Hey, Spec Q's

[Jeremyk]

Hey.

 

Planning on buying/building a new computer for quite high performance gaming (COD4, Far Cry.. That kinda stuff) and HD video and photo editing, with use of the buy now pay 2009 deal available on Novatech, Dabs and Ebuyer.

 

Could you please give me your thoughts on this spec, any other products available, possibility of overclocking and if it all fits. Is it worth waiting for the January sales to kick in?

 

All advice is good advice :)

 

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 2 x 3.00Ghz 6Mb Cache 1333 FSB Dual Core Processor:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-E8400

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4YCZ&PageMode=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971

 

 

MSI Intel P45 Neo3-FR Socket 775 DDR2 SATAII Raid:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MSI-P45N3F

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=58JY&CategorySelectedId=11143&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11143,48760000

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145704

 

 

Crucial 2GB kit (2x1GB), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 Memory:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CRU-B852GK

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=444V&CategorySelectedId=11150&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11150,50090&InMerch=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119279

 

 

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500Gb 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive ATA100 <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-5AAKB

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4L6H&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,50473

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144339

 

Novatech GeForce GTX 260 *216 Stream Processor* 896MB DDR3 TVO/Dual DVI - PCI Express ** With Free Far Cry 2** (Only at Novatech and Dabs):

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GTX266

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=5BJ2&CategorySelectedId=11021&PageMode=1&InMerch=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152617

 

 

Still need a case, PSU and is Vista a good idea? I'm on XP Home

right now.

 

Really want to keep the price under £600 so may have to lower the spec of somethings to afford the case/PSU/Vista maybe.

 

 

Think that's all..

 

 

Thanks in advance :)

[BeeCeeBee]

The man to look for is Dalo Harkin, he is one of our Super Moderators and a build expert.

[DirtyPolo]

I will advise you to get a quad core CPU as if you are looking for the latest games, they are beginning to use the multi-core technology, especially quad core, such as farcry 2 and Quatum of Solace.

 

But as Beeceebee says, wait for Dalo, he's a great help and knows what he's talking about :P

[Dalo Harkin]

Hey.

 

Planning on buying/building a new computer for quite high performance gaming (COD4, Far Cry.. That kinda stuff) and HD video and photo editing, with use of the buy now pay 2009 deal available on Novatech, Dabs and Ebuyer.

 

Could you please give me your thoughts on this spec, any other products available, possibility of overclocking and if it all fits. Is it worth waiting for the January sales to kick in?

 

All advice is good advice :)

 

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 2 x 3.00Ghz 6Mb Cache 1333 FSB Dual Core Processor:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?IL-E8400

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4YCZ&PageMode=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971

 

 

MSI Intel P45 Neo3-FR Socket 775 DDR2 SATAII Raid:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MSI-P45N3F

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=58JY&CategorySelectedId=11143&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11143,48760000

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145704

 

 

Crucial 2GB kit (2x1GB), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 Memory:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CRU-B852GK

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=444V&CategorySelectedId=11150&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11150,50090&InMerch=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119279

 

 

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500Gb 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive ATA100 <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM:

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?WD-5AAKB

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4L6H&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,50473

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144339

 

Novatech GeForce GTX 260 *216 Stream Processor* 896MB DDR3 TVO/Dual DVI - PCI Express ** With Free Far Cry 2** (Only at Novatech and Dabs):

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GTX266

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=5BJ2&CategorySelectedId=11021&PageMode=1&InMerch=1

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152617

 

 

Still need a case, PSU and is Vista a good idea? I'm on XP Home

right now.

 

Really want to keep the price under £600 so may have to lower the spec of somethings to afford the case/PSU/Vista maybe.

 

 

Think that's all..

 

 

Thanks in advance :)

 

 

Well with an introduction like that I hope I dont disapoint

 

 

 

Right - go quad as Polo has said, have a look at the post first build of his, as for MSI, I personally hate MSI and would opt for ASUS anyday.

RAM is ok.

You have listed an ATA drive - go for SATA as they are faster -

260 GTX is a great card (have one myself) but in terms of value for money at the moment you want an ATI 4870 1GB (these are around £220 now) and blow the 260 away.

As for a case have a look at the Antec twelve hundred and yes Vista is far better although its risen in price lately.

For £600 you are going to be hard pushed to get a decent gaming rig.

you are looking £300 for the CPU, RAM and MOBO therefore cases and GPU's are limited and you cannot house the spec you want in an old beige case.

What I would call a mid level gaming rig is easily nearer to £800

If £600 is your absolute limit you are really going to struggle to get a decent gaming PC.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Dalo Harkin

[Jeremyk]

Ok, thanks for the help so far :)

 

So definitely Quad Core.

 

Could you maybe choose the best specs from Novatech (or somewhere else that you'd recommend) that suit my needs most for around £500-£600? Bearing in mind I can OC if needed.

 

Thanks again.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Jeremyk

[Dalo Harkin]

You simply dont have the budget for a Quad system - you are going to be looking at a very basic PC for £500-£600 and you need to include a case and an OS in the price too - a case (very basic and a Vista OS are going to take up £100 of your budget straight away.

So you can have a PC capable of playing games at 1024x768 or save up more money and then make a system capable of gaming at 1680x1280

 

Let me know and I will spec whatever you decide.

 

Do you have any components that you could salvage from any other PC's such as PSU, RAM, CASE etc?

[Jeremyk]

Ok, thanks so far :)

 

This is my current spec:

 

 

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz

 

Motherboard: Foxconn 865A01-PE/865M01-PE

 

RAM: 1792MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)

 

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT 128MB AGP

 

HDD: Maxtor 6B160P0 160GB (sound right?)

 

PSU: 230V rubbish thing that came in the case

 

Case: It's a pretty basic black one :S

 

 

Anything in this is salvageable :)

 

Thanks

Edited December 17, 2008 by Jeremyk

[Jeremyk]

What do you think is the minimum I could spend keeping the Q6600? Could you give me a spec?

 

If that fails, how about changing the CPU to the Core 2 Duo E7200 or E7300 (or another if you have a better idea) and OC'ing it a bit (with sufficient cooling ofcourse)

 

Keeping the 4GB RAM and the ATI HD 4870?

 

Unsure of what motherboard though.

 

Sound a bit more realistic?

 

Could you maybe help me with a spec for that also?

 

 

Thanks

Edited December 17, 2008 by Jeremyk

[Dalo Harkin]

I will do this tonight for you :)

[Jeremyk]

Thanks man.

 

I've been looking at other builds on this forum and learning quite alot.

 

How does this look?

 

 

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping

 

ASUS P5Q SE PLUS iP45 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

 

OCZ 2GB KIt (2x1GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Reaper Memory

 

Force3D HD 4870 512MB DDR5 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

 

Antec Nine Hundred 900 - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU

 

Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU - ATX v2.2, Silent/Temp Control, Active PFC, SLI/Crossfire Certified

 

Western Digital WD3200AAJS 320GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200RPM 8MB Cache - OEM

 

LG W1942T 19" LCD Monitor 1440x900 300cd/m2 8000:1 5ms VGA/DVI-D Silver 3 Years Onsite Warranty

 

Logitech MX518

[Dalo Harkin]

Your at your £500 limit just with the first 4 items listed :D

 

Also that PSU only comes with one PCI-E 6 pin and you need 2 of them to power a 4850 or 4870 and if you want to OC it then you need a 6 pin PCI-E and an 8 pin PCI-E :)

 

That case is ok BUT if you are looking at keeping the PC a while I would spend an extra £40 or so and get the 1200 antec case :)

 

Monitors, mice, keyboard and speakers are all personal preference really :)

 

SO do you have more of a budget now or are you dreaming of what you can get :D

[DirtyPolo]

You don't need 2 PCI-E to power a 4850 D; Mine uses one, but yeah, try get a PSU with 2 :P that's the general mistake I made :(

[Jeremyk]

I have more of a budget!

 

Around £750 :)

 

Can you help?

 

Thanks

[DirtyPolo]

£750 is still quite a tight budget for this type of machine,

 

I originally, not too long ago, started off with the budget of £800 when looking to create my new PC, which has the same processor, and the HD4850 instead of the 4870 you are looking at, and the same PSU, as it shown in my signature, and it blasted through my budget of £800 upto about £1000.

 

Here's a link to my thread about building my pc, in which Dalo helped to answer alot of questions I brought up about building a new PC for the first time.

 

I'm sure you've read through it as you stated you've had a look around, but just incase :P

[Jeremyk]

Arctic Power 500W PSU With PCI-E 2x SATA, 20+4 ATX12V 8pin +12V Connectors

 

This more like it?

 

Could you make a spec for me please Dalo? :p

[Dalo Harkin]

Doing it now :)

[Dalo Harkin]

CPU

BX80562Q6600 SLACR - GO - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Kentsfield Core, S775, 2.40 GHz 1066MHz 8MB Cache, 9x Multiplier, Retail - Scan.co.uk

£145

MOBO

ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP ATX LGA775 QUAD CORE P35 1333FSB 8GB DDR2 SATAII 6 PORT RAID CROSSFIRE GIGABIT LAN WIRELESS AUDIO :: Pentium® 4/Celeron (Socket 775) :: PC Motherboards :: Click-A-PC - custom computers, custom built pc, computer components

£120

GPU

XAE/48500+T352-PM9048 - 512MB Palit HD 4850, PCI-E 2.0(x16), 1986MHz GDDR3, GPU 625MHz, 800 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ HDTV, HDCP - Scan.co.uk

£119

RAM

TWIN2X2048-8500C5D - 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5 - Scan.co.uk

£34

HDD

250GB Hitachi HDP725025GLA380 Deskstar 7K500, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ - Scan.co.uk

£32

OS

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online - Scan.co.uk)

£85

Case

THREE-HUNDRED EU - Antec Three Hundred Black Midi Tower Case w/o PSU - Scan.co.uk

£42

PSU

530W Hiper HPU-4M530 V2 SLi Ready Black ATX2.2/BTX SATAx2 PCI-Ex2 - Scan.co.uk

£41

 

£618

you then just need to source a monitor and speakers keyboard and mouse :)

[Jeremyk]

Sweet!

 

How much better do you think it will be than my current spec? :D

 

Is that case enough to keep the temperatures steady?

 

Thanks loads!

[Dalo Harkin]

That case I have used before on a build and it will be sufficient as it has a fan at the top aswell as the back - basically where the CPU and GPU heat build up - you will need an extension for the 4pin ATX cable though as I know for a fact the PSU is at the bottom of the case and the 4pin ATX slot on the centre top of the MOBO :D

 

It will be far superior to what you have at the moment :)

[DirtyPolo]

I take back what I said before :) Dalo has managed to create that PC for less than £800 :P depending on monitor etc, but I am impressed :D!

 

Learn something new everyday =]

[Jeremyk]

THANKS!!

 

This the right cable? Silverstone PP04 Cable Extension Kit for EPS/ATX for PSU's 24/20+4/20 Pin - Scan.co.uk

 

If the prices drop enough in the January sales, could I just get the 4870 instead or doesnt it really matter?