The Big Fat Spec Check - Again

Fledge

Fledge

Fledge

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Joined
9 Jan 2009
Posts
851
Location
Olney
Hi all,
I'm a little bit confused right now as I was hoping to have a few responses to this thread by now after posting it this morning. However, now I look for it, it doesn't seem to exist - so I'll just have to do it all again, oh well :o

Anyway.
This is a spec I've been working on for some time, periodically updating it as I see fit - unfortunately adding to the price too :p After a long time I'm very almost ready to pull the trigger on the purchase button.
But I thought it'd be best to consult you lovely bunch beforehand. Take a look:

14bufj5.jpg


-I already have the Case and the Graphics Card (saved about £150 on them:D so this price isn't so accurate.)
-I AM eligible for free shipping
-General opinions on motherboard?
-Would I really feel the difference if I swapped out the 1TB HDD for a RAID0 setup of two 500GB versions? The pricing may be a problem though.
-On the note of pricing, I'm not really willing to pay any more than this.
-I'm assuming the PSU has the juice to run this; but does it have all the cables I will need? How about for crossfire?
-Yes that's right, I am considering 2x5870 (later) on P55:eek:; and it's fine as this particular card only loses 1% performance at 8x/8x :D
-Can I put fans on BOTH sides of the CoolIT heatsink for maximum temperature dispersal efficiency?
-Speaking of fans, can a kind person possibly link me some instructions on fitting the two extra fans into my Antec 902?
-How's the DVD drive?
-I can't possibly see any problem with them RAM, but just incase, alternatives? :)

That should do it.
Speak your minds! Thanks all,
Fledge
 
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I'm not sure I'd spend so much on a P55 board, for ur board and i5 combo, u could get an EX58A-UD3R + I7 930 for just a little extra, unless u have ur heart set on the board I'd get a cheaper one, just my opinion
 
if u had the money go X58 and I7 you will defo notice a difference there but its gonna be pricey.

otherwise it looks pretty good, things i would change personally would be the HDD to the samsung F3. DvD drive is fine, mabey look at the Asus one. Raid0 wont give many benefits tbh, not a noticable difference in games. PSU looks good, but check out the corsair modular ones if u are willing to spend about 7 quid more. If i were you i would go for the corsair H50-1 cpu cooler. Ram is fine but check the OCZ gold.

As for the fans they are simple to install :) just need a screw driver and it's displaed in the user guide, and the 902 has plenty of air flow so it should be fine as it is :)

But tbh these are all such small changed you probably wont notice a difference.

Just a personal opinion of mine, i hope that i have been some use :)
 
I forgot to add - I'm planning to get the mobo from another etailer for ~£25 less.
Plus this rig will be used almost solely for gaming so I don't think i7 is necessary here :)

After reading a 'bit of tech' review I've decided to swap the Caviar Black for the Spinpoint F3.
 
Fledge said:
-Would I really feel the difference if I swapped out the 1TB HDD for a RAID0 setup of two 500GB versions? The pricing may be a problem though.
Click to expand...

The performance increase in gaming is significant. If you like to be the first person to have loaded the level and be sitting tutting at all the slow pokes appearing after, then a pair of £41 F3's will always beat the WD black 1TB you have listed.

Yeah, so the ssd guy will be doing the same to you, but he spends ages longer permanently rearranging his tiny OS partition :p

They are only £5 more, so I dont know what you mean by pricing. _The_ downside, is increased noise from running 2x drives. Magnetic drives are normally the loudest components in a pc these days, apart from the gfx card when gaming.
 
Well the case already has two blue fans so I just went with that, plus my mouse has blue lights too :P I'm hoping that the blue will just shine over the insides making it all blue-ish enough :)
 
lamps said:
Doesnt it void the warranty if you overclock the cpu? And i guess your going to overclock since your buying water cooling
Click to expand...

Oh does it now? I shall look into this.
Now RAID0 is looking likely as the 500GB F3's are priced nicely.
 
lamps said:
Doesnt it void the warranty if you overclock the cpu? And i guess your going to overclock since your buying water cooling
Click to expand...

It's very easy to overclock an i5 750 to 3.8GHz which is well within safe limits, when paired up with a good cooler. In the unlikely event that the processor was to break I doubt there would be any indication of overclocking when it is sent back for replacement, the rest is self explanatory ;)
 
Spokwiththeears said:
It's very easy to overclock an i5 750 to 3.8GHz which is well within safe limits, when paired up with a good cooler. In the unlikely event that the processor was to break I doubt there would be any indication of overclocking when it is sent back for replacement, the rest is self explanatory ;)
Click to expand...

How reassuring, thanks :)
 
Fledge said:
I forgot to add - I'm planning to get the mobo from another etailer for ~£25 less.
Plus this rig will be used almost solely for gaming so I don't think i7 is necessary here :)

After reading a 'bit of tech' review I've decided to swap the Caviar Black for the Spinpoint F3.
Click to expand...

kool man, was just saying because of the price thing, if that's the case, that is all good, i5 is good enough for gaming
 
I've been doing a lot of reading about WD Caviar Black Vs. Spinpoint F3. I have come to the conclusion that the general opinion is: WD for performance but Spinpoint for price.

This may be wrong though, so I'm a bit stuck again :)
Whichever I get, it'll be a 500GB version.
Later I will add another 500GB for RAID0.

Thanks
 
Update:
The F3 500gb only has a 16mb cache so it looks like I'll be going for WD Black 500GB.

Also, can I put fans on BOTH sides of the CoolIT heatsink for maximum temperature dispersal efficiency?
 
Hey Fledge,

I work for CoolIT. Yes, you can put fans on both sides of the ECO... it's called a push pull configuration and yes it will help reduce temps. Enjoy :)
 
You wont be disappointed by the WD blacks, like you say they are geared for no compromise performance.
 
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