£1000 Gaming computer

[Sink41]

I'm building a gaming computer in the UK with a roughly ~£1000 budget. Will be reusing an audigy 4, headphones, possibly some case fans and a spare windows XP disc from an old computer. Have tried overclocking before but not had much luck, so i'm unsure if i want to spend a lot more on better cooling/PSU/memory etc.

http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs219&d=07365&f=newcomputer.jpg from www.microdirect.co.uk (prices exclude VAT)

http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs219&d=...&f=newcomputerscan.png from www.scan.co.uk

Just to note, ignore the extra mice I need some more and any repeated entries on scan is just how they do their special offers.

My questions are which build is better, the scan one is quad core but i don't think corsair memory is good for overclocking? (the scan memory, CPU and motherboard are a bundle so i can't change it). And would it be worth getting a third party CPU cooler if i do decide to overclock. I am unsure if corsair PSU are any good but scan had them on offer. So basically just say if there are any changes you would make.

I could always spread my purchases over two or more online shops just that then i'd probably have to pay more on postage. So i've been trying to stick to one shop.

 

[MarcVenice]

I like the second build better, just because of the qaudcore and the better HD hehe. The pricing is confusing though, the q6600 costs 300quid ? And for oc-ing, any ddr2 800mhz will do, it can get your q6600 to 3.6ghz. I would also invest in a aftermarket cooler. The least I would buy is a arctic freezer 7 pro, I'd rather get this though: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...t.php?prodid=HS-039-TR paired with http://www.overclockers.co.uk/...d=701&catid=57&subcat= or the 1600rpm version. And I'd just buy 2 more for case cooling ^^

And corsair PSU's are pretty good, seasonic built, so no worry's.

 

[Sink41]

Yeah, their special deals can be confusing, the £300 price was because it was a bundle and included a motherboard and memory. Anyway, got my stuff today. Most of it was from scan except for the monitor and PSU. I ended up getting some cheapo zalman CPU cooler for £25 because i wasn't willing to spend over £50 on CPU cooling, hope its at least decent.

Specs are:
640mb XFX 8800GTS (the GTX was just too expensive)
Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR2
500GB Samsung hard drive
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R Motherboard
AD7170 NEC DVD drive
Intel Q6600 Quadcore CPU
Zalman CNPS9500 CPU Cooler
Seasonic 500W PSU
22" Samsung SM226BW Widescreen LCD (C Panel )

Picture of the stuff
http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs219&d=07373&f=newcomputer.jpg

EDIT: xs.to is acting a bit strangly (for me anyway) so heres a mirror http://img208.imageshack.us/my...age=newcomputerit7.jpg

 

[MarcVenice]

Looking good, how much did you spend on each component ? The parts are well picked, just hope you didn't pay to much. Oh, and I doubt you really need 640mb, 320mb woulda been just fine...

 

[Sink41]

Mobo + Memory + CPU £300 (£315 if bought individually)
Hard drive £60
DVD drive £18
Case £23
Grafics card £235
CPU cooler £28
Monitor £217
PSU £62
Keyboard £7
Mouse £5
Postage £20

= £975

But i also bought a USB stick, some CD-R i needed and some mice so with that included was around £1000.

 

[MarcVenice]

Allright, sounds about right

Enjoy your new rig mate. I assume you've got it built up allready.