Last minute check: New PC Spec

[Jasper]

Bullet to be bitten on Monday 18th. I had to wait a while to save some pennies for a better basic spec' than I was going for at first.

I've gone for the best I can afford while lowering the graphics card spec'
I wanted the GeForce GTS480 but it's impossibly expensive.
I'll go with the GTS450 for now and upgrade when prices come down.

Just the basics:
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS450 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Intel® Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cach
Motherboard ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
RAM 6GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 2GB KIT
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
PSU and case cooling 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit.

Computer buffs, any advice or comment? Please.

 

[Phoenix]

Use the i7-950 and 1333mhz ram then you can get a better graphics card, the Radeon 5870 is cheaper than the GTX480 and will play any game you want it to very well. There's not a lot of difference between the 2 cpu's and you don't need the 1600mhz RAM unless you're going to overclock the processor. Also, get the caviar green HDD as it's faster, don't forget the silver warranty and consider getting the TX650 power supply instead of the 600watt one.

 

[Meds]

Phoenix speaks the truth - you could save around £200 by dropping down to the Core i7-950 & Samsung 1333MHz RAM. This money could then be put towards a better GPU, whether it be a GTX470 (I know a few guys on here love these) or the Radeon HD 5870 is your choice.

Either way, for gaming it would be a much better choice than a slightly fast CPU/RAM with a low, mid range GPU.

 

[Sleinous]

Phoenix speaks the truth - you could save around £200 by dropping down to the Core i7-950 & Samsung 1333MHz RAM. This money could then be put towards a better GPU, whether it be a GTX470 (I know a few guys on here love these) or the Radeon HD 5870 is your choice.

Either way, for gaming it would be a much better choice than a slightly fast CPU/RAM with a low, mid range GPU.

The ringleader is me

Yes v nice rig but cpu gpu is imbalanced. Changing these 2 would go a long way to improving the spec without biting more bullets

 

[Jasper]

Thanks for the help here.
No, I'll not change the basic spec'. The target is to have a excellent computer with a 'good enough GPU' as a holder for when the 480 (or better) is more realistacally priced.

2 computers in fact. I have to buy one for SHE-WHO-MUST-BE-OBEYED.
We don't just game but also run a business and have 3 independent websites for it.

I'll work my way up the 400 series GPUs and see how much it hurts my wallet.

 

[Sleinous]

Ok, make sure when it arrives the RAM is set to 1600mhz in X.M.P. in BIOS. Otherwise it will be totally pointless having 1600mhz RAM if its still running at 1066mhz or 1333mhz lol, usually its pre-set my PCS but...you never know.

 

[Jasper]

Thank you, Sleinous. Noted and will do.