Suggestions for my £2100 June build

Mansize_tissue

Mansize_tissue

Mansize_tissue

Soldato
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I've been planning this for a while now; the guys at hardforum have given it a once-over i just thought i'd run it past you guys, too.

£141 E6600
£168 eVGA 680i
£415 eVGA 8800GTX KO ACS3 (anybody know where it's in stock?)
£200 Silverstone OP1000
£165 CoolerMaster Stacker 832
£70 36GB Raptor
£139 150GB Raptor
£188 Windows Vista Home Premium Retail
£118 Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 2x 1GB (2GB)
£341 NEC 20WGX2
£36 Thermalright Ultra-120
£13 Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM
£22 Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£7 Arctic Silver 5
£77 Razer Tarantula
£40 Razer Copperhead

Total: £2149 inc. shipping (i think).

If you're wondering: why a 1kW PSU? Then here's your answer; I would like to future proof this in as many ways as possible but, due to the rapid advancement in hardware, i understand this is near-impossible. However, there are some areas where i think it is possible to have some sort of future-proofing; one of which is the PSU. I also think the same goes for the monitor, case and hard drives, since these are all parts that are likely to remain in the system the longest and be recycled the most. Therefore, in these areas, i can jusifity spending a lot. This is why i've chosen these hard drives, case, PSU and monitor.

I am willing to consider other PSUs, though. The Etasis 850W or, the pretty much identical (but with all cables sleeved), Zues 850W. The thing is, i prefer the single +12v-rail design, especially if, at some point, i'm going to have a couple of 8800GTXs drawing their power from a single +12v rail. Another option would be the Coolmasters Realpower 850W (i believe i got that right) or Enermax's 1kW DXX or normal Galaxy 850W. Any others i should be considering (excluding the Corsair 620w because i'm doubtful it could pull my rig in a year's time with a load of upgrades). Do you think a single +12v rail powersupply would be better than one which uses a multi-rail design?

I do have a few queries, though. I am very worried about memory compatibility with this motherboard (the eVGA 680i) so any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's a shortlist of memory i am considering:
£206 G.Skill PQ 2x 2GB (4GB)
£100 G.Skill HZ 2x 1GB (2GB)
£89 G.Skill PK 2x 1GB (2GB)
£117 Corsair Dominator PC2-6400C4 2x 1GB (2GB)
£176 Corsair Dominator PC2-6400C5 2x 2GB (4GB)
£94 OCZ SLI-Ready PC2-6400 2x 1GB (2GB)

(Prices may've changed since i last checked)

So, what do you think'd be best in terms of both compatibilty and performance whilst considering the price, too.

I also don't know whether to get one of the following cases instead:
£180 CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evolution (Silver)
£170 Silverstone TJ-09B-W

Again, you're opinions will be valued.

And once more for monitors:
£206 Samsung 206BW
£282 Dell 2007WFP

So, what d'ya think?

I intend to overclock this rig to around 3.2Ghz to 3.6Ghz and there are a few things i'm likely to add down the line, including:
Headphones (likely either: Medusa 5.1 or HD595s, it depends whether i really need surround sound for games).
New speakers (probably Logitech Z-5500).
Sound card (Create Sound Blaster X-fi Extreme Gamer- although, i'll probably spend the extra money to get the Platinum version so i can have the front drive bay for my cans).
And.. i think that's about it.

Oh, and I still have to decide on a keyboard, mouse and mousemat.
I think i'm either going to get an MX518, G5, Deathadder or Copperhead. I'm a medium-to-high sensitivity player, what d'ya think would suit me best? As for the keyboard, i'm partial to laptop-style keyboards since i've been using my laptop for gaming for the last year or so. I found, using my friends "normal" keyboard the other day that the space-bar got in the way when trying to hit "C" and "V" with my thumb, only i don't know if this is because there was no wrist rest. Due to the long keystrokes, pressing "C" with my thumb meant that the lower edge of my thumb was pressing down on the space-bar. This is why i'm thinking of getting a keyboard like the Razer Tarantula which has thin keys. Alternatively, there's always the G15 and Saitek Eclipse II.

Sorry about the length of this post.

Fire away; your comments will be most appreciated.
 
Not enough storage. Use 150GB Raptor for OS, and 7200rpm for mass storage/music/games/videos.

Go for XP Home.
Buy better speakers.
Buy standard X-Fi with front panel.
 
Your spec is similar to mine except the graphics card really... I'm planning to get the 8800 GTX too.

I can vouch for the Motherboard/CPU... it's a great combination!

Feel free to message me if you have any questions
 
Mansize_tissue said:
£70 36GB Raptor
£139 150GB Raptor
Click to expand...
pointless imo, why have you got a 36gb raptor and then a 150gb? if its for speed, arent the 36gb ones much slower than the 150gb disks?
i'll agree with squiffy, if you must have a raptor then use the 150gb as OS and get a proper storage drive for everything else.
 
£70 36GB Raptor
£139 150GB Raptor

I'm sure he can get two Raptor 150GB's and RAID 0 instead... looks like the guys made of money :P
 
tsj said:
£70 36GB Raptor
£139 150GB Raptor

I'm sure he can get two Raptor 150GB's and RAID 0 instead... looks like the guys made of money :P
Click to expand...

crikey, 500GB SATA 7200rpm or 36GB raptor. I know what I would choose! (have a 500GB sammie) :p
 
Thank you for your replies. I thought the price of the 36GB raptor really doesn't seem justifiable but, since i don't need a large storage drive, i thought it'd be worth getting it for the OS and pagefile. Because, like the PSU, it's likely to remain in the system for a long time to i might as well get a good one! Also, i'd rather have the pagefile on a fast hard drive other than the one games are stored on so, when i look at it like this, it seems like a worthwhile investment. I will definitely consider dropping it, though.

squiffy, what speakers would you suggest? Some nice stereo speakers would be nice, but i have no experience with amplifiers and wouldn't a 5.1 setup be better for gaming (FPS mainly)? Also, which soundcard are you referring to. In the operating system department, Vista is really my only viable option if i want some DX10 gaming action later this year. ;)

skanky, i believe the 2nd revisions of Raptor hard drives are practically all the same in terms of speed. I think the only thing which would make the 36GB slower would be that, because it gets filled up quicker, seek times will increase and transfer speeds on the inner platters of the drive will be slower.

tsj, i have no experience with RAID arrays so i'm afraid i'm not really confident enough to delve into this; plus, aren't there little improvements to be gained in gaming from RAID arrays? Heh, i'm not made of money, in fact far from it! Being a student with just a part time job, this thing is going to be consuming all of my money. I'm actually getting it on finance and paying next February, so i'm not really restricted by a strict budget, of the sorts. I just hope i'll still be able to fund university next year.

Anyway, more to the point; i really don't know what case to get. Researching this system for around 5 months, i think the case decision as been the more difficult. The only reason i'm getting the Stacker 830 over the TJ09 is because i think it offers superior cooling. If the TJ09 would allow for a second fan to be mounted in the front (without using a 4-in-1 bay, due to the lack of 5 1/4" external drive bays) i would get it. Can a fan be ghetto-mounted on top of the stock 120mm fan housing in the front of the case?

Thanks again everyone, i really appreciate your help. :D
 
"Vista is really my only viable option if i want some DX10 gaming action later this year"

Yea deffo get vista, also worth spending £20 to get a flash drive for vista ready boost :)
 
Jaffa_Cake said:
I am wondering why you have a £2100 spec without a quad core and without fast ram.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i keep asking myself the same question. It's because i've focused on components that are likely to remain in the system for the longest. Like the case, PSU, monitor and hard drives. Although these parts don't yield performance increases, they are parts which are likely to get recycled in future systems so i might as well make sure they're good, right? But then again, i could get a much better system for much less if i spent more on the more important parts. However, this would mean that i'd probably have to upgrade the PSU etc. next time i do an upgrade. Do you think i'm spending the money in the wrong areas? I just think it'd be nice to lay the foundations of a descent upgrade path.

I have a question about mice: Is the Razer Copperhead better than their Diamondback mouse? I've always been partial to mice with optical sensors, but it seems the Copperhead seems to be the one-up-from the Diamondback.
 
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Sorry for the massive big picture, tell me if i missed anything its a massive spec.

2237spec.jpg


1TB 7200.10 Stripe raid then 750GB storage is more than you will need :P
 
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Thank you for spending the time doing that, Jaffa_Cake. I think you missed a keyboard off that spec.; not a big deal, though. Also, i doubt i'll be needing 1.25TB of hard drive space. I mean, 250GB would be more than enough for me; that would save me quite a bit right there. Although, i feel the quad core processor is affecting the other components i can get in its wake of expensiveness. That is a very nice spec., though.

I also think i'd need a retail copy of the OS, because i don't want to run into troubles reactivating it if reformatting the hard drives, which i plan to do.

God, deciding on what to get is too difficult. I think i'll just get an optimus prime keyboard like supernova9 suggested and call it a day. :rolleyes:
 
if you get 2 of the 320mb Seagate 7200.10 drives you can mirror raid them, backup if one goes boom ;)

Then remove the other harddrive and you can afford a keyboard :)
 
You could always get a £800 one which can handle any game out now and any upcoming games fairly comfortable, that way you've still got a very good rig and in the future probably have more money and save yourself quite bit from what your spending on bits now.
 
My advice would be to spend around £1500 and keep the other £600 to upgrade suitably for an amount of time after that.

I understand you may wish to spend the £2100 in one go and that's fine - if I had the chance to do that I would have as well, but in hindsight it's nice to keep your rig updated shortly after it's bought. Otherwise you get the feeling of 'oh crap' if you spend that much and something nicer comes out immediately after it.

Even at £1500, it would be a particularly nice budget. :)
 
masslac said:
I'd want at least a 24 inch screen tbh.
Click to expand...

I'd drop one of the hard drives from Jaffa's spec and get the 2407WFP instead. You can add more HDD's at a later date - otherwise his spec is what you should get.
 
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