)
Sub Total : £566.92
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 : £101.13
Total : £679.00
Click to expand...

The lower processor still has the larger cache the 6600 has, of course this doesnt mean it will clock as well, nor that the stock speed is as fast. However you cannot guarantee what stepping you will receive with any CPU and what that CPU will clock to. It's a matter of luck..

EDIT: Handy link when considering a GTS or GTX in any case..
http://www.tosk.co.uk/8800/
 
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Hi again. Thx for the feedback, but I am more confused than ever (it doesn't take a lot these days :eek: )

I did think about the P5N-E SLi nForce 650, but then I noticed that the 8800's each need x16 PCI-E's lanes to run on so I wouldn't be able to go for SLI at a later date as a cheap upgrade. The option to do that isn't written in stone, but it would be handy to keep it open.

Then again, I am beggining to have doubts about the 680i's after having read about some of the problems it has. I have never flashed a bios before so feel a little uneasy about having to do that if I purchase one, unless I am likely to get one with a new bios revision? The P35's seem to be quite new and I am apprehensive about new hardware and reliability, although the possibilty to upgrade to Penryn chips in the future would be good.

I could really do with waiting for another month and doing some more research. Unfortunatly this machine is dying rapidly, so I am forced to buy quickly. I will look into the setup you listed, thx for that :)

If anyone can shed any light or links on the pro's and con's of these mobo's I would appreciate it a lot. Looking for them now but not finding the info I need.

Thx again...

Scorch.
 
I was in a similar position to you. Well, i still am since i haven't actually gotten around to buying my rig yet. Originally, i decided on getting an eVGA 680i but, after hearing about the memory incompatibility issues, i decided against it. I would have liked to keep SLI open as an upgrade path but, realistically, there are usually more efficient single card solutions and i really can't fund an SLI setup. I'm going with the P5K Deluxe, i haven't really heard any problems with it apart from the heatsink construction isn't the best. It seems these P35 boards aren't suffering from the teething problems i'd suspected plus, with Penryn support, it makes for a pretty good motherboard.
 
I have a P5N32-E and after buying it discovered it isnt actually a 680 i think its a combination of two other chipsets...I can't remember if that means it does or doesnt have the 16x PCI-E though. look into it.


Either way I would suggest another board because I'm not a huge fan of this one
 
Thx for your help so far everyone.

After doing a bit more reading it would seem that the 680i chipsets are still having lots of issues. So I have put together an alternative spec. If anyone could look it over for me and let me know if I have missed something I would be grateful.

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz

Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3

Memory:
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-8500 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2

Graphics Card:
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI

Power Supply:
OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

Total:
£594.94 (£699.05 inc VAT)

There is one thing that I am not sure about. The motherboard states it has 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector. But, the power supply states that it has 1 x 20+4Pin ATX power connector. I know that it adds up to 24, but just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a different connection and I would have problems when putting it together.

Thx again for any help...

Scorch.
 
it will be fine, it just means that you can use it on the old 20 pin boards too, there will be 4 extra pins that you clip on to the others making a 24 pin connector
 
Excellent, thx for the advice. I have added the Corsair, all the reviews seem to rate it so it's got to be worth going over budget for.

Thx again to everyone who helped, made things a lot clearer. Just have to hope the build goes without any hitches.

Scorch.
 
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