Hey all, i've been on these forums for a long time, had dreams of a mod a year or so back, then i moved to uni so that dream died . Well the time has come! With the Windows Vista release looming over the computer market and a bit of money in my pocket, i've finally decided to get that nice fast PC i've always wanted! The general idea here is to make a nice stable, reliable computer that should *touch wood* last me for the next 3 years without the fear of it falling over and me needing to spend more money on it. So this is what i have so far, comments would be very usefull as i'm sure you guys know more than i do! CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - Originally i was going with an E6400 since there is quite a big difference, but the core2 duo upgrade guide convinced me otherwise. Motherboard: Asus P5B-E Plus - Seems to be an all round good motherboard with good reviews. RAM: OCZ 2Gb PC2-6400 DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 - Again seems to be a favourite. GPU: Sapphire X1950Pro 512MB - I've used sapphire before so i know there good . Case: Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS - I was going for the 60 plus but this one is the same and has 2x120mm fans, so i think its perfect tbh (im very picky about cases ). PSU: Seasonic M12 500W Modular PSU - From what i've heard Seasonic are good, correct me if im wrong? Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB SATA II 7200RPM - Gotta love Western Digital . And the rest i think is really a given... So please people, what do you think? Have i made the right choices? I may consider going down the SLI or Crossfire route but only buy one card for now. I'm looking at around £800 to build this machine, though that really needs to include the monitor which is currently £180... So £620 to build a nice solid futre proof macine... Can i even do it? That price can probably stretch a little bit if it has too, but not too much. Any input it greatly appreciated. Caff.
LOL... didnt you hear him a lower budget this time... he is a tax dodger after all!!! that list is good mate, good components too... should well and truly see you through three years, even if you have lan party's at your halls every other day!
I would go with the E6400 but with price Cuts coming over the horizon it maybe worth wile getting the E6600, but theres not much difference in terms of cashe. Thats a good choice of gfx card tho the 320meg version of the 8800GTS is v.good for the money but if you want to wait a alittle try and see what the 86series has to offer as its coming out any day soon.
Hehe, thanks. It's been pretty hard learning all this stuff all over again. I tell you; you look away from the computer market for 5 seconds and... Well its all good now anyway. So the basic feeling im getting from you guys here is to bump up that graphics card to an 8800, and make it BFG because of the lifetime guarantee. OK, I think that sounds good, so then is it working splashing out a little more and get say... An Asus P5N32-E PLUS rather than the P5B? I'm pretty solid that i want to go with asus motherboards, any other reccomendations for SLI boards? Thanks for all the help people! C4FF.
Yeh the P5N32-E is a v.good mobo, tho on the case of the 88, as i said why not wait till the 86's are revealed and see what's avail at what price point?
Also reading on the inquirer AMD are bringing out a whole range almost at once towards the end of April. I don't know how they will compete but the video footage I have seen of what the R600 can do is mightily impressive. Edit: Don't know when exactly the 86s are coming out but it will probably be exactly the same time if not slightly before the R600, just to steal some of AMD's thunder.
86s have been spotted on MSI's booth on Cebit so I'd say they'll be released in april or may... april if you ask me. And I have to say: I like your pc. Looks like mine. (see sig) I can't say anything bad about the CPU, the PSU, the RAM or the MB.
well the lian li pc7 plus shouldnt have any problems with room hehe... ok well im still fiddling around and fine tuning this macine... but it seems im on the right tracks. If anyone has any more help please reply once i have finally decided on the kit i will post it up for all to see, should be up soon hehe. Thanks to everyone for the help so far. Caff.
Got no clearance issues with fitting it even though I can't use all HDD slots on my Thermaltake Soprano. And the board definitly can handle a 8800GTS. Oh, and did I mention it's a good overclocker too? Will post a CPU-Z Verification link later... 3.5 GHz. 3D Mark 06 @ 10.790 points // edit : CPU-Z Verification: @ 3589 MHz Link
Right then, i have bought the "beast". Wow have these past few days been a real hardcore scrub and search, but i did it! In the end i found out buing the samsung 204bw 20" widescreen monitor from ebuyer wont be any cheaper because of added p&p, so i have bought everything from overclockers.co.uk and bought the following set of wonderfull components: CPU: Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail Motherboard: Asus P5B-E Plus (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard RAM: G.Skill 2GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit GPU: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail PSU: Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 5000AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache Case: Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black Monitor: Samsung SM-206BW 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black Optical Drive: Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) Total inc Vat & P&P: £1,114.91 I think ive done pretty well here, i went a bit over budget but i bought 1 640mb graphics card rather than a 320 and make it sli ready. The ram i wasnt too sure about as i hadn't heard of the manufacture, but ive read some good reviews, and this ram offers 4,4,4,12 timings . Anyway its done now and it will be here saturday morning. I cant wait! Please let me know what you all think of my final choices, i hope i've done as well as i think i have. Regards. C4FF.
I wouldn't have bought the Enermax Liberty :\ The Seasonic is a much, much better psu. The Enermax, I've seen a LOT of them die right before or right after the end of the 1 year warrenty.
