Help requested on build

[Owen778]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate some help here. I want this rig that to last a couple of years and I can afford decent components, but I still want decent value for money, so won't be buying the very top end components. I'll be honest here as well, I'm not intending to build this myself, though I did build my current machine, instead I'll be speccing the machine personally, then asking two or three companies for quotes to assemble it. The last graphics-intensive gaming I did was with Oblivion, but I intend to take this as an opportunity to try out some games that need that little bit extra.

Oh, and if it helps at all, I'm in the UK.

The current plan is to get a machine from Yoyotech based on this configuration:
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/pcsystems.php?pid=7124

Case
Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Black PC Case
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=63_64&products_id=4721

PSU
OCZ 700W with 120mm Fan GameXStream Power Supply
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=63_62&products_id=800

Motherboard
Abit IP35 (the mid-range model, not IP35-E or IP35 Pro - The E doesn't have RAID support, but I don't think I need the extras on the Pro)
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=20_47&products_id=4328

CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
I have to admit I'm not sure of the difference between "Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping CPU - oem [+£31.82]" and " Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache CPU - Retail - G0 Stepping [+£42.22]" Is the only difference between OEM and retail?

CPU Cooler
Zalman CNPS9500-AT Intel LGA775 Aero Flower
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=11_70&products_id=528

RAM
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=18_41&products_id=1365

Hard drives
2 x WD Caviar 500 GB in RAID 1 array
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=14_30&products_id=1690

Graphics Card
XFX Geforce 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition 512MB PCI-E, DDR3, Dual DVI, HDTV, Vista Ready Graphics Card

OS
XP Home - I plan to stick with XP, then make a general upgrade, including Vista, in about two years' time.

Monitor
Dell 24" E248WFP Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey
http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=19_52&products_id=6760

Thanks a lot for your help.


Owen

 

[beurling]

everything looks good dude. You will have lots of fun with this build.

 

[amd_fanboi]

what's the budget?

 

[Owen778]

everything looks good dude. You will have lots of fun with this build.

Excellent, thanks.

 

[amd_fanboi]

again, and since you're online, what's the budget?

 

[Owen778]

what's the budget?

Well, I could manage to spend anything up to £3000 (US$6000), if that was what I really wanted, but I don't really want to increase the cost another 50% for 10% increase in performance. I think this works out at about £1300 (US$2600).