Help Choosing Custom PC

[Bauer24]

My old PC has died, and I've decided to get a new one. I've done some research and decided to buy a custom pc instead of a Dell one. I've opted to purchase from cougar-extreme.co.uk as the site has received many positive reviews on PCAdvisor.

Requirements: The types of games i want to play are Medieval Total War, Empire Total War, Mass Effect, Doom 3. Also if possible on medium settings, Crysis, Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3. The PC would also be used for watching and editing HD content. I am going to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit, the monitor will be purchased from another site.

£652 – cougar extreme
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0 Ghz 12Mb Cache,
4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb),
500GB SATA Hard Drive,
QCE - MSI P43 NEO F - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset,
896Mb GTX260 PCI Express Nvidia DDR DVI,
CiT 500W Black Edition PSU, DVD+/- RW - 20X (pioneer 116DBK),
Elite 330 Black Midi Case Window No PSU RC-330K-KWPC-GP
DVD+/- RW - 20X (pioneer 116DBK),
No monitor and OS


£608- cougar extreme
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0 Ghz 12Mb Cache,
Manufacturer Supplied Cooler,
4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb),
500GB SATA Hard Drive, , ,
QCE - MSI P43 NEO F - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset,
ATI 4850 1024MB PCI Express DDR DVI,
Elite 330 Black Midi Case Window No PSU RC-330K-KWPC-GP,
CiT 500W Black Edition PSU,
DVD+/- RW - 20X (pioneer 116DBK),
No monitor and OS


£675 – cougar extreme
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0 Ghz 12Mb Cache,
Manufacturer Supplied Cooler,
4GB Corsair Memory DDR3 1333 (2 x 2gb),
1000GB SATA Hard Drive,
QCE - P43Twins1600 - 2000FSB DDR3 DDR2 1333x4 P43 CHIPSET,
ATI 4870 1024MB PCI Express DDR DVI,
CiT 500W Black Edition PSU,
Elite 334 Black Midi Case No Psu RC-334-KKN1-GP,
DVD+/- RW - 20X (pioneer 116DBK),
No monitor and OS

NOTE: I am not sure which motherboard to choose from, as well as the types of RAM.

DDR2
4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb)
4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 1066 (2x2Gb)
4GB Kingston DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb)

DDR3
4GB Corsair Memory DDR3 1333 (2 x 2gb)
4GB Corsair Memory DDR3 1600 (2 x 2gb)

[AndrewR]

Hi mate,
Really think you should homebuild, you could get it cheaper ive done loads of research and its actually easy the hardest part is finding which bits fit into the mobo (mother board), im building my first one for Christmas, give it a try i was going to get it of cougar extreme then the prices started to rise so i went for a homebuild good luck. Oh and get the parts from www.scan.co.uk they charge for delivery but if you get 20 posts on this forum its free if you order over £20, or you could try www.ebuyer.com which is free delivery.

[Bauer24]

I really don't want to risk it, and wouldn't want to fit the parts in myself as i don't know how to. Hence why i've opted to buy a desktop already made.

I've altered the cougar extreme package so i can invest in a better PSU and cooler, and stay within my budget:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 Ghz 12Mb Cache,
Zalman CNPS7000C-ALCU heatsink,
4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 800 (2 x 2gb),
500GB SATA Hard Drive,
AM3 Asus M4N78-SE - DDR2 1066x2 720d chipset,
ATI 4870 1024MB PCI Express DDR DVI,
Elite 330 Black Midi Case Window No PSU RC-330K-KWPC-GP,
Cooler Master 500W PSU,
DVD+/- RW - 20X (pioneer 116DBK),
No Floppy Disk Drive, Integrated Sound Card, Intergrated Monitor Speakers, No printer,
No Operating System

Alternatively i can also get this PC:

Cube247 - Zuben ST20
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Intel Core 4 Quad Q9550 Processor
4096MB Corsair DDR II Memory
1000GB SATA II Seagate Ultra Fast Hard Disk Space
NEC 7200 Multi Format DVD/CD ReWriter
ATI Radeon 4870 Performance Graphics
5.1 High Definition Surround Sound
Intel Deluxe Motherboard
Multi Format Memory Card Reader
10/100 Ethernet LAN
12 x USB2 Ports
12 Month Classic Warranty
Microsoft Office 60 Day Trial
Microsoft Windows Live Essentials

[24 P]

I have tweaked this as much as possible to get as close to the revised PC you want, read and see the changes I have made.

• CAS: COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 Mid Tower Case
• CS_FAN: Default Case Fan
• CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 ***Overclockable XXX*** Cache 64-bit [+140]
• CD: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
• FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
• FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 52in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BEIGE COLOR)
• FREEBIE_CU: FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt
• HOMEINSTALL: NONE
• HDD: Single Hard Drive (1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16M Cache Hard Drive [+18])
• MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650 support) Asus P5QL Pro P43 Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/1066/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio ***Overclockable S&S*** [+30]
• MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC8500 DDR2/1066Mhz Dual Channel Memory [+18] (Corsair Dominator ***Overclockable XXX***)
• NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
• OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
• POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts Power Supplies [+14] (CyberPower 600W Power Supply)
• SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
• USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
• VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4890 PCI-E x16 1GB DDR5 Video Card [+138]
• WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
• _PRICE: (+599)
• _view_: detail

Subtotal: £599.00 Method: Please select Standard Next Day UK mainland By 9:00am to UK mainland Morning by 12:00 UK mainland Afternoon by 17:30 UK mainland Saturday Del. to UK mainland Nominated Time to UK mainland N. Ireland/Scottish Isles/IOM Republic of Ireland » Charge:£0.00
VAT (15%):£89.85
Grand Total: £688.85


I have had to play around a lot, you don't have after market cooling, but you will not need this if you are not going to OC.
4890 instead of 4870.
4 gig of 1066 ram, will be better than 800 ram
1 TB HDD

This is from

: : : CyberPower PC UK : : :

I checked out the Cube 1, that is a great $ but as you can see the one I did a quote for, yours does not come with windows, it is supported with 3 years warranty though which is an extra 69 quid, which makes up for the lack of windows on my quote. there abouts.
I would say IMO that as you know what components you are getting on my quote, Mother board, Ram and its speed, Better GPU, this seems to be better value..

There is not much between them, its your decision ultimately.. They are both neck and neck, I would wonder what ram they are using and also MOBO...

Hope this helps..

If I find any more info, I will pass it on

[1Razor]

I would agree with 24 P's selection, seems like a reasonable build with a little slack built in.

The Q9550 is a good CPU with overhead for clocking (3.4Mhz easily achievable with an Arctic Cooling HSF +15 ish). Of course its all wallet dependant! Good luck with the choices.

[Bauer24]

Sorry for the late reply, with the Cyberpower config you have supplied, i have done downgraded the graphics card to ATI Radeon HD 4870 which makes the total come to £652.05 in. VAT

That allows me to spend some more on a better monitor. As for Cube247, they weren't really helpful on the phone. Could not find out the model number of the intel motherboard.

What about the Cougar Extreme offering i posted, any comments on them?

Thank You

[24 P]

It seems fine, but there was no total on it, so I could not compare with anything..

[Bauer24]

Are you referring to the Cougar Extreme offerings? Here are the ATI desktop configs Cougar Extreme Gamers ATi

The "sub-total" stated has VAT already included. Not really sure about the PSU or motherboards.

For the PSU i can choose from:

• Powercool 650W High Efficiency Black PSU
• Powercool 850W High Efficiency Black PSU
• Cooler Master 450W PSU
• Cooler Master 500W PSU
• Lian Li Maxima Force 470W PSU

As for the motherboard i can select a different one with a slight increase in price:

• AM3 - Asus M4A78-VM - DDR2 1200x2 780G HDMI chipset
• AM3 - Asus M4A78-EM - DDR2 1200x4 780G HDMI chipset
• QCE - GA-EP31-DS3L - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P31 chipset
• QCE - ASUS P5QL-SE - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset
• QCE - MSI P43 NEO F - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset
• QCE - ASUS P5QL PRO - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset
• QCE - ASUS P5QL - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset

[24 P]

QCE - ASUS P5QL PRO - 1600FSB DDR2 1066x4 P43 chipset

AM3 and AM2 are AMD mobos, they idiots onn that site allow you to choose an Intel CPU with an AMD mobo .

4Gb Corsair Memory DDR2 1066 (2x2Gb) Note the speed...

Lian Li Maxima Force 650W PSU

I would not have anything lower than 500 w for the GPU, just to be on the safe side, hence a quality 650 w should be sufficient, and allows for later u/g.s
All in all the system is fine..

[Bauer24]

Thanks so much 24 P for the assistance you have provided.

Will make the order tomorrow morning. Just one last thing, any quick reccomendations on a monitor brand make? I've been told that Viewsonic are worth investing in, and that Samsung ones have a poor build quality...

[24 P]

Samsung are fine as are Viewsonic, it is best to go and view these panels yourself to see PQ..
Eyes can't lie..