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Yup, another *check out my new build plz...* thread...

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Yup, another *check out my new build plz...* thread...

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krazyskillz   09-07-2008 at 08:49:05 PM

I know its a bore for everyone else, and yes I'm sorry, but I'm gonna do it anyway...

As a student I'm trying to make my £1000 budget go as far as possible, I've researched and researched... and then done some more and I've come up with this setup. It should be fast enough to game on a 1650x1050 screen, with most/all of the grfx candy enabled.

CPU £118 Q6600 Pro SLACR edition
Mobo£129 MSI platinum P45
RAM £ 47 OCZ 2GB DDR2 Reaper HPC edition PC2-8500C5 (1066MHz)
GPU £235 Powercolor ati radeon HD 4870 1024mb
HDD £ 38 Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
DVD £ 17 Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
Cool£ 18 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
PSU £ 59 hiper 630w
Case£ 66 Antec nine hundred

I've read reviews for all of the items here, as well as for their competitors and this seems to be a decent system. I have just a few questions regarding some of the components that hopefully someone here has experience of.

Firstly, for a 3.2GHz OC will the freezer 7 be enough?? I know its a budget cooler, although it seems to stand up well.

Is it worth investing in the 1024mb version of the radeon 4087HD or saving £30 and going for the 512mb version?

How good is the MSI platinum OCing app, is it worth using (and saving the time) or should I stick with traditional methods?

And lastly, can anyone see any potential bottlenecks in this system?

Thanks very much, now flame away!!

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Silverion77   09-07-2008 at 08:51:52 PM
- 0 +

Nope, no bottlenecks

U could change the 1066 ram to 800 and save some cash, the Q6600 does not require large FSB speeds to oc it like the newer chips.

As far as the 512 vs. 1 gig, the difference is probably insignificant and u could save the money, but it also depends on the res. of ur monitor

------------------------------ Antec 1200|Antec Signature 850w|Asus Maximus II Formula|Q9650|4GB Dominator 1066|EVGA 9800GX2
 Reply to Silverion77
krazyskillz   09-07-2008 at 09:06:45 PM
- 0 +

OK, reading through the forums, that seems to be the case, but as I'm looking to upgrade my monitor soon to a 1080p cabable one, I'm thinking the 1024mb RAm mite give an advantage

Does anyone have any experience on this??

Thanks for the quick reply btw

Reply to krazyskillz
rammar16   09-07-2008 at 09:08:34 PM
- 0 +

pretty good build i would say 8.5/10

ok lets answer your questions first then score....

you probably can get the CPU there but it might run a little hot

at 1650x1050 i doubt a ton of improvement but if you have the cash it is worth it.... just depends on you

not sure i can't really say if the ocing app is good....

i see no bottlenecks a well balanced gaming rig

now for score/recommendations

first i would say 4gb of RAM would be good especially for future games and vista... you could add later but it is almost necessary for vista gaming... (-.5)

second i don't know how what all you intend to do but a 500gb+ hard drive would be my recommendation...(-.25)

third as you brought up the cooler i would suggest a xigmatek hdt or zalman 9700(-.25)

last i would say get a corsair 650 watt PSU it is a solid PSU with some great efficiency as the 4870s do use a bit of power(-.5)

overall i like the build and good luck

Reply to rammar16
huron   09-07-2008 at 09:09:48 PM
- 0 +

+1 to changing the RAM from 1066 to 800.

The rest looks good.

Reply to huron
krazyskillz   09-07-2008 at 09:16:19 PM
- 0 +

OK thanks, I'm assuming that changing to 800MHz RAM running synchronously would be about the same speed as using 1066MHZ RAM with a divider? That would also enable me to buy another 2 gigs and a decent cooler...

Thanks very much

Reply to krazyskillz
Silverion77   09-07-2008 at 09:29:01 PM
- 0 +

that sounds good...

Get the Xigmatek 1283 WITH the retention bracket, cause push pins fail

or the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Antec 1200|Antec Signature 850w|Asus Maximus II Formula|Q9650|4GB Dominator 1066|EVGA 9800GX2
 Reply to Silverion77
krazyskillz   09-07-2008 at 10:05:29 PM
- 0 +

does anyone have any idea on how performance will be affected moving from 1066 to 800MHz RAM?

Reply to krazyskillz
Silverion77   09-07-2008 at 10:12:48 PM
- 0 +

Not in the slightest, The Core 2 architecture isnt affected by timings and speed of ram as much as past ones. The difference would be almost unnoticeable unless benching

------------------------------ Antec 1200|Antec Signature 850w|Asus Maximus II Formula|Q9650|4GB Dominator 1066|EVGA 9800GX2
 Reply to Silverion77
Shadow703793   09-07-2008 at 10:50:05 PM
- 0 +

Silverion77 wrote :

that sounds good...

 

Get the Xigmatek 1283 WITH the retention bracket, cause push pins fail

 

or the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer


+1
+ 1 for DDR2 800 also. In most cases the DDR2 1066 RAM are just factory OCed DDR2 800.
Also consider getting a higer quality PSU like a Corsair or a PC Power & Cooling.

 

As for 1GB vs 512MB RAM for the GPU unless playing at 2056*1600 you won't need 1GB.


Message edited by Shadow703793 on 09-07-2008 at 10:52:09 PM
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 Reply to Shadow703793
krazyskillz   09-08-2008 at 05:02:50 PM
- 0 +

Thanks all, as always great sommunity support.

Reply to krazyskillz
krazyskillz   09-08-2008 at 05:04:57 PM
- 0 +

Last quick question, 32 or 64 bit?

Reply to krazyskillz
Shadow703793   09-08-2008 at 08:28:13 PM
- 0 +

I recommend 64bit. BUT do make sure you have drivers for printer,etc for the 64bit OS.

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 Reply to Shadow703793
jamay   09-09-2008 at 10:58:51 PM
- 0 +

For that price, I'm sure you can get an X38 or X48 board.
Personnally, I would get a Gigabyte P43-DS3L for about 100$...it uses the budget P43 chipset which is basically P45 with no crossfire support (anyway P45 only supports 8x/8x crossfire).

Reply to jamay
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