Does this seem like a good idea?

[Amazonwarrior]

Am finally getting my s**t together to build myself a new core i7 system (yay promotion+pay rise!), and am in the process of finding the parts I want. In my search, I have come across this offer from Overclockers.co.uk: i7 bundle. Does this seem like a good buy? I am interested in it because (hopefully) all the parts should be stable and tested by Overclockers before they send it out (I'd be going for the 3.8GHz version) and they are using the MB that I was considering. Additionally, I live in Germany and have calculated the cost of buying very similar components seperately over here to be ~20-30 euros more expensive than this bundle, and I'm going back to the UK for a long holiday on Friday so I could get the parts delivered to me and bring them back on the plane. Does anyone have any experience or advice concerning this sort of thing? I'd be most grateful for any thoughts! (I may also buy my graphics card from them, there's a small saving to be had, but buying anything else would be impractical to take on an aeroplane!)

Other parts under consideration: PSU Corsair TX 750W, HDD WD caviar black 640GB, DVD-RW LG, GFX XFX 4870X2, case CM 690, monitor Iiyama Prolite E2407HDSV 24", OS Vista 64-bit w/ Windows 7 upgrade ticket.

Purchase date: Over the next month

Intended use: Gaming, surfing the 'net, graphics editing/raytracing, word processing

Ta muchly!

 

[tecmo34]

It looks like a good buy for the price. I like the rest of your setup as well.

I just be interested to know how the can pre-overclock the setup without it in your case & you having to install the cooler yourself. To me, there are just to many variables for a pre-overclocked bundle.... IMO

 

[tecmo34]

Double posted... Sorry

 

[tecmo34]

Triple posted... Sorry

 

[Helloworld_98]

it's a great bundle now, but if you had gotten it a couple weeks ago then you'd have gotten an extra 200Mhz on the CPU and £30 off the price.

 

[Amazonwarrior]

It looks like a good buy for the price. I like the rest of your setup as well.

I just be interested to know how the can pre-overclock the setup without it in your case & you having to install the cooler yourself. To me, there are just to many variables for a pre-overclocked bundle.... IMO

Thanks for your comment! I honestly have no idea how they do it - it must be MAGICKS! I guess they set it up, oc it, pull it apart again and post it off to the customer. I was planning on buying everything else here in Germany because of the postage and returns possibilities (hopefully won't be necessary, but you never know....).

 

[Amazonwarrior]

it's a great bundle now, but if you had gotten it a couple weeks ago then you'd have gotten an extra 200Mhz on the CPU and £30 off the price.

Awwwwwwwwwww! 🙁

Maybe if I wait a couple of weeks, the offer'll come back around.... Have discovered that OCUK deliver internationally - didn't think they did - so I can wait until after my hols perhaps.

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ I doubt it, once OCUK does an offer, it never comes back.

but then again they did discontinue the offer because they were introducing the overclock levels.........

 

[Amazonwarrior]

^ I doubt it, once OCUK does an offer, it never comes back.

but then again they did discontinue the offer because they were introducing the overclock levels.........

Such is life, I guess! I'll probably not be putting this all together until the end of July/start of August anywya, so it's not like waiting a few weeks is going to kill me, and I like to live in hope, lol!



Incidentally, completely random question: Is there a good way to test whether a PSU is going to behave before I hook it up to stuff? Given I'm splashing about 1600 euros on this system, it would suck big time if I got a phooey one and it took a bunch of valuable components with it. I've heard of the paperclip test, is it any use here? I don't really have access to testing equipment - I'm an editor, not an engineer!

And another thing, I was going to get the Home Premium edition of Vista (97 euros + w7 upgrade) but would I be better off spending a bit more (168 euros) and getting the Ultimate edition?

 

[tecmo34]

Get the Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

As for the PSU, you can get a tester to see if it is dead or not before hooking up but it is only at min load. This is one reason we recommend PSU company's like Corsair & PC Power&Cooling for their reliability.

 

[Amazonwarrior]

Okey doke, thanks for the suggestions.

Yeah, the Corsair PSUs do seem to have a good rep and good reviews - it's the reason I chose one. I can go buy it from a physical store (Arlt) and they have a reputation for being helpful, so I'll get them to test it first.

Cheers!

 

[Amazonwarrior]

Ok, 'nother thought, hopefully the last: Case fans - anyone one got any good recommendations for manufacturers etc.? I'll probably get a couple more fans to stick into the case; my demands are not too stringent here - they just need to be able to push a bit of air around quietly to help the air flow along.

I've also read that the cooling fan on the heatsink supplied with the i7 bundle is rather loud (although apparently efficient enough, see here), so I'd like to replace that when I set everything up. This looks nice and pretty - any good for what I'm after? I noted that it has a different power connector - something I should be concerned about? I don't want to get anything that's going to be less efficient than the stock fan, lol.

Brands that I'm taken with in general from a brief scan of available fans are Tacens, Noiseblocker and Antec - thoughts?

Thanks again for all your help!