Advice on Components and Building

Hello there, after lots of communication with people on here, i have decided to build a pc for under £900.

Here are my specifications that i intend to use (missing the PSU, Fan, Case, Cables)


Processor -

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz S775 (was maybe going quad)

£113.41 (according to Afterdawn)

Motherboard -

XFX S775 nForce 680i SLI ATX A L

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.asp...1022&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11022&InMerch=1

£132.92

RAM (Memory) -

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit

£88.11

Graphics -

BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

About £180.00

Hard Drive -

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST3500320AS)

£72.84

Optical Drive -

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM

£17.61


What should i change or add(advice on PSU, Case preferbale) to get better performance for my buck?

Total without changes(or PSU, Case, Cables) - £604.89

 

I personally prefer Scan to Dabs. Dabs are a bit iffy about returns should anything go wrong.

E6750 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=632054
XFX 680i http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=560973
2GB PC8500C5 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=462617 (Scan don't sell Crucial RAM at PC8500 speed)
8800GT OC http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=693200 (bear in mind it may be several weeks before these are available in the UK)
Hard drive http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=678208 (These are also unavailable at the moment)
DVD drive http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=545113
PSU http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=446788

As for the case, it comes down to personal choice. With a high end system you want something that offers decent cooling, but you don't need to put up with a high noise level.

 

520W PSU be ok for my system? (even if it does look the best and has awards )

So far, my build will be

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail

£114.67

XFX MB-N680-ISH NF680i SLI, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£128.06

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5

£92.65

8800 GT BFG

£181.98

500 GB Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ

£78.48

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, IDE, Black, OEM

£17.03

520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty

£63.32

Total = £676.19

That is without a case, looking good so far to me.

Would any of you change the RAM or Motherboard to an Asus P5K64?

http://scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=615969

or is the XFX better in performance?

 

Me and my friend's PCs use at least as much power as that PC you've spec'ed there. They draw about 250W from the mains at full load, meaning barely more than 210W on the DC side. It stands to reason that the power supply fan on Nick's PC (he also has the Corsair 520W) doesn't ever go above minimum speed (700rpm of a possible 2000).
I've not really kept up with the P5K series of boards, so I wouldn't know what they are like, many people swear by them. I use this board, and love it.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=605377
There is a version with two PCIe 16x slots available, but I don't know whether you can run SLI on it. Not that I think SLi is worth bothering with anyway...

 

That Gigabyte GA P35C-DS3R board is compatible with all my components so added to the list!

I will trust you with this as you have not guided me wrong at any stage.

Just RAM selection left and then i will analyse the case

New total = £620.03

 

I use Corsair XMS2 PC6400 stuff. It's allowed me to overclock my CPU a full 75% so it can't be bad. It's also mega cheap (At least it is now, it wasn't when I bought it! )
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=402849

 

added in!

 

After a good search i found this mobo,

http://www.shop.bt.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4DY5

work with my components?

So far i have not seen a negative review

 

It uses an outdated chipset, it's an older design than the motherboard I linked you to, and it's over £30 more.

 

Okay, so if it does come to it i can get my 2.66ghz core 2 duo to 3ghz with the same ram, mobo as you.

Now i just gotta find a case that is spacious and will fit all my components in nicely,

http://www.trustedreviews.com/perip...14/Antec-Nine-Hundred-Ultimate-Gaming-Case/p1

Seems good, but one thing that has troubled me, see the front 2 usb ports on that? How does one get that connected to the mobo at the back of the case? (also have to contend with psu at the bottom of case)

 

That reviewer is a bit of an idiot, if I'm honest

Funny how the 360mm fan XClio cases are awful.

It's loud, and it pushes bucketloads of air...


That review aside though, the 900 is a well cooled case, assumign you have a magnetic screwdriver to hand (Or it's a whole day's job installing the hard disks)

As for the front USB ports, they are attached to a cable inside the case that runs to a header on your motherboard, a set of pins located at the bottom right of the board, as you look inside the case.

 

Ah got it, thanks!

It looks the best so far but i will keep my eyes open for others. Something that caught my attention was that big ass Zalman Z-Machine GT1000. Worth the money?

 

In short, no. While it may be well made, there is nothing that makes it stand out from other cases, and from a cooling standpoint, it's not really very good.

 

This is ridiculous, i was gonna shell out for this a few weeks back,

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/34763...+-Skin-Of-Your-Choice/Product.html?dpr=104057

Now i can build it for like nearly £400 cheaper. It is unreal

 

Yathink? Now it starts to become clear why we build our own PCs. For one thing it's much cheaper, and second, assuming it all goes to plan, it's enjoyable. Besides, your PC has that personal feel to it knowing that you built it, or at least configured it.
If I'm honest, with that games bundle that Commodore PC really isn't bad valuew for money as prebuilt systems go. That is however, considering the £150 discount at Play. it wouldn't be worth bothering with otherwise.

 

My current system,

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache, Retail

£114.67

Gigabyte GA P35C-DS3R, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-Ex16, DDR2/3 1066/1333/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£71.90

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12

£53.64

8800 GT Overlocked by BFG

£181.98

500 GB Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ

£78.48

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, IDE, Black, OEM

£17.03

520W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU, ATX, EPS12V, whisper quiet, 5 year warranty

£63.32

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case

£72.84



Total = £653.86

Anything i can make better for maybe the same price?

I will go upto a max of £800

 

personally, scan have screwed me over before, so i have stuck with www.overclockers.co.uk, for a long time, and they have been perfect.

I sugest this:


or you could drop the psu and case for an antec sonata III w/500W eathwatts PSU (which are very good) for £80

 

The case seems good but i thought a PSU included with a case was garbage?

I also like this case,

http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/386568/coolermaster-cm-690---no-psu-free-coolermaster-25-enclosure.html

 

the sonata III, no way, that is a very good psu (albeit, not gonna be super pindrop silent)

 

oh, and you could save a few bob by going to the HD 3870 which is only a little off the 8800GT, for £20 less. with those savings you could get a tuniq tower to cool the cpu, for a better OC.