Building a gaming Pc In 2007 some preliminary specs.....

[spoleto]

Hey people, let me first say that I am a complete newbie when it comes to fiddling around with the innards of computers, I like to think I know quite a bit about the different parts but when it comes to handling them and installing them I just fail.

Im sick of paying extravagant prices for custom built computers and Im looking to put together a gaming rig sometime in mid - late 2007.

I want to future proof this rig as much as possible, and the level of games im looking to play are the DX10 ones, Crysis, Alan Wake ect.

Im a UK resident so I can't buy from newegg or anywhere like that, so Im pretty much stuck too the retailers I know, SCAN computers (www.scan.co.uk) and ebuyer (www.ebuyer.com).

I have spent 10 mins or so putting together a basic idea of the kind of specs im looking at on ebuyer and it comes to a pretty expensive 718 pounds.


ASUS P5B DLX/WIFI-AP £104.69

Antec Nine Hundred - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU £58.00

LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x DVD±RW/RAM Black - Bare drive £16.99

WD Raptor WD740DFD 74GB SATA 10KRPM 16MB Cache - OEM £92.42

Coolermaster IGreen 600W PSU - 85% Efficiency 8pin ATX12V v2.2 120mm Fan £53.44

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67ghz) Socket 775 Fsb1066 4mb Cache Retail Boxed Processor £286.35

Corsair (TWIN2X2048-6400) XMS2-6400 2048MB 5-5-5-12 2X240 DIMM Black XMS2 Heat Spreader £106.37

All prices are excluding VAT and on ebuyer.

Total price Including VAT = £718.16

Now, the things that I tend to worry about include,

- Will the motherboard fit correctly in the case ( Screws in right place ect.)

- Is the RAM going to be a problem because of the timings ( Not too good on the RAM timings but the more expensive models use lower timings than 5-5-5-12)

- Is Air cooling going to be enough to keep this system cool

- Is the motherboard any good at all ( I know absolutley nothing about how good certain MOBO's are compared to others, In the past its pretty much been do they support feature A and B? if so, buy it)

- Am I buying the CPU at a bad time, for example if I wait a couple of months ( Which is no problem at all to do ) will the price of the E6700 drop from the pretty high tag to somthing more reasonable.

I know you guys aren't just on call to help every noob with his ideas for a new pc but Im such a worrier that Im not going to be happy with buying a system and putting it together until I know that

A - Its going to be future proof
B - Im not paying too much for it
C - All the bits will work together

P.S I know I havent put a GPU in, I am planning to use my Nvidia 7900 gs 512mb for a little while until the next Dx10 cards come out and there is a drop in price.

Thanks in advance - Liam [/img]

 

[Fungalberry]

Hey people, let me first say that I am a complete newbie when it comes to fiddling around with the innards of computers, I like to think I know quite a bit about the different parts but when it comes to handling them and installing them I just fail.

Im sick of paying extravagant prices for custom built computers and Im looking to put together a gaming rig sometime in mid - late 2007.

I want to future proof this rig as much as possible, and the level of games im looking to play are the DX10 ones, Crysis, Alan Wake ect.

Im a UK resident so I can't buy from newegg or anywhere like that, so Im pretty much stuck too the retailers I know, SCAN computers (www.scan.co.uk) and ebuyer (www.ebuyer.com).

I have spent 10 mins or so putting together a basic idea of the kind of specs im looking at on ebuyer and it comes to a pretty expensive 718 pounds.


ASUS P5B DLX/WIFI-AP £104.69

Antec Nine Hundred - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU £58.00

LG GSA-H42NBAL 18x DVD±RW/RAM Black - Bare drive £16.99

WD Raptor WD740DFD 74GB SATA 10KRPM 16MB Cache - OEM £92.42

Coolermaster IGreen 600W PSU - 85% Efficiency 8pin ATX12V v2.2 120mm Fan £53.44

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67ghz) Socket 775 Fsb1066 4mb Cache Retail Boxed Processor £286.35

Corsair (TWIN2X2048-6400) XMS2-6400 2048MB 5-5-5-12 2X240 DIMM Black XMS2 Heat Spreader £106.37

All prices are excluding VAT and on ebuyer.

Total price Including VAT = £718.16

Now, the things that I tend to worry about include,

- Will the motherboard fit correctly in the case ( Screws in right place ect.)

- Is the RAM going to be a problem because of the timings ( Not too good on the RAM timings but the more expensive models use lower timings than 5-5-5-12)

- Is Air cooling going to be enough to keep this system cool

- Is the motherboard any good at all ( I know absolutley nothing about how good certain MOBO's are compared to others, In the past its pretty much been do they support feature A and B? if so, buy it)

- Am I buying the CPU at a bad time, for example if I wait a couple of months ( Which is no problem at all to do ) will the price of the E6700 drop from the pretty high tag to somthing more reasonable.

I know you guys aren't just on call to help every noob with his ideas for a new pc but Im such a worrier that Im not going to be happy with buying a system and putting it together until I know that

A - Its going to be future proof
B - Im not paying too much for it
C - All the bits will work together

P.S I know I havent put a GPU in, I am planning to use my Nvidia 7900 gs 512mb for a little while until the next Dx10 cards come out and there is a drop in price.

Thanks in advance - Liam [/img]

-The motherboard will fit in the case if they are both ATX, it should say on specs page.

-That's some fast RAM. There's no problem with timings. I would suggest Patriot eXtreme Performance DDR2 6400 2GB since it seems to have less DOAs, but it's up to you.

-If you have any fans at all, and don't crazy overclock, and don't live in a dust-bunny populated house, all you will ever need is air-cooling.

-I would get the E6600 instead of the 6700. The 6600 is much cheaper, and overclocks to past 3GHz, generally on air. Mine stays at below 30 degrees, and the fan doesn't always even need to turn on.

-It's a good idea to use your 7900 for a while 'till a mid range 8 series comes out, if you want to save money. You're not going to have to suffer through games or anything, just a couple less frames for a couple months.

-No system is future proof. There's always something bigger and better around the corner. However, you've made a smart decision in selecting Intel's LGA 775 socket right now --- I don't know of any immediate plans to upgrade that to something faster. So, you won't have to replace your motherboard, processor, and RAM anytime soon - the biggest would be GPU or CPU.

I hope I managed to answer at least one question.

 

[spoleto]

Hey Fungalberry, thanks a load for your reply, you have pretty much answered all my questions, I was thinking about OCing a 6600 instead because they seem to be pretty much the same to the more expensive 6700, though I would need some help on overclocking, I don't really have a clue about overclocking cpus

I will take your advice and go for the Patriot eXtreme Performance DDR2 6400 2GB RAM if I can find it anywhere at a reasonable price, I have had too many RAM related problems to skimp on that or the cpu

One question though, when I buy games I tend to judge if It will work on cpu speed and they do it all on Ghz ect, how do I know what the E6600 will run when all games seem to ask for a clock cycle in GHz rather than anything else :S

Thanks alot for your help and any help on ocing ect would be appreciated

-Liam

 

[exponent]

Hi spoleto

You might want to take a look at a thread I started the other day "About to buy a QX6700 anyone care to stop me".

I think you will find most of the answers to your questions on my post mate??!!

Go take a look (im glad I started it because the help I have had from various people is amazing)!!!

 

[spoleto]

Hey Exponent, I took a quick look earlier at your thread, It seems loads of people were only to willing to help out, im going to go back now and give it a good read, thanks for the heads up, that should answer quite a few other questions I have!

One thing I was wondering about though, 650 W PSU - Will that support dx10cards and possibly SLI ?

I read somewhere that the 8800GTX needs two pci-e PSU adaptors into the psu, in that case to run them SLI I will need 4, can anyone reccomend a good PSU ( preferably cheap as possible ) and does anyone else see anything that could be better with my build (within reason)

Thanks alot people!

 

[exponent]

Hi spoleto,

You will need a serious PSU for 8800GTX in SLI.
They do have 2 x pci-e PSU adaptors!!
I always go for the ENERMAX brand of PSU's, reasonable price, great perfomance. (dont buy cheapo brands)!!!

Before you buy your PSU make double sure it can handle two 8800GTX's!! Off the top of my head I would say you need a minimum of 750-800Watts of power but thats just a guess!!

Im certain the people on these forums will have all the answers you need mate!!!

Keep us posted mate!!

 

[jeff_2087]

Welcome to the world of Builders, Builder.

Yes okay I shamelessly stole that from a Cadillac commercial. Anyway...

650W is plenty for any single card but is probably pushing it for SLi. I don't know what's available there but I like PSUs by Seasonic, Silverstone, FSP Group, PC P&C, or Corsair. Just make sure it gives enough amps on 12v for your graphics. Any of those companies shouldn't be a problem.

About SLi, it's only good for the absolute best cards, and that isn't an SLi board anyway. It's a good board though.

And as someone mentioned you could save money by going to the e6600 instead. Both the e6600 and the e6700 have a significant price drop on April 22, I think.

 

[exponent]

jeff makes some very good points.

spoleto is it not possible for you to wait a whjile longer to source your parts. The price drops for CPU's and mobo's are rapidly approaching and I think you would be wise to save your money for at least a couple of months???

Is that an option for you??

 

[bullaRh]

buy 750watt psu's Silverstone or pc power&cooling, they r both certified for sli 8800gtx

 

[AeroB1033]

Just trade that E6700 for an E6600 and grab an 8800GTS 320mb and you'll be set.

 

[DXRick]

How can you decide now? I am also planning on a new C2D system this summer, but there are three biggies to wait for:

1) New DX10 cards from ATI and Nvidia :lol:
2) The new chipset from Intel 8O
3) new RAM for the new chipset

#1 is the biggest, since it will ultimately determine what the PSU requirements will be. If the you end up wanting the ATI card that sucks 270 watts, then you will need more power than 600 watts. :tongue:

 

[SP73]

I would not get a single raptor.

though raptors offer the best performance, unless you RAID them, you can get better performance, spend less, and get more storage space by RAIDing 7200rpm drives.

I'd say get a pair of these instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148231


or, going to one of the sites you mentioned, here's a list I'd recommend in order of price(/storage)...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=253983
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=253981
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=469116
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=345219
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=397203

 

[hashbrown]

I would say forget SLI, and the board you have chosen isn't even SLI capable. I personally would say it is not worth it, and you would need a more powerful PSU. Also, don't skimp on the PSU, get a quality one not the just the cheapest. Enermax and PC Power and Cooling are two of the best PSU manufacturers out there, check them out. Check out some of Gigabyte's motherboards, like the P965 S3 or DS3, they are quite rocking. They are very stable and overclock like crazy, some of the best out there, and are really cheap. They only have 1 PCIe X16 slot.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/ga-965p-s3.html

Intel is about to cut prices and release new processors soon, check some of these out:
http://www.dailytech.com/Intels+Next+Desktop+Launch+Details+Revealed/article6484.htm

Also, I don't think it is mentioned in there, but there should be a quad core Q6600 for the same as the E6750 which is like $266. Not bad!!

Wait and check out the new AMD/ATI cards coming out this spring!

 

[spoleto]

Wow! Thanks so much for all your help people, I have decided to wait for these price cuts before jumping in to build a rig, but have pretty much fallen for a motherboard the Asus Striker Extreme £178

It seems like a good choice because It supports 1333mhz cpus ( Still not too sure what that means but it has them )

For when they come out, only thing I was wondering though, If I was to get one of the new 1333mhz cpus, would DDR2 RAM be enough or would I have to wait for DDR3?

If so waiting for a new mobo is in order! :S

Thing is, If I can get a rig that plays games like crysis at top specs and high resolutions ( Which is what Im after )

I really don't think that too many game manufacturers will be making games harder than Crysis/Alan Wake to run, they are both ahead of their time in the way of graphics, it seems most other manufacturers will be making, oblivion style graphics for their games for the best part of this year, Obviously I can't say that for sure but I just can't see every single new game having graphics and requirments as high as crysis for at least a year or so :?

Im really pushed to get a Antec Nine Hundred Gaming case and a Asus Striker Extreme motherboard, put them together and then wait for some nice little price cuts on cpus and even gpus before I get them,

Im going to be buying about April 20th and I think I will buy first the case and mobo, then build from there in the next few months.

I would appreciate if anyone thinks Im making a mistake getting that mobo and if so, what would be a better choice?

I have tried to take everyones points into account and made this descision so I hope its a good one but dont be afraid to warn me If Im making a mistake people ^^

Another thing you might want to note is, Im really not going to be able to afford to keep up with the prices of the new intel chipset, the new RAM, the new Mobos ect

My budget is really about 700 pounds but I could go maybe 100 - 150 over that if needed, any higher than that and its going to have to be brought over a period of time.

So to recap, after all of your great responses I have decided to go for-

- Asus Striker Extreme MOBO
-Antec 900 Gaming case

And to wait for all the other parts to be price slashed in favour of new Cpus and to ward off people buying into AMD's line.

Any thoughts/Warnings?

- Thanks a bunch people

 

[bullaRh]

same here im waiting for the 1333fsb cpu's

and i did the same as you did, i already bought my case and psu =p just need HD and DVD burner and then its just waiting time for me 8)

 

[desolationw]

Theres also Aria.co.uk and Dabs.com for computer parts, both very good IMO.

 

[exponent]

Whoa!! spoleto

Dont rush out and buy the striker extreme just yet!!!

Ive noticed you are on a tight budget?? Read this review before you purchase the striker extreme.............

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=616&p=0

Let us know what you think??
It might save you a few quid which could go on a better GFX card or CPU!!

PS, the nine-hundred is a great case!!

PPS, The P5N32-E SLI also supports the 1333Mhz set of CPU's that are due to be released in the next few months!!

 

[ZozZoz]

Refrain from buying a raptor, and buy two high capacity drives for a RAID0 setup with the same money. Performance-wise they will beat the raptor senseless in most cases (and don't forget the capacity).

 

[jeff_2087]

Aaah don't get the Striker Extreme unless you have an unlimited budget. If you absolutely must have a 680i board, get the EVGA or Abit 680i. Striker Extreme is expensive and doesn't really offer much to back up its price.

If you're buying right now I'd recommend just getting a single PCI-e board like the 965P DS3. But if you're not buying now, don't make a decision yet, and when it comes to board CPU and graphics don't buy stuff until you're ready to buy everything.

Also skip the Raptor. As many other people have said, it's an overrated waste of money most of the time.

 

[spoleto]

Wow guys, thanks again, and im so grateful for the link to that review exponent!

Saved me about 140 pounds!!

Ill be buying asap the case and P5N32-E SLI

Ill look through the psu's and when the cuts happen I shall buy a psu and a cpu, and then wait till a few cuts on the dx10 cards

But thanks a load for alll your help, Ill make sure to post in this forum again because the response has been staggering - Liam

 

[hashbrown]

You may want to wait on the Mobo's also, check out this link on ASUS's forthcoming motherboards that support will support both DDR2 and DDR3 using Intel's new chipset Bearlake.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/03/15/next_asus_rog_board_dubbed_sauternes/

 

[Daquirtle]

i love reading this in 2017, when that build would cost like £40. Its like time travel

 

[fatihsema]

OMG im from the future look at those specs from 10 years ago memories...