Building a new pc - looking for tips

Xanthos

So, the old PC is struggling a bit with Mass Effect and couldn't run Supreme Commander so I've decided to build a new one. I've looked around the board a bit but I still have a lot of questions.

I'm happy to use these sites:
www3.atelco.de
www.elara.ie (preferred)
www.komplett.ie (least favourite)


and will use this one if the savings are worth it:
www2.hardwareversand.de

I made the same computer on www3.atelco.de and www2.hardwareversand.de and hwv was only 5% cheaper so I'd go for atelco over them (I've bought something in a bricks and mortar atelco store before and they take credit cards)

Money's not too big an issue - if a few quid extra buy me something worthwhile then that's fair enough but really I'm looking for the best value. I'm expecting the whole lot to come in between €8-900

Case: Antec Nine Hundred
I think it looks good and I'll intend using it for several incarnations. I have a cheap case at the moment that I've been using for years and it's airflow leaves something to be desired.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 tray, 8192Kb, LGA775, 64bit, Kentsfield
Seems most people are suggesting it as the best performance/value at the moment. I would consider spending a bit more if anyone could suggest one and justify the price difference. I think a tray version is best so I can but a nice fan on it - suggestions?

PSU: ATX-Netzteil Corsair VX550W 550 Watt
Depends a bit on whether I take SLI or not - how many Watts do I need?

CPU Fan: Suggestions? Minor issue anyway.

Motherboard: Truly lost here. The price varies a lot and I don't even know if I want SLI or not.

Graphics: June 17th seems to be an important date here... Is it going to be worthwhile to run two lesser cards in SLI or just get a single card? Two cards seems a bit like a ploy by the gfx card makers and quad cards is taking the mick. I'd appreciate recommendations though. Does crossfire work with different cards? I think I'd go for something like a single XFX GeForce 9800GTX 760M Black Edition 512MB DDR3, PCI-Express once its price drops.

RAM: 4096MB-Kit Corsair TWIN2X DHX 8500C5DF, CL5
I would like 4GB but my understanding is that I need a 64 bit o/s to use that and I'm not sure how good the support for games is then - would 2 GB be better for compatibility? Memory is so cheap I don't see any point in skimping on it.

Soundcard: Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
I've had this card for awhile but it's still good so I'll re-use it. It does seem to have compatibility issues with Vista though... they're slowly being resolved by Creative I think.

HDD: Not sure what I should do here - I'm looking for advice on a disk for o/s and apps only. I have other disks for storage. Raptors are so expensive I'm not sure it's what I want. I'm not familiar with RAID set-ups - could something like that be worthwhile for me? I think I just want a relatively small capacity 7200rpm drive that runs quickly.

toco123

Okay Crossfire and SLI are useless makes gaming worse, check July edition of customPC. Only card worth in SLI is the 9600GT. 9800TGTX is pure rubbish. 9800gx2, some 8800gts 512mb, 8800gt, and 9600GT are only worth gettin. Buy a Ga-p31-Ds3l, cheap and cheerful. Creative isnt resolving well with vista i dont think, My X-Fi hasnt seen any use yet on vista, if u have it, use it. RAPTORS ARE USELESS. Buy a 750gb Samsung harddrive. Waay fast than raptors and you'll be amazed when you see the price.
Nice rig otherwise!

toco123

Also you cud try www.drivecity.de

Xanthos

Cheers,

CustomPC looks like a good website for reviews and the reviews for that motherboard and hdd are very good.

AtomicHorror

I would approach Hardwareversand with caution. Weigh up the savings versus the risk of delays and poor customer service. Awkward payment method also. Might be okay for a few specific parts (make sure they're well-stocked) but remember that postage from them is flat-rate so larger orders make a better saving.

Xanthos

Yeah I read about them but it seems people were able to do the bank transfer direct from their AIB account - I do that all the time so it's not a bother. I haven't done it to accounts outside of Ireland though so I'll have to check if that works...

Also if there is an issue I am at a phone all day and I can even talk German if they don't have English speakers so I think I'll probably take the chance for the huge savings.

I was looking at the motherboard suggested a bit more and I don't think it will work for me:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2615

* Because of chipset limitations, when using FSB 1333 MHz CPU with populating all DIMM sockets, memory frequency will be reduced from the original, and system instability or incorrect detection of memory module may be occur. Please refer "Memory Support List" for memory support information.

(Note 2)Some memory configurations will result in memory frequency being reduced from the original frequency.

and

Dual Channel DDR2 1066 by O.C

you need to overclock to use 1066Mhz ram? That seems a bit odd and I do have my heart set on that speed.

Sqaull20

How big your monitor?

Reviews of the new GTX 280/ 260 show 8800gt/ 8800gts in sli being faster than the new €600 card at 1680 x 1050 and above..

Sli and Crossfire have is great when you pair two cheap cards like 8800gt/HD 3870 together, not so great when you pair €500 cards together..

I would go with something like this..



Will play every game perfectly..

toco123

Beware Squall20 is a SLI/dualcard -fanboy!! :P

Forget Crossfire anyway. Stick to nvidia as theyre better at the moment.

I reccomend getting a good intel mobo as apposed to nvidia tho

Sqaull20

Sli is great when you pair two cheap powerful cards together to outperform one card that costs twice as much..

I dont care what anyone says, but 2 x 9600gt's for €185 that can give it to €600 video cards are too good to turn down imo..







http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1293&pageID=4984

Xanthos

I use a 20" monitor that's native at 1680 x 1050.

It does sounds like 2 €100 cards will serve me better than a single €200 card.

I'll probably go for 2 XFX GeForce 9600GT 650M 512MB GDDR3 93,99 each

and the GA-N650SLI-DS4l motherboard

There are XFX 9600GT 740M 512MB DDR3 DUAL DVI XXX Alpha Dog Edition 104,28 each but I don't know if the extra clock speed is worth it?

Sqaull20

I have that motherboard, great board for its price, good over overclocker and I havent had any issues with..

You wont be disappointed with 2 9600gt's, exceptional value for money.

Keep an eye out for a review of the new HD4850/ HD4870 before you buy, they will be around €170/ €250

I dont think a HD4850 will be able to match 2 x 9600gt, we will see tomorrow when they go on sale.

Xanthos

Thanks Squall,

I didn't know ATI had a new offering so soon. I'll wait and see how they do.

Cheers for all the info everyone particularly squall20 - I feel better informed now.

mayordenis

the 3870X2 is so much cheaper than the rest can be picked up for 300ish

Xanthos

So here's the setup I went for - €827.63 incl. delivery from hardwareversand.de - lower than I was aiming! I even threw in a 2nd 750GB HDD because I'm sick of running out of space!

That means I'm free to throw the old IDE HDD into my €20 Xbox Media Centre



It was quite easy to set up the online transfer direct from AIB online I just hope it all works outs. Shame it takes 3-4 days just to reach their account as I want the PC now so I can play mass effect properly!

I'm going to assemble it myself. I've never installed a tray CPU or used that cooling paste so I hope it's not too difficult...