It's Time - NEW gaming build. FINAL LIST

[Anth83]

Ok its time. Budget - $2000 - $2300 Australian Dollars

I already have LCD, speakers, mouse, keyboard and sound card. I will be looking at overclocking the cpu to around 3 ghz .Here is what i have picked out so far -

CPU - Q6600 - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/21276/

MOTHERBOARD - Not sure. Need suggestions. whats good for O/Cing?

RAM - also not sure. Maybe corsair XMS?

VIDEO CARD - 8800GTX - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/20914/

DVD - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/22424/

HARD DISK - Seagate 320 gb - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/19712/

CASE - Antec 900 - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/20609/

OS - Vista home premium - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/22090/
OR go with 64-bit??

PSU - Corsair 520 (dunno if its enough power) http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/20286/

Now im not sure about cooling for the CPU. Be right with stock??
Any input GREATLY appreciated.

[marine63]

yeah get the corsair xms
have you consider e6850? im not sure about overclocking but e6850 is a big jump in performance ( get it b4 they run out of stock)
not many programs are on 64-bit so no reason to get something youll need
motherboard get a asus p5k im not sure about overclocking but the people one this site perfer this motherboard b/c the stablitiy and easy usage of this brand

[LeftyAce]

Deffinitely get the P5K. ASUS is reliable, and pretty easy to set up. I've got an opteron overclocked from 1.8GHz to 2.6 on my A8N, and could go higher if I wasn't dumb and forgot to turn down the chipset speed :-)

64Bit os is only useful if you want/need more than 3 GB of ram. Right now, I'd get XP 32 bit because 2 GB is plenty for modern games. When you start needing more ram, upgrade to Vista 64 as well.

Programs *should* work fine on Vista 64, but there are some driver issues, etc. Give it a year and it should be rock solid. You won't be needing more ram 'till after then anyway.

For overclocking, deffinitely get Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800Mhz.

[Anth83]

Is this Memory Ok?? - http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/18448/

[flanzig1]

This is more like what you want, it will be good with OC and you want the CAS5: http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/14991/

[Dswissmiss]

Also make sure you get a Sata hard drive, not ata
http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/19494/

[Anth83]

Thanks. Will the Corsair 520 be enough to handle the system?


Also that RAM in that link is only 2 sticks of 512 = 1gb. I wanted 2 sticks of 1 gb = 2 gig

[Sirkwa]

Thanks. Will the Corsair 520 be enough to handle the system?


Also that RAM in that link is only 2 sticks of 512 = 1gb. I wanted 2 sticks of 1 gb = 2 gig

It might be, use this (http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp) to help calculate

[Anth83]

It says 670w is reccomended. What the hell? Surely i don't need a PSU thats over 600W.

[blue60007]

No...those calculators tend to overdo things. The video card will be the biggest guzzler of power, and it recommends a 450W minimum...now that seems a little skimpy considering it requires two extra plug ins, but that 520W is very powerful. There's always a 620W version if you'd feel better with extra headroom.

[LeftyAce]

My friend is running an 8800GTX on the 520W corsair powersupply with no problems.

[Anth83]

Yeah but is he also overclocking and running a Q6600?

[IntegraGSR]

Did you put down Quad Processors, or Single? Technically it's one processor.

[Anth83]

Did you put down Quad Processors, or Single? Technically it's one processor.

I just put down the Quad core. Thats it.

[LeftyAce]

Yeah but is he also overclocking and running a Q6600?

Well, no. So maybe 600W is right....

[blue60007]

Oh, well if you are going to overclock the quad core I'd go for the 620W. The quad's uses double the power of the duals (since it's basically two Dou's slapped together) the extra power sure won't hurt.

[Anth83]

Thanks i will go 620w

1. I have decided on this board - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050 Is there any difference between the DS3 and the DS3R??

2. I am undecided on RAM. Im not sure whether to go with G-Skill or corsair XMS 800

Suggestions?

[Dswissmiss]

The DS3 has a P965 northbridge while the DS3R has the newer P35 chipset. I would go with the latter as it is more future proof. I think it will support Intel's next gen processors either out of the box or with a future BIOS upgrade.

[Cricket]

2. I am undecided on RAM. Im not sure whether to go with G-Skill or corsair XMS 800I'd use the Corsair RAM.

:) Cricket

[Anth83]

I'd use the Corsair RAM.

:) Cricket

Any particular reason or you just prefer corsair??

[LeftyAce]

I can't speak for the g.skill, but I can tell you corsair is great to work with. I've had one stick go bad (out of the 10 or so I've used in the past year) and they overnighted the replacement to me!

[Anth83]

I'm a little confused as to go with the Q6600 or the E6850. The system will be used mainly for the new games, but surely c2d would be enough?? Maybe even the E6600?? Any thoughts?

[LeftyAce]

I would get the Q6600 for future-proofing. A year ago, few games used more than 1 core. Now quite a few utilize dual core processors, and the trend is towards more cores, so getting the quad core will set you up to stay current longer.

[Anth83]

q6600 it is :)

Do you reccomend another fan?? Or the stock fan would be ok?? Don't forget i am overclocking..

[Mavman1]

q6600 it is :)

Do you reccomend another fan?? Or the stock fan would be ok?? Don't forget i am overclocking..

I can't-(from experience) recomment one, but did want to mention that going aftermarkent will void the warranty on the CPU.

[Anth83]

Ok my final list is as follows -
CPU- q6600
MOTHERBOARD - Gigabyte GA-p35-Ds3R
RAM - Corsair XMS 2x1 Gig pc 6400 800mhz
VIDEO CARD - Leadtek 8800GTX
CASE - Antec 900
PSU - Corsair 620HX
HARD DISK - Seagate 320 gig SATA II 7200rpm
DVD - Lite on DVDr SATA
OS - Windows Vista home premium

1. How does all that look?? Ok??

2. Do i really need an after market fan?? I will be overclocking the cpu to 3 gig. I don't care about the warranty. I'm just wondering if i need one thats all. I don't want to get too overheated.

Thermalright ULTRA??

TOTAL PRICE - $2135

Thanks

[LeftyAce]

You will most likely need an aftermarket cpu fan if you are overclocking. (And overclocking will void the warranty anyway, so there's no reason not to get a better fan). I have a Thermaltake Big Typhoon and it's great (And came with its own fan).

[Dswissmiss]

Looks good. Just to add to all the confusion, the Gigabyte DS3P (as opposed to DS3R) comes with onboard firewire...in case you need it. Also, not too well versed in CPU cooling, but just make sure it will fit your mobo and case. I know some Gigabytes come with pretty large northbridge heatsinks so just ask before you buy.
Personal opinion: make sure you get a relatively quiet CPU cooler.

[Anth83]

Ok i have decided on the G.Skill RAM,

Also the Tuniq Tower 120 heatsink.

Will that fit ok in my antec 900 case?