To build or not to build??

Koncept_1

Koncept_1

Koncept_1

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Joined
6 Nov 2007
Posts
29
Hi Chaps,

I'm new to this forum so Hi!! :)

I need to get a new pc and I can't decide whether to build one or to get one from a manufacturer. I've got about 1000 to spend on it and have come across this system.. all for about 950.

Gamers Base Unit. Nvidia 8800. Intel® Core® 2 Duo. (Q6600 (2.4GHz, 4X2MB, 1066FSB) ,

Case 44 - Antec P180 Silver 700 Watt ,

700w Tagan PSU2 FORCE II SERIES ,

2 X 8800GT 512MB & Asus Striker MB

2 X 320GB Sata 2 Hard Drives (Raid 0 Configured) ,

4096 DDR 2 800 MHz ,

Vista Premium 64 Bit & Disc ,

1 X LG Lightscribe 20 X DVDRW DL

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 CPU Cooler

3 Port Firewire

54Mbps Wireless Network Card

Does this look like a good system or should I build something myself. I really need this for a combination of gaming and music production. I've already got a soundcard and don't need monitor, keyboad or mouse. If I can get the above cheaper so someone could offer a similar specification then I will build my own. But I haven't been able to find anything cheaper on the net.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers
 
hi and welcome.

few questions..

have you ever built one before?
would you enjoy building it?
what monitor you got (res) ?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I've never built a pc before but I recon I would enjoy doing it. I'm pretty computer literate and spend a lot of time messing around with music hardware so think i could do it pretty successfully :)

I'm not to sure on the monitor, but i've got it set on a pretty high resolution at home. I will check after work and post the resolution and make.
 
i would personally build it yourself. i was in exactly the same position as you about 2 months ago. decided to just go ahead and give it a try; not only was it good fun but you learn a lot to and all in all its just a case of putting things in the right places. if you get stuck you can always ask on here
 
Is it worth getting an SLI motherboard? I've been reading mixed messages about these board and that they don't really give that much improved performance at present... but I am trying to future proof my system in some way or form.
 
the sli question is why i asked about the monitor size

if your not running a huge monitor i would say go for a single GTX.. o

and sounds like you should build it yourself.
 
Thanks for the advice,

Regarding the SLI configuration... as time goes on, isn't it worth having this as games will be using more and more processign power from the GPU? If its set up in SLI mode, doesn't that allow both cards to be used to draw power?

My monitor size isnt that big at present but I do plan to get a decent sized one when I've paid off my credit card from building this!! :D :D
 
well, personally i dont think sli is something to worry about as they will bring out ever more powerful graphics cards as single card solutions.

unless your going to run a 30" monitor i wouldnt worry about it for now

in the future if you need to go sli, im sure you will be wanting to upgrade your motherboard/cpu/ram anyway.

just my opinion of course, others may disagree
 
Alright Guys,

Thanks for the advice so far.

After taking your advice i've gone for a single card system. Below are the specifications. Does this look good? Am i missing anything off? Do I need to get a cooler or additional fans?

If I wanted to overclock this in the future, which I am going to do, should I get any other parts now?

Also is it better to go for the GT or wait for 2 weeks until the new GTS is released?

EVGA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB Superclocked "Crysis Edition" GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - £174.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (£105.72)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case (£72.84)

Tagan TG700-U25 700W ATX2.0 Dual Engine Silent SLi Compliant Silent PSU (£111.61)

Belkin Firewire 3-Port PCI Card (£15.26)

Samsung SH-S202JBEBN 20x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer (Black)
(£16.44)

Intel Core 2 Quad LGA775 Q6600 GO SLACR 2.40GHz Retail
Abit IP35 Pro
2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500C5 DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
ThermalRight SI-128 Cooler - Bundle (435)

Total = 978 quid
 
Well as you only have the one gfx card i would say that that power supply is overkill. You can pick up a 520 corsair for half the price that would manage that system fine.

Also do you need 400gig of space? if you do then you may want to consider swapping that hard drive for a couple of seagates as i understand that they run faster, a couple of smaller seagates in raid will get you the same or more space, with a faster speed and likely less cost.

also you could forego the bundle and get a Q6600 with a good mobo and 2gig of ram for about 320? give or take. Add a cooler to that to overclock and your looking at 350. Still a saving and will perform just as well.

Although not big changes, they certainly wont reduce the speed of the rig, but can certainly save you some cash.

::edit:: i am no expert on this stuff though, i have just been reading up on this forum a lot and i think this is generally the idea anyway. Wait for the people with the real knowledge to help you out incase i am wrong :)

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the reply. Its really 2 Western Digital Drives at 400GB each. I produce music so need a big hard drive for music storage.

I don;t know much about the RAID setup, but i've been told its the way forward for music. Can the two 400GB drives be set up in Raid, will they not run as quick as two smaller drives in RAID?
 
only thing on your list i would change is the memory, go for the geil 6400 ultra 2gig kit, its on special again this week @ £35 for 2 gig, get 2 kits, 4 gig of ram for 70quid is a bargain and it overclocks nicely to ;)
 
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