Would you experts please cast an eye over this?

[Dave Williamson]

Hi

I would appreciate it if you guys could cast an eye over the list of components that I'm about to buy and see if they will all work together, any advice, comments and suggestions welcome (Just don't confuse the hell out of me)

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz)
* Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler
* XFX GeForce 8800 GTX Extreme 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
* Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory
* Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
* Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
* Akasa AK-P085FG-BK 850W PowerMax PSU
* Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache

I'll be adding either a 24" or 26" Monitor to this little lot depending on the advice given in another thread, this will be predominately a gaming rig.

Thanks in advance for any input fella's

Dave

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Looks good to me. How much does all that come to in price?

 

[Dave Williamson]

About £810 if my bean counting is correct...

I'd forgotten to add an optical drive to the list so a bit more than that, plus monitor when I finally decide on which one to go for.

Cheers
Dave

 

[semi-pro waster]

Looks fine although the PSU might be slightly overkill, you'd easily get away with a decent 500w PSU but it is up to you.

 

[The Running Man]

yea id get a lesser (corsair?) PSU and a better mobo...

 

[Dave Williamson]

Ah ok, so you think 500w can comfortably handle everything?? I was under the impression that these big cards drew masses of power.. ok cool, thanks for that

Nick: Which mobo would you recommend and whats up with the Abit, I thought it was a good one, do you think it worth me getting an SLI board so that I can drop in another GTX at a later date, and if so would I then need to reconsider the size of the PSU now, to handle the future upgrade??

Thanks for the input lads

Dave.

 

[ants83]

Ah ok, so you think 500w can comfortably handle everything?? I was under the impression that these big cards drew masses of power.. ok cool, thanks for that



Dave.

will be fine

 

[BillytheImpaler]

A Corsair HX 520 power supply would be great for this rig.

The IP35-Pro is a good mobo and an excellent overclocker. If you wanted to get an even better one it'd probably be from the X38 line or above.

 

[Dave Williamson]

Thanks lads, although the Corsair HX 520W (Great Reviews BTW!!) is only £16 less than the 850W PowerMax that I'd originally quoted..

I'm wondering whether it might be daft to lose so much power (thinking future proofing?) for the sake of £16... what do you think?

Is the Corsair less powered but a better allrounder?? Will it be enough to handle dual GTX's if I upgrade later?

Sorry for all of the noob questions fella's

Cheers n beers
Dave.

 

[semi-pro waster]

The HX 520w is a great PSU and might be able to handle 2x8800GTXs but it would almost certainly be on the limit, the HX 620w would handle it fine but is no cheaper than the Akasa.

However you would need a different motherboard to run SLi, something based on the Nforce 750i or 780i chipsets. I'm generally of the opinion that it isn't worth it unless you've got a large monitor or a lot of money.

 

[Dave Williamson]

Ok thanks for that, so my revised list now looks like this...

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz)
* Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler
* XFX GeForce 8800 GTX Extreme 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
* Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory
* MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
* Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
* Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
* Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
* Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
* Samsung SM-2493HM 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor

I think this is looking good, can any of you experienced fella's foresee any problems with this combination of items, or suggestions for change, although please be aware that I am on the edge of my budget..

If not I think I'm gonna order it all.

Noob question alert: With this combination of parts will I be able to upgrade simply by dropping in a kickass processor something along the lines of the QX9650 in say a year or so when they become more affordable, plus of course another 8800 GTX

Thanks for all of the help and advice so far lads
Dave.

 

[robbi187]

Noob question alert: With this combination of parts will I be able to upgrade simply by dropping in a kickass processor something along the lines of the QX9650 in say a year or so when they become more affordable, plus of course another 8800 GTX

Thanks for all of the help and advice so far lads
Dave.

yep

 

[Dave Williamson]

yep

Cool!!

Final list change, I've been advised to get RAM with a matching memory speed of the CPU @ 1066MHz so based on that I've changed the RAM

* Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz)
* Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler
* XFX GeForce 8800 GTX Extreme 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
* OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Reaper HPC Edition
* MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
* Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
* Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
* Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
* Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
* Samsung SM-2493HM 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor

Is there anything that I can do about this stupid grin on my face??.....

Cheers lads
Dave.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Who suggested that Ram? It seems to be a common misconception but you don't need Ram that fast unless you are seriously overclocking (beyond 3.6ghz in this case), in fact given that the FSB of Core2Duos/Quads is in effect quad pumped you only need PC4200 (533mhz nominal speed, 266mhz actual) for a 1066mhz FSB i.e. 4x266mhz = 1066mhz.

PC6400 is easily sufficient for your needs and it saves you money so I'd still go with that.