Hi There, I am building a new PC to get the most out of Microsoft Office (and the odd game, well lots of games! ), can anyone please be good enough to comment on what I've got and if it'll do the job? The important thing is that I get this right. I can't afford to buy everything in one go, so plan to split the cost over three months - but I need to be sure I have a kit list that I stick to. Suggestions and advice welcome - your the people that know, I am new to this! Thanks. Case Zalman GT1000 Z-Machine Case - Black (No PSU) http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=CAZ-GT1000BK&af=50 Fan Controller Zalman ZM-MFC2 Multi Fan Controller http://www.boston.co.uk/news_articles/reviews/07-07-19/ PSU Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-011-CS Motherboard Asus P6T Deluxe v2 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-P6TV2 Processor Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail + Far Cry 2 Game http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-I7920DO Cooler Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (AM2/AM2+/939/LGA775/LGA1366) http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2354&page=1 Memory OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (OCZ3G1600LV6GK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-129-OC Hard Drives x3 Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B 1TB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A38016) http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...SATA-2+Hard+Drive+16MB+Cache+?productId=34559 Card Reader Scythe Card Reader & Floppy Drive - Black (YD-8V08) http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/drives/scythe-fdd-and-card-reader/ Graphics Card XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail https://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?XFX-4850 DVD / Blu - Ray LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Rewriter & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=29&id=2544 Sound Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Fatal1ty Champion Series 7.1 Sound Card (70SB088600005) http://www.wikio.com/product/creative-sound-blaster-x-fi-titanium-fatal1ty-champion-120937.html Keyboard Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard (920-000978) http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2341322,00.asp Mouse Logitech G9 Gaming-Grade Laser Mouse (910-000175) http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2177894,00.asp Headphones Goldring DR150 Stereo Headphones http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/...erence-quality-stereo-headphones/display.html Excuses To Missus Why This Cost So Much And Shed Still Needs Mending
You realy need 3tb hdd space straight away? that's masses of storage you could lose some and upgrade graphics to somthing that will compliment that system more. Also i think you could do better on the cooler now after the recent cooler roundups. The case is insanly priced but i guess a case is a real personal thing. Also you seem to be ordering from quite a few places, the shipping cost could be cut alot if you sorted it out.
My experience with LG drives end up braking up, and the shipping for RMA cost just as much as the a new one. Check out Samsung, Phillips, Plextor, or Pioneer drives. Do you really need a floppy drive and fan control unit? I will be surprised if you actually do. Instead of getting that crappy sound card (driver wise), get the ASUS Xonar, also the sound output is better. And you won't fall with the fear that the sound card is incompatible with the chipset and cause it to pop and crackle. The rest is fine to me.
That Zalman case boasts good airflow with two 92mm and one 120mm... seriously? I know its aluminum... but damn. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec-Twelve-Hundred-Case-w-o-PSU Consider saving some cash with the Antec 1200. To cool your CPU... look into the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Logitech-MX518-Gaming-Grade-Optical-Mouse-1600dpi-PS2-USB-11-20-5-Buttons-Black Unless you really need laser... this will serve you well and cost less. If cost is a factor then ask yourself... do you really need a super expensive gaming keyboard, a fan controller, three harddrives, a blueray burner, and gaming sound card? I don't include the card reader in that since I'm assuming you need it specifically. You should switch to one or two Western Digital or Seagate drives. Hitachi drives are less reliable. Maybe look into Grado headphones? I have owned the sr-125s for over two years now and they are fantastic for everything... not just gaming. Plus... they sound fantastic on integrated sound.
- 3TB is a lot of space. If you're RAIDing, be aware that it's not really suited to domestic environments. You might be better of holding off and buying later; these things improve radically quite quickly, according to Moore's Law. - I've got that Scythe card reader thingy. It's brilliant but be aware - it might not fit a 3.5"-5.25" bay adaptor (if you were planning to use one) because of the on-the-edge placement of the floppy eject button. Otherwise I recommend it, great bit of kit, you never know when you're going to need it! - The TRUE 120 comes highly recommended, and is a better fit to this budget than the Akasa. And last - but most importantly - that is a stupidly old and feeble graphics card to be using with such a powerhouse. A GTX-275 would be a more appropriate match, or a 4870X2. As for the excuses, sorry, I'm out.
What is this? Link please! I'd hesitate to call the 4850 old and feeble, though. It's still a current generation card after all, and can hold it's own in a lot of games, but I do agree that it's not really a good fit with the budget and the rest of the specs of the system for heavy gaming use.
U might want to consider the HD4770 instead of the 4850... Then again, looking at your hardware, you might want to go up to the HD4890 or the Nvidia 275
two 4770's in CF or a GTX 275? keyboard is massive overkill, and apparently the screen becomes a novelty over time. maybe a G15, or a steelseries 7G samsung hard drives are the best IMO, are you doing RAID 5 or something? and for cooling id go for the thermalright ultra 120 extreme, scythe mugen, or a noctua
I'd go for Seagate 7200.12 drives tbh. If they were around when I built this I'd have preferred them to the Samsung F1s I have now. As for other posters comments, I don't see why you shouldn't go for 3TB storage from the outset. WHy wait until you DO need it to buy it. Buy it now! Every time I build a rig I think "That will be plenty" only to realise it's not when it gets nearer to upgrade time. I've got 3.5TB in mine now, and I don't think it's too much. Ever thought he is doing what I'm doing, and making room for back-up space as well? Work out how much space you need.... then double it, because you're always wrong... then double it again so you can actually back all your stuff up.... and not have to post on here moaning when you lose it all due to a drive failure Another recommendation from me for the Thermalright Ultra eXtreme 120-1366. Awesome cooler. Don't think you'll get a 4GHz 24/7 overclock with it though, as i'm struggling to control temps at 3.8. You may have an easier time with a D0 but I'm realising you really need water for a 4GHz clock. I'm considering lowering mine to 3.6GHz. Having said that, I think you'll struggle to find a better cooler. Very quiet, and at stock speeds, keeps temps around 50 degrees or so. The stock cooler lets mine get to 90 under benching at stock speeds.
All many thanks for your comments so far, fantastic to get up and see so many. Very much apprichated from all of you. To answer a few questions... I was planning on doing a raid system. However if they're not really that suioted to domestic use as mentioned, I can cut down easilly to 2TB and have room left. I think based on yours and other comments, I'll need to cut costs somewhere and this can do so I can improve the graphics card. As you've had bad experience with LG drives - what make would be your chosen brand based on build quality out of the four that you mention? I'd sooner not be shipping bits back... The floppy drive unit, yeah I am afraid I do. I have 100's of floppys that I need to sort through (if they still work). As for the fan control unit, I thought one of those was kinda needed these days as they seem to be on the market everywhere! Very intersting. I have had a long relationship with Creative cards and always rated them to be the best. Shows how blinkered I can be, I think I should read some reviews of ASUS and try to look at some comparrasions. I really like the look of the Zalman, even tho the price is absolutely hideous. On a very serious note tho, do you (or anyone else here) without actually having one, see a problem with the airflow on one of these cases? Will the fans not be good enough to power it? The Antec cases came a second when I was looking, but I found the Zalman a lot more pleasing to the eye - although based on the fact i have some bad taste in some of the components I've listed, I do welcome suggestions for change! I think I will change to this. The rest of you spoke about graphics cards mainly. I think that I need to go off and do some reading on those... ...but I'll be back with amendments. I have to say in a few short hours this has been posted, I think I am going to 1. save cost and 2. in the end, end up with a better system. Cheers.
I Would go for Something made by Antecs 'Gaming' Line if you want airflow, or maybe a Lian Li or CoolerMaster. There is no need to spend more than £150 on a case unless there's something really special about it.
That zalman case does look pretty poor, especially for £200 plus. You could get a lot more for the money. For good airflow I'd recommend (in order of increasing price). Antec 902 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2009/02/25/antec-nine-hundred-two-902-review/1 CM HAF 932 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/16/cooler-master-haf-932/1 Antec 1200 (couldn't find a b-t review) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec-Twelve-Hundred-Case-w-o-PSU CM ATCS 940 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/31/cooler-master-atcs-840-classic-review/1 Have a look about here for a case: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/ People have different ideas of how a case should look, so if you can find one that you like the look of, and gets good reviews, then go for it.
