View Full Version : My first computer build.
Hi everyone, first post on these forums, thought I would start with a gaming system I am going to build soon. Let me know what you think!
2 160GB Maxtor Diamondmax SATA2 2MB £ 31.71
1 NEC ND-5170A-0B 18x DVDRW DL Black £ 16.79
1 Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer £ 66.92
1 Windows Vista Home Premium 32 OEM £ 68.44
1 Patriot 2GB PC2-6400 C4 Extreme Performance (2x1GB) £ 64.57
1 Xilence 600W Gaming Edition PSU £ 46.94
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (775) £ 123.32
1 XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB PCI-E £ 187.94
1 MSI P6N SLi V2 SLi S 775 £ 72.79
My upper limit budget wise is £750 and if my maths is working today I make this system out to be £711.13, there are a few super savings I could make, but as I haven't finally decided on this system, those aren't included.
The main thing I was wondering about is the motherboard; I selected for the 1333FSB and future SLi compatability. What I want to know is if its a good mobo, is there anything thats better and within my budget? Especially in the area of overclocking as I want to give that a go at some point.
Also with regards to overclocking, can someone recommend me a good CPU cooling arrangement?
Cheers!
Get rid of those shabby Maxtor drives, unreliable crap tbh mate.
Go for Seagate or Samsung both very reliable brands.
_ _ _
Also aren't XFX known for being unreliable graphics cards? Or have things changed?
[quote:d104e0c49a=\"Belso\"]Get rid of those shabby Maxtor drives, unreliable crap tbh mate.
Go for Seagate or Samsung both very reliable brands.
[/quote:d104e0c49a]
But is not the new Maxtors just Seagate but with Maxtor on them as Seagate and Maxtor are one?
Also i hate Vista!
What about
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB ACS3 PCI-E
or
Asus GeForce 8800GTS 320MB PCI-E
Whichever brand is least likely to break is the one for me! I dont really know which are the best brands these days.
It seems Seagate aquired Maxtor, so who knows what your getting.
160GB IBM-Hitachi SATA - any good?
Or I could just spend a few more pounds and buy a couple of 250GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA2 8MB
Any suggestions for heatsinks and fans? I dont intend to use the stock one that comes with the CPU.
As far as I understand it, seagate and maxtor are still essentially separate entities, owned by the same company. Different factories, different manufacturing processes etc etc, and therefore different qualities. But the profits just end up in the same bank accounts.
Someone correct me if i'm wrong tho - thats just how I thought it worked... :)
[quote:7630666de5=\"Aaron\"]As far as I understand it, seagate and maxtor are still essentially separate entities, owned by the same company. Different factories, different manufacturing processes etc etc, and therefore different qualities. But the profits just end up in the same bank accounts.
Someone correct me if i'm wrong tho - thats just how I thought it worked... :)[/quote:7630666de5]
Thats exactly what my take on the situation was.
Personally I swear by Western Digital.
And Christ was I pleased to see the 8800GTS in your build and not an 8500/8600...
<_<
[quote:832985dc82=\"Belso\"][quote:832985dc82=\"Aaron\"]As far as I understand it, seagate and maxtor are still essentially separate entities, owned by the same company. Different factories, different manufacturing processes etc etc, and therefore different qualities. But the profits just end up in the same bank accounts.
Someone correct me if i'm wrong tho - thats just how I thought it worked... :)[/quote:832985dc82]
Thats exactly what my take on the situation was.[/quote:832985dc82]
Nope - not anymore...
They were operating independently for 6 months after acquisition - but that's passed now - maxtor is now entirely seagate.
You'll still get maxtor branded drives - but the part codes will probably be seagate but with an added 'M' - for example - ST32151225 would be seagate - STM32151225 would be the maxtor part.
There are still some original maxtor parts lying around - but in my experience Maxtor drives have been the most reliable in my machine - I've had one WDC, one Seagate and 2 HGST fail - but never a maxtor.
Samsung are on a roll at the minute - but only with they're 500GB drives - everything else is quiet but about as slow as writing to wax cylinders with a stylus.
Take a look at http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/160GB+Maxtor+Diamondmax+20+SATA2+8MB+?productId=28 235
A maxtor hard disk with a seagate part code - that'll be a seagate drive
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/250GB+Maxtor-Seagate+SATA2+8MB+?productId=26697
Seagate part number
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives/Serial+ATA/80GB+Maxtor+DiamondMax+SATA2+8MB+?productId=25938
maxtor part number
Fortunately you can tell what's what - but the upside that the maxtors now seem to have 5 years warranty - just like seagates.
Great, thanks! I might stick with my original choice of drive then.
I saw this motherboard
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/MSI+P6N+SLI+Platinum+S775+nForce+650i+SLi?productI d=27306
I would say its a bit better than the MSI P6N SLi V2 but is it worth the extra money?
I would like a board thats got some room for future upgrades [hence the SLi]. And is MSI a good brand?
In terms of new heatsink/fan I was looking at this https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/Socket+AM2/Thermaltake+CL-P0257-01+Blue+Orb+II+?productId=27175 because its blue :P
Also don't worry, I know the difference between an 8600 and an 8800!
MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte all offer 3 year warranties...
Abit, asrock and the others all have 12 month warranty...
(Reason no. 17 I don't buy abit motherboards...)
MSI boards seem to be good and backed by a decent warranty to boot - I prefer ASUS but I know many people who love gigabyte too.
There are still some original maxtor parts lying around - but in my experience Maxtor drives have been the most reliable in my machine - I've had one WDC, one Seagate and 2 HGST fail - but never a maxtor.
Your one hell of a lucky C*** then.
Jesus the stack of dead Diamond Max Maxtors we have in our office is unbelievable.
This is including the some of the new one's. (I just noticed the different front to the Maxtor's very much like Seagate).
I highly recommend going to Samsung then buddy or even Hitachi.
WD in my opinion are crap aswell ;)
[quote:7cb614536a=\"Belso\"]Jesus the stack of dead Diamond Max Maxtors we have in our office is unbelievable.[/quote:7cb614536a]
Get them back to Seagate then - they should replace them.
Also - doesn't that contravene the recent WEEE regulations??? :P
[quote:d68802fd1c=\"alexnifty\"]
In terms of new heatsink/fan I was looking at this https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/Socket+AM2/Thermaltake+CL-P0257-01+Blue+Orb+II+?productId=27175 because its blue :P[/quote:d68802fd1c]
Try this, I've got one and its amazing for the price :D
It's very easy to put onto the mobo as it uses the same mechanism as the stock Intel cooler.
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/Socket+775/+Arctic+Cooling+Freezer+7+PRO?productId=20729
Hey, that looks really good. I'll get myself one of those coolers for sure!
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