New slightly pricey rig - worth it?

pgleeson

Hey Guys, I'm going to build my first system within the next few months and was looking for advice/comments/critical review. I've been researching a good bit over the last few weeks and think I've got it down as to what components I want to put into the system. I wanted to stay below €2200-€2400 but also have a system that would last a good while before needing upgrade. So here's the list I got so far, let me know what u think:

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI SLI - €374.79
Microsoft Vista Home Prem 32-bit 1pk OEM - €108.14
Antec 120mm Smart Cool x 2 - €33.15
Samsung DVD+-R/RW SATA LightScribe Black with Nero - €33.40
Samsung SM226BW 22" W TFT 2ms Swiv/Tlt - €374.77
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse - €68.65
Corsair Memory 620 Watt, ATX, EPS12V, PS/2 - €151.69
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB S300 x 2 - €155.26
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard - €77.98
EVGA S775 nForce 680i SLI ATX 7.1 Channel Audio Lan - €254.30
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Socket 775 2.4GHz - €243.19
Corsair Memory TWIN2X2048-6400 2x1GB 240-Pin DIMM XMS2-6400 - €146.78

Total for this is around €2000 roughly but I wanna invest in a serious case(could use it for years and years) such as the CM Stacker 830 Evo which will add at least €300 to the total(although I can't track down a place to get it yet). Also, hopefully once ATI release their new cards(next month?) - this will drive down the price of the 8800 GTS a bit too.

I considered getting a raptor x but can't justify it just yet(costs over 3 times the price of the one's above).

Anyway, thanks in advance for your advice etc :-)

Oh yeah, thought I better give you a bit of background too.

I'm planning on playing it as is for the moment, but a bit down the line - I do plan on overclocking it so thats the reason I chose the board and processor. They seem to be good for oc'ing.

Also, I had a real difficult time choosing the LCD monitor as there is a big issue with this monitor type(S,C,A or something) for some it seems. I do watch a lot of movies etc on the pc so thats the reason for the 22". I'd really appreciate other recommendations for monitors in the same price/size class.

Anti

I have a dell ( 22" ) monitor. For the price its absolutly amazing.

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&sku=88221

Great for gaming, and movies. And a decent price.

bretttp1

I have the 19" version of that monitor and Its class, beautifull bit of kit

8T8

Unless are you planning on actually using SLI the eVGA 680i board is a waste you are better off saving money and getting an Intel P965 chipset at half the price.

pgleeson

Hmm, might get that Dell 22". Thanks :-)

I intend to go SLI at some stage but simply couldn't afford two 8800 cards straight away. I'd say it would be 6-10 months before I'd go SLI. Dunno, maybe I'm just wasting my hard earned money. I'll have to think about it.

8T8

You would be better off saving the money from the motherboard & buying a single GTX then putting down cash for two GTS cards if your maximum resolution is 1680x1050.

pgleeson

Ok, so for arguments sake - say I don't go down the SLI/GTS route, then I guess my question becomes - What non-sli motherboard would you recommend, and why?

plonk

Well i have a gigabyte ds3 and I love it. Very good overclocker of my cpu and pretty stable but you might prefer a slightly higher end mobo

8T8

A Gigabyte P965 or really any P965 will suffice as a chipset. That's a saving of a €146 which is pretty good for something that delivers the same functionality.

Also there is a big delta in performance between the 8800GTS & 8800GTX which is why the GTX is a much better candidate as a standalone GPU at high resolutions.

plonk

If you go onto hardwareversand.de you will get all that, the dearest gtx and a cm 830 for about 2050. Khannie has used the site so I think it is ok and with the extra money you could get a q6600 or upgrade your monitor to a 24inch


Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Box 4096Kb, LGA775, 64bit, Conroe 202,00 €

EVGA e-Geforce 8800GTX KO ACS3, 768MB, PCI-Express 594,53 €

ATX-Netzteil Corsair 620W 620 Watt 122,97 €

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB,SATA-300,NCQ,S 74,99 €

Samsung SyncMaster 226BW, 22", 2ms, DVI, 3000:1 347,19 €

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit SB-Version 88,99 €

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard 64,51 €

Logitech G5 Laser Mouse /2007 53,57 €

2048MB-Kit OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Dual Channel, CL4 145,59 €

Samsung SH-S183A bare schwarz 38,60 €

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 R3.0,Intel P965, ATX, PCI-Ex 88,19 €

Coolermaster Stacker 830 RC830 ohne Netztei 202,36 €

Sum: 2.023,49

pgleeson

Cool, thanks for the advice guys

I'll have a gander round that site and see what I can come up with. If anyone else wants to recommend other mb's I'll consider them too. Since its a new build I would be looking for a board with most of the legacy stuff gotten rid of and sata ports left right and centre

Anyway, It'll be a month or two before I get the cash together so I'll let ye know what I'm considering going for just before I order the stuff.

Thanks again.

pgleeson

Ok, thought I'd give an update. I'm after biting the bullet and purchasing almost all of the equipment needed.

I've just the graphics card left to purchase and thats going to be bought next week so I should be putting it together within two weeks hopefully. I'm taking a risk that the ultra 120 extreme will fit the mb but I read somewhere that the standard ultra 120 fits it so fingers crossed(you'll know it didn't if you see a post from me saying I got a 120 extreme for sale within a few weeks).

Anyway, I've gone way over my original budget(surprise surprise - I'm like a kid in a candy store) - its clocking in at a hefty price of just under €2.9k for eveything inc shipping(I'm expecting someone to reply going "are u crazy spending so much when you could get the same for xxx").

So without further adieu - here's the list I settled on:

Coolermaster Stacker 830B RC-830-KKN2-GP Evolution-o.NT
Ultra-120 EXTREME, CPU Heatpipe Heatsink
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse 2007
Samsung SM-226BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Belkin 6-Socket SurgeMaster with Network Protection
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition OEM
Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
Logitech G15 Gaming-Grade Illuminated Keyboard - Retail
Scythe Kama-Meter Multi Functional Controller
Belkin PureAV Blue Series Optical Audio Cable - 3.6m
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB x 2
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2
Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan x 4
Gigabyte GA_P35_DQ6
Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1300 Media Centre Edition Freeview TV Tuner
Akasa AK-ICR-01 Internal Card Reader

Plus the usual cable tidy kits etc. As I've mentioned - the last component is the graphics card and I've settled on either a BFG 8800GTX or EVGA 8800GTX, whichever is in stock next week when I go to purchase it.

Overall, it should be a sweet setup provided it works when I hit the power button that first time ;-)

Anyway, If anyone would like - I guess I could post a few pics and the likes in a couple of weeks.

Anti

Nice looking pc there mate. Im glad you went for 4gb of ram, you will really see the difference in vista. Overall the whole pc spec looks great. But i would have swapped the ultra120 with a tunuq tower.

Also, i have the EVGA 8800gtx the reason i picked this one...well its actually 2 reasons. It has a lifetime warrenty, and a step up program which allows you to trade it back in with evga and get a nother card at a hefty discount

vir7ual

Glad you went with the 64bit windows or you'd be hitting your head off the wall. 32bit OS's wont report the full 4gigs of ram in windows. your bios will but windows wont. 32bit addressing without going into maths only shows to 4294.......bytes, windows then sees another 768mb of memory being reported by the graphics card, it then takes the 768 from the 4gigs of ram and only shows you 2.5gigs of ram. I had this problem and couldnt figure a way around it, you can try and turn on the PAE switch but that only works in minor cases, you could get lucky.
With the 64 bit addressing windows will see you 4gigs of ram, report it correctly and also see your 768mb graphics card and report that correctly. Windows will use the system to the full potential then whereas with the 32bit OS it only uses what it sees, not whats in the computer. I'm running 64 bit XP here and have no issues. One other thing, updates for microsoft, if you use the website to get them they need to use a 32bit internet explorer. When you install vista you should have 2 IE's, 1 32bit and 1 64bit. use the 32bit for the updates. Sorry about the long essay but some people might not know it and especially when its your first build it would be annoying to start it up and not see everything working properly.
That PSU i have that in one of my own machines here, very very very nice stable power, i have 2 640's sli'd, 4gigs of ram, 4 sata hard drives, 3 case fans, and this PSU aint stressing one bit, excellant choice.

awhir

Anti wrote:

Nice looking pc there mate. Im glad you went for 4gb of ram, you will really see the difference in vista. Overall the whole pc spec looks great. But i would have swapped the ultra120 with a tunuq tower.

Also, i have the EVGA 8800gtx the reason i picked this one...well its actually 2 reasons. It has a lifetime warrenty, and a step up program which allows you to trade it back in with evga and get a nother card at a hefty discount

the ultra 120 is a beter cooler anti then the tunqi.

Anti

I have posted you the link before now. The tuniq is a few c better at full load.

awhir

Anti wrote:

I have posted you the link before now. The tuniq is a few c better at full load.

diffrent reviews and depends the 120 may have no fan on it in the review.

Anti

Yeah, i just went to anandtech, And apparently the new extreme 120 pretty much destroys the tuniq. I think its time to get rid of this and get the 120

pgleeson

Hehe....yep, the extreme rocks it seems. I've a fan with its name on it too :-) . Good to see I did my research fairly well anyway. I'd say with that case and cooler setup I should be good to oc a bit anyway. Looking forward to receiving all the kit now - am like a kid on christmas morning...hehe.