Building new PC soon, all advice appreciated!

Cunny-Funt

This is what I'm looking at building:

Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminium Silver Case


AXP Powersupply ATX 630W Retail SLI


Upgrade Kit Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Mainboard, 2048MB, PCI-Express

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB

MSI GeForce 8800 ultra


Few questions. Why is that MSI 8800ultra cheaper then all the other ultra's when it appears to have a higher clock speed etc?

I hear theres a "cooler" version of the Q6600 coming out. Should I wait for that? Would its price be any different etc?

I'm going to be ordering this very soon so any advice/opinions would be given serious consideration bfore I part with my money.

Also, I plan on doing a little over clocking with this rig in the future as I dont think I'll be upgrading again for a long time!

Toolbag

Good idea to go with a quad if you're overclocking. If I can suggest a few things:

Get a decent after market CPU cooler for the Quad.

It's widely thought that an overclocked 8800 GTX can match the performance of a 8800 ultra, saving money. Though that MSI is cheap, no idea why - the clocks look good. You might want to consider a cheap GTX depending on your monitor's resolution.

You'd be better off ditching that bundle and going for a P35 motherboard. That PSU doesn't look great either - there's a deal on this PSU on dabs and komplett. Why is it so cheap? That's anyone's guess. I'd guess skimping on certain components. If you have a bit more cash go for a better PSU - it's a wise investment.

Make sure your case fits the Ultra too.

uberpixie

The case you are looking at is not the best.

My friend has it and hates it. Mainly because the drive bays are made of very weak metal(its practically tin) that meant he had to mess about a lot to stop his harddrives vibrating and making a racket.

Have a look at a few of the following.

Antec P182 €120
http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4JV3&CategorySelectedId=11145&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11145,50882
(plain case, keeps everything very cool and very quite but a bit of a time consuming task to build in and route all the cables properly)

Antec Nine Hundred
http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=49XS&CategorySelectedId=11145&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11145,50882
(has gotten good reviews, has windowkit, great airflow and shiny lights. But will leak a little noise due to the window kit and its intake fans have no dust gaurds)

What are you looking for in a case?

Anti

I would not bother with that case as the cooling is going to be very poor. Especially as you are going to be putting a C2Q in it, which pumps out massive ammount of heat. Chang the powersupply to a known make, as this is the one component you should really not skimp on. So go for something from corsair, tagan, enermax, hiper, antec or seasonic.

The upgrade kit is fine, no problems with it at all.

I would change the hard drive to the much faster, cheaper and quieter samsung spinpoint http://www.dabs.ie/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4C0K&CategorySelectedId=11154&NavigationKey=370810000,4294960493&InMerch=1 This one is also a Sata drive, unlike the ata 100 of the one you selected. The benifits will be neater cable management, and a faster drive.

I would also drop the 8800 ultra and get a 8800gtx. As these cards are a fair bit cheaper and can be overclocked to the same and faster speeds in most cases. But unless you have a 22" or bigger widescreen then the card will be a complete waste of money, as you will never be testing the card untill you hit resolutions of 1680*1050 and above. So you might be better of with a 8800gts 320 or 8800gts 640.

The msi card is probably cheaper as they want to shift their stock.

There is a cooler version of the q6600 it can be found here:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793

If you do plan to overlcock make sure you get a good cpu cooler like the tuniq tower, or the TT ultra 120. And get a decent fan with it like a scythe s-flex.

Bambaata

woops, excuse me

Cunny-Funt

I am looking to keep this as cheap as I can. So looking at that Q6600 cooler version I think I'll leave it.

But with regards to the 8800ultra yes ive heard all about the GTX being over clocked to get to those levels, but then I can over clock the ultra to even higher levels! And seeing that MSI one is already over clocked a good bit and cheaper then the XFX one I was originally going for, I pretty set on getting it.

I also plan on maybe going SLI (not for ages though) My monitors a 20" widescreen at 1680 X 1050 native rez.

Cheers for the tips on the case lads. I was looking for a nice clean silver design that had good cooling and fans for cheap enough. (and can also hold my card) Ive never been too pushed at flashy blue lights and side windows, but I think I'll go for that Antec Nine Hundred as it seems to really deliver!

My current case is an Artic cooling http://www.arctic-cooling.com/pc_case2.php?idx=117 and I was originally hoping I could just slap my stuff into that untill I read that the PSU wont really be good enough and sure the Ultra probably wont fit

About the PSU I chose, is it really that bad?

Oh and cheers for the tips on the CPU cooler, I'll look into getting one of them unless they are REALLY expensive!

Oh and n1 about the HD, I'll grab that instead!

Cunny-Funt

this ok for a cpu cooler? http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=43FH&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258,4294956808

nibble

Cunny-Funt wrote:

this ok for a cpu cooler? http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=43FH&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258,4294956808

Thermalright Ultra120 Extreme, Scythe Infinity and Tuniq Tower are the best aircoolers around, get one of them. The U120Extreme is probably the best overall at least until Thermalright's IFX-14 sees the light of day. PSU- Corsair HX620 or (the newest) Thermaltake 750W would be top of my list.

Cunny-Funt

Do I really have to buy a top of the range cooler. Would something like this not be any use at all? http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3VBN&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258,4294956808

uberpixie

Cunny-Funt wrote:

Do I really have to buy a top of the range cooler. Would something like this not be any use at all? http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3VBN&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258,4294956808

You only need top of the line if you intend overclocking.

If you do, buy one of the aforementioned high end coolers.

Seeing what dabs have in stock....

look at the following:

Scythe Ninja Plus (as good as the scythe infinity)
http://www.dabs.ie/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=3XYD&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258&InMerch=1

Zalman low profile heatpipe cooler
http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4C8F&CategorySelectedId=11258&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11258,50440

These would be both for around €40, and much much better that the rest of the cheaper cpu coolers that dabs sell.

Cunny-Funt

cheers for the advice. Now here's where things are starting to do my head in. The age old question of buy now or wait.

This is in regards to the 8800ultra. As ive been reading that the 9800GTX will be released in November and that it will cost about the same as the ultra does now but be twice as fast!!!!!!!

Now at 1st I was thinking, I wanna play all those top new games NOW and sure theres always a bigger better card around the corner etc etc.

But on second thoughts, the games I thinking about (ie CRYSIS) wont be out till around then ANYWAY....soooooo now my head is wrecked!

I'm half thinking of now forgetting the 8800ultra and grabbing a 6800gs for 100euro and go SLI with my other 6800gs but with all those other new parts.

And save the rest of my cash for this 9800GTX and crysis etc...

Thoughts?

uberpixie

Cunny-Funt wrote:

cheers for the advice. Now here's where things are starting to do my head in. The age old question of buy now or wait.

This is in regards to the 8800ultra. As ive been reading that the 9800GTX will be released in November and that it will cost about the same as the ultra does now but be twice as fast!!!!!!!

Now at 1st I was thinking, I wanna play all those top new games NOW and sure theres always a bigger better card around the corner etc etc.

But on second thoughts, the games I thinking about (ie CRYSIS) wont be out till around then ANYWAY....soooooo now my head is wrecked!

I'm half thinking of now forgetting the 8800ultra and grabbing a 6800gs for 100euro and go SLI with my other 6800gs but with all those other new parts.

And save the rest of my cash for this 9800GTX and crysis etc...

Thoughts?

If you are buying a tie over card, get a 1950pro.

Skip SLI on the 6800gs, waste of time.

Now that I see you have a 20" monitor....

You could just pick up a 8800GTS 640mb/X2900XT for around €360 maybe instead? No point going any lower considering the monitor you have.

Cunny-Funt

Well with my current single 6800GS I can play bf2/DCON (mod that requires higher specs then bf2) at 1680X1050 (have to force the rez) MAX settings. So I woulda thought double that power would do me grand till November? The games that I know I'll be playing for sure before november are ARMA and world in conflict. I dunno what the full story is with Crysis release or Hellgate london or assassins creed, but I do get the impression that they wont be out before then?

So I'm not really sure about spending more then 100 on a card if I'm gonna be replacing it in 3 months with a BEAST.

Damn this is annoying, JUST when I think I know what the craic is, this **** pops up

uberpixie

Cunny-Funt wrote:

Well with my current single 6800GS I can play bf2/DCON (mod that requires higher specs then bf2) at 1680X1050 (have to force the rez) MAX settings. So I woulda thought double that power would do me grand till November?

So I'm not really sure about spending more then 100 on a card if I'm gonna be replacing it in 3 months with a BEAST.

Damn this is annoying, JUST when I think I know what the craic is, this **** pops up

SLI is never double the power, 33-50% at most and only in games that support it properly.

With some games that extra hundred quid worth of card will be sitting on it's ass doing nothing and generating extra heat and noise while it's at it.

You could pick up a X1950 pro for €130.
(much better way of spending €100 on gfx imho)

Or just buy a 8800GTS 320mb and if the new cards really are THAT much better, flog it for half price and buy a new one later on.

Or just sit on your 6800gs.

Sephiroth_dude

crysis is out september 14th and world in conflict is 21st september =D,id say just wait till november and get that 9800gtx them you would'nt have to upgrade for a while,heck i may have to upgrade my xps next yr,crysis requires 1gd of (1.5gd for vista) and all i have is 1024mb

tak

Komplett fella said yesterday that 2 GB memory sticks are due out soon.
Having these may give more longevity to your mainboard spec.

Cunny-Funt

uberpixie wrote:

You could pick up a X1950 pro for €130.

Indeed, after looking up more info on SLI I was pretty dead set on getting this.

But wtf, crysis out september 14th???

I thought it was out much later!

Is it deffo out that soon? Damn it, I may still get the 8800ultra then...... I really wanna play this game on high when its out!:mad:


**edit**

yeah I'm seeing "European Release: November 16, 2007" ?

Anti

tak wrote:

Komplett fella said yesterday that 2 GB memory sticks are due out soon.
Having these may give more longevity to your mainboard spec.

2gb sticks are redily availible every where, im pretty sure komplett already sell them.

Cunny-Funt

Ok, Ive finally decided to wait. And I'm gonna order my stuff tomorrow.

One last question/s..

Is the X1950PRO really that much better then my 6800gs?

currently, this one http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=326957 is sold out on komplett. No idea when it will be in again unless someone else here knows?

So I'm looking at this one on dabs : Sapphire Technology Radeon X1950GT 512MB
Opinions?:o

nibble

Somewhat off topic, but Crysis will be launched with the G90 series cards around November:D .

Cunny-Funt

Indeed, so I deffo think I'm making the right choice here. But what about those cards I mentioned?

the x1950GT since its in stock? Is it good or should I still just order the X1950PRO even though its not in stock???

uberpixie

Cunny-Funt wrote:

Indeed, so I deffo think I'm making the right choice here. But what about those cards I mentioned?

the x1950GT since its in stock? Is it good or should I still just order the X1950PRO even though its not in stock???

komplett have a club3d 1950pro in stock
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=332348

The GT is a little bit slower than the Pro by a few frames. 10 at max.

tak

2gb sticks are redily availible every where, im pretty sure komplett already sell them.

Not quite everywhere.
These people have them at least -
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/7VuO2ce2CRAynN/2/articledetail.jsp?aid=8565&agid=677
But as far as I can see on
http://www.komplett.ie/k/kc.aspx?bn=10232
all 2 GB units (even DDR 3 ones) are twin-packs of 1 GB boards.

With only 4 RAM slots and caps of 8 GB on most mainboards as well as the need for pairing, it is wise to look at memory sizes so as to avoid having to replace 1 GBs by 2 GBs later on..

astrofool

Here's a 2 x 2048MB ram kit (of about 5 or 6)

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=333974

Anti

astrofool wrote:

Here's a 2 x 2048MB ram kit (of about 5 or 6)

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=333974

Just as i said. The dude must be short sighted

tak

See them now !
Was looking only at recommended parts.:o

Cunny-Funt

This is almost 170! http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=332348

Komplett of course wont feckin answer me about the 130euro one thats sold out:mad: :mad:

So the GT on dabs http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4FHS&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11137,43990000,13

120 euro, is 10 extra frames worth 50 euro??

Cunny-Funt

never mind http://www.dabs.ie/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4D6N&CategorySelectedId=11021&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11021&InMerch=1 :cool:

Anti

just to let you know, you will not see any difference between the 256 and the 512 versions. so get the cheapeast you can find.

Cunny-Funt

It pretty much is the cheapest PRO I can find that is in stock.

But cheers anyways.

daveharnett

Just to emphasise, don't skimp on the power supply! Spend a little more on a 'less powerful' (500W is plenty) model from a reputable manufacturer: Antec, OCX, Corsair, Thermalright et al. This is especially important if you plan to overclock. Dodgy PSUs have overtaken dodgy memory as the primary cause of stability problems