I'm helping a friend to choose parts for his new rig as his old one has died. He's got a budget of about 1000-1500€. We've been thinking whether he should get a Q6600 or a Q9550, and a 4870 or a 4870X2. As he's a gamer, we're currently looking at the combo of a Q6600 and a 4870X2, even though the X2 is ridiculosly expensive. Also looking to get a nice 3GHz+ OC on the Q6600. Also the Asus P5Q Pro is chosen as I'm able to help him with the BIOS settings (as I've got one myself). The P5Q Deluxe was an option but as Nehalem is around the corner we didn't feel like getting a too expensive mobo now. Full list of currently chosen parts: - Q6600, ~180€ - 4870 X2, ~500€ - P5Q Pro, ~130€ - Corsair 2x2GB XMS2 DHX 800MHz 4-4-4-12, ~90€ - WD 640GB, ~80€ - Samsung SH-S223Q, ~30€ - TRUE Black, ~60€ - Antec P182, ~160€ - Be Quiet 750W (~165€); or 850W (~200€); or Corsair TX750 (~120€) (All should sum up to a little under 1500€) Still a bit unsure on the PSU. Any advice on this? Is the 750W Corsair outdated as the HX620 is? The TRUE Black is chosen over the normal TRUE for the simple fact that it's one euro cheaper. (And of course it's more 1337 to have a black cooler ) HID devices are coming from the old computer. Also, he bought an OEM copy of Vista Home Premium 32-bit a few months ago. It was installed on the old computer, but as it's dead now (the mobo really is dead, no need to lie to MS this time ) will it be an easy process to contact MS so they re-activate the key? Does somebody have experience about doing it in Finland, Jipa maybe? Can they be contacted by e-mail? (He will borrow my 64-bit disc for installing, just FYI.) So, if you can answer the questions here and also tell any general comments on the build, I'd appreciate that. Thanks in advance!
i going to guess that bindi will start crying soon, after all the work bit-tech did on this topic http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/10/02/what-hardware-should-i-buy-october-2008/1
I actually read that and I was really impressed how similar my and Bindi's choices were Even my computer is nearly identical to those! And I made this thread just to make sure everything will work.
the True cooler is great but its really too expensive to even think of buying considering you would have to buy a 120mm fan for it. I am currently using an Akasa 966 Blue Aurora, which they reviewed not so long ago. And it really dose perform well! I would also go for the Corsair TX750 as its cheaper and will run everything nicely
you shouldn't even need to call MS to get the key working unless you've used up your activation limit (5, i think).
I got my black TRUE today, this thing is dead sexy. Yes, there are less expensive options, but you get what you pay for. If you saw my thread, you'll see I went with a nearly identical setup, with a few exceptions. I couldn't find a be quiet in the usa when I ordered, or I'd have definitely grabbed it. I went with the P5Q deluxe, as bundled with a xonar, it was cheaper than the pro + a xonar. The only thing that I wonder about on your list is the ram, why the 800 when you can run 1200? I ruled out the 4870x2 and got the regular 4870, same with the q9550 vs the q6600. If I could choose, I'd take the q9550 and skip the x2. You can crossfire a pair of 4870's for what the x2 will cost, if you so desire. Regardless, you're chosen outstanding parts and that system will be a beast. Just like mine!
I know the TRUE is expensive but he (my friend) wants it and I don't have anything against that. After all, it's his money. And I went the TRUE way aswell with my rig. The top fan of the P182 will be put on the TRUE as it'd be useless anyway (it gets nearly blocked with a large CPU cooler). I'll tell him to look at some reviews on the TX750 and see if it has all the necessary functioins. edit: No, it ain't modular not gonna get it then. Is it so? I thought that's the case with Retail licences only. Remember that we're talking about OEM here. Thanks anyway, could somebody possibly confirm that? My system is nearly identical to yours! I've got a Q9550, 4870, 8GB Corsair, WD 640GB, HX620, P182 and TRUE running under my desk. The choice of the 4870 X2 is simply because e-peen and there's no need to upgrade it in a while. And again, he wants it and it's his money I think 800MHz RAM is good enough, and as the faster modules have looser timings, the performance difference would be neglible. And price is a deciding factor, too.
I agree with the memory, DDR2 800Mhz C4 will run at 1GHz C5, so all PC2-8500 kits are just overclocked PC2-6400 kits running at C5. My ballistix's hit 1.1GHz (550Mhz) but my northbridge got super hot and shut down, was only a test anyway.
Okay, I think the final component list is just like the original one, but he'll be getting the Be Quiet 750W, and no OS (as the old licence will be used). Thanks for your inputs! What mobo do you have?
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R, its been a gem ever since i opened the box. Same with my Q6600 and my memory, it all overclocks very well indeed!
Time to resurrect this topic... He was to the shop today and ordered the stuff. There were some final changes. He decided to buy from a smallish shop because he's got some relations and he got some rebate. He was first about to get a Q9550, but the shop was out of them and they suggested a Q8200 so he chose that... It sucks, but it's ordered already. The shop didn't have any TRUEs so he got a Zalman CNPS9700NT. The Corsair HX620 is way enough so he got that one. And the main thing: The people at the shop said that a newbie shouldn't build a computer in this price class by himself. I think that's very offensive. Of course he listened to them and ordered the build of the rig... Thank god it only costs ~20€. Why didn't he order from the netshop then? Because they don't have all their products in there, and of course, he couldn't have got any rebate. I don't think I'm ever gonna order from that shop... Update: The RAM was changed too as the shop was out of Corsair RAM, the new one is OCZ Titanium 800MHz 4-4-4-15 2.2V http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_titanium_4gb_edition_dual_channel Also we've noticed that the shop's got extremely fast customer service, if you send email to them they'll answer in 5 minutes.
State what cruddy service u got here on the forum(name the shop) & say that everyone agreed that shop was the pits .. any shop that wants to stay in bussiness will not want bad word of mouth & these forums are the wave of the future in word of mouth ... the POWER lies in a strong Forum & bit-tech.net rules
Hehe, the shop is called Databit, http://www.databit.fi/ . Their webshop sucks aswell, uses some kinda DLL files, doesn't work on Opera at all.
