Everything vista does xp does better, surprising since xp came first but aside from dx10 and the (when its not crashed) desktop there really is no real reason to get vista.

As to the 64 vs 32 question, stick with 32 tbh, its far better supported and if you get some speedy ram it will easily make up for the loss in gig...

I think it's also worth considering as is the norm when a new DX version is released, it takes the developers time to actually realise the potential of the API, so whilst current games may not offer drastic improvements, titles released in 12 months time may well show big differences from DX9. Then again they might not.

We're in the middle of a migration phase, but the cost of developing software that makes full use of both 32 and 64 bit architectures is too expensive, so the chances are that because of the number of 32bit OS's that are still out there, most software releases for the next 12 to 18 months (a guess) will continue to support 32bit, until such time as the scales tip and 64Bit is the dominant platform. What you should remember is that the last time OS's moved, from 16Bit to 32, the market was much much smaller, and the change was far less painful, this time market forces are that much stronger, so 32Bit will be around for a good while yet.

It's fairly certain as in most things technological that 64Bit OS's will be the de-facto in years to come, and DX will continue to evolve, which makes buying PC's the same nightmare it always has been, because the parts are obsolete the moment the die is cast!

Personally, if you get a PC of sufficient spec to run Vista64 and top end games without it breaking a sweat, then get Vista.

I think I'm going to stick with Vista due to the fact I paid for a DX10 card, I might as well see what it's like I'm currently re-evaluating what I'm doing, since I'm going to transfer the current GPU due to it still being more than adequate.

I'll update the post again to show what I'm looking at doing.

If you are wanting to overclock do not go for pc5300 memory. Pointless bottlenecking your memory bandwidth, go for pc6400 or even better pc8500 (2gb pc8500 would cost about £50).

Wouldn't count that out as i have 2gig Crucial Ballisix pc5300 running at DDR 1000.

All depends on how much you want to spend.

Sticking with Vista 64bit due to a lot of Clan members within CoD4 having it with no problems. Also upgraded the ram.

What's the verdict, good rig that should work? I'm probably going to buy it this month.. Hopefully before I go on holiday, but all depends how much I plan to take, still deciding

Don't bother with Retail E8400, get OEM (£10 cheaper) as Pilsy suggested and put an extra £5 to get http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

So much better at cooling than the intel stock fan for £5 extra.

Only disadvantage of OEM E8400 is the warranty is dependant upon the supplier, ebuyer may give you 1yr on OEM. A retail CPU fitted with an aftermarket cooler would void the warranty anyway.

K3D - crucial ballistix is the way to go mate. The PC5300 Cas 3 kit will run exactly the same as the PC8500 Cas 5 kit.

All 3 ballistix kits (6 including tracers - just a gimmick) are basically the same. They have a selection of ICs they use, micron D9GMH or Micron D9GKX mostly. The GKX are more suited to 1200mhz+ loose timings and the GMH are more suited to tighter timings and lower latency (up to 1200mhz). In this situation he wont benefit anything from spending twice as much on the PC8500 kit (£60 as opposed to £30). Sounds ridiculous but its true.

I have 6 of these kits at home, the poorest of which does 1066 5/5/5/8 @ 2.1v and the best does 1222mhz @ 4/5/5/9 2.3v.

If you pick your memory intelligently you DO NOT need to pay the price premium for "high speed" memory.

If you like I will get you the specific model number of my sticks and you can telephone crucial direct and order them specifically. The newer 1gb sticks have 8 chips per side (2 gb native) and do not overclock anywhere near as well. You can still order the old sticks via telephone using the old model number.

My last orders from overclockers were all 16 chips, but from crucial (did not specify model) have been 8 chips.



If you are insisting on vista then you could always set up a dual boot. I take it you have your xp code from your current machine? If you dont have a disc im sure we could find you a link to an iso.

I actually run 2 entirely separate hard disks. I have a 250gb sata2 32mb cache drive which has XP and TF2 on, nothing else. I then have 5 other disks that have an xp install with everything on, plus downloads etc etc etc. On bootup I press F10 to launch the boot menu and choose which hdd i want to boot off. It is a MUCH better experience playing on my dedicated TF2 HD. Ping is lower, fps higher, loading times lower just due to not having all the extra crap installed.


Regards your motherboard - its not the best. You have mostly analogue power circuitry and not all solid state caps. You also have coils instead of ferrite chokes. As an aside these boards are known to have had issues with certain hard disks before (mainly WD AAKS models).

I would not hesitate to buy a P5Q Deluxe. The audio is top notch, you have a choice of lan ports both gigabit, the marvell is PCI-e and the realtek is PCI, you have digital and optical sound outs, more sata ports than you can shake a stick at and really high quality parts throughout. The extra goes a long way.

At overclockers the Corsair TX650 power supply is on offer this week only for £49.99 plus vat - grab it quick.

They also have the Ballistix PC5300 @ £30 - you can try ordering it from there, if the model number ends in .16FD on the box keep it. If it ends in .8xx send it back. Alternatively order direct from crucial if you cba with the muck about.


Regards the case - as I said its personal choice. I get bored with cases and change it with each build but if you are making it a keeper yes by all means splash the cash .


Casual overclocking. Hmm. Ive heard that before - thats how i started .

I will post back up tonight and throw you a list of recommendations up. Will also get the model number off my ram.

BTW - if you arent afraid of a bit of techy stuff you can order the crucial PC4200 value ram for £8 per stick and flash it with the ballistix PC8500 SPD. Works perfectly, but can be quite daunting - not recommended for anyone except the hardcore techy .

OK here goes - will edit in ballistix model later.

E8400 CPU : £132.76
Corsair TX650 PSU : £58.74
Crucial PC5300 Ballistix 2 x 1gb : £30.54
Antec 900 Case : £66.96
DVD Drive :£17.61 Pioneer DVR-215DBK - Cant get url link to work but its on overclockers.
Samsung F1 750GB : £64.61
Motherboard : £64.61 or £140.99
Vista : £69.31
Heatsink : I considered this for a while. You could geta tower cooler which are the best for your cpu, but these tend to leave hot spots on your motherboard due to no downward air flow. Usually you have to add more fans. For a mild to high overclock I reckon you would be better off with a downdraught heatsink. The Scythe Zipang should fit the bill nicely. £35.24


That puts your total at £540.38 with the Gigabyte mobo or £616.76 with the Asus.
Bear in mind the Gigabyte board is B grade and may not come with io shield / cables / cds.

Will edit ballistix model number in when I get chance - off out tonight so may be tomorrow morning .