10 replies to this topic

[Cure]

Hey guys. Let me say first that I don't have all the money banked just yet but I'm looking at all the parts I would need so I know how much to save, I'm only about 1/2 weeks away from hitting my budget target of around £800. I am willing to go over that budget if I need too. So for the time being I'm just pricing everything up and getting an idea of what I can get with my budget.

I'm not exactly great with building PC's however I know the basics and I've got some friends who will be helping me out and they're pretty good. My problem is I'm completely out of date when it comes to the components which is why I would like your advice on what to get.

For the time being I'm pricing things up using www.overclockers.co.uk. When I know exactly what parts to get then I'll shop around for cheaper prices.

After abit of research I know a few parts that I want and as for what I'm using the PC for is pretty much internet browsing, playing starcraft and I'd like to be able to stream while playing.

So here goes

CPU : Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz £225
http://www.overclock...amp;subcat=1272

Hard Drive : WD 640GB Caviar Black £52 (depending on how much I have left I might go for a SSD)
http://www.overclock.......&subcat=940

CASE : Coolermaster HAF912 £60
http://www.overclock...if" />7&subcat=

Thermalpaste : Highest quality one on the site £15
http://www.overclock.......7&subcat=27

CPU Cooler : some corsair one £30
http://www.overclock...amp;subcat=1395

PSU : corsair 600w £50
http://www.overclock...amp;subcat=1084

OS : W7 64 bit : £80
http://www.overclock.......555&subcat=

Optical drive : already got one

Total so far £520

Thats all I have so far, so I need help with

GFX : I was told ati 5570 or above

Mobo : Litreally not a clue

Ram : No idea, I would like 6 gb please

Extra fans? :

My mate should know how to overclock but if he doesn't, is it hard to do?

If you feel like something needs to be changed go ahead, like case or cpu or whatever you fancy. If you could go for quality/good branded stuff that'd be sweet and you don't have to aim for the budget (like I mean you can go under because I just want to know the bare minimum I need but I'll go for better stuff later), like I said I'll be going much more indepth when I've got the full money saved in about 1/2 weeks time.

Thanks guys

[TheBase]

For your mobo, I'd just go with the cheapest i7 board you can find. Why do you need 6gb? Isn't the standard 4gb these days?

I wouldn't buy extra fans if I were you. You should be fine with the aftermarket cpu fan.

[Cure]

For your mobo, I'd just go with the cheapest i7 board you can find. Why do you need 6gb? Isn't the standard 4gb these days?

I wouldn't buy extra fans if I were you. You should be fine with the aftermarket cpu fan.

Thanks dude, I thought 6 would be better but I dont really know lol

[TheBase]

That case is $60 with free shipping on newegg.com. Too bad you live in Europe.

[Sir_Slik]

i7 is overpriced compared to any phenom II when considering price/performance ratio.

Get an antec case

Do not buy cosair PSU's (I can't speak for their ram but I wont be buying any from them any time soon) as in the past their PSU were made by seasonic then sold under the cosair name. No longer the case, I'd avoid them.

Dont buy a 640gb drive, buy a 500gb or 1TB (1000gb), better yet buy an SSD if it will be big enough to suit your needs.

ATI has its 6xxx cards out (more of them to come surely) so nvidia will make another move soon. Whatever you do make sure you buy dx11 card, your going to want it for next years games. Two gtx 460 (SLI) would be a pretty good bang for the buck atm. Especially the 768gb versions if you run 1080 and under.

Unless you have a lot of memory intense apps open at once (usually graphic/video editing) or want to run a server... you don't need more than 4gb. Buy 2x2gb sticks so you have room for more ram if you find yourself needing it (as we will in the future as tech progresses forward along with games)

Edited by Sir_Slik, 21 December 2010 - 11:34 PM.

[teh_HyDr0iD]

For your mobo, I'd just go with the cheapest i7 board you can find. Why do you need 6gb? Isn't the standard 4gb these days?

I wouldn't buy extra fans if I were you. You should be fine with the aftermarket cpu fan.

Um he is looking at a 1366 CPU which means that his motherboard will have triple channel memory. 6GB would acctually be better than 4GB for that particular setup.


I'd recommend you go for an 1156 i5 setup with dual channel memory and 4GB RAM. would save you some money

[TheBase]

Um he is looking at a 1366 CPU which means that his motherboard will have triple channel memory. 6GB would acctually be better than 4GB for that particular setup.

Is this for real?

[Cure]

Um he is looking at a 1366 CPU which means that his motherboard will have triple channel memory. 6GB would acctually be better than 4GB for that particular setup.


I'd recommend you go for an 1156 i5 setup with dual channel memory and 4GB RAM. would save you some money

Yeah I think I'll end up going for an i5 as an i7 might be abit overkill for what I need, I wont have my fully budget for about 2 weeks and by then the new intel's should be out so I'll just get one of them maybe.

[Sir_Slik]

Yeah I think I'll end up going for an i5 as an i7 might be abit overkill for what I need, I wont have my fully budget for about 2 weeks and by then the new intel's should be out so I'll just get one of them maybe.

Prepare to substantially increase your budget, intels are pricey.

Edited by Sir_Slik, 22 December 2010 - 01:35 PM.

[Cure]

Prepare to substantially increase your budget, intels are pricey.

Yeah I had noticed, I might consider getting an AMD phenom 4 865 BE (is that it? the best quad core out atm), from what I hear it will do what I want easily and they are alot cheaper which allows me to spend more on GPU or maybe even a SSD.

I'm considering a SSD but that will be the last thing I look at, if I do I wont go mad, maybe just buy a smallish one big enough for the OS + SC2 and then a normal HDD for storage and everything else.

I did hear that the corsair PSU's were pretty lame so I'll change that when I get the machine.

And antec case you say? I'll look into that.

Thanks for the advice dude.

[Sir_Slik]

np

Get a decent after market cooler (arctic cooling makes some nice ones) and decent thermal paste, metallic paste is the most heat conductive... the phenom II chips will chug along quite happily at 3.6-3.9ghz totally stable (depending on where your temps are and where you want them to be)

Edited by Sir_Slik, 22 December 2010 - 11:01 PM.