1st PC build

[benny269]

Hi

After some a long while of advice and research, I've come up with a spec list for my 1st PC build. Just for background its a PC I'll take to uni, fairly fast and high end and capable of multitasking, capturing/editing video and playing DX9 games well and perhaps some early DX10. The idea is to create a strong PC that will itself last a good few years as well as providing room to upgrade with upcoming releases. Buying from the UK, rough budget is £1000. Initially it will be stock running but I am interested in learning how to and implementing an overclock.

The following is a list of the parts I have chosen and my reasons behind it:

CASE - Coolermaster Mystique 632S

Sturdy steel model, good cooling with 2x120mm fans, sockets for liquid cooling, attractive design

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R

Has all the features I need, good quality and value from a well known brand, I've read a few good reviews, the higher models with CF support is of no use to me nor is DDR3 support (dual with DDR2 or otherwise), plenty of SATA connectors, no firewire but I don't use it much and I'll probably add 1 later on a fan controller or PCI card, I've also seen people use it with the E6750 and get reasonable overclocks so hopefully with good RAM this will be possible

CPU - Intel E6750

Best price/perf value, latest 1333FSB, cheaper than E6700, overclockability headroom

RAM - Crucial Ballistix 2GB

PC2-6400 DDR2, has shown overclockability to above PC2-8500, well known brand, special deal good value, attractive design

GRAPHICS CARD - eVGA 8800GTS 320MB

Best value high end card, very good DX9 capability, early DX10 capability, plenty of GDDR3 RAM, performance similar to 640MB version

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint T166-HD501LJ

Large hard-drive for lots of media I gather, fast and efficient model, lots of good reviews, will allow a few good sized partitions

N.B. No RAID for now as from what I read it seems to complicate more than its worth. Will continue to use external backups for now and perhaps opt for this in the future.

PSU (& PERIPHERALS) - Corsair HX 520W

Well know and popular power supply, reasonably quiet, good reviews, modular, lots of power to cover future additions of 2 DVD-RW drives, memory card reader bay, TV Tuner card to name the ones I have planned so far...

CPU COOLER - Arctic Freezer 7 Pro

MANY great reviews, great value

So this is where I am now. Please let me know how I am doing, where I am right and wrong and offer your thoughts on how you would do it differently but most importantly what the best choice would be in my situation. Please note that all the links I have included are the sites from which I would probably buy the products if I decided on them. eBuyer seems to be particularly cheap and offers free delivery but I've read a few bad reviews which makes me nervous - any first hand experience? Any other recommended retailers would also be useful.

Looking forward to your views. Many thanks

 

[benny269]

anyone?

 

[olds]

Using onboard sound?

 

[MarcVenice]

Erm, the build is pretty much perfect. Perhaps 4gb of ram if you intend using Vista 64x.

 

[benny269]

Thanks marc. And no plans on Vista at all at the moment, so I think 2GB will more than suffice leaving room for upgrade in future if necessary.

oldsmoboat - onboard sound to begin with. Not working with sound more than a little gameplay but I've got the room to add in something later if needed.

Any more advice or opinions?

 

[snoopy7548]

i am actually looking to build a new comp pretty soon and believe it or not, everything you have selected is what i have been looking at (except the case, I want a SilverStone KL02 case, a 640mb 8800gts to play at higher resolutions and an Auzentech soundcard, and also maybe a TV tuner).

i just have one question. i have heard people say that ddr800 ram is fast enough and you wont notice a difference between that and 1066 or 1333. why? wouldn't you want the speed of the RAM to match the speed of the FSB of your cpu and motherboard? i just dont understand the logic there. it's like having a brain that reads faster than the speed it can remember what it just read.

 

[MarcVenice]

cpu's are qaudpumped, so 333mhz is 1333mhz, and ram is doublepumped, so ddr800 runs at 400mhz. Since 400mhz > 333mhz it's fast enough. Don't ask me to get all technical, that's something best left for the cpu or ram forum ^^

 

[0roo0roo]

p180 case?

 

[benny269]

That's a great explanation from marc - can't get clearer than that.

I personally prefer the aesthetics on the 632S case but that's just me and the all black P180b is pretty nice too. I just didnt like the bottom-located PSU and cabling arrangements that Antec have got on there. I know its supposed to help heat transfer, ease cabling and reduce sound but I personally found it overcomplicated as it causes other issues e.g. you'll need to look at your mobo and PSU rails again to see if you need specially long cables

 

[MarcVenice]

most PSU's can reach the 12v 4pin power slot just fine, some will need an extension cable if you want to route it behind the back of the motherboard tray. Small price you have to pay imo. I love the p182 I've got, which is basicaly a p180b, so yeah.

 

[benny269]

Thanks to everyone for their input and advice. Just a few last minute bits to sort out. I've posted my proposed specs on a couple of forums and am having to just make a final decision on the following:

RAM - I originally posted the Crucial Ballistix but was later also recommended a pair of GEIL sticks at £10 less. Geil is less known to me but has some good reviews on this site and others from its users. At the moment I'm still swaying towards the Crucial RAM just because I've read about some really good overclocks with them on both websites and magazines so I might spend the little extra and take the chance.

HDD - Original post was for the Samsung Spinpoint 500GB which I have read lots of great reviews for. I've just now been advised to look at Seagate. Apparantly the perpendicular storage they offer is better? I don't know much about this so I need advice and tips (even links to articles or reviews would be good) as I don't actually know which model this would be. I do need it to be 500GB so a rough Google Products search puts it at the same price point but I'm not certain.

GPU - Not much of a problem here, just that I selected the EVGA 8800GTS but there is an Innovision card on eBuyer which is £10 cheaper as well as XFX and Point of View at the same price as the EVGA. I'm told that the more expensive ones have a better heat spreader. Is this correct, if so is it worth the small price premium. Don't mind either way, but which brand is best?

So if I could now get your views on these it would be appreciated. Thanks again.