Postill's New Rig

[Adywebb]

C4 will be fine Chris, not even sure you can get any C3 around these speeds with DDR2


You could go for DDR2-8500 (1066MHz) to match the FSB but your looking at alot more money - unless you are going to OC to extreme and use water cooling, then it really isn't worth it to be honest mate.

As regards Quads, the Intel Kentsfield is around £650 at the moment, I believe another is due out first 1/4 next year - basically 2 x E6600's stuck together - but that is still going to be expensive I would guess, and it will not be anywhere near the £200 mark for a long time to come, if ever.

 

[ChristopherP]

Awesome

I will be looking to overclock the chip to beyond 3GHz as this is what the Conroe is exceptionally good at - and it will easily go beyond E67600 speeds, and that chip is more than £100 more The E6600 does this on stock cooling i hear.

So would you reccomend PC-8500 for this purpose then?

 

[ChristopherP]

Here is the latest choice, in my own little spreadsheet dealy...

 

[Adywebb]

I will be looking to overclock the chip to beyond 3GHz as this is what the Conroe is exceptionally good at - and it will easily go beyond E67600 speeds, and that chip is more than £100 more The E6600 does this on stock cooling i hear.

So would you reccomend PC-8500 for this purpose then?

Chris, I've got mine OC'd to a stable 3.2GHz with no problem using the Corsair XMS PC6400C4 - and thats probably not the best OC Ram around, so I personally don't think the PC8500 is worth the extra - but if you have the cash?

I am also using an Artic Cooling Pro 7 for the CPU as well - keeps it nice and cool

 

[ChristopherP]

Chris, I've got mine OC'd to a stable 3.2GHz with no problem using the Corsair XMS PC6400C4 - and thats probably not the best OC Ram around, so I personally don't think the PC8500 is worth the extra - but if you have the cash?

I am also using an Artic Cooling Pro 7 for the CPU as well - keeps it nice and cool

Oh well if 6400 runs overclocked just nicely then i wont bother with 8500 I am a student after all

I have been reading about EVGA's step up program - i can upgrade the card to a better one for free within 90 days... looks good

 

[ChristopherP]

Have been working on this spec some more... want to make sure i get a kickass system for the best money possible... and have been persuaded to stretch my budget a tad more so i can get a better TFT monitor.

Here is the spec as it stands...

Motherboard: EVGA nForce 680 SLI 775 £187.99 Overclockers​

Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) £199.53 eBuyer.com​

RAM: OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 £176.24 Overclockers​

Graphics: Leadtek GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI £393.61 Overclockers​

HDD1: Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 16Mb Cache £44.64 Overclockers​

HDD2: Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 16Mb Cache £44.64 Overclockers​

HDD EXT: Lacie (Designed by Porsche Design GMBH) 320Gb USB 2.0 HDD £77.54 Overclockers​

Enclosure 1: Icy Box IB-138SK-B 3.5" Enclosure £18.79 Overclockers​

Enclosure 2: Icy Box IB-138SK-B 3.5" Enclosure £18.79 Overclockers​

Floppy: Floppy Drive, Standard, Black £- Own​

DVD1: LG GSA H12N Super-Multi DVD±RW Dual Layer DVD-RAM 18x/18x/12x Black £19.99 eBuyer.com​

CD1: Samsung 52x CD-RW Drive £- Own​

Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream (Black, Windowed) *needs to be modified* £- Own​

PSU: OCZ GameXStream 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 £99.86 Overclockers​

Operating System: Microsoft Media Center 2005 OEM Now With *FREE Vista Upgrade* £70.35 Aria Technology​

Monitor: Dell 2407WFP 24" High Definition Multi Input W/ Sound Bar £543.96 ICTSALES.co.uk​

Games: Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition £50.00 Play.com​

Delivery: 40.00​

£1985.93​

 

[Anon_F]

Graphics Card for £393.61

 

[ChristopherP]

Thats the EVGA one - that i really want - but my bank account wont let me have it... i'll have to really stretch my budget again for that... we'll see.

 

[V_R]

Nice!

Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream (Black, Windowed) *needs to be modified* £- Own

In what way does it need to be modded?

 

[Anon_F]

Thats the EVGA one - that i really want - but my bank account wont let me have it... i'll have to really stretch my budget again for that... we'll see.

Can you explain to a non-gamer in one sentence

 

[ChristopherP]

Nice!

In what way does it need to be modded?

I need to remove the HDD section of the case OR make a few incisions.. the graphics card is 275mm long - and thats longer than the distance availiable in a midi-tower ATX case. There are not too many cases the 800GTX fits into easily.

This is why i got the internal HDD enclosures - so i can remove the HDD rack.

Can you explain to a non-gamer in one sentence

Yeah - Step up program, warranty and overclockability

 

[Rush]

By Feckit

Can you explain to a non-gamer in one sentence

FAS..............................................................................................T

although i dont know what games he`s going to play on it to utilize its full potential....maybe crystal clarity distance watching via Hubble versus Pioneer 1 at high res..get the drift ???

 

[ChristopherP]

Read on down the list and you will see a 24" HDTV Display there...

Thats pretty high res, and with a system like that i shouldnt imagine i would get more than about 50fps on max settings in games like Flight Simulator X or the new Colin Mcrae Rally i am going to buy when it comes out...

50fps is low!

Plus of course it is DX10 for vista, and HDCP for media playback - so it seems like it is worth having

 

[Rush]

By chris

Plus of course it is DX10 for vista, and HDCP for media playback - so it seems like it is worth having

Why not build one and sell it for £2.5k ...do four and the rigs yours for free...must know some mega marketing peeps

 

[V_R]

I need to remove the HDD section of the case OR make a few incisions.. the graphics card is 275mm long - and thats longer than the distance availiable in a midi-tower ATX case. There are not too many cases the 800GTX fits into easily.

This is why i got the internal HDD enclosures - so i can remove the HDD rack.

Right i see, As you as you may remember, I got the same case. So thanks for the heads up.

Some pics when its done?

 

[ChristopherP]

If you can find someone to buy one i would... the going rate for a system like that is much nearer £3k at major retailers. I would have to take money before supplying the system though, as i dont have a £2k overdraft.

P.s. i just bought that 24" screen on eBay - £479 + £20 P&P + £!5 for the Dell SoundBar... So saved some money there, assuming all works out OK.

Yeah - the Graphics card is Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig. Very big.

 

[Adywebb]

Its gonna be an awesome rig Chris

 

[ChristopherP]

Do all the components look OK to you - RAM, Motherboard etc?

I chose the EVGA motherboard because it's a fantastic overclocker and has SLI support should i want even awesomer graphics

I also like the whole nForce thing with one single drievr package and you're good to go...

 

[Adywebb]

Don't know anything about the mobo - but the rest looks dandy to me

 

[floppybootstomp]

Do all the components look OK to you - RAM, Motherboard etc?

I chose the EVGA motherboard because it's a fantastic overclocker and has SLI support should i want even awesomer graphics

I also like the whole nForce thing with one single drievr package and you're good to go...

The EVGA motherboard is about THE most expensive motherboard for a home system out there right now. EVGA have only the one motherboard on the market so far but it's gained good reviews.

Almost went for it myself but in the end thought it was too expensive.

Whatever, I wish you luck with it, be sure to let us know how you get on with it - we're curious