Building a new high-end computer

mcheetham

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Hi. This is my first time using a message board so please don't flame me if I do something wrong. I'm building a new computer with some birthday money I'm getting for my 21st, and I'm after a bit of advice. I've come up with the following proposed specs:

Lian-Li PC60 silver case
Enermax 600W PSU
Asus Crosshair mobo
Athlon 64 X2 5000+ AM2 CPU
G skill 2GB DDR2 800 (dual-channel kit) HZ CAS4
2 x 150GB Raptor in RAID-0
Sound Blaster X-Fi elite pro sound
Gigaworks S750 speakers
Logitech G7 mouse and G15 keyboard
NEC DVDRW drive
I have about £500 budget for a screen - any suggestions?

Are there any things in the list you would change for anything else? or anything which isn't compatible with anything else?

Finally, does anyone know where I can get the 5000+ AM2 processor at the moment? nowhere in the UK seems to have it in stock.

Thanks.
 
Could I suggest A 3rd Raptor as a single Sytem drive then a RAID0 stripe for all your data which will make things fly.
 
Actually, I was thinking of having a raptor stripe for my os, then getting a 500gig caviar as a data storage disk. would you recommend only having a single disk setup for the os?

also, I forgot to mention a graphics card in my list:

MSI GeForce 7950GX2
 
That would work. If you had it all on a stripe and you lost the stripe then everything would be lost if you had no back up solution.

I think the 150GB raptors peak at about 90mb/s read, which is quick for a single drive. I think on a raid stripe they peak at 145-150MB/s, Its really up to you....do some research on google on the raptors and see what the benchmarks are.

I have a 74gb raptor a system drive a 2x WD 160GB SATA2 on RAID 0 stripe, with all my games, pagefile etc on my stripe.

Hope this helps.
 
HCK said:
Could I suggest A 3rd Raptor as a single Sytem drive then a RAID0 stripe for all your data which will make things fly.

Transfer rate for Single Raptor is around 65MB/s, for three it would be 195MB/s, which is past the 150MB SATA 1 limit, so would not be ideal...pretty much a wast of money..., I think 1 150GB raptor for a windows drive is more than enough, if you want to raid two of them then Raid two 74GB's, just trying to save money, right now I have a single 74Gb raptor for windows drive, and I have 40GB free, and have xp and office and a few utilities on it and 7 games..so ideally one would not need more than 150GB...for their windows drive...
 
Ok read above for hard drive, now forget the xfi elite pro are you really going ot use them inputs and outputs?, save the case and get an extreme version for £75 or at the most the fatality version...

Well don't know about the Cpu but the Core 2 Duo E6600 will beat that X2500 on stock speeds and is about £250, currently the best Cpu ofr Value and performance...what most people are getting, and if you get any Intel 975X mobo like the Asus P5W then you get Dolby Digital Live Audio built in, so if you have a seperate amp you won't need the X-Fi soundcard...

Stick with the G7 Mouse it's great...

For Optical Drive why not get an LG H10

PSU semes fine....althoguh a 500Watt one will do...

For a case a Lian Li PC&+ is highly recommended by alot of users, but I recently got a Coolermaster Ammo, which I think is great, especially if you are using a cooler like Thermalright SI-120 as it has side air vents...
 
The new Intel Core 2 Duos are supposed to be able to wipe the floor with all the AMD range, so if you're looking for the ultimate, I'd be tempted to go that way.
I would never bother with RAID0, as it's debatable how much performance increase you will get and then big drawback is that you are doubling your chances of losing everything.... if one of the drives goes down you lose it all.
 
Single raptor as system drive with 2 sata2 drives if your bent on raid0 but i wouldnt recommend it.
 
personally would defo consider the Conroe range of cpu's - will destroy anything that AMD currently have.

The E6600 chip is the sweet spot of the range. (intel)

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (ram)

Most other stuff is fine but would consider as above -

One raptor for the OS and would personally not bother with RAID. Too much hassle if you lose one drive - get the new Seagate 320GB drives - they are almost as fast as the raptor in single SATA mode.

Raid is to much hassle with very little actual increase in performance.

As for a monitor - the new Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor is on offer this week @ £539 (plus vat) with overclockers.

The saving you will make on just one raptor can go towards the monitor!!:D

Also with the 7950GX2 also consider the X1900XT (ATI) and just overclock it.
 
Ok thanks for all the advice.
Is that dell monitor really as good as overclockers makes it out to be? I've read a couple of reviews which say its response is a little slow for games and movies.
 
in terms of the screen, id go for the samsung syncmaster 245b - ive got a 226bw which is fantastic - it has great response times and the price for the 245b is just over 300 quid, and i imagine you could use the extra cash to upgrade another part

EDIT: the 226bw has a 2ms response time, and great colours for gaming and costs 180 quid - you could use the saved money to splash out on a bfg 8800GTX video card

if you do go for a bigger screen id reccomend getting a faster video card if you are planning to play games, or overclock one at least - they can struggle at the high resolutions
 
in terms of the screen, id go for the samsung syncmaster 245b - ive got a 226bw which is fantastic - it has great response times and the price for the 245b is just over 300 quid, and i imagine you could use the extra cash to upgrade another part

EDIT: the 226bw has a 2ms response time, and great colours for gaming and costs 180 quid - you could use the saved money to splash out on a bfg 8800GTX video card

if you do go for a bigger screen id reccomend getting a faster video card if you are planning to play games, or overclock one at least - they can struggle at the high resolutions

That thread is 14 months old. I think the OP had probably long since ordered built and upgraded it again LOL
 
That thread is 14 months old. I think the OP had probably long since ordered built and upgraded it again LOL

>.< loaded it while cycling through pages for advice, didnt think to check the date - mustve left the tab open when i went to look for new threads XD
 
Lol - you should cut and paste the response into the PC Graphics forum, seems a waste otherwise! :laugh:
 
>.< loaded it while cycling through pages for advice, didnt think to check the date - mustve left the tab open when i went to look for new threads XD

bloody hell dude how far do you go back. I normally stop on the 2nd page if I even go that far:eek:
 
i was just thinking as i read the first post, wow, why is he going for such an outdated chip if he wants a good setup.....then realised the date...lmao
 

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