Please could you check this PC spec

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Hello :)

Ater asking for help on here and reading loads of posts in the forums, I've come up with the following spec:



DFI LanParty UT CFX3200-DR RD580 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-019-DF) £129.95

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM) 161.95

Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA) £27.95

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4400 Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-101-CS) £199.95

Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-046-AN) £68.95

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £214.95

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £59.95 TWO OF = 119.90

Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £22.95

Thermaltake VB1000BWS Soprano SuperMidi Tower - Black (CA-015-TT) £42.95

VAT £989.05
TOTAL £1162.13




I was originally aiming for a budget of around £1000 plus a monitor, I don't mind paying the extra if its worth it. The PC will be used mainly for video editing/encoding etc and gameing. I don't know much about overclocking but I want to learn and have a go.

Is this a good spec? Is everything compatable with each other? Are the chosen components worth the money, or should I save on others/spend elsewhere? I don't want to waste money, I can't afford to make any mistakes.

Any comments or suggestions more than welcome.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Soldato
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Oswald said:
Hello :)

Ater asking for help on here and reading loads of posts in the forums, I've come up with the following spec:



DFI LanParty UT CFX3200-DR RD580 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-019-DF) £129.95

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM) 161.95

Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA) £27.95

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4400 Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-101-CS) £199.95

Antec NeoHE 550W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-046-AN) £68.95

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-112-SP) £214.95

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE) £59.95 TWO OF = 119.90

Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £22.95

Thermaltake VB1000BWS Soprano SuperMidi Tower - Black (CA-015-TT) £42.95

VAT £989.05
TOTAL £1162.13




I was originally aiming for a budget of around £1000 plus a monitor, I don't mind paying the extra if its worth it. The PC will be used mainly for video editing/encoding etc and gameing. I don't know much about overclocking but I want to learn and have a go.

Is this a good spec? Is everything compatable with each other? Are the chosen components worth the money, or should I save on others/spend elsewhere? I don't want to waste money, I can't afford to make any mistakes.

Any comments or suggestions more than welcome.

Thanks in advance :)

Not a bad spec you have there mate. I would probably change two things tho:

CPU Cooler - go for the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro. Its over a tenner cheaper than the Zalman and much better at cooling.

RAM - The RAM may be a little excessive unless you plan to overclock the undies off that nice 3800+. I would wait for a second opinion but personally I think some decent PC3200 RAM would be a cheaper alternative. OCZ and G.Skill do some very nice RAM.

Also, does the case you are going for have a door? I only ask because Pioneer do the DVR-111 in black you see... would better match your case I think. Its the DVR-111DBK for the black I believe. OCUK stock it so just have a mooch and see :)

SiriusB
 
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Not to be the devil's advocate, but, I personaly think that the Zalman is a great cooler and gets in the way a lot less than the Arctic Cooling 64, and especially with the 9500, it performs just as good, if not better. (I have had both and tested them with my 4000+ OC'd to hell and back :D )

As for the memory I agree with SiriusB's comment, which if your not going to overclock, there's no need to spend that much save the money and put it elsewhere, eg. for the case take a look at the Antec P180 :)
 
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Thanks for the comments so far :)

SiriusB said:
Also, does the case you are going for have a door? I only ask because Pioneer do the DVR-111 in black you see... would better match your case I think. Its the DVR-111DBK for the black I believe. OCUK stock it so just have a mooch and see :)

I don't get what you mean about the case having a door, sorry :confused:. It comes with 3 fans so I was hoping it would be good for cooling? I also think a black case would look good. With regards to the Pioneer, I've already picked the black one, I've listed it in the spec in my post above ;)

The only reason I picked that memory was according to the Crucial website, that particular one is the best for overclocking in that particular DFI motherboard. To be honest, I still can't get my head around how RAM works and the business with latency and timings etc. I just thought that the faster the memory the better?
 
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Oops, just realise I missed out the "D" in the Pioneer product code so you were right. I meant the

Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-038-PO)

Which is definately the black version :)

Cheers
 
Soldato
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Oswald said:
Thanks for the comments so far :)



I don't get what you mean about the case having a door, sorry :confused:. It comes with 3 fans so I was hoping it would be good for cooling? I also think a black case would look good. With regards to the Pioneer, I've already picked the black one, I've listed it in the spec in my post above ;)

The only reason I picked that memory was according to the Crucial website, that particular one is the best for overclocking in that particular DFI motherboard. To be honest, I still can't get my head around how RAM works and the business with latency and timings etc. I just thought that the faster the memory the better?

I mean a door as in a flap that covers the CD/DVD drive bays. Doesnt matter you have the black one now anyway :D

As for the RAM yeah - faster is generally better but its limited to the rest of your system. If you dont overclock then PC4400 RAM is a bit silly as it wont ever reach its potential. The RAM you chose probably is great for overclocking on a DFI board, but I think you would have to be doing some big OCs for PC4400 to be worth the money.

Get some quality PC3200 RAM as said and not only will you save money you will be able to get some decent overclocks out of it.

And as for the Zalman vs Freezer 64 Pro... yes theyre both great coolers, but most places I have seen reviews and general consensus on here is that the Freezer 64 Pro is better. Even if the performance were identical, going for the cheaper one still makes more sense :)

SiriusB
 
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