Suggestions for my £2000 June build

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Mansize_tissue

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Jan 1, 2007
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Background (for the ones of you who care): I'm a 16-year old student in the UK about to sit my AS-level exams. Being an avid gamer, i've put up with my aging laptop for long enough and decided to put the money i've been saving to good use. I decided to put this build off until i've finished my exams which, i think, are around June 7th, so i'll actually have to time use it. From my part time job i've gathered around £2100, however this is not the limit to my budget. Since i'll be buying the majority of this build from Scan i don't have to pay until February next year, although i'd like to keep it under £2300-ish because i also have to fund university next year. That should do here!

Right, here's the spec. i've put together so far.

£141 E6600
£168 eVGA 680i
£415 eVGA 8800GTX KO ACS3
£200 Silverstone OP1000
£165 CoolerMaster Stacker 832
£70 36GB Raptor
£139 150GB Raptor
£188 Windows Vista Home Premium Retail
£118 Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 2x 1GB (2GB)
£341 NEC 20WGX2
£36 Thermalright Ultra-120
£13 Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM
£22 Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Total: £2045 inc. shipping.

If you're wondering: why a 1kW PSU? Then here's your answer; I would like to future proof this in as many ways as possible but, due to the rapid advancement in hardware, i understand this is near-impossible. However, there are some areas where i think it is possible to have some sort of future-proofing; one of which is the PSU. I also think the same goes for the monitor, case and hard drives, since these are all parts that are likely to remain in the system the longest and be recycled the most. Therefore, in these areas, i can jusifity spending a lot. This is why i've chosen these hard drives, case, PSU and monitor.

I do have a few queries, though. I am very worried about memory compatibility with this motherboard (the eVGA 680i) so any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's a shortlist of memory i am considering:
£206 G.Skill PQ 2x 2GB (4GB)
£100 G.Skill HZ 2x 1GB (2GB)
£89 G.Skill PK 2x 1GB (2GB)
£117 Corsair Dominator PC2-6400C4 2x 1GB (2GB)
£176 Corsair Dominator PC2-6400C5 2x 2GB (4GB)
£94 OCZ SLI-Ready PC2-6400 2x 1GB (2GB)

So, what do you think'd be best in terms of both compatibilty and performance whilst considering the price, too.

I also don't know whether to get one of the following cases instead:
£180 CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evolution (Silver)
£170 Silverstone TJ-09B-W

Again, you're opinions will be valued.

And once more for monitors:
£206 Samsung 206BW
£282 Dell 2007WFP

So, what d'ya think?

I intend to overclock this rig to around 3.2Ghz to 3.6Ghz and there are a few things i'm likely to add down the line, including:
Headphones (likely either: Medusa 5.1 or HD595s, it depends whether i really need surround sound for games).
New speakers (probably Logitech Z-5500)
Sound card (Create Sound Blaster X-fi Extreme Gamer- although, i'll probably spend the extra money to get the Platinum version so i can have the front drive bay for my cans)
And.. i think that's about it.

It's late, so there's probably parts and information i've left out so i'll probably be updating this soon.

Fire away; your comments will be most appreciated.
 
Wow, prices suck over on your side of the pond. In the states, $3500(2000pounds) would buy you a quad core, 4gb ram, SLI 8800GTX rig :(
 
looks good apart from the fact that you have an old 36gig raptor, for the OS i presume ? in anycase I would dump that and get another kind of raptor, the 36g one isnt worth it compared to whatelse is out there.

If you want, if you give me a month to test something out and if it goes the way I am thinking it will go, I can sell you the box for the platinum xfi, all you would need to do is just buy the xfi extreme music as that and the plat are exactly the same, only difference is the extreme doesnt have the box but plat does.

If after I do my testing and I still get crackles, then I am dumping my xfi and will keep the actual card but I wud part with the 6 month old box and all of its accessories, as I have had enough and if I cant cure my sound problems with what I am about to try then fuk it, new sound card coming my way.

thats only if you are interested that is, but either way, if crackling continues then card and box getting ripped from pc.
 
I agree, prices suck over there.

I also agree that you should dump the 36GB raptor, use the 150GB as your OS/App drive, and pickup a Seagate 'cuda 7200.10 320GB as your storage drive.

Thats a nice build you've got there. You really don't need a 1KW PSU, but hey, if thats what you want to spend your money on, go for it. Here are some other suggestions, in case you wanted any:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

As for the RAM, the only thing the Ballistix will help you with is faster timings. The same goes for the other overly priced kits, lol. You won't really notice the faster timings, though. So, IMO, they're not worth any extra price premium. However, if the extra £18 or so doesn't bother you, go for it. If you want 4GB of ram, you'll need a 64-bit OS. 2GB is all you really need right now, though. Since any DDR2-800 kit will get you to 3.6Ghz, I'd go for the cheapest kit on your list (G.Skill 2GBPK; or 2GBNQ if they carry it), lol.

The case you chose is great. The Silverstone TJ-09 is just sleek, though. Its more of a personal preference thing. All the cases you listed are good in terms of build quality, airflow, quietness, and space.

The only thing the dell monitor has better than the Samsung is its stand. So, if you need it to go up and down and rotate, then the Dell stand is the one you want. Otherwise, the Samsung seems to have a better panel.
 
Thank you for your replies, everyone. I'm afraid buying from the US isn't really an option, mainly because i'll probably be hit with a whole load of charges at customs. Thank you very much for the offer EVIL-SCOTSMAN, but i'll have to wait a while until i get a soundcard anyway to five Creative time to sort out some descent drivers. They are still useless for Vista, right?

The 36GB Raptor is the new one, which will be used for the OS and page file. As i don't really need a storage drive, since the only thing going to be on this is games, i thought i'd get a couple of Raptors intead of a 320GB Seagate drive. I'm reluctant about dropping it because i can justify the price (remember my little "future-proofing" speech in the first post?) and it'll allow simultaneous in/out operations; loading game files from one drive onto another at the same time, for example.

enginurd, what do you think i should get in the PSU department? I was originally going to get either the Etasis 850W or, the pretty much identical (but with all cables sleeved), Zues 850w. The thing is, i prefer the single +12v-rail design, especially if, at some point, i'm going to have a couple of 8800GTXs drawing their power from a single +12v rail. Another option would be the Coolmasters Realpower 850w (i believe i got that right) or Enermax's 1kW DXX. Any others i should be considering (excluding the Corsair 620w because i'm doubtful it could pull my rig in a year's time with a load of upgrades).

Oh, i forgot to add Arctic Silver 5 to that list. enginurd, one more question, are any of these stands compatible with both the Samsung 206BW and NEC 20WGX2? The Ergotron Neo-Flex seems like the only viable one, since it's pretty much the only desk stand there, only i don't know if it would fit on the NEC and Samsung.

Edit: More to add... I'm planning on running the memory at 800Mhz with 4-4-4-12 or lower timings. In this case, pretty much any of that memory i listed will fit the bill. However, when it comes to it i'll probably want to run it at more like 950Mhz so, basically, i'd just like the option to do so. I also plan, at one point, to have 3GB/4GB in there. Do you think i should get a 2x 2GB and not worry about straining the memory controller, or get 2x 1GB + another set or 2x 512MB and have either 4GB or 3GB respectively? My main concern is compatibility, since the board is notoriously fickle when it comes to selecting memory which actually works.

Thanks again, everyone. ;)
 
Hmm, i've been thinking about that PSU. Spending £200 on the OP1000 really doesn't seem necessary. What better choices are there on here? I don't know whether i should be ruling out multi-rail units if i'm considering putting a second 8800GTX in there.

I seem to have left a few things out of my original post. I still have to decide on a keyboard, mouse and mousemat.
I think i'm either going to get an MX518, G5, Deathadder or Copperhead. I'm a medium-to-high sensitivity player, what d'ya think would suit me best? As for the keyboard, i'm partial to laptop-style keyboards since i've been using my laptop for gaming for the last year or so. I found, using my friends "normal" keyboard the other day that the space-bar got in the way when trying to hit "C" and "V" with my thumb, only i don't know if this is because there was no wrist rest. Due to the long keystrokes, pressing "C" with my thumb meant that the lower edge of my thumb was pressing down on the space-bar. This is why i'm thinking of getting a keyboard like the Razer Tarantula which has thin keys. Alternatively, there's always the G15 and Saitek Eclipse II.

You're suggestions will be very much appreciated. If any body knows of a descent mousemat from either here or here to pair with one of the above mice, that'd be great. I've spent so long researching components, i guess i've just neglected peripherals.
 
Mansize_tissue said:
The 36GB Raptor is the new one, which will be used for the OS and page file.

enginurd, what do you think i should get in the PSU department? I was originally going to get either the Etasis 850W or, the pretty much identical (but with all cables sleeved), Zues 850w. The thing is, i prefer the single +12v-rail design, especially if, at some point, i'm going to have a couple of 8800GTXs drawing their power from a single +12v rail.

enginurd, one more question, are any of these stands compatible with both the Samsung 206BW and NEC 20WGX2?

Edit: More to add... I'm planning on running the memory at 800Mhz with 4-4-4-12 or lower timings. In this case, pretty much any of that memory i listed will fit the bill. However, when it comes to it i'll probably want to run it at more like 950Mhz so, basically, i'd just like the option to do so. I also plan, at one point, to have 3GB/4GB in there. Do you think i should get a 2x 2GB and not worry about straining the memory controller, or get 2x 1GB + another set or 2x 512MB and have either 4GB or 3GB respectively? My main concern is compatibility, since the board is notoriously fickle when it comes to selecting memory which actually works.
Click to expand...

I haven't read any reviews of the newer 36GB raptors, but if history is any indication, they're much slower than their 74GB brethren. So, bump it up to the 74GB or just get another 150GB.

I'd go with the ST85ZF. Its more than enough for two 8800GTX's. I don't think the multiple +12V rails will be an issue, even with SLI.

As for LCD mount compatiblity, check the manufacturers pages. So, the Ergotron stand you were looking at is VESA MIS-D compliant, and the Samsung is VESA 100 compliant.
VESA MIS-D, 100/75, C compliant monitors are equipped with either a 100 x 100 mm or 75 x 75 mm mounting hole pattern. A wide variety of Ergotron products attach directly to these monitors. This is the most common interface for monitors weighing under 30 lbs (14 kg).
Click to expand...
Here are the links I used to find that info:
http://internalapps.ergotron.com/mirwebtool/vesa.asp
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCD_Digital/LS20MEWSFVXAA.asp?page=Specifications
http://www.ergotron.com/ConsumerPro...mid/386/PRDID/126/language/en-US/default.aspx

Stick with the Ballistix if you want good overclockability. I say stick with 2GB for now, then upgrade to 4GB later (either pickup 2 more sticks or sell the current ones and pickup a 2x2GB). A 4x1GB setup will allow you to reach better memory timings, but under 2T command rate. A 2x2GB setup will have slightly worse timings, but can run at 1T command rate and leaves room for upgradability. Although, its harder to OC with 4x1GB as opposed to 2x2GB. 4 sticks of ram shouldn't be a problem on the Intel platform.

KBs and mice are personal preference, lol, so its up to you.
 
Alright, thank you enginurd. So that stand should be compatible with both the Samsung 206BW and NEC 20WGX2, then. I thought the 36GB Raptor was just as good as it's bigger brothers. Plus, it's only going to be used for the OS and pagefile so it doesn't really need to be any bigger. Although, i'll have a look into getting a 74GB one instead, depending on the price.

I think i'd get the ST85ZF, if it had native 8-pin PCI-e connectors but, as it doesn't, i think i'm just going to have to go with the OP1000.
 
Hmm, can you give me some PSU suggestions, guys? ;)
How's the Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W? It's cheaper than the Silverstone OP1000.
 
k00lance said:
You should go with Silverstone than CM.
My 832s can't even fit Icy Dock bays. :(
Click to expand...

What are they; hard drive enclosures?
Why won't they fit? Is the case flawed in any other respect? Sorry for all of the questions, i just can't decide whether to get the TJ09, or maybe the TJ07 if i can stretch to it, instead.
 
UPDATE

Case
£180 Coolermaster Stacker 830 Evolution (Silver)
£165 CoolerMaster Stacker 832 (Black)
£170 Silverstone TJ09B-W
£200 Silverstone TJ07B-W

Motherboard
£168 EVGA 680i A1
£171 Asus P5K Deluxe
£165 Gigabyte DQ6

Processor
£138 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Graphics Card
£415 EVGA 8800GTX Superclocked ACS3
£395 BFG 8800GTX OC2

Memory
£165 G.Skill 4GB PC2-6400C5 PQ
£94 G.Skill 2GB PC2-6400C4 HZ
£77 G.Skill 2GB PC2-6400C4 PK

Power Supply
£186 Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W
£200 Silverstone Olympia 1000W

Hard Drives
£70 36Gb Western Digital Raptor
£139 150Gb Western Digital Raptor

Monitor
£341 NEC 20WGX2
£265 Samsung 226BW
??? HP w2207 (If released in the UK before 31/05/2007)

Cooling
£35 Thermalright Ultra-120
£13 Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM 120mm

Operating System
£188 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Retail

Keyboard
£52 Logitech G15
£71 Razer Tarantula

Mouse
£51 Logitech G5
£33 Logitech MX518
£44 Razer Deathadder
£40 Razer Copperhead

Optical Drive
£21 Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM
£22 Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£40 Plextor PX800A 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black,Beige) Retail

Miscellaneous
£16 Belkin SurgeMaster, 6-Way, 4m Cable
£20 Razer Exactmat

Total (Including Shipping): £2205


Right, here's the build as it stands. The parts in bold are the ones included in the total, the other parts i am still considering as alternatives.

So, from what you can see here, would you swap any of the bold items for alternatives listed? Keep in mind that, if i decide to change the Stacker 830 for the Silverstone TJ07, i'll have to make some consessions elsewhere in the build, like downgrading the memory.

I have a couple of questions about this revision, though:
Is the optical drive choice OK; i haven't heard of the brand before?
Is the G5 compatible with the Razer Exactmat? I've read about some people having trouble with it on the speed side, i believe. If so, would i be better off getting the Copperhead or MX518 instead, or maybe even the Diamondback which isn't listed there?
Oh, and the big one; P35 or 680i motherboard? I'm thinking about utilising SLI in the future but, realistically, i can't see myself using a second graphics card with only a 20" monitor. I just don't want to run into any troubles with a brand new motherboard and chipset. Are there any known memory compabitibility issues with this motherboard, for example?

I'm going to be ordering this, probably, on the first of next month.

Thank you in advance.
 
Case
£184 Coolermaster Stacker 830 Evolution (Black)
£140 Lian Li V1000
£170 Silverstone TJ09B-W
£200 Silverstone TJ07B-W
Lian Li PC7
Lian Li PC-A16

Motherboard
£160 Asus P5K Deluxe
£168 EVGA 680i A1

Processor
£138 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Graphics Card
£415 EVGA 8800GTX Superclocked ACS3

Memory
£118 Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC2-8500
£178 Corsair 4GB Dominator PC2-6400
£94 G.Skill 2GB PC2-6400C4 HZ

Power Supply
£175 Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W

Hard Drives
£70 36Gb Western Digital Raptor
£139 150Gb Western Digital Raptor

Monitor
£341 NEC 20WGX2
£230 HP w2207

Cooling
£55 Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Kustom PCs
£13 Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM 120mm

Operating System
£188 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Retail

Keyboard
£52 Logitech G15
£71 Razer Tarantula

Mouse
£44 Razer Deathadder

Optical Drive
£21 Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM

Miscellaneous
£16 Belkin SurgeMaster, 6-Way, 4m Cable
£20 Razer Exactmat
£6 Arctic Silver ArctiClean 60ml Kit

Total (Including Shipping): £2155

So this is what it's going to be; just a few more decisions to make. Which cases above would be best for air cooling this thing (i'd like to have 2x 120mm fans at the front of the case which isn't possible with a couple of the cases because i also need more than 1x 5.25" drive bay free)? Also, will the CPU heatsink fit in all of the cases mentioned?

Thank you. ;)
 
looks good. Will the Ultra 120 extreme fit into the stacker with all 4 side fans populated?
 
Wow that's an extremely huge power supply for what you're running. Are you looking to upgrade to TEC or phase cooling later on and run it off the power supply? My rig is similar in specs to yours and it only draws 480 watts MAX (and this is the wall socket reading, after taking efficiency into account it's probably about 400 watts)

BTW the ultra extreme may fit but you will probably have to take off the fan bracket to fit it. I know you have to do that for a Tuniq Tower.
 
Yeah, the PSU is overkill but i'm planning on keeping it for years. What would be a better option? It needs to have native 8-pin PCI-e options mind and be as equal to, or better than, the Toughpower 1.2kW in quality. I'm thinking either the Silverstone OP850 or DA850, but i'm not sure which is better. Also, i'm finding it difficult to find out exactly what connectors these 2 power supplies have. In some places it says 2x 8-pin or 4x 6-pin PCI-e cables, and others it says it has both.

enginurd, i'm not to sure whether all the side fans will fit. To be honest, the only reason i'm considering the Stacker 830 over the others is because it allows me to mount 2x 120mm fans at the front of the case which will blow cool air across the whole motherboard, and i'll still have more than one 5.25" drive bay free. However, i think i'd rather have the TJ09 than the Stacker 830 because it strikes me as being a much higher quality case (or is the V1000 better still). However, you can only have a single fan upfront blowing cool air onto the graphics card; it would be better if there was another fan above it to blow cool air over the rest of the motherboard (the NB, CPU etc.).
 
I'm ordering this in a few hours guys so some final opinions on the following areas would be very helpful.

What memory do you suggest i get?

Also, i don't know if there's any point downgrading the PSU. If i were to get something else, it'd be something similar to the Silverstone DA850 which is only £25 cheaper and, i assume, doesn't match it in quality. What do you think are good alternative which have 8-pin PCI-e connectors?

The next thing i've got to decide on tonight is which case to get; either the Stacker 830/832, Lian Li V1000 or Silverstone TJ09. I like the V1000 because it's a nice size (the other 2 are so long that they will stick out the end of my desk). However, i'm doubting whether it'd be able to match the Stacker 830/832 or TJ09 in cooling ability. Which is the best case, with respect to quality and potential air-cooling ability?

I think these are the main issues i feel need addressing and ones which i'm finding most difficult to resolve. Your input is valued greatly, and i really need your help since i'm ordering all of this in a few hours. Thanks again.
 
Graphics Card
£415 EVGA 8800GTX Superclocked ACS3
Click to expand...

Ditch the ACS3. The price is way overrated. That's more than 8800Ultra in the US.
Go for the regular EVGA 8800GTX. You can easily overclock the card.

Lately, DDR2 price is falling down like crazy.

If you want D9GMH:

Corsair PC8500 Dominator
Crucial PC-8500 Ballistix / Tracer
Crucial PC-8000 Ballistix / Tracer

D9GKX:

Cellshock PC-8000 Cas 4 or Cas 5
 
I think i'm just going to go with 2GB of Crucial Ballistix PC-8500. Or, for £60 more, i could get 4GB of OCZ PC2-6400 memory; what do you think?

Also, what PSU would you suggest i get? I want something with a bit more power than the Corsair 620W. What's the best 850W PSU?
 
You don't need DDR2-1066 with an E6600. At most, you'll need DDR2-800. I'd go with the G.Skill HZ sticks, since they're Micron D9XXX chips. If you wan't 4GB, get a kit thats CL5 DDR2-800.

I'd go with the Silverstone Zeus 850W.

The Stacker has a crossflow fan for the mobo, but I'm not sure if you can use one with a long ass vidcard, lol. The TJ09 and V2100 are the two best cases, imo. With that said, I have the original stacker, lol. I just can't justify spending so much on a case, lol. Cases are still personal preference. If you want something that cools your whole mobo, then go for it. I, personally, don't think thats required by any setup, but its you're money, so run what you want.
 
I'm planning on (well, thinking about) running the memory at a higher frequency than that of the CPU FSB and, since it's the same price as Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 right now, i thought i might as well get it.

Would you get 2GB of G.Skill PC2-6400 HZ for £94, 2GB of Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 for £118 or 4GB of OCZ PC2-6400 for £177?

I would go for the Zues 850W, but it's not modular and lacks 8-pin PCI-e cables.

enginurd said:
I, personally, don't think thats required by any setup, but its you're money, so run what you want.
Click to expand...

I agree, but with the P5K Deluxe boards, the northbridge runs at about 45 degrees Celsius with no overclocking so descent case air flow is needed. This can't really be achieved with the TJ09 because it's difficult to get a 120mm fan that high in the case. Although i prefer the TJ09 (and even the V1000) over the Stacker, if i add a HDD bay converter so another 120mm fan can be mounted there'll only be a single drive bay free.
 
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