New Build

jessy

Ok after nearly 3 year on my P4 I’m finally going to upgrade :-) yippee.
I’m on a budget of about 1k (ish)
I have been playing around with a few different bits on komplett but think that this is about as good as I can get for 1k
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz €259
moboard Asus P5N-E SLI, nForce-650i SLI, €110
RAM Crucial DDR2 BallistiX PC6400 2048MB CL4 ,Kit w/two BallistiX 1024MB's, E.P.P €96
PSU OCZ StealthXStream Powersupply ATX/EPS, 600W, 120mm Fan, 4/8pin CPU, 20/24pin €96
GXF XFX GeForce 8600GTS 720M 256MB XT GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/HDCP, 720/2180Mhz €180
DVD RW Samsung DVD±RW burner, SH-S203N, 20x, Dual, LightScribe, Black, OEM, SATA €35
HD Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB SATA2 8MB 7200RPM x 2 €78
Case Cooler Master Mystique 632, Silver Aluminium (Without PSU) €122

Anyone think I can do better on any of the parts?? While remaining within my budget of course.

TerrorFirmer

Seems like a solid build to me. All of those parts, or indeed any parts, you could argue their merits and cons in relation to the person building the machine and their uses really but the 8600GTS stands out as a poor choice for anybody.

Sure it has the bonus of Dx10 but given that it's a feature adding little at the current moment and with the majority of popular current games being Dx9 not to mention the inherent weakness of the card in relation to its costs anyway it makes more sense to go for a higher performing Dx9 card.

This will save you 70 euro and perform better in Dx9 titles.

This will save you 50 euro and perform far better in Dx9 titles.

This will cost a fair bit extra but will make absolute mince of the GTS. Seriously, emphasis on the absolute mince bit. The GTS really would want to be priced at about 110-120 to make it worth purchasing in my opinion.

If it's for games you could consider changing the quad core for a faster dual core. I know it's the future and it's not so far away but right now it still makes reasonable sense to get a fast dual core, you can always upgrade later. Even some new games are still not even being optimised for dual core...Mostly, they are, but the point being a fast dual core for gaming will serve you very well for some time yet. So you could get a cheap dual core and put the extra cash into a better video card - the 8600GTS would limit you far faster then any semi-decent CPU would. Of course if you're doing a lot of ripping and encoding etc, the Quad makes sense.

I'm not a massive overclocker and personally make do with medicore components most of the time (by constraints of budget, not choice ) so if you're looking at that angle specifically (it would be a shame to buy such nice kit and run it all at stock so I assume it's a consideration for you) I'll let others give you advise on the ram etc.

TerrorFirmer

Just saw this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-160-SP

edit: Sorry, I didn't realise the main price was ex vat, it's actually 230 inclusive. But still cheaper then Komplett.

jessy

ya some good points there, just out of curiosity how would my x850xt fair out against the 8600gt.

TerrorFirmer

In terms of raw power actually fares quite well the cards would be probably fairly close or the XT might even be faster but the XT doesn't support sm3, hdr, etc that the Gt, and any remotely modern card, does. So in newer games it wouldn't even work in some cases or run at reduced quality despite it's power. Great for older games but whatever about a year or two ago now there's be no sense in using any of the old x series.

zonEEE

If u can i would get a 8800 gts 320 or 640 be worth it as the 8600 gt isnt preforming great

zonEEE

the ATI 2900 pro seems quite up there aswell

Anti

x1950pro is still the best value money card going. But the 8800gts 320 is a close second

awhir

Anti wrote: »

x1950pro is still the best value money card going. But the 8800gts 320 is a close second

lol the 2900pro is by far the best price per value card.the cards clock to XT speads easaily.there a great bargin and if you want you can just flash the XT bios on them so they run at XT speeds without software.

nibble

awhir wrote: »

lol the 2900pro is by far the best price per value card.the cards clock to XT speads easaily.there a great bargin and if you want you can just flash the XT bios on them so they run at XT speeds without software.

8800GT without a doubt the only card worth getting when it comes out in a couple of weeks, near GTX performance for about €250, you can't beat that.
And it overclocks like mad.

awhir

nibble wrote: »

8800GT without a doubt the only card worth getting when it comes out in a couple of weeks, near GTX performance for about €250, you can't beat that.
And it overclocks like mad.

well that is but its not out yet

and with the new drivers the cards are amazing :eek:

jessy

what are the power requirement for a Quad core and 8800gt,
Would a 480w power them?

Anti

with plenty of room to spare. As long as its a good 480w from a decent maker.

zonEEE

You sure? When i got my card i had a 500 wat psu yes it was a **** make but i had to upgrade to a 580 hiper, it was all that pc world had got. And i didnt have a quad core i had a amd 64 4000+

nibble

strongr wrote: »

You sure? When i got my card i had a 500 wat psu yes it was a **** make but i had to upgrade to a 580 hiper, it was all that pc world had got. And i didnt have a quad core i had a amd 64 4000+

Get a corsair HX520 or HX620 if you're in the market for a new psu, if not the hiper should be fine.

jessy

just wondering if anyone knows if Intel has any planed Price Drop's on the conroe line since Penryn is about to come onto the market?

Blazer

Go for the 8800GT. It's Nvidia's new card out and will replace the 8800GTS.
It's fantastic value for money (around €250-300) and the only negative comments have been why Nvidia hadn't done this card already.

jessy

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

Go for the 8800GT. It's Nvidia's new card out and will replace the 8800GTS.
It's fantastic value for money (around €250-300) and the only negative comments have been why Nvidia hadn't done this card already.

i just seen this http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/10/29/amd_rv670_due_19_nov/comments/

may drive down the prices of X2900XT so i could actually afford one :-)