Need a new PC, but from whom?

[Arthix]

BTW what site did you use to get that price? And I think the graphic card is different too..

Hmm you may be right about the graphics card, that may explain the £200 differance, . Sorry.

I still think its completely crazy to go for such a high end system (especially on the graphics card) that won't be used for anything that requires much more than onboard graphics . I went for a 8800GT (~£150-200) thats near enough to a GTX/GTS to not make much differance to me and I use mine for games!

I don't think it will be too long before the 9xxx series of Nvidia cards come out making your super expensive Ultra die in value. Same with the CPU, Intel are bringing some new quads out soonish. Probly not worth waiting for, no release dates as far as I can see but I know i'd feel a bit miffed if I bought a CPU for £600 only to see it selling for far less once the new stuff comes out.

[scook94]

*sigh* If I opt for the GeForce 512MB 8800GT from "laptopsandpcs" then the price drops to £1626.41. I think I'll take your advice on this one and opt for this card.

Never thought it would be so hard to spend my money! 

[scook94]

I don't think it will be too long before the 9xxx series of Nvidia cards come out making your super expensive Ultra die in value. Same with the CPU, Intel are bringing some new quads out soonish. Probly not worth waiting for, no release dates as far as I can see but I know i'd feel a bit miffed if I bought a CPU for £600 only to see it selling for far less once the new stuff comes out.

I know, I know. That's what we have to put up with PCs, our shiny,shiny bright new toys are obsolete by the time we take delivery. I'm resigned to that fact...

[Arthix]

*sigh* If I opt for the GeForce 512MB 8800GT from "laptopsandpcs" then the price drops to £1626.41. I think I'll take your advice on this one and opt for this card.

Never thought it would be so hard to spend my money! 

Switch to the Q6600 and the price drops even further! At which point you wouldn't need a 850W PSU anymore and could switch to a 600W or even a 500W (Quality branded of course).

Have a read here, Link. Particularly the final thoughts section.

[scook94]

  Dude can you just not let me blow my money how I want!!! LOL

Ok, I take you're point, the conclusion on that link pretty much blows the QX6850 out of the water! I'll read the rest of the article tomorrow to see what I'd need to do to overclock the Q6600.

I'm off to look at prices for a new Nikon D300 with the money you've just saved me... 

[Arthix]

Dude can you just not let me blow my money how I want!!! LOL

Ok, I take you're point, the conclusion on that link pretty much blows the QX6850 out of the water! I'll read the rest of the article tomorrow to see what I'd need to do to overclock the Q6600.

I'm off to look at prices for a new Nikon D300 with the money you've just saved me... 

My work is done here . Sorry Simon .

There is an overclocking guide on the overclockers forum, Overclocking and Cooling section, probly best to have a read into it before you decide if you are willing to give it a go or not. You would also need an after market cpu cooler (Mine cost £30 and its one of the best.).

[Glenn]

Scook 94, using your spec, I have tried to spend the £2000 you want, but come to £1600, the parts are not all exactly the same, the main difference being the case, also a faster CPU

    608447 BFG nVidia GeForce 8800GTS OC '675Mhz' 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out (PCI-E) - £194.95     £194.95     

   606828 Microsoft Vista Ultimate X64 Edition DVD - £91.50    £91.50    

   608301 Samsung 20x DVD±R/±RW S-ATA Lightscribe Dual Layer Multi Bezel - £18.72    £18.72    

   607047 Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3GB/s 16MB Cache - £53.50    £53.50    

   605284 Western Digital Raptor SATA 150GB 16MB 10000RPM    £106.34    £106.34    

    606632 Asus Striker Extreme nForce 680 SLI PCI-E (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard £138.00     £138.00    

   608009 Corsair Twin2X 4GB DDR2 (2x2048MB) XMS2 6400 C5 £85.10    £85.10    

   606724 Thermaltake Toughpower 850W Modular Black PSU - SLI Ready £92.50    £92.50    

   608352 Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9650 3.00GHz 'Yorkfield' 12MB Cache LGA775 (1333 Mhz) - Retail £536.13    £536.13    

   606495 Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - No PSU £58.00    £58.00

Replacing the CPU with a Q6600 drops the price down to £1148.

All prices are from Tekheads, a very trustworthy company, with a very fast turnaround for any RMA parts.

[scook94]

My work is done here . Sorry Simon .

There is an overclocking guide on the overclockers forum, Overclocking and Cooling section, probly best to have a read into it before you decide if you are willing to give it a go or not. You would also need an after market cpu cooler (Mine cost £30 and its one of the best.).

Just wondering, does overclocking invalidate your warranty? And, which cpu cooler do you have?

[Rik]

Arthix, just waiting for the mods to approve me. I've given you some Karma for the help... 

In what way approve you?

[Lance]

If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.

I notice looking through the costed specs in this thread, none of them seem to include a monitor (unless I need to go to specsavers!).

Rik - They must do manual account activation

[Inactive]

If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.



Rik - They must do manual account activation

My thoughts as well Lance, the last Medion Computer at £629.99 from Aldi had a combination one, allowing either system to be used.

[Lance]

Was that a combination reader or combination writer, In?

[scook94]

In what way approve you?

Rik,
  I was advised to join the OcUk forum, when you register you can't log on until one of their mods approves you, I guess to make sure I'm a real person rather than a spammer.

[Inactive]

Was that a combination reader or combination writer, In?

Not 100% sure Lance, I think it was a writer, it was an LG unit, that was Blu-Ray and HD DVD compatible.

[scook94]

If you are looking to future proof, I would get either a blu-ray of HD-DVD writer - and a decent monitor which can display the HD output.

I notice looking through the costed specs in this thread, none of them seem to include a monitor (unless I need to go to specsavers!).

Rik - They must do manual account activation

I'd looked at Blu-ray but decided that it might be worth waiting for the cost of BD-RE drives to drop first. I had intended to use my existing flat screen monitor as I had wanted to pour most of my budget into the base unit, but now it looks like I'll only be spending ~£1200 I can maybe rethink that and maybe get a new 22" one...

[Lance]

I wonder if it was like this one where it can write blu-Ray but only read HD-DVD.

I'd go for a 24" monitor myself

[Inactive]

Possibly Lance, if it was,  that made the Medion Computer look a real bargain.

[Glenn]

This is regarded as one of the best 24" monitors Dell

[Rik]

Rik,
  I was advised to join the OcUk forum, when you register you can't log on until one of their mods approves you, I guess to make sure I'm a real person rather than a spammer.

Right, sorry, I thought you were talking about here.

[Lance]

My thoughts too when I saw the price of the drive

[Inactive]

Right, sorry, I thought you were talking about here.

[Rik]

This is regarded as one of the best 24" monitors Dell

Though I'd recommend the Eizo to anyone interested in graphics/digital photography, and I'd also recommend a Pantone Huey to go with it.

[Arthix]

Just wondering, does overclocking invalidate your warranty? And, which cpu cooler do you have?

Warning
Before we start, a word of warning, overclocking voids your warranty and increases the risk of premature death of you're hardware. The use of extreme voltages can lead to instant death of hardware if you are careless. Overclocking can also kill your Windows install so back-up anything important!

Quoted from that overclockers guide, I'd say its worth the risk for a saving of £450.. but then I'm not you.

I have a Tuniq Tower CPU cooler, gotta be a bit careful with your choice as they can be huge (mine "Just" fits in my case). Overclocked my Q6600 a little last night, stable at 3.0 Ghz (same clock speed as the QX6850) without changing any voltages, i'll go further later on.

I went for the Samsung SM-245B 24" widescreen, pretty happy with my choice, little bit of screen burn but can't fault it otherwise.

Did you get approved over at OcUK yet?

[scook94]

Yes, the mods have approved me but I've not had a chance to post anything yet. I've been looking again at some of their pre-overclocked systems but the only one that I fancy is back up at around £1700!
However, I think I'll dump the ASUS striker extreme board though as it doesn't appear to the best for overclocking, the Intel P35 based mobos look like a better bet...

[scook94]

Well I ordered the parts this morning. Went with the Q6600/Abit IP35 pro, 4gb of Crucial ballistic tracer RAM, 2 WD Raptor 150Gb disks a WD 320Gb disk and the Asus 8800 GT 512Mb graphics card and the Antec 182 case. A few other bits and bobs too... In total just over £1300.

My other half is away down to London this weekend so I'll have peace and quiet to build it and no nagging about the mess I'm making!