Please help me choose a new computer.

[Monomachy]

Firstly, good morning/afternoon/evening to you all.

I only recently discovered these forums, but they seem to be home to a number of knowledgeable people, so I've decided to bring my query here.

I am currently looking to purchase a new computer. 99% of the use it sees will be gaming, and I want to do this as well as I can within the £1200 budget I've set myself. Ideally, though I realise this may be impractical, I'd like to end up with something that can run Crysis smoothly on the highest settings.

I am currently shopping at wired2fire.com, where a friend recently bought a computer which he is very happy with.

The specs I am considering are below, based on their Diablo SLI model:

Case: Cooler Master Centurion
Power Supply: Antec True Power Trio 650W
Processor: Core 2 Duo E6850 4MB cache
CPU Cooler: Standard CPU Cooler
Graphics Card 1: BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB PCI Express
Graphics Card 2: BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB PCI Express
Memory: 4GB Corsair DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 Twin2X
Motherboard: Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus Socket 775
Hard Disk Drive One: 320GB Caviar SE16 SATA 300
Optical Drive One: None
Optical Drive Two: NEC 4570A DVD-RW
Sound Card: Onboard sound
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

How will this perform? Is there a better site to buy from that I have overlooked?

P.S: I copied this over from the PC Gaming section where I originally posted it, only having realised afterwards that it was the wrong place.

 

[akhilles]

Looks decent.

Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus is 650i, but ASUS tried everything to hide this info in the packaging. You can't find it. Not even on their site. Only in reviews. That said, it's a special chipset that does SLI X16. The mobo overclocks better than many 680i boards.

Is the case Centurion 5? The front intake is 80mm. I would pick a case with 120mm intake & exhaust. If you don't overclock, that case is fine.

 

[Monomachy]

Thanks for the reply and the info.

The case has 120x120x25mm fans on both the intake and the exhaust.

I have very little overclocking experience but it's definitely something I'm looking to learn more about and get into.

 

[emp]

I wouldn't feel too safe using that PSU (TruePower Trio are kind of old) or that case, If I were you, I'd spend a little more to get a better unit (Antec TruePower Quattro 850W, PC Power & Cooling 750W, maybe even Seasonic M12 700W) and a better case as far as cooling goes (Antec Nine Hundred comes to mind).

I would also get an X-Fi XtremeGamer (You can buy it elsewhere), since it's not that expensive ($80, shouldn't be that much more in europe), does Hardware processing (unlike the XtremeAudio) which lifts some of the load from CPU, and finally greatly improves sound quality. Hell with that budget I'd also get some 5.1 speakers to play Crysis.

 

[Monomachy]

Thanks for the help, emp. Ordered my computer earlier today.

I did swap the case to an NZXT Lexa before doing so, however, which I understand does cool significantly better than the original Centurion.

I'm assured by the company that the PSU is more than sufficient for my system, which I'm inclined to believe given that my upgrading would have made them more money.

Regarding the sound, I'm afraid I don't have much of an ear, though I'm given to understand that the onboard SupremeFX one is pretty good anyway.

Lastly, I already have some nice speakers

 

[emp]

Oh well... I'm an antec fan (You can tell by my avatar and my PC), and even though the Antec TruePower Trio 650 should be enough for now, it would be cutting too close to what I'd consider a good headroom, if anything I'd be using that with a single GT at most. I like antec products, but I also like to say the bad things about some of their product lines, that way I'm not a blind fanboy.

With that I'm not saying that it won't work or that it'll definitely fail, but I'm saying that if it was me on that position (Using SLI GT) I would most definitely not use them on that unit, I'd try in that case the Antec NeoPower 650 or TP Quattro 850.

I can only testify about the X-Fi sound quality from what I've heard so far, but in a few days I should be able to give first hand experience. I am not expecting that much of a sound quality improvement as everyone says, however I am expecting true 5.1 and also not having my CPU loaded with my onboard "high definition 7.1" chip.

 

[Monomachy]

I gotcha. When I see how everything runs I may look at swapping the PSU or sound card out.

I'll be interested to hear about your experiences with the X-Fi when you have had a chance to put it through its paces.

 

[emp]

Alright, I'll let you know here when I get the X-Fi (Hopefully in this week if mail allows...)

 

[akhilles]

If your dealer doesn't charge restocking fees, exchange for a better psu. I too would get a bigger psu to have some headroom for future upgrades & not stress it.