Building a PC: Advice wanted :)

[ileks]

Ok, i am looking to build myself a new computer around christmas / the new year and was wondering if anyone who has experience with it could throw me some advice.

I have tried to read around to pick out what seems the best value components and this is what i have come up with:

CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - OEM

This does seem like a good value CPU. Was considering the 3 ghz dual core, however i think the quad will be more future proof. The AMD phenoms seem pants (again judging by the reviews i have read).
Mother board
Asus P5KC Combo Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard

This board seems to have a lot of good reviews. Only thing i am concerned about is that it may not be that future proof, compared to the x38 chipset models (which are double the price).

Memory
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

£72.00 for 4 GB of RAM? seems too good to be true surely?

Graphics Card
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC2 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Have read that this card gets very hot, so will i need specific cooling for the graphics cards itself?
Waiting to see if the new GTS is any good before i buy obviously, but the GT seems like a good deal atm.

Hard Drive
Maxtor Diamondmax 21 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (STM3250310AS)

Ok there doesnt seem like much of a choice in this department other than space.

Optical Drive
Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Again doesnt seem too important. I take it this will allow me to burn/read DvDs/CDs etc. like i would expect.

Cooling
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)

Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan 12025L 120mm Fan - 3 Pin

I am looking to overclock the CPU to around 3.2 Ghz. From what i understand, this should be enough, however any comments would be appreciated.

PSU
OcUK Huntkey 550W PSU

Case
Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case


__________________________________

Questions:

Is everything there compatable? I have read all the specs and it seems ok, however there could be something i am missing

Am i forgetting anything? Dont think I need a sound card but i could be wrong.

Will i be able to overclock the CPU significently with the cooling i have?

Do i need to buy any extra cables or fans?

Any help will be repped ofc

[Corran]

The CPU is great, have one in my new build PC and it copes with everything I throw at it. Crysis on the Quad core with a 8800GTX made short work of game. Everyone I knew moaned about how slow it ran whereas with everything on high I only had one time where it stuttered, and I always have a million applications running at a time.

The 8800 GT will be effective, for the price range of it you will find it punches above its weight. Heard nothing but good things about it, and of course future proof in that you can always SLI if you need a little bit more gfx power.

The case is great, just as long as you are getting the second version (first version was basically recalled as you couldnt really use it without going SLI). Only thing is it gets rather dusty with all the fans. Other then that it though it allows you to overclock more then alot of cases as the airflow is amazing. One thing to be sure of is that the powersupply has got long enough cables as alot fall short here and results in the powercable for the motherboard having to go over the gfx card and across the face of the motherboard. THat the problem with bottom mounted PSU.

I went for OCZ Technology 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready PSU.
dabs.com - OCZ Technology 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready (OCZ850GXSSLI)
Fits with the case nicely, as it lights up blue, and you can take the cable along through the case ties and still get to the motherboard. Needed the added power as was going for the GTX plus can upgrade to second GTX and not change PSU.

Just one thing, RAM is cheap now, but unless you got a 64bit operating system the maximum you will use is 3GB, I only run my machine with 2GB as didnt see the point of going beyond that for minimal performance increase (I dont use 64bit OS)

Anyways, from a glimpse everything looks compatable, but not looked into it to much. Below I will link to some of what I got. XFX gear is easy to overclock and to be honest can get away without overclocking as it generally tweaked way above standard equipment anyways. (Linking to dabs as it easiest one for me to find these part on hassle free )

XFX S775 nForce 680i LT SLI DDR2 ATX
dabs.com - XFX S775 nForce 680i LT SLI DDR2 ATX (MB-N680-ILT)

OCZ Technology 2X1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 CAS4
dabs.com - OCZ Technology 2X1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 CAS4 (OCZ2N800SR2GK)

OCZ Technology 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready
dabs.com - OCZ Technology 850W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready (OCZ850GXSSLI)

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB DDR3 XXX Version - not cheap mind you
XFX - Products GeForce™ 8800 : Models

[Aesgir]

Originally Posted by ileks

Graphics Card
BFG GeForce 8800 GT OC2 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Have read that this card gets very hot, so will i need specific cooling for the graphics cards itself?
Waiting to see if the new GTS is any good before i buy obviously, but the GT seems like a good deal atm.

At the moment GT is definitely the way to go, it actually uses a thinner silicon wafer in the gpu so doesn't overheat as much as the GTX's. And actually there's little difference in performance on most benchmark tests. That and the fact that most of the 8800's come in a huge metal case with a big fan inbuilt means you shouldn't really need extra cooling for it. I'd look at case fans for full system cooling instead, with 850W power supply you ain't gonna be lacking for power for them, and Antec are usually pretty good at leaving fan mounts in cases.

It's a nice price for the RAM, it's cheap as anything at the moment, but that is still a great deal.

I'll back up Corran on the OCZ PSU's too, i just got the 700W edition. Very nice PSU's, and a nice blue glow.

[Corran]

Aye, airflow in the Nine hundred is actually great. 3 * 120mm fans (2 front, 1 rear) and a 200mm on the top which can make light items hover (what I was bored one day) means you really dont need to worry about fans.

If you really want another fan then use the side panel, but to be honest you shouldnt need to. I havent bothered with any more then the 4 that the case comes with and the CPU runs at 39degrees on a full load (using standard fan that comes with retail boxed quad) and the GTX runs at 60degrees on a full load, most people say their GTX runs at 60 idle and 90degrees on full load, so the case must be doing something right

[ileks]

Thanks for the help guys. Will go for one of the OCZ PSU's and a new GTS i think

One last thing if you can tho : will the optical drive that i chose be ok? simply need to read/burn the odd dvd etc

edit: going to use XP for now, then later at some stage next year (probably when WAR is out) i will upgrade to vista 64 bit.

[Twist]

All looks reasonable but I'd steer clear of Maxtor drives based on both personal experience and feedback from others. Try this as an alternative.

[ileks]

ok will do, ty

[Cromcruaich]

Originally Posted by Twist

All looks reasonable but I'd steer clear of Maxtor drives based on both personal experience and feedback from others. Try this as an alternative.

Coming a bit late to this but i can confirm that i have very bad personal experiences with maxtor drives, as has a mate of mine - i'd basically never buy them again.

[Aesgir]

Only just noticed this part of the thread but yeah. I used to work in a computer wholesalers, and one of our largest returns rate was on Maxtor drives (the biggest being a certain Asrock motherboard). When they work, Maxtor drives work well...but too often they fail. I'd also avoid Western Digital, but i'm advising everyone to steer clear of them as they've just decided to introduce a HD with inbuilt DRM.

[cHodAX]

Answer to the original post...

The memory is fine, had it in 5 of the recent systems I have built and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Ditch the hard drive, you want the Samsung 500gb Spinpoint SATA drive, it is whisper quiet and generates a good 10c less heat than the competition under full load.DVD drive, you NEED a Pioneer, the Samsung DVD writers drives are not that great and only £1 or so cheaper. Oh and you want a Noctua 1200rpm 12cm fan if you can get one, alot better than that piece of crap you have specced. The Noctua moves alot more air and makes alot less noise, £10 more and worth every single penny.


Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin

Pioneer DVR-212DBK 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD501LJ)

[ileks]

some great advice here, thanks peeps It is hard to tell what to go for when things are so similarly priced, so all your opinions have been very helpful.