Quick review of a potential PC build

[w0nka]

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 Nvidia MCP55P PCI-E 8 Channel audio ATX Motherboard

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113844
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Socket AM2 Retail Boxed Processor

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125202
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755
ASUS 8800GS 384MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142652
Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB SATAII 16MB Cache 7200 RPM - OEM

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124735
Sony DRU-190A 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM IDE internal - Retail With Multi Bezel & Nero

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142275

Basically, this build is for a gaming pc within a £600 budget. I have left out the case, PSU and Monitor as I will purchase these separately on a different budget. Additionally, I will only buy a keyboard and mouse I have actually typed on....so its a visit to a hardware shop for those.

Can anyone see any immediate problems with this build, in the compatibility etc... I will probably run XP pro on this system, despite having some blue screening the last time I used that O/S with a dual core processor!

 

[Anon_F]

Looks OK, but i'm not a gamer.
Others in the "know" may advise on cheaper deals.

Have you built a system before or is this your 1st build?

 

[itsme]

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 Nvidia MCP55P PCI-E 8 Channel audio ATX Motherboard
------------------------------------------
Brilliant MOBO I have one
-------------------------------
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Socket AM2 Retail Boxed Processor
-----------------------------------------
Get a good cooler to go with this CPU I used the stock cooler it was useless.

 

[guest_9323wk]

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 Nvidia MCP55P PCI-E 8 Channel audio ATX Motherboard

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113844
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Socket AM2 Retail Boxed Processor

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125202
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC with LIFETIME WARRANTY

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755
ASUS 8800GS 384MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142652
Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB SATAII 16MB Cache 7200 RPM - OEM

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124735
Sony DRU-190A 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM IDE internal - Retail With Multi Bezel & Nero

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142275

Basically, this build is for a gaming pc within a £600 budget. I have left out the case, PSU and Monitor as I will purchase these separately on a different budget. Additionally, I will only buy a keyboard and mouse I have actually typed on....so its a visit to a hardware shop for those.

Can anyone see any immediate problems with this build, in the compatibility etc... I will probably run XP pro on this system, despite having some blue screening the last time I used that O/S with a dual core processor!

Looks all fine to me aswell What sort of games are you going to be playing on the system?


Regards,

Wiz

 

[floppybootstomp]

The graphics card is weak for gaming but other than that - ok

You want at least one of These to play latest games.

At least.

 

[w0nka]

Thanks for the responses guys. I have built just the one pc, almost a year ago now. Same sort of bits in terms of the chipsets and sockets etc. Should have a little help on hand from someone who knows far more than me

In terms of my graphics, I was considering:

Zotac 8800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145605

its only a few £ more expensive, but I've not heard of Zotac. Loving the look of that BFG, but I'm not sure I could justify spending more on the graphics than the monitor on this scratch build. As long as it supports DX 10 I'm happy, since its going to be a while before anything comes out that a DX10 graphics card wont support.

Itsme - would you recommend any particular heatsync for this processor, or would you even go as far as water cooling? I'm not sure my immediate budget will stretch that far, but I think its something I want to bare in mind when I buy my case.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Adywebb]

The Noctua NH-U12P would be excellent, or cheaper an Arctic Cooler Freezer Pro.

Alot depends on whether you are going to overclock at all - if so go for the Noctua

 

[itsme]

Either one that Ady has posted. Just make sure you use a good thermal paste and it fits easily read the reviews regarding the fans.

 

[Waynos_Face]

Nice build, but why the IDE drive instead of SATA?
Graphics card is weak

Try this

https://www.aria.co.uk/myAria/Shopp...666fda5&sid2=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e

Intel chip, 8800GT OC as mentioned before and a quality OCZ power supply for £455, things are so cheap at the minute.

 

[Ian]

Nice build, but why the IDE drive instead of SATA?

I'd second that The SATA version of that exact same drive is only ~50p more too:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142274

 

[guest_9323wk]

once you get the sata drive and the better GFX card you will be well away with a great pc.

 

[w0nka]

Yeah great calls all round there guys. I ended up replacing the IDE Drive with the SATA version. I stayed with the graphics card, and thought that I would save up £250 for upgrades at the end of the year. Hopefully by then, I'll upgrade to phenon quadcore (God, I love AM2 sockets ...giggity!) and invest in water cooling. I figure I might as well have a dedicated graphics card budget, saved up for this time next year.

Thanks for all your help guys. Will let you know how the build turns out...in fact, I will undoubtedly need help with this too. /feels nooby.