Specs for poss new PC

[Midge]

just wondered if any1 had any ideas on this new rig im considering
using scan coz i get free delivery (so knock off a tenner from price shown)
got this one to around £590, budget is £600 and im gonna use the 8600GTS OC i have already

[Chazlene]

That's quite a good price for that gear, all I'd say is Corsair RAM is usually overpriced, and you should go with OCZ. Also a slightly more powerful PSU might be good, but I'm no expert.

[ez64]

Definatly worth getting a PSU as you may get a bigger gfx card down the line, also I would say the Q6600 would be a fine choice but it still wont perform well in high graphics games/multi monitor setup with a 8600.

[Midge]

yea about the gfx card, a while back my X700 packed up and the warranty claim never went through (grr) so i decided to get an 8600GTS OC bcoz i didnt have enough money for an 8800 so thats probs gna be the main thing that will be changed
anyone got any suggestions on the PSU? i really wanted modular (tidier lol) but they're quite expensive... the only other corsair one is the 620W but thats an extra £20...

[ez64]

So get a nice Q6600 and a decent PSU for the same price job done

[Midge]

sounds good to me, gonna change the CPU and PSU, but gna keep the RAM coz ive seen the same ones going for £120 on overclockers. i could even get squeeze a Q6700 in, would have enough room in the budget and would still work out around £30 less

and lets be honest, anything nowadays will easily beat the system i have atm... haha

[Chalex4]

As everyone has said, get the Q6600 (g0 stepping) and then buy the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler and a fan to attach to it (e.g. this).

That is what I have and I can easily get to 3.7GHz, although I was very lucky in getting a Q6600 with a VID of 1.200, which is the lowest it can be.

[Calneon]

The PSU is perfectly fine and will handle anything currently on the market bar crossfire 4870/4850s, SLI GTX 260/280.

The Q9450 is a total waste when paired up with a 8600GTS, get a Q6600 and an ATI 4850 instead. This also lets you add another 4850 if you feel you need more power (in which case it might be worth getting the 620 Watt PSU).

This is what I recommend from OCUK:



Not only do you get the best performance/price GFX card on the market (it performs as well as a 9800GTX for £115), you also get a very good motherboard with two PCI-E x16 lanes so you don't get slowed down while crossfiring, and a PSU that can handle another 4850 when you feel like adding another (Xfire 4850s will beat a GTX 280 by a long margin). You also get a larger, faster HDD. The Antec 300 is meant to be a very good case for the price, so don't worry about skimping there, plus it is smaller for better transportation (to i34 ofc!).

Obviously, if you aren't planning on going Xfire in the future (which would be a shame), you can chose a cheaper MB and PSU and possibly get yourself a sound card or something :P.

Hope that helps!

EDIT: Oh shit! Just realised I specced a DDR3 MB, lemme change that... *CHANGED*

[Chalex4]

Phantom, I just love how you have specced him a DDR3 motherboard with some DDR2 RAM!! If you want an X38 chipset mobo, get the Asus Maximus Formula, it has never let me down. It also supports DDR2, which is definitely worth sticking with for now.

I have also heard that the Antec 300 doesn't come with a front intake fan, so you will want to add one of those to your basket as well. As with the heatsink, see my post above .

[Calneon]

Ok, that was stupid on my part . Updated the spec to include 2 front intake fans and the Maximus Formula. This now puts you about £40 overbudget, but it would be worth it IMO considering what you're getting. If you really can't afford much over £600, then you can always opt for a cheaper MB, something like:

Abit IX38 QuadGT - £117
Or
Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 - £100

The second one would only give you x8 on the second 4850, as opposed to x16. This would reduce the performance of the second 4850, but not by much.

[VoX]

Phantom, me and Midge said ages ago that were not going with ATI for a while lol, however crossfire is starting to tempt me instead of SLI...

EDIT: Chalex, that's a bloody huge heat sink!

[Midge]

yea im gonna stick with nvidia for a while and again, i wouldnt buy from OCUK, i get free delivery from scan and ppl i know have had numerous problems with OCUK delivery

just noticed u put in the 300 case... eurgh lol

and im not buying a new gfx card, this one is like brand new, i dont see the point in it at this moment in time

chalex, do u need to buy the clips separately or do they come the HS or fan?

[Chalex4]

Brand new? Sell it on ebay! Use the money from that card to buy the 4850 or something, it is soooo much better.

[Midge]

its not brand new tho, its just not very old at all haha. and i doubt ill get a lot for it either

[Calneon]

The 8600 GTS may be brand new, but that doesn't mean it's a good card. I don't see why you are being a fanboy and sticking with Nvidia even when the 4850 is such a stonkingly good deal. Also, I have never had a problem with OCUK, and they tend to have great deals and cheap prices, and a wide range of products, try speccing that PC in Scan and see what price you get...

But seriously, if you think a good system consists of a Q9450 and a 8600 GTS, you really should listen to Chalex and me if you want the best rig you can buy for the money.