Planned System Build - Feeback & Suggestions Appreciated

[MitchMan31]

Hi guys,

I've made previous system build plans in the past. Although this is the only one I'm serious about now. I plan to use my PC for purposes including:


Heavy Gaming - COD4, Crysis
Coursework - Word, Excel
Heavy Web Surfing - Webmastering, Trading etc


This may sound sad, but I'm running on an 8 year old 'Packard Bell Imedia 5094'. So anything upgraded will be a happy result for me. Although my real target is to have a machine that can cope with running the latest up to date games (COD4, Crysis) and still be able to have programs such as firefox etc running at the same time.

My budget for the project is $1400 or £700


<<<Planned Build - WITH UNSURE OPTIONS>>>


CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.66GHz (1333FSB) - $252
Motherboard - MSI P7N Diamond nForce 780i SLi - £$330
Memory - OPTION 1 - Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (4x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz - $224
OPTION 2 - GeIL 4GB (4x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragon DDR2 - $188
Graphics - XFX 384MB 8800GS - $240
Storage - Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - $105
PSU - Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU $130
Case - Unsure - $100

O/S - Windows Vista Home 32 bit - $100

Mods
Alphacool LCD-Display 200x64 Pixel in Black - $86
Scythe Kama Bay Speakers, 5.25 Internal Speakers Black - $34


Total = $1601 :ohwell: Let me know what you think of the system, how it will run etc. Thanks everyone :roll:

[JrRacinFan]

No offense, where are you shopping at?

Also, You may want to look into maybe a Xeon quad or Yorkfield Quad.

Another note, a 2x2gb kit may give you some futureproofing as to where you will still have 2 dimms open if you want to add even more ram later.

Maybe look into a 64 bit flavor of vista, I had used it just recently and it seems very good. Oh and to add you may be able to get a 500GB hdd for the same price as the 320GB.

[MitchMan31]

Hi, thanks for the reply, I was looking at the quad yeah, I can get it for an extra $20 ontop of the current planned processor. I had thought of of using the RAM configuration you say but I'm not bothered about updating in future, I usually outrun a system and then just buy a new one. I don't need 500GB of storage and finally I like in the UK and Import taxes are high so they get passed on to us the consumer. I also head Vista 64bit has game compatibility problems. Thanks :roll:

[JrRacinFan]

Ahhh, so you're basically purchasing in the UK then?

No game incompatibilities here, never heard of them. Although I don't game much.

[MitchMan31]

Yeah, I'm purchasing in the UK which sucks. Thanks for the good advice though. You'll gain thanks for this one :D

[FatForester]

I'm not familiar with UK pricing, so I'll give you some pointers on parts. I would change the 8800GS to either a 9600GT or 8800GT, depending on how much more they cost. Also, if you aren't really planning on using SLI, then I would go with an Intel chipset, either the P35 or X38, because they are more stable when overclocking. I would go with 64-bit too, since you're wanting to get 4 gigs of RAM, it seems like the best thing to do. As far as the RAM, grab 2x2gb sticks like JrRacinFan said. Uhh... for processor I'd either go up to a quad or downgrade. These things overclock like crazy so you don't necessarily have to invest that much to get good performance. Sorry for the overload of information but good luck with the build!

[MitchMan31]

Just to update you, I'm not going to be overclocking my system. So please advise as necassary :roll:

[JrRacinFan]

Well, that makes a big difference in your budget then. To get the most out of your hardware, I would definitely plan for quad core then.

It is a pretty good build, don't get me wrong, but really really consider an overclock.

I mean take a look at rig 1 in specs: I made it perform like an e4500 @ stock with an overclock.

[erocker]

Many people aren't liking the 780i chipset. Do your really need a SLi board? You may want a quad, but since you aren't overclocking, a e8400 runs stock at 3ghz, is newer and faster. Get an ATi 3870x2 which will satisfy any man's hunger for heavy gaming and save some money with a p35 chipset motherboard. Or, if you really want Nvidia, find a tried and true 680i board and get a 8800GTS 512mb instead.

[Laurijan]

If you by 4x1Gb ram they wont overclock as good as if you have 2x2Gb ram or 2x1Gb because the memory controller is not working as hard then.. and MSI mobos are crap IMO try to get Asus, DFI or Gigabyte

[lowflyer]

I agree with erocker, you dont really need an sli board unlesss your going to run sli so you could save some money there. Trust me, with one 8800GT and my quad im getting 9720 in 3dmark06, and thats without overclocking, and handles every game I throw at it on the highests settings possible.