*****THE OFFICIAL "SPEC ME" THREAD*****

[Captain_Slick]

BUDGET: £1000

Processor: Yes
Motherboard: Yes
Memory: Yes
Graphics Card(s): Yes
TV Card: Yes
Hard Drive(s): Yes
Optical Drive(s): Yes
Cooling: Yes
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Yes
Sound Card: No (onboard should be fine)
Controller Card(s): No (again, onboard should be fine)
Case: No (I have a Lian Li PC A05 waiting)
Power Supply: Yes

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): No
Operating System: No

Uses: Gaming, watching/downloading TV shows/movies, listening to music, everyday use
Overclocking: A much as stable on air, depends on the processor.

 

[tech inept]

BUDGET: 600-700

Processor: I was thinking Q6600 ( but open to suggestions)
Motherboard:yes
Memory: yes 4gb
Graphics Card(s): 4850
TV Card: no
Hard Drive(s): yes
Optical Drive(s): yes
Cooling: yes
Water Cooling:no
Cable(s): if not supplied with parts
Sound Card: onboard will do just fine
Controller Card(s): not sure what this is ; /
Case: antec 300
Power Supply: yes

Keyboard: yes
Mouse: yes
Headset:
Speakers:
Monitor(s): 19/20"
Operating System: already got xp pro

Uses: Emphasis on Gaming ( wow, may try crysis,spore etc) and also Internet, watching/downloading TV shows/movies, listening to music, everyday use

Overclocking: Well i'd like to try my hand at perhaps getting the q6600 to 3.0 or so ( if no one suggests somethinbg better tailored to my uses) provided i dont blow something up! ;P

Did my research and decided to take a stab at building my first computer. If it stretches the budget too much, feel free to get rid of the mouse and keyboard to improve the overall quality of the parts. Might be wise to note that as a uni student this needs to last me a while, which is part of the reason i opted for the Q6600, i wont be upgrading for some time. That being said any thoughts on higher clock speed dual cores ( wolfdales etc) vs the Q6600 for what im intending and for long term use i.e not looking to upgrade for a while?

Thanks in advance ( heck of an effort speccing all these folks) its appreciated!

 

[shaffaaf27]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to do that, bit different to what i was thinking which is good food for thought.

Don't want to sound unappreciative or anything though, but I have sort of fallen in love with the Lian-Li V350 but I like the watercooling kit you specced, seems extremely simple to install for someone who's never done it before but is it possible in a Lian-Li V350 do you think?

Lets say for instance its not possible, what do you think of the following spec and is their anything you'd personally change or recommend, forget the budget, it was really only a guide line, more interested in getting it right and not compromising on anything.

DFI Lan Party JR P45-T2RS Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£94.99 ex VAT
£109.24 inc VAT

Lian-Li V350B Aluminium Mini-Tower - Black
£73.99 ex VAT
£85.09 inc VAT

Tagan PipeRock TG700-BZ 700w Modular BZ Series PSU
£99.99 ex VAT
£114.99 inc VAT

Zalman CNPS8000 CPU Cooler
£27.99 ex VAT
£32.19 inc VAT

Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 120mm Fan x2
£13.98 ex VAT
£16.08 inc VAT

Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 80mm Fan
£4.99 ex VAT
£5.74 inc VAT

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
£3.99 ex VAT
£4.59 inc VAT

£319.92
£367.91 inc VAT

A few bits seem to be out of stock like a lot of stuff it seems but i cant wait.

If watercooling is an option whats the best components to get, I'd only be cooling my CPU, I know the XSPC RS240 Rad fits snugly in-place of the 2 120mm fans, the OcUK H²OC Watercooling Bundle seems perfect if it was the RS240 rad instead. Again thanks for the massive help so far

seems good

i dont think the watercooling will fit in the lian-li, if you can get pics of the inside, i can tell you yes or no

also the 700W PSU is very overkill and long, IMO go with Be Quiet!

 

[shaffaaf27]

Hi Shaffaf,

Thanks very much for spec'in my tower
I have made a minor changes just wanted to get your opinion, if you have time.

Thanks, ave a good New Year

Zalman GT1000 Z-Machine Case - Black (No PSU)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor
(Is this much better then the Q6600)

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)

Asus P5Q Deluxe Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(Is this better then the Gigabyte?)

Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Platinum Series DDR2 (OCZ2P10664GK)

Zalman CNPS9700-NT nVidia Tritium CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS)

Sony NEC Optiarc DRU-V200S 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black/Silver)

seems good, but the zalman cooler, i dont recomend. neither do i recommend the 500GB HDD. IMO get a 640GB HDD as they will be quicker

as for the cooler and Tuniq Tower for a fraction of the price is much better, as it also out preforms the zalman cooler

 

[shaffaaf27]

snip

£300 would do nicely for a case, mobo and watercooling but £250 jsut isnt enough.

the CPU cooler is one off, if not, the best around, add the extra noctua fan to the back of the cooler for a push-pull fan config over the cooler = win

the 2 extra akasa fans are for the front 2 free fan slots on the antec 300

 

[shaffaaf27]

snip

how about an SLI system included?

this has to be the BEST system i have specced

 

[shaffaaf27]

snip

sorry mate, this is the smallest i can get to

 

[shaffaaf27]

hello. i'm planning to get a laptop, but dont know much about specs. what should i look for?

sorry mate, cant help about laptops, not my area lol, sorry

 

[shaffaaf27]

snip

here you go mate

 

[Youstolemyname]

sorry mate, this is the smallest i can get to

That's awesome though. Thankyou for taking the time to do this for me and all the others you have helped!

 

[Gummidge1984]

BUDGET: £1000

Processor: Prob q6600 as will overclock to 3.3-3.4ish
Motherboard: no need for sli
Memory: 4gb min
Graphics Card(s): best i can afford, may upgrade to a 4870x2 if prices comedown in the future
TV Card:No
Hard Drive(s): 1 to be partitioned
Optical Drive(s): Yes
Cooling: Fan
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Yes
Sound Card: Have surround system but not being used
Controller Card(s):
Case: Cheapest to do the job, nothing fancy or enormous
Power Supply: Futureproof to some degree, just for updated graphics card

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): Yes, using my old hd tele at the moment BUSH LCD 26" TV HD ready. LCD26TV022HD resolution isnt very good 1280x720, will prob get close to £100 quid off of some mug on ebay for it
Operating System: Yes

Uses:
Overclocking: Yes, as much as possible on air

 

[Alrik]

BUDGET:£700-£750 Max

Processor: Yes (Dual Core, Intel E8400?)
Motherboard: Yes (SLi/CrossFire not necessary, but If you could fit it into the budget I wouldn't say no )
Memory: Yes (4GB)
Graphics Card(s): Yes
TV Card: No
Hard Drive(s): 1 (640GB)
Optical Drive(s): No (Got one)
Cooling: Yes
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): No
Sound Card: No (Got one)
Controller Card(s): No
Case: Yes (Antec 900)
Power Supply: Yes (Modular)

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): No
Operating System: No

Uses: Gaming, General uses (Web browsing, music etc)
Overclocking: Yes (Hope to get to 4Ghz)

Right I'm going to be a bit different here and ask if you can recommend me a good clocking motherboard and memory combination to go with a spec that I did myself:

<--if it doesn't work, right click and open in new window seems to work for me

And also to do your own version of what you think is best with a £700-£750 budget (with the above information) so I can compare it to my own

I don't know if what I've said makes sense, but I've tried my best to explain what I'm after, in short I want:
-A good clocking motherboard+memory combo to go with my spec
-And your own version of what you think is best with the £700-£750 budget (while using the info I provided).

Thanks

 

[XShido]

BUDGET: 1,800 USD.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400.
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Socket 775.
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHZ 240pin DDR3.
Graphics Card(s): EVGA 9800GX2 1GB 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce DDR3.
TV Card:No.
Hard Drive(s):500Gb Western Digital Sata Model:WD5000AACS
Optical Drive(s): Standar LG DVD Burner at 22x
Cooling:2 12cm Fans on case.
Water Cooling:Not yet.
Cable(s):Hided.
Sound Card:Board brings.
Controller Card(s):No
Case: Thermaltake XaserMX (VH9000BWS) Mid Tower
Power Supply:Antec TPQ-850 TruePower Quattro 850W

Keyboard:Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse:Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Headset:None.
Speakers:Logitech X240 / Logitech X540 (TV/PC - have them both-)
Monitor(s): KDS 22` HD LCD Flat Screen.
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 Bits.

Uses: Gaming, Media Play, and Adobe CS4 Full Suite Aplications.
Overclocking:Nop.

Please Spec, THX

 

[Aman]

Budget: £600-750

Processor: Yes
Motherboard: Yes
Memory: 4gig+
Graphics Card(s): Yes
TV Card: No
Hard Drive(s): Yes(1)
Optical Drive(s): Blu Ray
Cooling: Yes
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Probably yes
Sound Card: No
Controller Card(s): No
Case: Yes
Power Supply: Yes

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): No
Operating System: Vista?

Uses: Gaming, music, movies, CAD
Overclocking: Probably Not

Would like it to be possible for upgrades in the future

 

[XShido]

BUDGET: 1,800 USD.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400.
Motherboard: EVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Socket 775.
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHZ 240pin DDR3.
Graphics Card(s): EVGA 9800GX2 1GB 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce DDR3.
TV Card:No.
Hard Drive(s):500Gb Western Digital Sata Model:WD5000AACS
Optical Drive(s): Standar LG DVD Burner at 22x
Cooling:2 12cm Fans on case.
Water Cooling:Not yet.
Cable(s):Hided.
Sound Card:Board brings.
Controller Card(s):No
Case: Thermaltake XaserMX (VH9000BWS) Mid Tower
Power Supply:Antec TPQ-850 TruePower Quattro 850W

Keyboard:Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse:Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Headset:None.
Speakers:Logitech X240 / Logitech X540 (TV/PC - have them both-)
Monitor(s): KDS 22` HD LCD Flat Screen.
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 Bits.

Uses: Gaming, Media Play, and Adobe CS4 Full Suite Aplications.
Overclocking:Nop.

Please Spec, THX

no one?

 

[avaya]

how about an SLI system included?

this has to be the BEST system i have specced

cheers mate!

 

[gee3000]

System A.

BUDGET: £200 +vat (£230)

Processor: Yes
Motherboard: Yes
Memory: Yes, lots.
Graphics Card(s): No
TV Card: No
Hard Drive(s): Small, fast, reliable one for Windows
Optical Drive(s): Yes, 1 basic DVDR
Cooling: Not compulsory but if it will improve system overall reliability.
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Reliable
Sound Card: No
Controller Card(s): None
Case: Basic
Power Supply: Basic

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): No
Operating System: No

Uses: Used for file-storage sharing across a small 4-5 computer network, must be reliable. Probably won't be used by any one once set up except for maintenance every now and then.
Overclocking: Prefer the system to last long without maintenance, so probably not.

Thanks a lot, this thread is a great idea ;D

 

[gee3000]

System B.

BUDGET: £350-400 +vat (£402.50 - £460)

Processor: Yes
Motherboard: Yes
Memory: Yes, lots.
Graphics Card(s): Basic
TV Card: No
Hard Drive(s): Small, fast reliable one for Windows
Optical Drive(s): Yes, 1 basic DVDR
Cooling: Not compulsory unless it will improve overall system reliability.
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Reliable
Sound Card: No
Controller Card(s): None
Case: Cheap, basic
Power Supply: Basic
Extras: Memory card reader (internal)

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No
Monitor(s): No
Operating System: No

Uses: Used for graphic design work using fairly large files, no video processing etc, only CorelDRAW, Photoshop, etc. Will be connected to existing network. Should be reliable and stable. Used on a daily basis.
Overclocking: Prefer the system to last long without maintenance, so only if we will get a huge performance gain.

 

[Raumarik]

BUDGET: Low as possible (replacement for a mate who's skint and his PC went pop (CPU has survived)

Processor: Must work with C2D E6550 (but mobo must support upgrade to quad core at some point)
Motherboard: Yes - please spec one that supports both C2D and Quad core.
Memory:Y
Power Supply: Y

Operating System:XP/Vista eventually

Uses: Gaming
Overclocking: Bonus but not essential

 

[big_treacle]

Hi, this is my first post My current 3 year old machine uses an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ with 2GB RAM & a 640MB GeForce 8800 GTS card. I'm planning to hand it down to my Mrs to use & need a replacement.

BUDGET: Around 1200 quid

Processor: Yes - fast as possible
Motherboard: Yes
Memory: 4 - 6 GB
Graphics Card(s): Yes - as good as possible
TV Card: No
Hard Drive(s): Something fast
Optical Drive(s): Yes, but nothing too flash - just adequate
Cooling: Yes - quiet stuff
Water Cooling: No
Cable(s): Yes
Sound Card: Yes - decent for gaming
Controller Card(s): No
Case: Not bothered, something tidy not OTT
Power Supply: Quiet

Keyboard: No
Mouse: No
Headset: No
Speakers: No - already have creative 7.1
Monitor(s): 24"
Operating System: Vista Home premium 64

Uses: Gaming (some FPS type stuff, a lot of Civ4), software development
Overclocking: Probably not

Any ideas gratefully received

Cheers