Recommend me a few parts.
Gaming PC - 1680*1050 resolution
CS 1.6, CSS and WoW will be my main games - but I would like to play newer ones as well (not crysis though, it sucks.)
I have £200 to spend on the following parts
- Motherboard
- RAM
- CPU
- DVD-RW
- Aftermarket cooler (CPU)
I already have the following parts
- Case: CM-690
- PSU: Enermax 525w PRO82+
- HDD: WD 640gb
- GFX: BFG Geforce 8800 GTS (640mb) OC version
Any help will be appreciated.
Both AMD and Intel builds are fine.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
OK for an AMD build how about this,
CPU: AMD X2 7750 Black Edition - £63
Motherboard: Biostar TA790GX-A2+ - £68
Memory: 4GB Corsair DDR2-800 - £42
DVD: Samsung/LG/LiteOn £15
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek HDT-S963 - £17
Total cost - £205
You could drop to 2GB of memory which will save you £16 which could then be put towards a better CPU cooler.
CPU: AMD X2 7750 Black Edition - £63
Motherboard: Biostar TA790GX-A2+ - £68
Memory: 2GB Corsair DDR2-800 - £26
DVD: Samsung/LG/LiteOn £15
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultima 90i (£25) + Akasa Amber 92mm fan (£4.50) - £30
Total Cost - £202
With the Thermalright cooler if you already have a spare 92mm or 120mm fan you obviously will not need to buy another one saving yourself ~£5
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
The recommendation depends if you want to overclock or not!!?? Also do you want to upgrade in the future to a better processor??
If you want to overclock an Intel E5200 would be a good place to start:
Intel E5200 ~ £65
Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L ~ £50
low latency 4gb PC6400 RAM(2X2gb) ~ £40
Akasa AK965 ~ £10
DVD rewriter ~ £15
Total: around £180
The AK965 has had excellent reviews and will do fine for an E5200.
You should be able to get an E5200 to around 3ghz to 3.2ghz easily. However the Intel socket 775 is being phased out next year(2009)
If do no want to overclock as much and want to keep your upgrade options open an AMD system wold be the way to go. Socket AM3 processors should fit it in socket AM2+ motherbaords. Socket AM3 processors are being introduced next year too.Hence the current AMD processor socket will have a longer lifespan for the foreseeable future. The AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition when not overclocked will have a similiar performance to an Intel E5200. It should have reasonable overclocking headroom but not as much as the E5200. It also has higher power consumption.
If you were to go for an AMD build:
790GX motherboard ~£80 to £90
AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition ~ £64
low latency 4gb PC6400 RAM(2X2gb) ~ £40
DVD rewriter ~ £15
Total: around £199 to £209
If you go for a cheaper 780G motherboard(around £65) the toal price will drop to around £184.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Thanks you two, I will take a look at the parts you have suggested. From what I can find the new AMD chips are being released early January, what sort of price range are they going to be in when they are first released? Not up with the Core i7's I hope.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
The Phenom II's will be priced out of your reach with a £200 budget. They are likely to start at £150+ more likely £180 for the 2.8GHz and £200 for the 3GHz BE.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Alright, looks like I will be going with the intel then. Thanks :)
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
From what I have read the AMD Phenom II X4 920 will cost around £200. This is a 2.8ghz model.
The problem with the Intel Coe i7 is that the cost of a suitable motherboard and RAM will easily add another £150+ to the cost of a build.
Here is the first review of the Phenom II I have seen:
http://www.hwbox.gr/showthread.php?t=3189
Some more benchmarks:
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread...=371278&page=6
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
If I buy the e5200 build suggested for £180 I could also purchase a HDMI cable. Will this one (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/3m-Sc...ProductSupport) Let me plug the DVI end into a DVI port then plug the other end into my HD ready TV?
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
In theory it should work. However with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD you would need to have a HDCP compliant graphics card. I am uncertain if the 8800GTS 640mb is HDCP compliant. Also you can get free Postage at Scan if you have 20 posts. Check the Scan forum for more details. I would also go to Ebuyer for some parts as they will be cheaper and also the free Supersaver Postage offer for most orders over £49.99 is still active.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Ah, well I will be getting a HD 4870 around the 20th of January, and the 8800 GTS I have just RMA'd might come back as a 9*** series if I am lucky.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
The HD4870 should come with HDMI adaptor or even a native HDMI connector!! Some of the 9 series Nvidia cards also have this so it maybe only necessary to get an HDMI cable instead!! :)
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Alrighty cheers, What sort of performance upgrades will I be looking at from my current system? I am expecting a massive increase.
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Upgrading from an XP3200 to a 3ghz E5200 and from an X1950pro to a HD4870 512mb would mean a tripling of your 3DMark06 scores in XP at 1280 x 1024!!
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Check your TV many come with dvi so no need for HDMI
Also if it's a 720p TV then d-sub will also be fine. You can still run d-sub at the higher res but it's pushing the limits of d-sub
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
What sort of gaming performance increase am I looking at from an e5200 (overclocked to 3.2ish) and a e8400 (overclocked to whatever they overclock to)? Worth spending over double the price of the e5200?
Re: Recommend me a few parts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kurshu
What sort of gaming performance increase am I looking at from an e5200 (overclocked to 3.2ish) and a e8400 (overclocked to whatever they overclock to)? Worth spending over double the price of the e5200?
Well the e8400 is clocked to 3ghz, i wouldnt expect much FPS increase apart from RTS games but really it depends on how long you intend to keep it because the e8400 has more overclocking headroom AFAIK so it can stay ahead an extra year etc, e5200 will last awhile as its easy todo 3ghz on it.
If you upgrade regulary then get the e5200 but perhaps if u upgrade every like 4 years like i do then id get the e8400 but wait for others :P,.