Hello all at Tom's Hardware,
I have enjoyed reading and gaining knowledge on this site for several months now and many of the people on the forums seem to be very helpful and knowledgeable too, so I just wanted to say thanks to the TH team and the various forum contributors. So, here's the deal. My current rig, (God bless her), is getting on a bit now and I have decided to cut out the middle man and to build my own PC. (Surprise, surprise!)
Anyway, my current rig is a Pentium 4 3.4 ghz, 1gb DDR ram, 250 gb hard disk, a 550w generic power supply and what used to be a GeForce 6600 and is now a Radeon X1950 Pro. I also had a 19" Viewsonic monitor until it recently developed a purple haze across the screen and so I have just traded that it for a 22" Hanns G HG126D HDMI monitor. It's pretty cool so far and the extra space on screen is good for my video editing too. So, I have my monitor sorted but I now I need the actual new PC to go with it! I have narrowed down the list of components so I just wanted to run them past you guys to see if there's anything I should change before I take the plunge and order. My potential new PC spec:
CASE
An NZXT Apollo case which has received some rave reviews, OR the Antec 900 Gamer case. I think I'll probably get the Apollo case as I've read the 900 case can get dusty very quickly.
PSU
CoolerMaster 700W Real Power PSU
OR
Corsair TX750 750W
OR
Corsair VX 550W PSU (read rave reviews about this, will probably get it. Is 550w ever enough for an SLI setup incase I wanted to upgrade to it ever? What are the minimum watts needed from a PSU for an SLI setup please?)
GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)
Geforce 8800 GT
OR
Geforce 9600 GT 512 MB (Recommended as best value card in my price range by Tom's Hardware!) I will probably get an XFX or BFG card as I hear they are well made and have good warranties.
MOTHERBOARD. I'm not totally sure about, but I do know I want (probably) want an Intel Q6600 processor. I hear the iX38 QuadGT, Asus Maximus Formula and Asus P5K-E are good.
MEMORY. I have no idea really. I think I'd like 4 gb of RAM though. Any suggestions please?
SOUNDCARD. Again, I have no firm ideas there really, open to suggestions. Creative Labs probably.
PROCESSOR (CPU)
Probably an Intel 6600 Quad Core (G0 stepping). I want to play games like Crysis in higher res, etc. I also use video editing a lot, so I think that the Quad Core is probably the way to go. It's also more future proofed I guess, although I will probably want to upgrade again in the 3 years or so. I find it odd that the Quad core processors are only slightly more expensive than some of the Duo core processors. Is there a best processor for gaming? Should I look at ATI's chips at all?
WINDOWS VISTA. I don't know which version of it to get, but if I want to play DirectX 10 games I don't have another option as far as I'm aware.
So, that's what I've got so far, thanks for reading. Oh, and I also want a DVD Re/writer but I was wondering if there are any decent PC Blue Ray players around? Money is an issue too, I'm looking for quality components but at the best possible price. Also, if anyone has an e-tailer to recommend, please feel free to let me know. Many thanks all.
Joe.
PS One last thing is that I have never put together my own PC before, so I need to make sure my combo of components work together. Also I would really like the most easy to use, 'user-friendly' components I can get too. I know a bit about computers but putting together my own machine, (especially the motherboard stuff), well it's a whole new level!
I have enjoyed reading and gaining knowledge on this site for several months now and many of the people on the forums seem to be very helpful and knowledgeable too, so I just wanted to say thanks to the TH team and the various forum contributors. So, here's the deal. My current rig, (God bless her), is getting on a bit now and I have decided to cut out the middle man and to build my own PC. (Surprise, surprise!)
Anyway, my current rig is a Pentium 4 3.4 ghz, 1gb DDR ram, 250 gb hard disk, a 550w generic power supply and what used to be a GeForce 6600 and is now a Radeon X1950 Pro. I also had a 19" Viewsonic monitor until it recently developed a purple haze across the screen and so I have just traded that it for a 22" Hanns G HG126D HDMI monitor. It's pretty cool so far and the extra space on screen is good for my video editing too. So, I have my monitor sorted but I now I need the actual new PC to go with it! I have narrowed down the list of components so I just wanted to run them past you guys to see if there's anything I should change before I take the plunge and order. My potential new PC spec:
CASE
An NZXT Apollo case which has received some rave reviews, OR the Antec 900 Gamer case. I think I'll probably get the Apollo case as I've read the 900 case can get dusty very quickly.
PSU
CoolerMaster 700W Real Power PSU
OR
Corsair TX750 750W
OR
Corsair VX 550W PSU (read rave reviews about this, will probably get it. Is 550w ever enough for an SLI setup incase I wanted to upgrade to it ever? What are the minimum watts needed from a PSU for an SLI setup please?)
GRAPHICS CARD (GPU)
Geforce 8800 GT
OR
Geforce 9600 GT 512 MB (Recommended as best value card in my price range by Tom's Hardware!) I will probably get an XFX or BFG card as I hear they are well made and have good warranties.
MOTHERBOARD. I'm not totally sure about, but I do know I want (probably) want an Intel Q6600 processor. I hear the iX38 QuadGT, Asus Maximus Formula and Asus P5K-E are good.
MEMORY. I have no idea really. I think I'd like 4 gb of RAM though. Any suggestions please?
SOUNDCARD. Again, I have no firm ideas there really, open to suggestions. Creative Labs probably.
PROCESSOR (CPU)
Probably an Intel 6600 Quad Core (G0 stepping). I want to play games like Crysis in higher res, etc. I also use video editing a lot, so I think that the Quad Core is probably the way to go. It's also more future proofed I guess, although I will probably want to upgrade again in the 3 years or so. I find it odd that the Quad core processors are only slightly more expensive than some of the Duo core processors. Is there a best processor for gaming? Should I look at ATI's chips at all?
WINDOWS VISTA. I don't know which version of it to get, but if I want to play DirectX 10 games I don't have another option as far as I'm aware.
So, that's what I've got so far, thanks for reading. Oh, and I also want a DVD Re/writer but I was wondering if there are any decent PC Blue Ray players around? Money is an issue too, I'm looking for quality components but at the best possible price. Also, if anyone has an e-tailer to recommend, please feel free to let me know. Many thanks all.
Joe.
PS One last thing is that I have never put together my own PC before, so I need to make sure my combo of components work together. Also I would really like the most easy to use, 'user-friendly' components I can get too. I know a bit about computers but putting together my own machine, (especially the motherboard stuff), well it's a whole new level!