Building a new rig

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A7X

A7X

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Alrite i've got around £800 for a tower and have got a few ideas, obviously the more i can save the better!

I've been looking at:
Striker Extreme Mobo £167
Intel quad Q6600 processor £164
2gb corsair ddr2 6400 Ram £70
XFX 8600gt 256mb £70
OCZ Modular 720W sli ready £86
Vista Home Premium 64bit? or 32 bit? £62
Xion solaris silver case £33
WD 7200rpm 16mb caviar 250gb £42

Just wondering your opinions and if i've forgoten anything, like cables etc or anything obvious. Also should i go 32 or 64 bit? This is the first time i'l be building a rig so any pointers are welcome! All the prices are from www.ebuyer.com
Looking to start buying some of the parts next week and finish off at the end of next month. Any advice or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

A7X
 
What do you plan on doing with that board? Looking at that website, the Gigabyte Ga- P35-DS3R is unavailable but the P35C- DS3R is for £77.84. I have this board and it works great. The other board I mentioned is cheaper because it doesn't support DDR3 like the P35C. If you want SLI then I really don't understand the 8500gt selection. I would save money on the Motherboard and get a better Video card like the 8600 GTS.
Also, I would go with this Seagate HD.http://http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115418
Its one of the fastest Hd's you can get and its 320gb's
As for the PSU, over at Overclockers.com many builders like the Corsair HD 520 and 620 units. Both are cheaper than the OCZ unit.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/?strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intStoreID=2&intCatID=149&intMfrID=320&bolShowAll=true
If you go with the Gigabyte board I would use different ram. Crucial 1GB DDR2 PC2-6400/800MHz CL4-4-4-12 Ballistix 2.2V SLI Ready/ 2 sticks and its cheaper than the Corsair ram £9.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/?strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intStoreID=2&intCatID=149&intMfrID=320&bolShowAll=true
Hope this helps
 
Try overclockers.co.uk and see if they're cheaper, I ordered about £900 worth of stuff from them for my new PC, everything arrived the next day. The Corsair HX 620 PSU will be fine for a long while, plus it's better quality and modular. 64-bit is fine if you're going to use 4gigs of RAM but 32-bit has more compatibility with drivers and stuff. Also, do you really need a quad-core? A E6750 is fast enough, and you can wait and upgrade to Penryn later. ;)
 
I would be planning on adding another 8600gt in a couple of months, obviously as money permits. The main idea behind getting the board was that i am planning on keeping the pc for quite a while and buying that mobo would allow me to upgrade with components that are still current? if you know what i mean. Has the corsair power supply got twin pcie connectors cause i couldn't see it on the site? It looks better that the ocz one though.
Also on ram what do all the numbers like 4-4-4-12 mean? and which ram would be best to go for on the asus mobo? Sorry about all the questions, but as i said its my first build.

Thanks for all the answers!

A7X
 
There are 2 very divided camps when it comes to SLI. I would want to see the benchmarks on 2 8500gt cards over 1 8600 gts card. When I started looking at my build I considered SLI until I read that 2 8600gts cards won't out perform 1 8800gtx card and 1 card was less $ than 2 8600gts cards. I would rather buy 1 Good Video card than 2 below average cards and from what I've read about the 8500 card its not all that great. The other thing I didn't like about the 680 boards were the heat and bugs in the boards. Right now the P35 boards are some of the best out for non SLI builds. For a 1st time build I went with the conservative approach. F1GTR is right about 64 bit vs. 32 bit.

Edit: I see that your looking at the 8600 gt card. I don't know much about that card. I still don't get the reasoning behind SLI unless you're running 2 of the very best video card that money can buy. Then I get SLI.
 
That's fair enough, i've had a quick look and i can afford 1 8800gts 320mb card and have heard that it outperforms two 8600 cards in sli cause it uses a G80 instead of G84 platform? maybe the other way around? The main reason behind buying the sli was to try and future proof it, as from what i understand more and more games are going to be optimized for 2 gpu's. BUT I'l only be running 1440x900 res and have heard you don't get any significant performance increase out of sli until you start hitting the bigger res's like 1600x1200. There are so many pro's and con's so i'm starting to wonder if its worth it, i may end up getting the board you recommended plus an 8800gtx or an 8800gts plus extra ram (4gb instead of 2). Looks like i've got a lot of thinking to do.

A7X
 
Are you going to run 32bit or 64bit XP? As was stated before, 2gb's of memory is all you need for 32bit XP. If you're thinking about Vista then stop right there. My son has Vista and he wishes he had XP. So many games don't work with Vista.
 
I had vista on my old pc before it died, and i didn't have any problems playing the games i wanted to so i'm not to worried about that side of things, its just will i need 4gb for 64 bit? I've priced it up and i think im leaning toward that gigabyte mobo you recommended and an 8800gts as i dont think i'l ever be able to splash out on two graphics cards, and even if i could it seems to be better just buying the latest one.

A7X
 
What do you think of this memory: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/120453
It's on the gigabyte approved vendors list for that board and it's running at 1066 mhz.
I think ive decided to go for that board and an 8800gts, with 32 bit vista, the seagate hd you recommended and that 620w corsair psu. Thanks for all the help gt3mich!

A7X
 
Just a note: I use 64 bit Vista on my main machine / gaming rig and have no problems whatsoever with it - drivers, applications or otherwise.

A single 8800GTS is a great setup for the price.
 
Glad I Could help. As for the ram, the reason I suggested the Crucial Ballistics is because it uses the D9 chip that everyone wants. I have OCZ 800 in my rig and bought it for a good price but now I wish I had the Crucial ram. Its supposed to be the best at overclocking. As for Vista, there are some utilities I use to check my core temps that don't run. I also still play BF1942 mods like Desert combat extended and Forgotten Hope and I know they don't work with Vista.
 
i'm not too big on OC'ing and the only stuff on their approved vendors list is the 800mhz. I'm assuming 1066mhz is quicker stuff, and seeing as i probably won't be overclocking the ram I think i'd be better off with it, but i may be wrong! Thanks for all the help guys i think i'm nearly ready to start building (waiting for pay day!). Also any good cases that arn't to expensive? I would prefer it if i didnt have to cut anything to fit in the mobo.
Thanks for all the help, and if anyones interested i might post some pics of the build.

A7X
 
That ram running at 1066 MHZ is over clocked from the manufacturer. Just stick the 800mhz, I would say.
 
This case gets good reviews.
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/100727/rb/0
My rig is the Thermaltake Armor jr. I like the case but I don't like the usb/firewire connectors in the top. I had to take this out to get the PSU in. Other than that it was a breeze to work in.
CA-034-TT_400.jpg

Here is mine.
DSC_3972a.jpg

Here's a side view.
DSC_3980.jpg

I would look at these also.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=7&subid=187
Lian-Li are supposed to be some of the best cases you can buy. My next build will be a Lian-Li
 
i've had a look at that antec case on ebuyer and i really like the look of it, only think is a lot of people say that they've had problems with the length of the psu cable. Are psu cable extenders ok or is it best to steer clear of them?

A7X
 
Which Antec case? The P180/182? I have the P182 and a Corsair HX520 PSU and I don't need a extender.
 
i think it would be the p182 so sounds like i should be fine, is it a tight squeeze or does the cable reach comfortably?

A7X
 
The cable reaches comfortably. I've even re-routed my cables through the other side of the case.
 
just recieved the first delivery of parts! now i'm just waiting or the harddrive and gpu,
In the end i went for:
Gigabyte p35c-ds3r mobo
OCZ 1066 2gb ram (up to 4 next month)
Arctic freezer 7 pro cooler
Intel Q6600
EVGA 8800gts Superclocked 320mb
Corsair 650W
Antec p182
Seagate 320gb hdd
64bit vista (i'l guess i'l have to wait to see if this was a mistake or not)

Everything apart from GPU and HDD,
all went in quite nicely in the end, i just cant find a socket on the mobo for secong hdd activity light or the front firewire input, also does anyone no if i should be using the HD audio or AC'97 to connect to the mobo sound card from front input? one last thing on the mobo F-Panel connector there is a header called MSG, what's this for?

Thanks for all the help guys!

A7X
I'l Add some piccies when it's all done.
 
That mobo doesn't have firewire. ;) I just connected the front audio input to the HD one on mine.
 
Firewire isn't supported with this board. Make sure you adjust your ram voltage when you 1st fire up your computer. Default voltage is 1.8. I don't know what those other F panel connectors are for.
 
Alrite, cheers! its been my first build so there were one or two things i was unsure on. I post some pics tues evening after the graphics card is in!

Edit: what voltage should i change it to or how do i find out?, and gt3mich how well does your system run games etc as the specs are similar?

A7X
 
I have OCZ 800 hz ram and it needs 2.1 volts to run. Also you need to manually set the ram timings. In the bios, go to MIT and press Ctrl + F1 and you can set them. As for gaming I have Bioshock loaded and run it on high without any problems.
 
i'm assuming the voltages and timings are on the stickers on the ram, as nothing was on or inside the packet? when i stick the next pair in next month i'm also assuming i shall have to set voltage and timings aswel?
Just gotta hope it'l all work now, as i've seen a couple of people start to have problems with the mobo now, it keeps restarting the system and won't even reach post :scared: so fingers crossed it'l all be ok :nervous:

A7X
 
I've been running my computer for a month now and haven't had any problems other than a HD failing. The voltage can be found online at the OCZ web site.
 
GT3mich
Are you going to run 32bit or 64bit XP? As was stated before, 2gb's of memory is all you need for 32bit XP. If you're thinking about Vista then stop right there. My son has Vista and he wishes he had XP. So many games don't work with Vista.
Click to expand...

For the love of god, DO NOT GET VISTA. I dont car how much other people might tempt you, just dont get it. As mentioned above, some games dont work, a lot of programs dont work or just run really slow. Oh yeah, did I mention that it uses about 600MB of ram, when idling?

Go with 64-bit XP, you might want to upgrade you RAM somewhere along the line, may as well install it now
 
opendriver19a
For the love of god, DO NOT GET VISTA. I dont car how much other people might tempt you, just dont get it. As mentioned above, some games dont work, a lot of programs dont work or just run really slow. Oh yeah, did I mention that it uses about 600MB of ram, when idling?

Go with 64-bit XP, you might want to upgrade you RAM somewhere along the line, may as well install it now
Click to expand...
I think you're a bit confused.

First of all, almost all programs work in Vista that worked in XP (albiet, some take a little tinkering with to get running optimally), and every game I've tried to play has not only played but played well.

Second of all, he is obviously building his system with some intent to play games. As we all know, DX10 is Vista only (at least right now), and as such to play with all the eye candy he'd need Vista.

And for the love of all things good and holy, YES Vista uses more memory than XP when idleing, but that's only because it's caching highly used programs for faster access. I personally believe that if you have the system, why shouldn't the OS use it for a better end-user experience?
 

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