Building my first gaming rig.

[Terbinator]

May as well go for the 'full-fat' Deluxe than the GENE II, im not knokcing the GENE but aren't they a similar price ?

Edit: i checked prices and the GENE II is around £30 less on Scan, it may not be a bad purchase after all...

[Just Browsing]

Regarding internet connectivity. Will there be a CAT5/CAT6 port on the mobo? And if I should want to go wireless, I'd have to fork out for something like this? I only ask because I would like to surf the web wireless but enjoy uninterrupted online gaming via a CAT5/CAT6 cable connected to my router.

Could anyone set me straight on this please? I'm very eager to start ordering all that sexy hardware tonight - time permitting and while the wife's in a good mood!

[nibbler]

Ye that's the kinda thing you would need. There should be an ethernet port, I'd be ridiculously surprised if there wasn't (check the details on scan, look for 10/100/1000 or ethernet).
Good luck, you're fortunate to be able to spend that much, My limit is looking to be about £600!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ye that's the kinda thing you would need. There should be an ethernet port, I'd be ridiculously surprised if there wasn't (check the details on scan, look for 10/100/1000 or ethernet).
Good luck, you're fortunate to be able to spend that much, My limit is looking to be about £600!

What type of upgrade are you looking at BTW?? I maybe able to suggest a few pointers if you want??

[Just Browsing]

Which components should I take into account when calculating how powerful a PSU I might need. By this I mean, if the CPU requires 250w, the GPU requires 300w and the mobo requires 200w then that obviously amounts to 750w in total. Are there any other components I should take into account when getting an idea of how powerful a PSU I will need? How do you lovely chaps come up with away of figuring out how powerful a PSU you need?

I recall a link being posted before that pointed towards a calculator/tool which is probably exactly what I'm looking for but I feel it won't hurt to get some additional opinions.

Edit: The tool linked to in a previous post is pretty complex for someone of my limited hardware knowledge, I'll just try and wing it and see what wattage it recommends in the end. I don't suppose anyone could give me a rough estimate given the specs I posted earlier?

- Samsung F3 1TB HDD (perhaps x2 if I can get the first one working... lol)
- ATI Radeon HD 5870
- LG DVD-RW Drive (might push the boat out and go for a blu-ray RW approach as the weekly backups of my dedicated server do take up a fair bit of space...)
- Corsair HX 850W PSU
- ASUS M4A79-T Deluxe motherboard
- Phenom X4 965 Black Edition
- Edimax EW-7728IN NIC (I know next to nothing about this sort of thing and the main reason I've left it till last before I start researching into it is because I'd rather see if I can actually build the remainder of the PC first)
- Corsair 4GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Memory Kit
- Antec Nine Hundred Two case

Edit: I realise the case has no impact on power consumption, I just copy/pasted the list from the previous page.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Which components should I take into account when calculating how powerful a PSU I might need. By this I mean, if the CPU requires 250w, the GPU requires 300w and the mobo requires 200w then that obviously amounts to 750w in total. Are there any other components I should take into account when getting an idea of how powerful a PSU I will need? How do you lovely chaps come up with away of figuring out how powerful a PSU you need?

I recall a link being posted before that pointed towards a calculator/tool which is probably exactly what I'm looking for but I feel it won't hurt to get some additional opinions.

Edit: The tool linked to in a previous post is pretty complex for someone of my limited hardware knowledge, I'll just try and wing it and see what wattage it recommends in the end. I don't suppose anyone could give me a rough estimate given the specs I posted earlier?

Corsair 4GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Memory Kit (provided this is confirmed to be compatible)
- Samsung F3 1TB HDD (perhaps x2 if I can get the first one working... lol)
- ATI Radeon HD 5870
- LG DVD-RW Drive (might push the boat out and go for a blu-ray RW approach as the weekly backups of my dedicated server do take up a fair bit of space...)
- Corsair HX 850W PSU
- ASUS M4A79-T Deluxe motherboard
- Phenom X4 965 Black Edition
- Edimax EW-7728IN NIC (I know next to nothing about this sort of thing and the main reason I've left it till last before I start researching into it is because I'd rather see if I can actually build the remainder of the PC first)
- Corsair 4GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Memory Kit
- Antec Nine Hundred Two

The Corsair memory works with the Phenom II as I have recommended before for use with the Phenom II X4 955BE.

TBH,I would get the Phenom II X4 955BE over the 140W version of the X4 965BE as they are the same chip AFAIK. The 125W of the Phenom II X4 965BE is the newer C3 stepping with lower idle power consumption and a memory controller which can run 4 sticks of DDR3 at 1333MHZ.

I would run the 1600MHZ DDR3 at 1333MHZ using lower latencies as this is the optimal configuration for the Phenom II memory controller.

You may also want to consider this DFI 790FX motherboard which is actually in stock unlike the Asus one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-L...3Gb-s-RAID-ATX

Also I would look at the Antec 300 case.

This is also this cheaper RAM which I would look at too:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...L9D-4GBRL.html

[Just Browsing]

Nice one, CTF.

I'm also eager to look into capture cards. I'd love to be able to capture some gaming footage from my Xbox 360. Can anyone recommend a good capture card (and, if possible, any additional equipment I might need to go about capturing gaming footage)? I've heard that the ATi Radeon 5870 comes with a built-in ability to capture gameplay footage - is this true? It's be nice to know that I don't have to fork out for any additional hardware.

Do please let me know. I am very appreciative of all the brilliant help and feedback I've received so far.

[spac3d]

You could use the PSU calc I posted? don't make me get the link again!

PS, what's your budget? lol

[Just Browsing]

Hey folks,

Long time no... post. Sadly, my mission had to be put on hold for a while since my projector died and I've had to purchase a new one - which set me back a further £800.

Anywho, and here's where I need your final thoughts and feedback. According to the scrawlings in my notepad, the latest potential builds are:

The AMD Phenom Setup
HDD: Samsung F3 1TB - £65 (ebay)
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 - £310 (play.com)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium - £106 (amazon)
Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW Drive - £18
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two - £87
PSU: Corsair HX 850W PSU - £130 (play.com)
Edimax EW-7728IN / PCI Wireless N WiFi Card / 300mbps / 802.11n - £27 (play.com)
Corsair 4GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Memory Kit - £91
ASUS M4A79-T Deluxe motherboard - £137 (play.com)
Phenom X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz - £142 (amazon)

Please let me know if all the components would be compatible.

The Intel i7 Setup
HDD: Samsung F3 1TB - £65 (ebay)
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 - £310 (play.com)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium - £106 (amazon)
Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW Drive - £18
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two - £87
PSU: Corsair HX 850W PSU - £130 (play.com)
Edimax EW-7728IN / PCI Wireless N WiFi Card / 300mbps / 802.11n - £27 (play.com)
Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C7D / 6GB / 1600MHz / DDR3 / 240pin DIMM / Computer Memory - £155 (play.com)
ASUS P6TD Deluxe motherboard - £200 (ebay)
Intel Core i7 920 2.8GHz - £209

Do please respond and let me know if this list of hardware is definitely compatible.

Well, I'm pretty much torn between those two builds at the moment. I'm leaning slightly more towards the Intel corner, but the appeal of AMD is also pretty enticing, what with it being £120-£150 cheaper... Do please let me know what you think. I'll be using this rig primarily for gaming. Do you feel that paying the extra for the Intel i7 setup would be worth it from a gaming standpoint? I'll hopefully be ordering one or the other setups tonight. Damn you, projector...



Edit: Provided I can get actually assemble all these bits and bobs together, I'd be looking to further upgrade with additional RAM to make it up to 12GB RAM, and perhaps one of them fancy CrossFire dual Radeon 5870 configs.

Edit 2: One last quick question: The AMD 965 is clocked at 3.4GHz and the Intel i7 920 is clocked at 2.6GHz - why is it that the i7 is considered faster? I understand there's more to a CPU than just those fancy GHz numbers, but perhaps one of you lovely chaps can shed some light. Something to do with hyper threading, perhaps?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Hey folks,

Long time no... post. Sadly, my mission had to be put on hold for a while since my projector died and I've had to purchase a new one - which set me back a further £800.

Anywho, and here's where I need your final thoughts and feedback. According to the scrawlings in my notepad, the latest potential builds are:

The AMD Phenom Setup
HDD: Samsung F3 1TB - £65 (ebay)
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 - £310 (play.com)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium - £106 (amazon)
Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW Drive - £18
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two - £87
PSU: Corsair HX 850W PSU - £130 (play.com)
Edimax EW-7728IN / PCI Wireless N WiFi Card / 300mbps / 802.11n - £27 (play.com)
Corsair 4GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Memory Kit - £91
ASUS M4A79-T Deluxe motherboard - £137 (play.com)
Phenom X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz - £142 (amazon)

Please let me know if all the components would be compatible.

The Intel i7 Setup
HDD: Samsung F3 1TB - £65 (ebay)
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 - £310 (play.com)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium - £106 (amazon)
Optical Drive: LG DVD-RW Drive - £18
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two - £87
PSU: Corsair HX 850W PSU - £130 (play.com)
Edimax EW-7728IN / PCI Wireless N WiFi Card / 300mbps / 802.11n - £27 (play.com)
Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C7D / 6GB / 1600MHz / DDR3 / 240pin DIMM / Computer Memory - £155 (play.com)
ASUS P6TD Deluxe motherboard - £200 (ebay)
Intel Core i7 920 2.8GHz - £209

Do please respond and let me know if this list of hardware is definitely compatible.

Well, I'm pretty much torn between those two builds at the moment. I'm leaning slightly more towards the Intel corner, but the appeal of AMD is also pretty enticing, what with it being £120-£150 cheaper... Do please let me know what you think. I'll be using this rig primarily for gaming. Do you feel that paying the extra for the Intel i7 setup would be worth it from a gaming standpoint? I'll hopefully be ordering one or the other setups tonight. Damn you, projector...



Edit: Provided I can get actually assemble all these bits and bobs together, I'd be looking to further upgrade with additional RAM to make it up to 12GB RAM, and perhaps one of them fancy CrossFire dual Radeon 5870 configs.

Edit 2: One last quick question: The AMD 965 is clocked at 3.4GHz and the Intel i7 920 is clocked at 2.6GHz - why is it that the i7 is considered faster? I understand there's more to a CPU than just those fancy GHz numbers, but perhaps one of you lovely chaps can shed some light. Something to do with hyper threading, perhaps?

I can save you some money on the cost of the build.
1.)The Samsung F3 is FAR cheaper at both Scan and Ebuyer
2.)Windows 7 Home Premium Retail is well under £90 on Scan
3.)The motherboard is quite expensive and you can get this DFI 790FX based motherboard for £112:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-L...3Gb-s-RAID-ATX
4.)The improved Phenom II X4 965 C3 with lower power consumption is also slightly cheaper at Scan.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you go the AMD way I would get the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 C3 ~ £143

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-P...he-125W-Retail

DFI LanParty DK790FXB ~ £112

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-L...3Gb-s-RAID-ATX

OR

MSI 790FX-GD70 ~ £123

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160880


4GB 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £87

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Run this at 1333MHZ using lower latencies.

Samsung F3 1TB ~ £56

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Antec case ~ £87

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec...ow-without-PSU

Corsair PSU ~ £126

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/CMPSU...lar-UK-Version

Edimax wireless card ~ £25

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Edima...eless-PCI-card

LG SATA DVD rewriter ~ £17

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LG-GH...SATA-Black-OEM

There are some cheaper drives than this one too.

Windows 7 Home Premium Retail ~ £83

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LG-GH...SATA-Black-OEM

I would check the Scan Today Only and Shop Offers web-pages for more offers.

Once you have 20 posts you should be able to get free postage from Scan too on orders over £20 excluding VAT.

Regarding the graphics cards the savings could mean that you maybe able to get a pair of HD5850 1GB cards over a single HD5870 1GB card.

OTH,a pair of HD5770 1GB cards is between an HD5850 and HD5870 in speed:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...-review-test/1

[Just Browsing]

Thanks, CTF! I must admit I have Scan bookmarked and have visited their site frequently over the past few days and used them as a benchmark for prices. I guess the only thing stopping me from using them is I have absolutely no experience with them and some of the reviews I've been reading are pretty shocking.

I'm certainly considering 'em, though. Scan are also the only ones I can find that sell the new C3 125w Phenom models, too. Looking at the specs of the DFI motherboard, from what I can understand of, it seems to be lacking in a lot of features when compared to the ASUS Deluxe motherboard. I would imagine that the ASUS is a better performer as well. Although, I don't know.

I don't suppose anyone here can vouch for Scan.co.uk, can they? I understand that Hexus and Scan are somehow partnered, so I can imagine a lot of members here shop with Scan and can give an accurate review of their service.

[Syllopsium]

12GB is overkill unless you're running lots of virtual machines, heavy database/transcoding/rendering type activities or similar. I don't use more than 4GB most of the time, and only upgraded to 8GB because 4GB DDR2 ECC was cheap.

Don't bother with another 5870 unless your games are too slow. I don't think there's much, if anything, that can bring a 5870 to its knees at the moment.

clock speed and performance does not necessarily have any correlation, but you do have to look at what tasks you want to do and select components to achieve that aim.

PK

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks, CTF! I must admit I have Scan bookmarked and have visited their site frequently over the past few days and used them as a benchmark for prices. I guess the only thing stopping me from using them is I have absolutely no experience with them and some of the reviews I've been reading are pretty shocking.

I'm certainly considering 'em, though. Scan are also the only ones I can find that sell the new C3 125w Phenom models, too. Looking at the specs of the DFI motherboard, from what I can understand of, it seems to be lacking in a lot of features when compared to the ASUS Deluxe motherboard. I would imagine that the ASUS is a better performer as well. Although, I don't know.

I don't suppose anyone here can vouch for Scan.co.uk, can they? I understand that Hexus and Scan are somehow partnered, so I can imagine a lot of members here shop with Scan and can give an accurate review of their service.

I added a link to the MSI GD70 which seems much better for only £11 more.

Scan have been great IMHO and have very good customer service. Sometimes when they are very busy orders can take a bit longer but IIRC I think they sorted this out a while back . They would be my first port of call and they package their items very well too.

Companies which I usually buy from are Scan,Ebuyer and Dabs. Novatech are supposed to be very good too and you can get cashback from Quidco with them too.

[Just Browsing]

12GB is overkill unless you're running lots of virtual machines, heavy database/transcoding/rendering type activities or similar. I don't use more than 4GB most of the time, and only upgraded to 8GB because 4GB DDR2 ECC was cheap.

Don't bother with another 5870 unless your games are too slow. I don't think there's much, if anything, that can bring a 5870 to its knees at the moment.

clock speed and performance does not necessarily have any correlation, but you do have to look at what tasks you want to do and select components to achieve that aim.

PK

Ah, I see. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I realise I was jumping the boat somewhat by considering upgrading to 12GB RAM, 2x 5870, etc. I guess I'm of the mind that once I invest so much in a system already, that I just have to go all in - definitely the wrong way of thinking, though! In your opinion which would you go for between the Intel i7 920 and the AMD Phenom x4 965 if there was only £130 difference? Just curious. In fact, everyone please feel free to answer this question if you like.

I added a link to the MSI GD70 which seems much better for only £11 more.

Scan have been great IMHO and have very good customer service. Sometimes when they are very busy orders can take a bit longer but IIRC I think they sorted this out a while back . They would be my first port of call and they package their items very well too.

Companies which I usually buy from are Scan,Ebuyer and Dabs. Novatech are supposed to be very good too and you can get cashback from Quidco with them too.

If I go for the AMD setup, I have no problem coughing up that £20-£30 extra for the ASUS mobo. However, if I'm to go with Intel, I'm definitely looking at alternative mobos because I'm looking at around for £200 mark for that. I'm definitely happy to pay the extra for the performance, mind.

I understand there is a discount code available for Hexus forum members whereby you are entitled to free delivery - is this still the case? I'm considering picking up the Samsung F3 HDD from there and perhaps the retail copy of Windows 7 Home Premium since there's currently a deal on. I'm happy spending the little extra to purchase from Play.com and Amazon.

I will say this for Amazon, regarding customer support, I've had a Optoma HD projector from them for 6 months and used it almost daily for gaming. It's superb but died on me this week. Amazon, no questions asked, offered me a full refund - which I accepted and now I've brought a fair superior projector from them. Very, very satisfied with 'em. If only they sold more PC hardware and components because their current catalogue is somewhat limited.

[Just Browsing]

You could use the PSU calc I posted? don't make me get the link again!

PS, what's your budget? lol

Hi mate,

First off: Crap! Dunno how I managed to overlook your post - sorry! Provided it'll allow me to record HD footage from my Xbox 360 and/or standard def footage from my PS2 or older consoles then I'll pay whatever it costs. Well, let's say anything under £200 sheets, that is. lol.

I, however, do not want one of those crappy external Pinnacle Dazzle Platinum gadgets. I want something... much less crap. I'm not fussy if it comes with video editing software or not; it would be a plus if it did, but I'd be willing to fork out for Sony Vegas if needs must.

Edit: Sorry about the double post.