My next build [UK]

[darksidedragon]

Comments, please!

ASUS P5L-MX i945G £55.48
Intel C2D E6600 £198.21
2x1GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 PC4300 (533MHz), CL 4 £140.87
BFG 8800GTS £303.73
Akasa Zen Case £29.95
NEC ND-5170A IDE DVD writer £19.26
Sony Floppy Drive (for installing SATA drivers for XP install) £4.34
Dell 20.1" E207WFP Widescreen TFT Monitor £249.10
Saitek Eclipse Keyboard £22.31
Logitech MXR Mouse £58.74

Total + Shipping = £1,101.48

 

[darksidedragon]

Oh, and I forgot to say: I already have HDD's from my old system (a Maxtor IDE 300GB, Maxtor SATA 300GB and Maxtor SATA 250GB), and also have a PSU from old system (Hiper Type-R 580W)

 

[darksidedragon]

Something I'd like help with - is it cheaper to build an OC system? And do people think the 4MB cache of the E6600 will be useful with DX10 games, or I am better off getting an E6400 and OCing?

 

[djplanet]

DX 10 games will depend on a DX 10 card to play games. Such a card will in turn need a fast CPU that won't overly bottleneck it. Either processor will work, but a properly OC'ed and cooled system will always beat stock regarding price/performance.

The extra cache will benefit overall performance, but it isn't a magic bullet for DX 10 games. Having said that, the E6600 processor will OC higher than a 6400, and the EX6800 higher still.

Bottom line? Get simply what your budget will allow. With Conroe, you can't really go wrong. But if you do OC, you should get better memory and a motherboard (look for Corsair XMS2 and the ASUS P5B). There's other comparable components, but I'm too lazy to list them.

PS: I'm not even sure that mobo will work with Conroe, considering its chipset. Stick with either 975X or P965 to ensure compatibility.

 

[darksidedragon]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately that mainboard doesn't support C2D (stupid scan.co.uk specs saying otherwise!), so I'll get a 965 board. Do you think that a stock E6600 will outperform an OC'd E6400 for gaming, or is 2MB cache more than enough for DX10?

 

[GazMcfc]

will the Akasa Zen Case fit the 8800GTS? if it does then i will buy this case but if it doesnt i will have to look at other alternatives which will accommodate the GeForce 8800GTS thanx

ps. if anyone can tell me of a good & fairly cheap case (less than £60) which will accommodate the 8800GTS i would really appreciate it

 

[darksidedragon]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the GTS is about 0.5 of an inch smaller than the GTX, which means it will just fit into your average case.

 

[mesarectifier]

It looks like a very good system.

Perhaps you should spend a little more on the RAM - Value RAM is a no-no for an overclocked system.

Shop around, too. Check eBuyer, Komplett and Dabs...as well as Overclockers.co.uk aswell - you might save enough cash to upgrade one bit of the system.

 

[darksidedragon]

Yeah, I was thinking about upping the RAM. Thing is, I don't really have much more money to spend. I think I'm going to wait about 3months before buying now. That way I'm hoping DX10 cards will be more commercially available and so I'll be able to afford one (I don't think I can justify spending £300+ on graphics)

 

[Flewis]

Get one of the lower C2D processors and get some PC6400 800MHz RAM and overclock your processor to beyond the performance of the 6600. U will get an equally fast (or faster) system for less money.