Mid to High End Gaming System Help

[haydox]

Before i begin, I'm not totally new to building computers, all but the very first one i owned have been build from scratch by me and my brother, but i have never built such a powerful, or expensive, system!

I am buying the components entirely from Overclockers as i have used them a lot before, i trust them and also partially because I'm too impatient to wait for the parts to come from all different places!

Ok, here goes:

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-161-IN
2Gb DDR 2 RAM (will get another 2Gb when i can afford it!) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-013-OK
Hiper 680w HPU-5K680 PSU http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-021-HP&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=461
Twin ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-078-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 mobo http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-110-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=946
XClio Propeller http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-022-OK

As you can see, it has been built to a price, £800 was my total limit and this is just £775 with delivery so is perfect! Basically, will all of this work together? My main concern is the motherboard as i found it hard to find a DDR2 one which had twin 16x PCI-E slots instead of the 'fake' 16x and 4x setup a lot seem to have!

Any suggestions are welcome, but i cant really afford to spend much more on any of the components.

Thanks a lot,

Rich

UPDATE: With the suggestion of a slightly better motherboard which costs a little more, i was looking at the PSU i am getting, for about £20 less i can get this one, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-014-HP&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=461. Its only 50W less than the other so it will still be fine with that setup right?

 

[haydox]

Anyone got any feedback?

A simple "yes, they will work" will be comforting enough

Also, if anyone has any suggestions along the line of an SLi mobo and 2 similarly priced nVidia cards i will be grateful. I was never sure whether to go for ATI or nVidia, but i chose ATI as there were fewer cards to chose from and i got less confused! I've also used them for years and never had any trouble (except the one my cheap PSU burnt out!)

 

[akhilles]

Awesome build. I would go with ASUS P5E:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-249-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=946

or if you want SLI, EVGA 780i with 8800GT 512 or GTS 512. I'd up the psu to 750W for SLI for a little more leeway.

 

[haydox]

Thanks, im trying to find now if the Asus mobo you suggested has two true 16x PCI-E slots, the Asus site wont work and the only reviews i can find are for the P5E-VM which only has one 16x PCI-E slot!

Also, thanks for the suggestion for an SLI build, sadly the mobo costs nearly £200 and each graphics card about £190, taking it way over my £800 total, especially with an even better PSU!

Edit: Ok, the Asus appears to have the two true 16x slots i need, and for only £10 more i think ill get it! Thanks.

UPDATE: With the suggestion of a slightly better motherboard which costs a little more, i was looking at the PSU i am getting, for about £20 less i can get this one, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-014-HP&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=461. Its only 50W less than the other so it will still be fine with that setup right?

 

[akhilles]

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1873&l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0

2 x PCIe x16 (both @ x16 mode) supports CrossFire Technology

The online store lists the same thing.

The Hiper is a decent brand. 630w is plenty for a single card. Heck, any single card. For CF certified psus:

http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/buildyourown2.html

 

[haydox]

Ah, thanks. If i order it this week ill get the graphics cards on offer, about £15 saved, and ill get the better Asus mobo on offer too, only £10 more instead of £15-20.

Also, very surprised to see that listed on the certified PSUs for two of the newest radeons (which im getting) is the 580W hipers! Odd though, the one below the 670 im looking at, the 630, isnt there...

 

[lord_kld]

nice build but i think you need to go with asus mobo .

 

[nvalhalla]

skip the 1066 RAM, I highly doubt you be reaching 2000+ MHz FSB with that Q6600, especially not with that hs/fan! 4GB of DDR2-800 would be better.

 

[chuckm]

If money gets tight, buy one video card now, one later. Nice rig, good luck.

 

[quantumsheep]

That will all work, for sure! Should be a pretty good build but i don't know what the diference between an HD3870 and the XT version is. I'll have to find out.

Any DECENT psu over 500 Watts is more than sufficicent for crossfire in that system.

 

[akhilles]

Perhaps, the Hiper 630W is a new revision/model so it won't be on ATI/AMD site for a while.

 

[haydox]

Thanks for all your help, i ordered the system last night and i believe overclockers dispatched it today!

In the end i went with:
-Intel Q6600
-Asus P5E X38
-Hiper 680W ATX2.2
-2 OcUK Radeon 3870 XTs
-4x1Gb 800MHz DDR2 RAM
-XClio Propellor Case (36cm side fan!)

 

[chuckm]

Nice rig, best of luck.