New Build - First Time

[mwhaha]

Hi, Basically Im looking to build myself a pc for games/multimedia purposes etc. Thing is with new pcs being about 1200 quid, decided to make my own for (alot) cheaper I hope. Can you make any suggestions to improve my pc, but please bear in mind that I will be playing Cod4 on it, when It comes out

Atm, My specs are;
Processor: £165.36 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair)) Retail Boxed Processor

Mobo: Asus STRIKER EXTREME 680I SLI Socket 775 onboard Audio ATX - £160
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113971

HDD: £73.13 - Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache 7200RPM - OEM
Optical Drive: £23.89 LiteOn 20X SATA DVD±RW/RAM With Beige, Black & Silver Bezel + Nero - Retail
Graphics Card: £296.99 Extra Value Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card OEM
Sound Card: £74.50 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer - Fatal1ty Professional Series

Need a PSU - 1000w?, RAM (about 2-3 GB), some cooling device and a case(which Im looking for, just need to know how big it will have to be to fit all of this in)

Budget is up to £1000.

Appreciate Any Help, Thanks

[Katreat]

OK, I will start off asking if you really need SLI? Basically, SLI is designed to make the best better. If you really need that kind of speed and can afford two 8800 GTX right from the start then it works. For future upgrades and down the road improvements, SLI is not a good deal.

Basically it works like this; History has shown that the next generation Video card will be better than two of the last generation in SLI. So you will be better off just upgrading to a single card a little sooner if you need top notch speed and skipping the costs associated with SLI.

That being said, I would look at the following:

MB – Asus P5K (about half the cost of the striker)
CPU – Q6600 is an excellent choice. The other most recommended is the E6750 which is a little bit faster and cheaper, but gives up the extra cores.
HDD – Good choice
Optical – Good choice
Graphics – Good choice and one should play about anything you throw at it. (one would be half the cost of two)
Sound – Personally, I think the newer MB with 8 channel sound is all most people need. I game with a headset most of the time and it drives them fine. About the only need for a dedicated sound card is if you have a large investment in your speakers. Also, Vista does stuff with sound that messes with some of the traditional features people got sound cards for. So generally I recommend trying on-board sound first and then adding a sound card if you want better, sound cards are easy to add later on.
PSU – Well, if you skip SLI a Corsair 620 would handle the build just fine. Any quality 650+ PSU would be enough. (about half the cost of a 1000 w certified PSU)

Now, if you are really set on SLI then your components look compatible. Check out this site and buy a certified PSU for the cards you intend.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

Good luck on your build

Kat

[mwhaha]

Well, I was thinking about getting another 8880 GTX a bit further down the line, but if you say its not worth it i won't bother then.

Is the pk5 similar quality to the striker?

Also, Since I have played on CB and looking to get into it again, do you think I should get a soundcard, and I do play alot of music on it etc, with big speakers ^^

PSU I have picked is http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124922

is that a good quality one? Is it compatable as well?

Also, What about RAM, what type is compatable with the pk5 - DDR2 right and what is the best quality I can get?
Also, what about ventilation and fans?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by mwhaha PSU I have picked is http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124922 is that a good quality one? Is it compatable as well?

I've never heard of that brand and a 500 watt PSU for only $44? Good quality 500 watt PSUs generally cost twice as much. I wouldn't use it in my computer.

Cricket

[mwhaha]

Decided on a Corsair HX Series 620W Modular PSU - ATX12V v2.2 APFC only £90 as well

Liked the Antec Nine Hundred - Gaming Case with 200mm Top Fan - No PSU is £70, but Is it big enough to hold everything? Especially, my graphics card.
Link: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

Where should I get my RAM from? Kingston or Crucial?

[Devastator]

Trying to answer up a few question for you, here's my suggestions:

RAM Option 1 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/111439
RAM Option 2 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98710
Ram Option 3 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98691

PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/114945
Case - Any case that fits and ATX motherboard. Another edit: Yes the Antec 900 is easily big enough, can be hard to install though.

Deffinately get the P5K, I don't think SLi is worth it either. Edit: I don't think you'll need 620W, so the one i've linked to above should be OK?

Do not get the eBuyer extra value card, all the extra value stuff i've had from ebuyer has clapped out in a matter of days sometimes.
Better make of graphics card:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120933

[Katreat]

I would suggest RAM option 2 for the most stable system because of the 5-5-5 timing. But I know people using the 4-4-4 timing without any problems so either 1 or 2 would be fine. I would go with the 800, not the 667. Not sure it would be any faster at stock speeds with that CPU but it is pretty cheap right now and gives you some future proofiing.

I agree with Dev that the Corsair 520 will probably be enough for your system, my recommendation for the 620 is just my tendency to overbuild. I had to change the PSU when I upgraded video on my first system so I leave myself lots of head room now.

I used an Antec 900 for my current build. i went with the 8800 GTS which is a little shorter but there appears to be plenty of room for the GTX in there also. The case has an optional fan holder on the back of one of the hard drive cages and that would probably not work with a GTX card. The case is a wind tunnel if you turn up the fans so doubt you would ever need another fan anyway. The case was actually pretty easy to work with but wire management can be a challenge. Be sure to have some ties to bundle the wires with and I found some self stick wire guides at Radio shack which worked wonders for making it look all nice and neat.

Kat