New PC ;)

[Stormy]

The PC I'm running at the mo is really getting on a little bit now, maybe 4-5 years old and is starting to lag behind a touch. So I have thrown together a new one. The rig is not only going to be for high end gaming but also running art app's such as zbrush which seem to eat up resources like crazy.

So here is a quick idea of what I'm getting. I guess i'm here looking for some advice as to weather this bad boy is all going to fit together with no problems. Its a crap load of money to spend and I really want as few hick ups as possible!

 

[Ridge]

For a bit more you can ditch the dual core and get a quad instead...

 

[Sedako]

The dual core E8400 actually greatly outperforms the similarly priced quad core Q6600 in most application and game benchmarks. True quad core support on a wide range of apps is still far off, and even current quad core support is pretty lack-luster. The E8400 is an excellent bargain for the performance you get out of it, and if you're an overclocker, you can't get much better than the results seen with this CPU.

 

[3ssence]

I wouldn't spend 180 odd on an overclocked 8800GT, i'd get a standard 8800GT for around 140-150 and if overclocking was required, i'd do that myself. The overclock on those BFG cards is by no means huge, and would easily be obtainable on most cards, if not more.

Or, the new 9600GT performs almost identically in most titles to the 8800GT, and can be had for a bargain price of 109 pounds:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-013-SK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=356

Tbh, that would probably be my choice if i were looking at that region of graphics card performance.

That CPU cooler is pretty pricey, especially when you consider that the artic cooling freezer pro is still one of the top dogs when it comes to cooling a core2duo:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-017-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821

And if you are going to go with DDR2, then i would go with the Asus P35 premium and save 30 pounds or so:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-258-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

Top notch board. Unless you have any particular need for anything that the X38 chipset offers then i'd be tempted to go for the P5K.

Do you plan on overclocking much ? Because that ram might be slight overkill. Many PC6400 (800mhz) DDR2 kits can hit 1000mhz with slightly relaxed timings, and can be had for 40 pounds or so less than the kit that you have shown. For example:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-086-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813

Anyways, those are just my thoughts and contributions. Whatever you decide on it looks like it will be a great system.

 

[Druckles]

True quad core is still far off

Fixed.

 

[Eejit]

Overclockers don't have great prices these days, I'd shop around.

I wouldn't recommend a BFG GT that highly either, they still use a lot of the old stock coolers which were pretty poor. Try Zotac, Palit, Xpervision, Gigabyte etc. they generally have much better coolers on their cards.

LG 22" 2ms monitor - 185gbp
Intel E8400 - 122gbp
Asus Maximus Formula mobo - 147gbp (but v big range of mobos on this site to check out)
Palit 8800GT Sonic (650/1900) - 156gbp, out of stock, the non-OC version is available though here.
Alternatively if you do want to spend 180ish on a vga, try this EVGA superclocked (650/1900), 182gbp

 

[3ssence]

I was just using overclockers as an example, shop wherever you wish !

Overclocked 9600GT's are pretty close to the 8800GT. True about stock though, a bit further off. But for 30 quid less than the nearest 8800GT, it is a serious bargain for the performance. The framerates in most games at the native resolution of a 22" panel are often only a few frames off, to the point that the 8800GT is not going to make most games any more playable than the 9600GT.

If i wanted something higher than mid end i'd look for a good price on an 8800GTS or GTX and overclock them. I take it you bought an 8800GT ?



P.s. i'd personally take my reviews from sites that show min fps as well as average, avg fps is only half the story.

 

[Stormy]

I haven't bought anything yet. I chose some bits and threw it up here to see what people had to say. I think when I get home I'll put together another system and post it up here to see what people have to say

Thanks for the advice! Lets see if we can improve this baby!

 

[Stormy]

So I had a go at throwing another PC together, its very similer to what I put down befor and have saved a good ?130 when I add the case and cpu fan. What I want really is another 2gb stick of ram the same as what I have put down here but was finding it hard to find any. Only 2x1gb setups

 

[Eejit]

The PC I built last month is actually very similar to the one you're building, I can link it all if you're interested. It was about 940 gbp including case and fan, though I only got 1, smaller HDD since I had a big external already.

Many of the individual components were cheaper than in either of the pics you linked.
Though I've already linked you the same components cheaper than the ones in your seconds screenshot so, meh.

 

[WhiteZero]

I'm happy with the E8400 myself. If you have good enough cooling, make sure you overclock the thing. It's pretty easy to hit 4GHz on that chip stably.
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=316027