Putting together my new dream gaming pc

[Isquish]

Hey Folks

I've been a good boy and am rewarding myself with a pc that I'm hoping will keep me running games for the next 2-4 years. I'm trying to build it with the idea that certain items might be upgraded on a budget to maybe stretch it's lifespan to 4 years....

With that in mind I thought I should go for

Processor, Mobo & memory
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Retail 2x 2.40 4Mb 1066 MHz LGA775
Abit AW9D MAX i975X Socket 775
Corsair TwinX 2GB XMS2 Dominator DDR2 PC8500

Graphics
Albatron GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 320bit PCI-E Dual-DVI VIVO

Storage
2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 Hard Disk Drive 250GB Serial ATA II
Liteon-Benq 16x DL DVD-RW+RAM Blk

Case & power
CoolermasterAmmo 533 Blk/Sil
SV 550w SilentLoad 20 & 24+SATA PSU Twin Fan - Supercooled Anti-surge Full Retail Box, Cables, Manual Etc

Display
22\" Xerox XM3-9WB Widescreen TFT 5ms-Multimedia-Black-Twin Input

I have a good keyboard and mouse so I'll keep them. I'll probably use the onboard sound for mp3s and stuff and buy a usb soundcard/headset combo for fps games/comms

Any thoughts? It's a fair chunk of cash but that's because this is a bit of a one time deal, this will have to last me a fair old time but should I bother with 4gb of ram? I'm wondering whether the memory will be a bottleneck before I use that sort of capacity. Should I consider upgrading to an 8800GTX and perhaps select a better make than albatron.

I have a slight concern over the psu as well. Should I be looking for a 600w with the beast of the graphics that I've got. I currently use about 160gb of storage so 500gb accross two drives should be ample imo.

Thoughts, comments, recommendations would be appreciated

Isquish

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[Isquish]

Thanks mate

I'll be brutally honest - I've never overclocked a pc before.

I'll be happily looking for advice once I've got it settled in. If I'm considering overclocking in the future which heat sinks should I look at and can I get cooling solutions that keep the noise of the pc down?

I'm currently running an amd and one reason for returning to Intel is to cut down on fan noise and heat output.

Should I also think about buying a custom gfx card cooler? I had a 6800gt go pop due to a fan problem just before christmas and I'd like to avoid that happening on the 8800 if possible.

'Squish

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[House]

That's pretty much the system I will be going for pretty soon. Just waiting to see whether ATI release something that will push the price down a little on the Nvidia card. But other than that, I'm getting pretty-super excited about my new machine. The only difference to the one I'm thinking about will be the mono (Asus P5B Deluxe (WiFi) ), and a few other small bits and pieces.

Let us know how it works, if you get it soon.

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[House]

I might get something like that a little down the line, but there isn't really much point at the mo since i've not got very good speakers and it would be wasted. However, I have heard lots about soundcards taking some of the strain off the CPU - how much truth is there in that? Personally, I think the gains to be made would be miniscule.

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[djdaface]

la la la i didnt say anything stupid here then edit it.

[Firerat]

[quote:24f48d7187=\" Abit site http://www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=AW9D-MAX&fMTYPE=LGA775\"] CPU

• Support Intel® Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo Extreme, Core 2 Duo, Pentium® D and Pentium® 4 processors with1066/800MHz FSB
• Support Intel® 2006FMB Conroe CPU

[/quote:24f48d7187]

[lymmranger]

how do you express jealous rage in words?

my dream system too...........

I go nto bed every night hoping that over night the price of that system will come down to about £350 - £400

snassin frassin **** dastedly.........

[lymmranger]

cool naughty word intercept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nft99]

another vote for the xfi card

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=23532

There are no custom coolers for the 8800 series yet although i believe arctic cooling have one for release soon?

Nice system by the way

[mac124]

[quote:df85c43641=\"Isquish\"]Hey Folks

I've been a good boy and am rewarding myself with a pc that I'm hoping will keep me running games for the next 2-4 years. I'm trying to build it with the idea that certain items might be upgraded on a budget to maybe stretch it's lifespan to 4 years....

With that in mind I thought I should go for

Processor, Mobo & memory
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Retail 2x 2.40 4Mb 1066 MHz LGA775
Abit AW9D MAX i975X Socket 775
Corsair TwinX 2GB XMS2 Dominator DDR2 PC8500

Graphics
Albatron GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 320bit PCI-E Dual-DVI VIVO

Storage
2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 Hard Disk Drive 250GB Serial ATA II
Liteon-Benq 16x DL DVD-RW+RAM Blk

Case & power
CoolermasterAmmo 533 Blk/Sil
SV 550w SilentLoad 20 & 24+SATA PSU Twin Fan - Supercooled Anti-surge Full Retail Box, Cables, Manual Etc

Display
22\" Xerox XM3-9WB Widescreen TFT 5ms-Multimedia-Black-Twin Input

I have a good keyboard and mouse so I'll keep them. I'll probably use the onboard sound for mp3s and stuff and buy a usb soundcard/headset combo for fps games/comms

Any thoughts? It's a fair chunk of cash but that's because this is a bit of a one time deal, this will have to last me a fair old time but should I bother with 4gb of ram? I'm wondering whether the memory will be a bottleneck before I use that sort of capacity. Should I consider upgrading to an 8800GTX and perhaps select a better make than albatron.

I have a slight concern over the psu as well. Should I be looking for a 600w with the beast of the graphics that I've got. I currently use about 160gb of storage so 500gb accross two drives should be ample imo.

Thoughts, comments, recommendations would be appreciated

Isquish[/quote:df85c43641]

Hiya mate, nice build and very similar to my own recent build.

6600 C2D ( running @ 3.6ghz 8) )
2gb CellShock
8800gtx
Asus P5b Deluxe wifi ed
Xfi
Physx card
couple hdd's
DVDRW
watercooled too

All running off of the psu PP recommended ie a seasonic s12 600w

Personally i see no real need for sli-ing 8800's when / if i feel its starting to struggle i'll ALWAYS sell up and buy another more powerful single card so the choice of mobo's was a no brainer for me. If you feel you may need to SLI later on then stick with what you got but the P5B Deluxe is an awsome board for features and overclocking.

[House]

Since I'm also looking at something similar to this system, and looking to OC it as much as is safe, how would you rate the Gigabyte 3D Galaxy II watercooling? Anyone using it? Is it much different to the Scythe Ninja?

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=25095

happy to take a PM on other watercooling solutions.