So, I'm buying a PC..

[DriftingJoint]

Yeah I am buying a new high end gaming pc, my budget is £2,000(which includes VAT and excludes delivery)

I am to be using the website www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk

The parts I am looking at are as follows.

Case:
NZXT Lexa Blackline Performance Mid Tower Steel 420W Case w/Red LED Light

Power Supply
Tagan 1100W TurboJet Quad Quiet SLI Ready Power Supply

CPU:
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit

Cooling:
Titan Amanda TTC-NP04TZ - LGA775 TEC CPU Cooling System

Motherboard:
EVGA nForce 780i SLI Mainboard FSB1333 DDR2 3 x PCIe x16 SATA RAID w/ USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio

Memory:
4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory -OCZ Reaper HPC Edition

Graphics card(s):
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB 16X PCI Express
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB 16X PCI Express

Monitor:
22" (21.6" Viewable) 5MS Wide TFT Active Matrix LCD Display Monitor

Hard Drive(s):
(RAID-0)640GB (320GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

Optical Drive:
SONY DUAL FORMAT 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
or
LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology
(No clue what the difference would be)

Sound card:
Creative Labs X-FI Xtreme Gamer 7.1 PCI Sound Card

Operating System:
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
64-bit Edition




Now backstory, I built my own pc a few years ago and found it to be too much work. I don't mind trading parts etc myself when I buy upgrades, but building it all just seemed like a drain. I am buying this pc pre assembled, I choose the parts out of the parts they allow you to choose and they make it then ship it to you. Which I know costs more but I think it's a sweet rig for £2058.60 in. VAT.

I am buying this to play high end games, Crysis, UT3 and anything else that comes out that tickles my fancy.

Now for why I posted here, I need to know if all that will fit in this case..

Will it overheat at all with the stuff inside?
What else do I need?
Is the case big enough for that stuff?
Will that stuff all work together nicely?
Anything else relative I need to know?

There are a few other cases to choose from, if the stuff won't fit or you think one of the others on the site would be better please inform me so. This is the English site by the way if anyone who wants to give me help if from outside of England, so please don't link me sites from America as the shipping is usually a hastle.

And lastly any other sites that do this service for a kick ass gaming pc for cheaper?

Thanks alot people, I hope you can help because I order it in 2 weeks.

(Used your site for reviews, very informative and helpful so well done guys)

 

[Merlin]

Great MoBo and the Tagan looks sweet, 80 amps on the 12v rail.
That should run the two GPU's....But do you really need the SLI config?...I mean only a 22" LCD? Maybe for a 30" monitor.
I'm planning on getting the same MoBo also.....I'm just waiting on the 45nm quads come out in a few months.
If you look at my signature below, it plays Crysis very nice on High settings.
Your Ram looks good at DDR2 800, but hwat about a little closer FSB to match the MoBo, maybe at least DDR2 1300 to match the FSB of 1333/1066.
The cooler I havent heard of, but the ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED does a great job of cooling.
The case looks like it may need a fan in the front to draw more air into the case, nice top fan, though....and there is a side fan also for the area around the video cards.
Check out the photos of my last build......that's a Zalman cooler there
http://www.pbase.com/merlinsgraphics/2007_machine_build
Sounds like you are going to enjoy the new machine...... Good Luck
Merlin

 

[Rob Williams]

Welcome to the forums DriftingJoint!

What base system on their site did you choose from? There are a few parts there that don't make much sense to me in this point and time. The Q6700, for example, was released in late 2006. There have been multiple successors since that time, and when building a new £2,000 PC, it only makes sense to get a current-generation processor. See how much it would cost to bump up to a QX9650, as it's faster, runs cooler and is better all-around.

I have to agree with Merlin on the SLI issue... using a 22" monitor for a gaming rig is a kick in the ass when SLI is in the system... and even when not. I recommend a 24" monitor at least - one that supports 1920x1200 resolution. Games will look amazing, especially with that choice of GPUs.

Also, do you understand the risks of RAID-0? Be sure you do before commiting to that solution.

Oh and for sound card, X-Fi is good but, I have to pimp the ASUS Xonar, or other CMI8788-based sound cards. They are really kicking X-Fi to the curb.

 

[DriftingJoint]

Great MoBo and the Tagan looks sweet, 80 amps on the 12v rail.
That should run the two GPU's....But do you really need the SLI config?...I mean only a 22" LCD? Maybe for a 30" monitor.
I'm planning on getting the same MoBo also.....I'm just waiting on the 45nm quads come out in a few months.
If you look at my signature below, it plays Crysis very nice on High settings.
Your Ram looks good at DDR2 800, but hwat about a little closer FSB to match the MoBo, maybe at least DDR2 1300 to match the FSB of 1333/1066.
The cooler I havent heard of, but the ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED does a great job of cooling.
The case looks like it may need a fan in the front to draw more air into the case, nice top fan, though....and there is a side fan also for the area around the video cards.
Check out the photos of my last build......that's a Zalman cooler there
http://www.pbase.com/merlinsgraphics/2007_machine_build
Sounds like you are going to enjoy the new machine...... Good Luck
Merlin

(Editted some out and put in this) Just found a monitor that is 24" and will display the 1920x1200 for like £229 including VAT and delivery. So that beats the 450 I would of spent on that site for one, I can now include the QX9650 CPU and I am only £90 over budget. Still have to buy a new keyboard+mouse+mousemat though XD
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...m=null&tm=null&sku=187229&category_oid=-27763
Is that monitor okay for running the SLI and gaming on? Because it's cheap I bet there is something wrong with it haha.

For the memory problem I got the option of:

(2x1GB) PC8500 DDR2/1066Mhz Dual Channel Memory- OCZ Nvidia SLI Ready Edition

Or 4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition

So I thought the 4 gb would be better than the 2 gb.

And as for the RAID-0 I don't know the problems, not really in the know on this kind of thing which is why I posted here

So any other suggestions would be greatly apprechiated, using the Gamer Infinity SLI GT base model here.

Also read a review on that cooler, says it's very good maybe a bit too overpowered for this generation.
Any suggestions on what I could drop out of the rig to get the QX9650 in?
Also how much Power I need, like what is the power supply that would suit my needs the most with all this in. I got the 1100 Tagan SLI ready one on but I could drop down to agan 900W Dual Engine SLI Ready Power Supply instead and save £35.

 

[Rob Williams]

To be honest, it almost seems like a bad idea to buy a pre-built machine instead of building one by yourself. When building one yourself, you have the ultimate set of choices and are not limited to just a few. When the best a boutique can offer is a Q6700, I have to raise questions. Since that processor was released, two more succeeded it in the 65nm era (QX6800, QX6850). Can you downgrade to a Q6600 and save money that way?

As for the 4GB issue, it was indeed a smart move. Just make sure you are choosing a 64-Bit OS to go along with it.

As for the CPU cooler, I assume that TEC is somewhat expensive. If you don't have intentions to overclock, using a good air cooler would serve you well, such as Thermalright's Ultra-120 eXtreme. I would just make sure to add a very good 120mm fan on it.

Regarding the 1100W PSU, that is pure overkill. I've tested far more powerful systems and haven't been able to even surpass 550W at full load. I would drop it down and be sure to read a review from a reputable website before making the purchase.

 

[DriftingJoint]

Edit: They do offer the two CPU's you mentioned, they are just too expensive for me at £254 more, dropped a few things and could only get this computer and the monitor if I magically found like £300.

Same case.

Tagan 900W Dual Engine SLI Ready Power Supply

Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX9650 @ 3.00GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 Cache 64-bit


Stuck between:
4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory -OCZ Reaper HPC Edition

(2x1GB) PC8500 DDR2/1066Mhz Dual Channel Memory -OCZ Nvidia SLI Ready Edition

Second one down is better speed, but only 2gb...Top one is lower but 2 gb more. If I drop the top one and go for the second one down will cost me a little more (like £9) and I could go to 32 bit vista and 64 bit has problems with some games.

Acer X234W - 24" Widescreen TFT Monitor

It will come to a grand total of £2319.24 in. VAT. I don't think I can manage it. If I sell my monitor for say £100 to a friend..Still 219 over budget and need a keyboard mouse and mat. Argg hardest decision ever what to drop out of it.

I need guidance. Someone build a PC on the site I linked before, save £229.98 for the monitor, so don't add a monitor to it. Go to £2,100 max and do it how you see it best please if anyone can?

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

 

[Rob Williams]

What base system did you begin off on their site? I mean the model, so I can try configuring the same one and give advice, give your price range.

I can't tonight though, but can take a look tomorrow. Given you are in the UK, I assume it's very early morning there (very late night here ;-)).

As for that CPU, it might not be such a great idea. It is nice though. It's the latest top-end. I just hate to see you get a PC with a last-gen processor. The new "affordable" 45nm chips will become available soon, but not soon enough it seems.

 

[DriftingJoint]

What base system did you begin off on their site? I mean the model, so I can try configuring the same one and give advice, give your price range.

I can't tonight though, but can take a look tomorrow. Given you are in the UK, I assume it's very early morning there (very late night here ;-)).

As for that CPU, it might not be such a great idea. It is nice though. It's the latest top-end. I just hate to see you get a PC with a last-gen processor. The new "affordable" 45nm chips will become available soon, but not soon enough it seems.

Been using the base model Gamer Infinity SLI GT mate. And yeah 7:51 AM here =(

I have been without a pc to use for the last 6 months since mine blew up, I am going out of my mind with bordem, so unless it's within the next 2 weeks it's released it is too late

Got it down to £2255.68 INC Vat, and monitor.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/st...u=187229&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null

Is that monitor good enough for SLI gaming? It's dirt cheap and 24", also has the 1920x1200 res.

 

[Rob Williams]

I just had a quick look... and noticed that the Q6700 is £165 more than the Q6600, so drop that and just go with the latter. The Q6600 can be easily overclocked to Q6700 speeds, should you feel the need for additional speed. Most new Q6600's overclock far beyond 3.0GHz on air, so 2.66GHz would be a laughable accomplishment.

That would save £165 though. That money would be far more useful somewhere else in the system.

I can take a better look tomorrow.... 4:13AM here, time to hit the sack.

 

[DriftingJoint]

I just had a quick look... and noticed that the Q6700 is £165 more than the Q6600, so drop that and just go with the latter. The Q6600 can be easily overclocked to Q6700 speeds, should you feel the need for additional speed. Most new Q6600's overclock far beyond 3.0GHz on air, so 2.66GHz would be a laughable accomplishment.

That would save £165 though. That money would be far more useful somewhere else in the system.

I can take a better look tomorrow.... 4:13AM here, time to hit the sack.

Managed to get it to £1672.03 in. VAT without monitor, monitor is http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-054-SA&tool=3 is that good enough?

So comes to a grand total of £1971.64, just under my budget.

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7622669

That is a screen shot of the specs. Can you give me some feedback on that please? Thanks.

 

[Rob Williams]

Did you cut the PSU out entirely, or am I just missing it? You should make sure you get one... I wouldn't trust the one that comes with that chassis.

Other than that, the system and that monitor look like fine choices! Just check out a review of that monitor from a reputable site first.

 

[DriftingJoint]

Did you cut the PSU out entirely, or am I just missing it? You should make sure you get one... I wouldn't trust the one that comes with that chassis.

Other than that, the system and that monitor look like fine choices! Just check out a review of that monitor from a reputable site first.

Yeah missed it out sorry,

OCZ GameXStream 850W SLI Ready Power Supply is the power supply. Feel free to take a look at the choices they give and suggest one if you think that one isn't suitable.

And the monitor reviews I read about 50, all 5 star except one which had 4 star because a dead pixel. Which he solved by sending it back and recieved a new one in 2 days of sending it with no dead pixel.

Now I got to find a nice new gaming keyboard and mouse for cheap.

 

[Rob Williams]

I have no knowledge of PSU's whatsoeever, so I'd recommend reading reviews from reputable sites before committing to a purchase. I stress "reputable" because so many sites review PSUs and have no clue how to do it properly ( I was guilty of this in the past ). Reviews where load testers were used are the best.

 

[DriftingJoint]

I have no knowledge of PSU's whatsoeever, so I'd recommend reading reviews from reputable sites before committing to a purchase. I stress "reputable" because so many sites review PSUs and have no clue how to do it properly ( I was guilty of this in the past ). Reviews where load testers were used are the best.

Quoted from Overclock3d.net

"In recognition of these excellent qualities I need to congratulate OCZ for being the first company in the history of Overclock3D to receive our "Best In Class" award. This award signifies that the OCZ GameXStream 850w PSU is considered by Overclock3D to be the best all-round power supply in the 600w - 900w classification."

"Pro's
• Rock stable voltages.
• Ultra-high efficiency.
• Very silent for an 850w PSU.
• Fully sleeved cables.
• 36 month warranty with fast support.
• Internal adjustable potentiometer.
• Standard ATX size (amazing for a unit with this much power).

Con's
• Nothing worth talking about. A first for any PSU here at OC3D!"

So I am guessing it's good

 

[Rob Williams]

I don't give much credibility to a power supply review where a load tester wasn't used ( we were guilty of this in the past ). Using a multi-meter doesn't tell you the whole story.

That said, there was a review from a reputable PSU reviewer regarding a similar PSU that received good ratings, so I'd say it'd be a good bet.

http://jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=24

 

[Merlin]

OCZ GameXStream 850W SLI Ready

OCZ ProXStream would be a better selection....I've heard some not-so-good things about GameXStream, even though it's by OCZ

 

[DriftingJoint]

I don't give much credibility to a power supply review where a load tester wasn't used ( we were guilty of this in the past ). Using a multi-meter doesn't tell you the whole story.

That said, there was a review from a reputable PSU reviewer regarding a similar PSU that received good ratings, so I'd say it'd be a good bet.

http://jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=24

No clue if you mean this:

"Load Testing

In order for the results from all current and future PSU reviews to remain fair and comparable, Overclock3D uses a custom built Power Supply load stress tester. The tester will be placing the following loads on each of the GameXStream's rails:

+3.3v - 20a Load
+5.0v - 20a Load
+12v1 - 15a Load
+12v2 - 15a Load
+12v3 - 15a Load
+12v4 - 15a Load"

? But that's what testing they used. http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?type=3&id=134&page=6&desc=ocz_gamexstream_850w_atx_psu
That is the link to the review.

 

[madmat]

Avoid the GameXstream at all costs unless you're going with a model under 600W. The noise on the 12V rails surpasses the ATX spec (120mV) by nearly 100% (200+mV total noise) at full load on the units over 600W.

If you want a good quad SLI PSU (which will only have four PCI-E G power connectors) go with an Ultra X3 800W or 1KW. If you want something capable of tri-SLI then look into the 1KW Toughpower (Thermaltake) or 1.2KW Toughpower. Both are rock solid and can power a small house.

 

[DriftingJoint]

Avoid the GameXstream at all costs unless you're going with a model under 600W. The noise on the 12V rails surpasses the ATX spec (120mV) by nearly 100% (200+mV total noise) at full load on the units over 600W.

If you want a good quad SLI PSU (which will only have four PCI-E G power connectors) go with an Ultra X3 800W or 1KW. If you want something capable of tri-SLI then look into the 1KW Toughpower (Thermaltake) or 1.2KW Toughpower. Both are rock solid and can power a small house.

Unfortunately I can only choose from the parts they let me, and I really don't care about the noise to be perfectly honest. And I have no plans to go triple cards in this machine.

So I have a limited number of options and this seemed to get the best reviews.

 

[Rob Williams]

This is the downfall of getting a "pre-built" machine. The choice is extremely limited. But given the choice you have, you might as well go with the OCZ... there's not much else unless you want to go higher. If it receives good reviews, then so be it.

As for Overclock3D, I don't understand their methodology and I won't pretend to. The review seems better than most, however.