Spec Review. Advice/Criticism/Warnings Welcome!

here.from.day.1

Hi guys,

Im in the process of organising a new build which will be used for everything from printing documents to heavy gaming (and light overclocking if necessary).

The budget is around €2000 give or take a few hundred either way and I would like this machine to be as futureproof as possible (however short a time that may be).

I am not unfamiliar with with PC building and do try to keep up to date with current events but its been a while since ive done work with a desktop as I mainly use and work with notebooks.

Here is a list of components I have put together for the build, bar Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse/Speakers which I will purchase within the budget hopefully. The total comes to around €1800 with some AS5 and a Power Cable. Some notes/thoughts/questions are written beneath the links.

I would greatly appreciate any advice/criticism/warnings you see fit to offer or if I have left out anything I need. Im open to all suggestions.

Complete List - http://www.komplett.ie/k/shoplist.aspx?mode=receive&si=513877&su=6ED4735B-63BF-48FC-8DC3-865212DBD9F9

Case
Thermaltake Armor JR. Black
*Decent case/Cooling and Space wise??*

Motherboard
ABIT IN9 32X-MAX WIFI
*Onboard Wifi/SLI capability preferable, Onboard sound will suffice, Better to wait for X38 chipset or DDR3 compatability??*

PSU
Corsair Powersupply 620W
*Enough power/Reliable??*

Storage
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB [x2]
*These or Samsung Spinpoints?? Raid (which?) or Master/Slave configuration??*

RAM
Corsair XMS2 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB
*Open to any suggestions*

CPU
C2D E6850
*Get a Quad Core instead?? Much overclocking headroom?? Wait for 45nm??*

GPU
XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra
*One good card or 2 GTS's in SLI??*

Optical
Samsung DVD±RW burner, SH-S202J
*Open to any suggestions*

Card Reader/Fan Control
Akasa 5 1/4" All in one fan control, w/card reader
*Open to any suggestions*

OS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng OEM DVD 32bit

So if you have taken time to read this thanks and feel free to chime in, im grateful for any contributions!

AlmightyCushion

For the cpu go for an E6600. You should be able to overclock it fairly easily. As for the graphics card o for the gtx at the very most, the ultra is way too expensive. Spend the money saved on another 2GBs of ram and get vista 64bit or use it to buy a 24" monitor.

here.from.day.1

Thanks for the reply.

As far as the E6600 goes Kompett dont seem to have it listed anywhere also im not keen on the 1066 FSB or having to change the stock HSF to overclock but will consider it.

With the GPU im really just looking for raw power and not having to upgrade anytime soon, ive heard the one I listed is worth the money and it does fit in to the budget.

Im still unsure about more RAM or the 64bit OS as I will most likely be booting XP Pro SP2 on the same machine for older games and I dont wish to be plagued by driver/incompatibility issues with either OS.

AlmightyCushion

Go for the E6750. It is cheaper than the E6850 and has a 1333mhz FSB. You should be able to overclock this 3Ghz (the speed of the E6850) or maybe even more with the stock cooler.

The ultra is about €200 more expensive than the gtx, it really isn't worth the money. That money was be much better spent elsewhere.

You also might want to consider buying off hardwareversand.de They are meant to be cheaper than komplett but they only take bank transfer for payment.

dazftw

Ditch the Ultra and get a normal GTX then go for a quad a guy I know just got a quad from komplett.ie and its a G0 stepping so you might get lucky!!!!

Grim.

ultra ftw!!!

here.from.day.1

Ok perhaps the GTX is the best way to go. Is there any particular brand that is best XFX, BFG, EVGA? etc..

The E6750 also seems like a good suggestion but would a Quad be a better choice?

Also any opinions on the other component questions?

AlmightyCushion

It doesn't really matter which gtx you go for they are all pretty much the same so just go for the cheapest. You may want to consider 4GBs and vista 64bit. A couple of the guys on here are running it and they have had few if any problems with it.

here.from.day.1

I will indeed consider it. With the GPU im not really trying to skimp on the price but I think you are right about the GTX. Nothing to be said for some GTS's in SLI or such like?

AlmightyCushion

SLI is twice the price of one card for a 50% performance gain. Stick with the gtx. I would hardly call a gtx skimping.

dazftw

Yea also the only reason you would need sli is for having a big monitor displaying a high resolution so a GTX is perfect!

When I had one it ran all my games with a problem.

If you have the money for a quad and what? There like cheaper than core2duos now go for it, it will benefit you more in a few months time when all the multi-core games are out!

py2006

I would get a sata DVD-RW drive istead of an IDE one.

here.from.day.1

Again thanks for the input guys.

I will switch the drive to Sata, its a good idea.

Since SLI is not seeming favourable here im wondering if i should switch to a P35 board or wait a few days for an X38? Im sure the new 45nm CPUs maybe worth it.

Gonzovision

I second the quad, amazing value at the moment.Excellent choice for power supply too.

nibble

here.from.day.1 wrote:

Again thanks for the input guys.

I will switch the drive to Sata, its a good idea.

Since SLI is not seeming favourable here im wondering if i should switch to a P35 board or wait a few days for an X38? Im sure the new 45nm CPUs maybe worth it.

Most definately switch to a P35 board far superior to any nvidia chipset. X38 isn't really worth waiting for, IMO it doesn't offer anything worthwhile over P35 beyond slightly higher FSB potential and dual x16 PCI-E slots (which DO NOT support Sli only CF). Oh and of course you get even more rediculous heatpipe arrays with X38 boards :rolleyes:

toco123

I actually Haven't looked at the other comments
So I speak on my own behalf

So you are on the right track.. but here are my personal reccomendations


Your case is fine.
Thats a good PSU but make sure you don't upgrade soon (SLI) without making sure it will suffice.
Spinpoints are better than barrucudas btw!
Get ballistix RAM instead
Get a E6600 nstead and overclock
Make sure if you do overclock but a CPU cool such as the Cheap and extremelly efficient Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
How about this DVD recorder...its cheaper http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=340157

Okay i know even if you do play a lot of games... Please do yourself a favour and buy a radeon x1950.
At the moment, Microsoft are proposing a DirectX 10.1 which renders all present DirectX cards useless on purpose as the present ones are not particullarly sufficent at playing any games!!
Although this may not happen, it is a huge risk.
Sell the x1950 and then buy a nicer card later!
Even buy a x1550 or something that you can use for the moment and later buy a directx10 card you are sure you will be happy with!

Hope this helps!

Grim.

toco123 wrote:

At the moment, Microsoft are proposing a DirectX 10.1 which renders all present DirectX cards useless on purpose as the present ones are not particullarly sufficent at playing any games!!
Hope this helps!

iirc ms released a press statment comfirming dx10.1 games will work on dx10 cards

here.from.day.1

Just an update to show everything completed and some pictures of the new 720 too.

Thanks again to everybody who gave input into this!

http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k64/xeropaul/PC%20Build/

(Would have linked them here but I couldnt put in thumbs)

AlmightyCushion

Out of interest could you post up the spec of the pc.

here.from.day.1

Its not much different from the original post.

Cpu - E6850
Gpu - 8800 GTX
Ram - 2GB Corsair XMS Pc6400 C4
PSU - Corsair 620w
Case - TT Armor
Moboard - Abit IN9 32X MAX
HD - 2 500GB Samsung Spinpoints
Monitor - 22" Samsung

And so on.

The 720 has a Qx6700, 2 8800 Gtxs, 2Gb Corsair Dominator, 2 160GB Raptors, 1 Baracuda, 1000w PSU, Agiea PhysX, X-Fi & 2407WFP-HC.