£750 For this lot:

[Scroffy]

Hi all,

My budget is £750 ish, and I need to replace everything except the monitor and sound card. I already have a 500Gb sata hdd (but would like a second).

I'm not really into overclocking but I like high-end gaming.

Could you please advise on the following build?


Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard: £155
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail: £150
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 LGA775 "Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB) - OEM: £140
Coolermaster Storm 'Scout' Gaming Case - (No PSU): £80
600W PSU ?????: £60????
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (WD6400AAKS): £58
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (KHX8500D2K2/4G): £44
Zalman CNPS9500-AT CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775): £33
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM: £18

Total = £760ish

Hope you can help.

[scaryjim]

If I was you I'd consider a Gigabyte 790X UD4 motherboard and a Phenom II X4 940BE (shiop around and you can probably find slightly cheaper prices, too). It'll save you about £40 and should have similar, if not better, performance (The X4 940BE outperforms a Q9300 at stock speeds). The £40 could then be invested in a better graphics subsystem (4890 or 2x 4770?), or you could choose a more feature-rich motherboard like the ASUS M4A79 Deluxe (790FX with the newer SB750 southbridge). Or, you could put it back in your pocket for another day! So many options

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

For the £328 you are spending on the CPU,heatsink and motherboard you can get a better setup.

I would get the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~ £197

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1003114

It comes with a decent stock cooler too!



It is the fastest desktop processor AMD currently makes and has got very good reviews:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16796

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ph...r-review-test/

I would then go for one of the motherboards which scaryjim has suggested such as the ASUS M4A79 Deluxe.

If you do not intend to go crossfire then a cheaper AM2+ or AM3 motherboard may do the job cheaper.


Non-crossfire AM3 based system

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £197

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1003114

Asus M4A78T-E ~ £111

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...A-RAID-ATX-VGA

4gb DDR3 RAM ~ £54

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...d-CAS-9-9-9-24

Since the X4 955BE is a AM3 processor it can also be used in a DDR2 AM2+ 790GX motherboards too.

Non-crossfire AM2 based build


Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £197

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1003114

Biostar 790GX motherboard ~ £73

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Biost...ID-OnBoard-VGA

You are also eligible for free Scan postage too!

[Sputnik]

I agree with the above. Would also add that for a PSU it's worth considering the FSP 700W OEM unit that scan sell, It's often on special offer for around £35.

[GheeTsar]

If you're not going to overclock your system, you won't need the Zalman cooler, saving you a bit. You'd also get away with a cheaper case (eg: the Coolermaster Centurion) and have more to throw at the CPU or graphics card.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would look to get a modular PSU.

Here are some decent ones for under £70:

http://svp.co.uk/products-solo.php?p...lebase&id=6226

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134696

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/650W-...Silent-Fan-OEM

[Infinite]

Corei7?

Corei7 920 (C0)..... 227

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R ........... 153

6GB DDR3 - 1600MHz 8-8-8-24............75

ATi 4870............115

Samsung 640GB HDD........44

Samsung x22 inc Nero...........18

= around 632 quid

Therefore leaves around 120 for Case and PSU???

Edit: The 650W NorthQ isnt very good, Your better of getting the 850W Version. Scan have it quite regularly on TodayOnly for 63 quid.

[Hicks12]

Judging by the gpu you picked i would think your after a "gaming" pc, in this case dont get the I7 as its not great for games as it wastes crap loads of power and money as its meant for servers and extreme coding/multitasking etc.

Id get the amd quad core as mentioned above, 4870 is good

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With your budget it would make more sense to go with a Phenom II X4 based build!! I had a look around at some more bits and I have come up with an improved build!

Build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~ £197

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1003114

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P ~ £112

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...-SATA-RAID-ATX

This is a crossfire motherboard with 2 PCI-E 16x slots.

If you do not want to go crossfire I would get a cheaper 790GX or 780G based motherboard instead. The Biostar 790GX motherboard which I suggested earlier should do the job and save yo nearly £40. You could get a bigger hard drive or more RAM if you need it with the money saved.

4gb 1066mhz DDR2 RAM ~ £46

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...S-5-5-5-15-EPP

HD4890 ~ £184

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...S-5-5-5-15-EPP

If you go with a crossfire motherboard you could also go for two HD4850 512mb cards instead(around £172):

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...VI-XXX-EDITION

Even a pair of HD4770 cards can be had for around £160:

http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=hd+4770

I prefer single card setups though although crossfire can have big advantages in many games. The extra 512mb of the HD4890 will help at higher resolutions though.I would definitely look at reviews first though.

Samsung 640gb hard drive ~ £44

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=816877

Samsung Lightscribe DVD rewriter ~ £18

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Samsu...k-OEM-plusNero

Coolermaster Storm Scout case ~ £80

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...source=froogle

Total ~ £681

This means that you can spend more money on your PSU!

One of the following for around £80 will do the job nicely:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/525W-...uard-SafeGuard

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/520W-...-year-warranty

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500W-...PeakPower-550W

[scaryjim]

Judging by the gpu you picked i would think your after a "gaming" pc, in this case dont get the I7 as its not great for games ...

That's not strictly true. In games like Far Cry 2, which are heavily multithreaded, a Core i7 system will be much faster than any thing else with similar graphics. Have a look at this comparison of the X4 955BE and Core i7 920 and you'll see what I mean - with the same graphics card the i7 is 33% faster in Far Cry 2. With AMD bringing out budget Athlon II 3 and 4 core processors this year, a lot more developers are going to be writing heavily multihtreaded software as multicore moves into the mainstream.

On the other hand, very few current games make best use of multiple cores, and most (unlike Far Cry 2) are also GPU bound at higher resolutions - so at this exact moment in time you're better off spending the extra money of GPU rather than CPU. But that won't be the case for much longer

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

That's not strictly true. In games like Far Cry 2, which are heavily multithreaded, a Core i7 system will be much faster than any thing else with similar graphics. Have a look at this comparison of the X4 955BE and Core i7 920 and you'll see what I mean - with the same graphics card the i7 is 33% faster in Far Cry 2. With AMD bringing out budget Athlon II 3 and 4 core processors this year, a lot more developers are going to be writing heavily multihtreaded software as multicore moves into the mainstream.

On the other hand, very few current games make best use of multiple cores, and most (unlike Far Cry 2) are also GPU bound at higher resolutions - so at this exact moment in time you're better off spending the extra money of GPU rather than CPU. But that won't be the case for much longer

The Phenom II X4 955BE is faster than the i7 920 in these reviews in FarCry 2:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16796/4

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...tion-cpu-am3/7

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...55,2278-9.html

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...pii955/11.html

http://www.techspot.com/review/162-a...55/page11.html

In most games the Phenom II X4 955 is faster than the i7 920 and trades blows with the Q9550.

The fact is that the money saved is better spent on the graphics card. An HD4890 1gb or a pair of or H4770 HD4850 cards could be fitted into the £750 budget as opposed to the HD4870 512mb and also the OP can get a better PSU for the money too. This will give you better framerates in many games anyway and it also means you can wait longer between upgrades.

[Infinite]

I dont know. Thought it would make sense to get the more superior system between 2 builds cost exactly the same money???

[Scroffy]

Hi all, thanks for the information.

I like the idea of going down the Phenom route. Unfortunately, I haven't decided to crossfire or not. My budget won't allow for a second 4870 at the moment, but I may get one Christmas time when hopefully the prices will have dropped quite a bit.

If so, the would the motherboard of choise be the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P?

Again - thanks for all the replies.

[scaryjim]

If you're definitely going 955BE / DDR3 then that's probably the best AM3 motherboard for the price.

Personally, I'd still consider the ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe AM2+ mobo with DDR2 - the extra expense on the better-featured (i.e. 790FX vs 790X) motherboard should be pretty much offset by the saving you'll get from choosing cheaper DDR2 memory. But that's a personal opinion rather than a hard and fast recommendation, of course

My budget won't allow for a second 4870 at the moment, but I may get one Christmas time when hopefully the prices will have dropped quite a bit.

You mean £115 isn't cheap enough?!?

[Scroffy]

You mean £115 isn't cheap enough?!?

Heh, I was thinking of the £154 1GB version. Is the extra 1/2GB worth the extra £40?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Oop! I specced DDR2 RAM with an AM3 motherboard!!

4gb of DDR3 RAM should cost under £60:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...d-CAS-9-9-9-24

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146058