Warning! Computer-related stuff!

* WARNING * Computer-related thread * WARNING *


OK, I think I've been here long enough to get away with asking for some hardware advice...

I built my last PC 3 years ago and haven't done any upgrading, so I'm completely out of the loop with current stuff. I'm also very lazy, so was thinking I might just buy a prebuilt PC to save the hassle of building one (and having to work out why it isn't working...). I don't have a specific budget, but I don't want to spend much over £1200, since I reckon I should be able to get a decent machine at that price.

My usual supplier of choice is Overclockers (www.overclockers.co.uk), who offer this machine;

Antec 300 + Corsair 650W
Core 2 Due 8400 + Artic 7 cooler
Asus P5Q Deluxe
Corsair Dominator 4Gb (1066 Mhz)
4870 512Mb
500 GB SATA2 (Seagate Barracuda)
Vista Home Premium 64
Total: £1067 (inc VAT)
(http://www.overclockers.co.uk/syscon_int.php?prodid=FS-064-OK)

Questions;
I've gone for a Duo rather than a Quad since I doubt games will start using Quads for a while yet - and I can then upgrade when the processors will be cheaper (or I've saved up again!). Even with I7 just released, I imagine the 775 chips will be with us for a while yet - either new or second hand. Does this sound sensible? Other options are;
8200 +£5
7300 -£43
6600 +£10
9550 +£105
Would you recommend any of those? The 9550 is quite a lot of extra money, especially if I'm not using all 4 cores!

The P5Q looks decent enough, but I could go for the X48 Rampage for £50 more - any reason to do so?

The 1066Mhz memory could be downgraded to 800Mhz to save £40, but this might restrict overclocking?

The 4870 - ideally I'd have gone for the 1024Mb version, but I'm liking the idea of having OCUK build the rig for me... Should I go for the extra 4870 at a whopping £170, or will there be little benefit? I'm currently using a 21" CRT, so I'm flexible on resolutions, but when it dies I'll probably get a 22" or 24" TFT. My current thoughts are to only get 1 GFX, and maybe buy another or replace it later.

I'll grab 3 of extra fans for the case- any recommendations? The Noctua looks good?


Sorry for the long thread - but £1,100 is quite a few beers so I want to get it right!


PS - I've checked and could build the rig myself for £922 inc VAT. I might go for this if I decide I've got the time...
PPS - re: overclocking. I've not done it before, but I'm prepared to give it a go, if I could get a significant boost without much effort/risk.

Thanks for the recommendations - I might go with the 6600 and upgrade it later if it gets a bit long in the tooth. Or just splurge and get the 9550...

I like using OCUK as I've always found them reliable and they have good customer service. I like to reward companies that make an effort (and that's why I stopped using Dabs!). Besides which, OCUK are normally quite competitive, so I doubt I'd save much shopping around. Nonetheless, I'll check out the other suppliers though - I've heard good things about Scan. Has anyone any experience of using Mesh Computers?

Personally, i hate building comps(i'm accident prone) but i cannot stand the thought of buying a prebuilt or having someone else do it as when you build it yourself, you know it inside out or something like that.

Quad all the way if you ain't an upgrader as games are already there and heading that way, http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/foru [...] ded-gaming current thread showing loads as tested by jimmysmitty

Memory is cheap at least for DDR2 and i will differ and say that you are not going to be missing out on too much with some DDR2 800, i could be wrong though. Of course if you are overclocking over 400FSB then you would need the faster ram.

Not sure about the 1066 and 1:1 ratio unless you get 533FSB mobo's now? Have i missed something?

Really though, the comp in your OP is good enough and would be hassle free. Basically, unless you like to be leading edge which i don't think you have ever mentioned then you do not need newer tech as the current bunch is more than fast enough.

my antec has the dust filters that need the side panel removed for access, at least with the fans secured in place, no big deal, however, doors on cases is just wrong.

I understand your reasons for the pre-built and it ain't as if it is by pcworld.

on the overclocking front, i am not expert although i keep meaning to bump my own one up.

if i am right, the e8400 is a 1333fsb part and the p45 based mobo supports 1600 so as long as you follow the overclocking guide in the upstairs forums you should be able to bump your fsb to 400 to get an easy overclock, with ddr2 800 you can get a 1:1 ratio although i think that is unnecessary nowadays.

I have a better idea. Go to PCWorld and ask for the expert advice of those skilled individuals who work there.

They are bound to find you a lovely system that will provide you with years of trouble-free computing.

Honest.

ROFL thats the funniest thing ive read in awhile!

i love going to pcworld or any other pc related store and testing the knowledge of the sales peeps

If I ever ask for advice in PC World other than "where's your toilet?", I will deserve to be shot.

Re: laptops - I have no intention on spending twice as much as I need to for a non-upgradable machine with a small screen and a **** keyboard in the way. Laptops are great for people on the move. They are not small desktops. But I assume you were joking?

My god - you can't even write c r * p anymore - it censors the whole lot!

Well, that's decided then;

I'm building my own... or maybe buying one.

I'm going dual core... but maybe quad.



I should never have asked for advice - I'm just as undecided now!



Maybe I should just take pot luck and steal one [/Tom]

I have a Dell D620.

...*cries*...

I have a D520.....

...*heavy sobbing*...

Hey, a D620 is still better than a 1000

Heck, a 9100, though it's a beast, is also better than the 1000. . . It's a Celeron on a SIS chipset. Doesn't support SpeedStep so a P4-M won't run at it's rated speed.

The only reason the 1000 is operational is that it was a, uh, older IBX version such that drmdbg still works.

Go sit in the corner and think about what you just said.

First thing that came up for E8400 with google, was just rechecking it's speed

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hard [...] aming.html

This is one of tons of others i know but hey, it is contructive.

Hell, he should just build my comp and enjoy.

One consideration llama, intel is introducing the newest Core i7 on Nov 17th - this new "Nehalem" chip might result in some price cuts for the older dual and quad core chips - might be worth waiting a bit (if you can) to see if there is a price drop on those you're looking at. One thing I hate is buying hardware only to see it drop 10-20% with in weeks.

I'd stick with the onboard for now. Step-up to the X-Fi you may notice a worthwhile difference if you've got the speakers to take advantage of it. If you're not running 5/7.1 it's not really worth it IMO unless you're a true audiophile with the speaker/amp set up to match.

I'm running a Creative 5.1 setup, but will probably stick with onboard to see how good it is.

Jake - it's a bit of a balacing act re: I7. Whilst I7 will probably cause a fall in price of LGA775, the weakening pound means components prices have been steadilly increasing over the past few weeks - as much as 30% in some cases. Only RAM is staying consistent, as the falling prices offset the exchange rate differences.
I7 has now been released, so I'll wait until next week to se eif there are any immediate drops, but I was hoping to build/buy the new system next weekend, so I won't hang around too long. To be honest, I don't think you can go too badly wrong at the moment - you seem to get a lot of PC for your money unless you insist on having bleeding-edge kit.

For what it is worth following my build this year here are the points I will make:

1. Go quad. I got the 8400 and whilst more than enough for 90% of what I do there are times when I just sit here wondering why I was so tight on this one. You've clearly got some funds, the 6600 OC's like a dream although you will pay for it in power. The 9 series stuff is nice but you pay the premium. Given the i7 situation maybe you want to go for it from day one, I see all the inovation coming on the new chipset so accept that it is end of product line and max it from the start.

2. DDR2 not 3. Quality counts and there are some good deals on RAM. I've yet to see anything that makes DDR3 make sense to me in performance or value terms. It's just way to much money.

3. Disk. I cocked up on this one and used a budget 160Gb drive when I first built. This means that I now have the joy of Vista on a slowish (5.4) drive when my nice big WD640Gb will gladly turn in 5.9's and would have made a far better system drive. I'd say that if you do save a few quid with DDR2, Dual not quad and modest graphics then spend the momeny on a Raptor and have done. That or for the same price run a couple of the 320Gb single platter versions of the WD in Raid.

Actually, having just checked the prices, I think a 150Gb Raptor will do... My XP install, including all games, comes to only 74Gb, so 150 should be plenty, even with Vista.

Although I suspect the Raptors are loud, so maybe a RAID of normal, quiet drives is a better bet.

Actually looking forward to this now

can't say i ever noticed my raptors, i got 1 74gb, 1 300gb as well as a 250gb maxtor and above my fans and what not i can't really hear them. That is even doing a defrag. You can also buy rubber washers to reduce any vibrations further.

I am assuming you ain't one for ripping lossless music to your drives, if so that 150 could load up quick, that is why i have the old(IDE) maxtor.

Oh and your build is slowly turning into my own, you know you want it

Games - X:Terran Conflict, GTA IV, the new Football Manager and the Twilight of the Arnor expansion for Gal Civ2. Might also pick up Assassins Creed if it's on budget yet.

That should keep me busy for a bit

SS - no, I don't use my PC for music. I have a nice hifi in the living room for that. (Will have a nice hifi in the study as well as soon as I pick up another amp).

It's basically a gaming machine, so as long as I can fit Vista and my games on the main drive, that's fine. I've got a 500Gb SATA2 drive in the current rig I can move across if I need more storage for movies or something. The 150Gb Raptor should do fine (although Wingy's idea of 2x 74Gb in Raid sounds suitable OTT... hehehe)

Looks like I'm getting SS's machine after all. Ho hum.

The x2 is actually a 1GB card, two gpu's with 1GB each. Technically not a 2GB card.

I have speakers and a cd player which is used for when the pc is off, but i also have my squeezebox for playing my whole music collection without having to use be near my comp, was meant for wireless streaming but have moved everything into one room to save space, doesn't quite work but it will do.

Now, wingy, if your wife can go shopping for shoes, then surely you can go shopping for a nice 24" monitor, 30" and your getting crazy and have to upgrade every 6 months.

The only chip Wingy will be getting any time soon is a Dorito.

(God bless you, Weird Al)

He can have my current machine after March - but I doubt he wants it (Athlon 64-3000, 2Gb RAM, 6800 vanilla).


Thanks for all your help though guys. Think I've decided on the folllowing;
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] 2%20System

With the 8Gb upgrade. It only costs £63 more than the individual components, which I think is a fair deal. Saves me quite a lot of effort and if anything doesn't work, it's up to them to fix it! Admittedly it doesn't have the Raptor, but I can live without that or add it later (tell MS that the old drive died hehe). I think the F1 drives are supposed to be pretty good anyway.

I'll probably add a couple of extra fans (one in the side and one or two in the front) - any recommendations? The Noctuas or Sharkoon ones look good.