£1000 gaming system

[Jimmy0]

Hi guys,

I am looking to put £1000 into a new gaming PC. (This includes monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc)

Here is what I have so far:

Case: Coolermaster Centurion 5 Silver
MB: ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP AiLifestyle Series P35 Socket 775 Socket eSATA 8 channel Audio ATX Motherboard
I am choosing this flavour of the P5K range because I need the WiFi capabilities.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
GFX: EVGA 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTVOut PCI-E Graphics Card
HDD: Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache 7200RPM - OEM
PSU: Corsair HX Series 520W Modular PSU - ATX12V v2.2 APFC
RAM: Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty
Optical: LiteOn 20X SATA DVD±RW/RAM With Beige, Black & Silver Bezel + Nero - Retail
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x32Bit OEM 1PK DVD

Monitor: Samsung SM226BW 22" TFT Monitor 1680x1050 3000:1 300cd/m2 2ms VGA/DVI Black 3 Years Warranty Award Winning Monitor
Mouse: Logitech G5 2007 Edition Laser Gaming Mouse - USB
Keyboard: Not sure yet, will possibly go instore somewhere (PCWorld?) and have a hands on feel for a keyboard I like, unless someone can link me to get a decent one.

Total: £938 (This leaves room for a keyboard and also a headset, which I want)

Also I would like your help picking out an enclosure for a 300GB IDE hdd that I have, and want to use as a backup hdd for the new build, so if you can link me to decent products then I will be very greatful.

Thoughts, criticism wanted!

Thanks!

EDIT: Also what are your opinions about the Q6600 over the E6750, what would you recommend right now (regardless of price difference).

[gtucker329]

Good choices from what I can determine. I've used several of the centurion 5 cases on customer builds and i have the same Samsung monitor. It looks great. The HDD may be a bit of overkill unless you store lots of media.

[RazR]

as of right now, nothing is optimized to use all 4 cores..
most games right now use only 1 core..
if you want to future proof, go with the q6600
but you will do just fine with the E6750

Edit:
the power supply that you picked is good
you may want to push for the corsair 620
just to give you a little bit of head room in case you want to make future upgrades

[freakitchen]

Very nice selections there Jimmy, nothing at all I'd change there - apart from perhaps the x64 bit flavour of Vista, if you want the option of going to 4GB of RAM at any point. The 8800GT should be in stock in a few days, but it looks like its worth the wait, outperforming the 8800GTS for very similar money.

On the processor choice, I'd say it depends how much multitasking you think you'll be doing. I'd personally go for the quad, but that's just based on my usage.

EDIT: I had recommended the Antec MX-1 enclosure pre-edit, but it's SATA only. Not many other quality options over here, but this Icybox enclosure looks like it should be decent - at least it's not ebuyer's own brand!

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124186

[Jimmy0]

I still haven't got around to building this, mainly because I still haven't been able to find the 8800GT instock.

A few alterations:

CPU: Q6600
HDD: 320GB (I know it is out of stock, if it doesn't come instock then I will get one from Novatech as they are pretty much the same price)
OS: 64Bit Vista Home Premium
RAM: ?

What 4GB RAM would you recommend? 2x2GB or 4x1GB (I am leaning towards 2x2GB)

[shadowpr]

get 2x2gb ram. cas 5

[tigstah]

thats funny, i am looking at the same mobo, cpu ram. psu unit. will order in the next few days.
i'll get the 8800gt next week.

[Katreat]

Your choices look great. If you are mainly a gamer I would go for the E6750 over the Q6600. At this time there are few if any games that will utilize the 4 cores and the E6750 saves you about $80 (US) and out performs the Q6600. I would save the quad for an upgrade down the road when games start utilizing it and prices drop.

Not sure if I am quite ready to recommend a 64 bit OS. Two gigs of ram will play just about anything out right now and I still read reports of in-compatibility cropping up from time to time. Most of it seems to be fixed with driver upgrades but it is still a hassle. I went vista but stayed with 32 bit and 2 gigs of ram hoping to avoid problems.

The Quad is a great processor and the 64 bit OS is getting better reviews so take that as just my opinion for building a more stable system. I expect the Quad and 64 bit OS will work just fine for most newer software.

As to Mice and Keyboard. The G-5 is suppose to be excellent. I was going to go for that mouse myself but got side tracked with a MX 518 for a killer price on sale. The 518 is also a great mouse so check prices and decide. The G-5 is a bit faster but I cant keep up with the top setting on the MX 518 so the speed is wasted on me anyway.

As for gaming keyboards I have heard good things about both the Logitech G11 (which I use) and the G-15. I read a lot of reviews about the G 15s little screen not working with many games so I just went with the G-11 which has been fantastic so far. I think they are about the same except the G-15 gives you a little screen to view commands in. I was also looking at the Saitek but personally did not like the strange feel of it. The Logitech’s are more traditionally styled. The Logitech G –11 is just a little longer than a standard internet keyboard.

Kat

[tigstah]

if going with the 6750 and the 8800 gt or gtx, would a 520 psu be sufficient or should a higher watt like a 600 be better. non sli of course.

[shadowpr]

The corsair 520 should work. If you want a bit more headroom get the 620. I have the 620 with a e6750 and an 8800gts, and it works fine.

[tigstah]

thanks i appreciate it.