Final Selection on gaming rig, buying on saturday

[DariusT]

Alright gents, i posted about 2 weeks ago with my first choices, done some research, done some reading and come up with a final selection of components. The system is pretty much just for gaming and then general low-requirement stuff(browsing, music). The idea is to add a second 5850 GPU in the future when games start becoming more demanding, and possibly upgrading the CPU at that point if it becomes a bottleneck. OS will be windows XP. So here goes

Processor: Phenom II x4 955 The 965 looks tempting for only an extra 15 quid, but i recon at the end of the day id mostly just be paying extra for a bigger number of the sticker. - 141

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-955-BlackEdition-Sok-AM3-32GHz-8MB-Total-Cache-125W-Retail

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P, AMD 790FX, AM3, PCI-E 2.0(x16), DDR3 1666(OC), SATA 3Gb/s, SATA RAID, ATX As far as i can tell this motherboard is ideally suited to my purpose, with 2 slots for gpus and crossfire compatability, plus what i think is the correct memory. - 125

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigabyte-GA-MA790FXT-UD5P-AMD-790FX-AM3-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-DDR3-1666%28OC%29-SATA-3Gb-s-SATA-RAID-ATX

RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Dominator DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9, DHX Alot of guys have recommended G.Skill memory, which scan doesnt stock. Ideally id rather stick to scan, since they're only 20 min from my house, unless you guys think their memory selection is really not suited for my purposes. - 81

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-%282x2GB%29-Corsair-XMS3-Dominator-DDR3-PC3-12800-%281600%29-240-Pin-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-DHX

GPU: 1GB XFX HD 5850 There's some 5850s from MSI and Power Color for 12 quid less, but tbh ive never really heard of them so i went for XFX. - 212

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-5850-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-4000MHz-GDDR5-GPU-725MHz-DisplayPort-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDMI-plus-Dirt2

PSU: 850W Silverstone SST-ST85ZF Quad SLi +12V rail, Quad PCI-E, ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS12V, RoHS 850W seems a bit high, and i recon 750W would do even with 2 gpus, but this didnt seem to be much more expensive so i went for it - 88

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/850W-Silverstone-SST-ST85ZF-Quad-SLi-plus12V-rail-Quad-PCI-E-ATX-12V-22-and-EPS12V-RoHS

Case: Coolermaster HAF 922 comes with 3 fans, no PSU, looks nice, big and roomy. Seems an ideal choice. - 89

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coolermaster-HAF-922-Black-Mid-Tower-Case-with-20cm-Silent-Fan-w-o-PSU

Screen: 24" Acer V243HBD Fairly cheap 24 inch screen, although im not sure how happy i am with 1920x1080. Would 1900x1200 be a better suit for gaming? - 161

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/24-Acer-V243GBD-Black-Widescreen-LCD-Monitor-1920x1080-400001-DCR-300-cd-m-2-ms-VESA

Speakers: Logitech X530 5.1 full 5.1 speaker system from logitech for 50 quid seems like a good investment - 50

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Logitech-X530-51-Speaker-System-71W-RMS-PC-DVD-PS2-XBox-Ready

HDD: 500GB Samsung HD502HJ - 36

500GB Samsung HD502HJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ, OEM

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500Gb-Samsung-Spinpoint-F3-HD502HJ-SATA-3Gb-s-7200rpm-16Mb-Cache-8ms-OEM

DVD Drive: Samsung SH-D162D/BEBE Black, 48x CD-ROM 16x DVD-ROM, PATA, OEM - 11

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Samsung-SH-D162D-BEBE-Black-48x-CD-ROM-16x-DVD-ROM-PATA-OEM



So what do you guys think? Everything seem compatible and suited for a future 2x5850 gaming system? Memory choice a good one? Would a cheaper MOBO do the same thing? Any reason why XFX charge 12 quid more than the others? Going down on saturday to buy the whole system(hoping its in stock) and a copy of Left4Dead to put it through its paces.

EDIT: Recon this sytem would be able to handle a second 17 inch screen? Always fancied having one screen up while i game and another smaller screen for browsing and chatting.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Build doesn't look bad. The speakers...... if you have plans on putting 2 of them somewhere behind you you'll need to invest in cable extensions because the wires are too short to do it...20 feet worth.. ......... having said that, I have a similar set of 5.1's. If you don't get speakers that have a 3" and a 1" ( just using these numbers for reference ) you're going to have a "dead" spot in the sound. There seems not to be any mid-range sound ( or high's ) or not enough of it. If I had it to do again I would buy a 2.1 system with better speakers that would cover the spectrum.

 

[DariusT]

I was thinking of putting one under the screen(horizontal one) two next to it, and then the other two at opposite ends of the desk, so not so much behind me as on either side of me. Recon there's no point in getting a 5.1 set if im not going to manage putting two behind me?

 

[swifty_morgan]

Not worth it TBH. I often think about taking 2 of my speakers off the desk and boxing them up because they seem useless. The reason I said what I said is because I made the "mistake" and have too much invested to start over so I'm stuck with what I have.

 

[dndhatcher]

Or get good quality headphones so you can listen to what you want at the volume you want without bothering other people.


Corsair 750W PSU is the same price and better quality than the SIlverstone.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-TX-Corsair-PSU-single-12V-rail-quiet-and-cool-80plus-Eff

 

[DariusT]

We do alot of house parties at uni, so i thought a 5.1 speaker set would both help shake the foundations of the building when we get down, and be impressive since most people only have 2 speakers But im willing to sacrifice the coolness of having a pile of speakers in favour of better performance

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Is there a reason you're sticking with XP? You'll have less than 3GB available for use with a single 5850 and less than 2GB available for use with 5850's in crossfire. A 32-bit OS has a 4GB limit. The GPU RAM is subtracted from that amount. You really need to step up to a 64-bit OS for this system.

 

[DariusT]

My sister has vista, and its aweful. Like, having to sit through a twilight/highschool musical/hannah montana marathon kinda aweful. And its slow as hell. If, and i mean IF windows 7 is better i might get it, assuming i get a massive discount as a student. If its not, ill keep using XP until its too old and then switch over to SUSE permanently.

 

[dndhatcher]

Vista 64 is fine on a good machine. Vista 32 is a travesty. By all accounts Windows7 is substantially more robust than Vista. Its really silly to buy a DX11 graphics card and run an OS that leaves you stuck on DX9 and only lets you use 3/4ths of your ram..

There is a student organization you can join to get Win7 for $19.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Windows-7-Professional-Students-19,8688.html

 

[build]

I know you said you prefer scan but if you shop around you could save a considerable amount.

For example:

GPU: XFX 5850 - £198.98 (£13 less)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-XF

RAM: OCZ Obsidian 4GB 1600mhz - £65.99(Same speed and timings for £15 less)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-181-OC

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I don't know what machine your sister has, but Vista sure isn't "slow as hell" on my machine. Windows 7 is just as fast as XP. I'm using the Windows 7 RC on two machines, my main machine and an old machine with a 2.8GHz P4 and 1GB of RAM. Windows 7 runs just as well as XP did on the old machine. Using XP on that nice machine is silly, especially since it will dramatically reduce your available RAM.

You can get Windows 7 for $30 USD if you're a student.

http://win741.com/

 

[build]

Agree with everyone on Windows 7, you really should get a 64 bit OS if you want to utilize all your RAM and graphics memory. I'm not sure if those offers are available in the UK but amazon is still selling full retail copies of Windows 7 which you can re-use for future builds at just £65 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002DUCMT2/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

 

[DariusT]

I do understand that i could save a few quid here and there with either overclockers or aria, but when you take into account shipping costs(since its free from scan for me) id only be saving 20-30 quid tops. Is that money not worth the knowledge that if anything goes wrong i can just pop into the store and talk to the guys there intead of having to call some customer service hotline?

 

[build]

You should be asking yourself that question

 

[dndhatcher]

Is that money not worth the knowledge that if anything goes wrong i can just pop into the store and talk to the guys there intead of having to call some customer service hotline?

Depends on the guys in the store. Might save on RMA shipping costs.

 

[DariusT]

Other than the choice of store and the OS though, the components look like a good choice to you guys? Ill post pics of the new stuff when i get it on friday It'll be like christmas morning

 

[smokinu]

I think you have done pretty good on the parts you have chosen. This system should serve you very well for a pretty long time. Good luck and I hope it works out for you

 

[jmhoman3]

Sorry, but What the hell is a quid?

Couldnt you say "dough", or some "bones", and some cheese?

Who says quid? WTFS that even mean

 

[build]

British people say quid

quid = pounds