need advice (building a system)

[savas110]

hello all. i'm new here so please go easy on any errors i've made.

every so month something new comes out or some new type of hardware gets released and i can't keep up with the events in the gaming hardware world, and as i'm on budget i can't afford to end up purchasing something that's not going to be upgradable in the near future.. so with that said, i'm sure most of you keep up with the latest mobo/hardware news and can easily answer my question.

i'm looking to upgrade my old system to simply allow me to be able to play high-end games at a decent FPS level and be able to watch 1080p without it stuttering or lagging behind the sound.

my system:
i have a 24inch monitor and i've also got a 1000 PSU so i'm only really looking to upgrade my mobo, cpu, ram and graphics card. in edition to those upgrades i'll go out and find a good case to fit that all in and a new hard drive as the old one is kind of dated.

my main question basically is; what's the best above-average motherboard for the i7 socket? (or i5).

nothing fancy with a million or so parts for the mobo, just a single graphics slot (two in total would be a bonus, but i don't plan to go sli/crossfire very soon).

i think once i decide on a mobo. the cpu would be just a choice to make and the ram would just be a matter of buying the latest type and a reliable brand. correct?


ps: i'm not sure if this is EXACTLY where to post this thread, but unless i've missed any of the other sections i found this to be the most relevant to my request. please move this topic if it's in the incorrect place, please. sorry and thanks.

[nibbler]

Should be in hardware or help really...
However I'll lend what knowledge I have anyway. What's budget?
If you can afford it get an i7 920 and a Gigabyte UD3R.
If not then an i5 750 and again a Gigabyte UD3R (but a different socket obviously).

[savas110]

yeah i should have posted it in the help section, sorry.

my budget is around £500-600. i'm mostly really looking for a perfect motherboard to start from, depending on the mobo spec i can pick the rest.. something that isn't too extreme, but also respectably updated to be able to fit any of the new hardware like cpu/ram. (without the extra stuff i would never use or need)

my ram is quite low on my current machine (1gb) so i plan to completely go ddr3 and if i'm not incorrect, Gigabyte UD3R doesn't support DDR3?

thanks

[Biscuit]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=8&subcat=1517

2 x 2GB DDR3 Ram - £80

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/MSI-P...rboard-LGA1156
Motherboard which has capability for SLI/Xfire should you desire - £130

i5 750 - £150

1GB HD5840 - £220

Total is around £580

You could easily drop the cost by putting in a single GPU motherboard such as

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...SATAIIRAID-ATX
for £100

and/or
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-Asus-HD5770-PCI-E
HD5770 which is still a very capable GPU for £120

[savas110]

I was quite liking the MSI P55-GD65, but the only bad side to it is the SLI/Crossfire is reduced to 8x8x when two cards are used..

I don't plan to go sli/crossfire right away, but it would be good to just one day get an upgraded card and still use the old one.

Checking out the other one, too.

EDIT: Also looked at the Asus P6TD Deluxe, is it worth it?

Personally don't really like Asus boards.. they seem bloated and lacks elegance.

[Pob255]

For future upgradeability AMD is looking better than intel.
There's some real questions over if the current intel chipsets will support the later processors . . . However there doesn't look like there's going to be much faster processors in the pipeline atm.

Brings us to socket 1156 or 1366
1366 is a better bet if you can afford it, however I personally don't see many games saturating the cpu any time soon even the i5

Both are capable of sli or crossfire on one board which is good.
The x8 vs x16 is not as big an issue as you may think, the current top card the 5870 only suffers around 2% performance hit, unless you look at dual gpu graphics cards (eg 4870x2 or the yet to be released 5970) then it would become a larger issue.

Are you planning on useing many other expansion cards?
If not then you may want to consider the DFI Jr x58
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-J...SATA-RAID-mATX
then you can combine it with the antec miniP180 case
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec...plus120mm-fans
Just spotted the white version is £10 cheaper
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec...ys-without-PSU

EDIT:If you want to go the AMD route, then a PhenonII x4 + am3 motherboard is the way to go
770 chipset if you don't plan on crossfire (and cheap)
780fx if you do want crossfire
(gigabyte and Asus tend to be the favoured boards)

[savas110]

the JR X58-T3H6 looks nice.. but why so cheap?! what's the catch?

with the many versions of practically the same mobo from asus, i'm seriously more confused then i started off with, lol..

what's the difference between P6TD Deluxe & P6T Deluxe V2 or the other versions..?

[Biscuit]

out of curiosity what future upgrade doors is AM3 likely to open for anyone?

[scaryjim]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

out of curiosity what future upgrade doors is AM3 likely to open for anyone?

I believe the point being made is that with Intel supporting 2 different sockets simultaneously it's anyone's guess which is the best to choose for longevity and future processor upgrade potential; meanwhile AMD currently seem intent on ensuring each new processor is compatible with the previous socket, so they are a "safer" bet, particularly if you're the kind of person who likes upgrading every 18 months or less.

TBH, AMD failed to make the socket split work with 754 / 939 at a time when they had significant technical and performance leadership in CPUs, rapidly consolidating to AM2. Intel obviously have market share on their side, but I'd still question whether they're able to make it work, and that would currently put doubt in my mind about moving to an Intel system. That said, if you're looking for a high performance system at the minute Intel is very much where it's at. Just brace yourself for the possible obsolesence of your socket of choice within 2 years

[savas110]

well here's what i'm thinking;

Coolermaster CM690 - £60
Asus P6TD Deluxe - £200
Intel Core i7 920 - £200

am i missing anything else? i still need RAM & GPU, plus a decent, but very budget hdd.

what do you guys think? or can i get any of those cheaper, other than ebuyer.com ?

[Biscuit]

then 6GB ram ~ £100
GPU ~ £120-220

and you are going a bit over budget

Decent budget hard drive i would say the Samsung F3 500GB. Its cheap because its a single platter but the bit density also makes it pretty darned nippy! I got mine the other week for about £35 but that was on today only at scan.

[savas110]

thanks for your help.

btw also regarding the ram, it's best to go 1600MHz? or what's the idea in how i should purchase the ram? is 1333MHz good enough?

[nightkhaos]

Check out this post and below. it should answer your questions about RAM.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

out of curiosity what future upgrade doors is AM3 likely to open for anyone?

Thuban (?) hex core; they may be a bit steep but if AMD can sell of pent cores etc from the defective processors its going to get interesting (and very confusing!). The release of the C3 stepping 965s and the 555 dual cores makes me think they are going to be polishing the P2s for a while yet. Bulldozer is coming 2011 I believe so AM3 may be redundant after that.

[nightkhaos]

Originally Posted by Domestic_Ginger

Thuban (?) hex core; they may be a bit steep but if AMD can sell of pent cores etc from the defective processors its going to get interesting (and very confusing

It always worries me when a company makes so many defects that they justify it by creating a product line with the assumption of there being defected products. Just my two-cents.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Agreed but if it can keep costs down then why discard a perfectly good CPU.

look at the ugly duckling for example and there is always a runt of the litter! That pentcore may just solve the meaning of life if only given half a chance!