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Thread: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

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    Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Hi guys

    My friend is looking to upgrade. He uses his PC for a variety of work tasks (nothing particularly intensive) but also enjoys some gaming (Oblivion is his favourite but also likes the occasional FPS too). He tends to keep his computers for some time (possibly 5 years or more without any upgrades). He already has screen, keyboard, mouse and OS.



    It has been a while since I built a desktop PC (my last build was a Linux HTPC for MythTV which uses VDPAU via onboard 9400M) so I'm a bit out of date re graphics cards. It seems that ATI may be the way to go at the moment, but I'm not sure... What about a 216 core GTX260 as an alternative?

    He's vendor agnostic so nVidia or ATI would be fine. The DX11 support and apparently low (idle) power usage of the ATI 5770 seem appealing...?

    My friend bought Windows 7 Home Premium when it was going cheap in preparation for this build.

    Will the bigger GPUs fit in the case OK? Any other thoughts on the build? I know that the i7 is a bit of a luxury but my friend was keen on a "new" quad core machine and I don't think it unbalances things too much. Finally, should he do a modest overclock, how far could he comfortably go with the stock heatsink?

    Thanks for reading, all comments gratefully received!

    Oaf

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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    TBH,if the build is for gaming I would go with a socket 1156 Core i5 750 or a Core i7 860 with a cheaper P55 motherboard with 4GB of RAM.

    I would use the money saved towards and HD5850 1GB if you can find one in stock.

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Agree with Cat. Put a bit more into the GPU, also you will want an after market cooler if you want to clock the i5/i7. You might want to check out the Corsair H50-1

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    Smile Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Hi

    Thanks for your swift and very helpful replies. How about this then, plus a HD5850 1GB card (they appear to be £200 once they come back in stock)?



    Is the Centurion 590 worth the extra over the Antec 300? I've noticed some people say the 300 is a little cramped/cheaply made. Any other alternatives?

    Are both the Centurion and the Antec 300 able to accommodate the 5850?

    Any other tweaks? Slightly cheaper PSU/mobo? I see Asus do a ASUS P7P55D "LE" but I believe it misses out on firewire, which could be useful (and it isn't much cheaper anyway).

    Thanks again, much appreciated

    Oaf

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Not sure about the cases, but you will need another sata cable since both dvdrw and hdd are oem. Stick with the PSU.

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    Red face Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Quote Originally Posted by dirky View Post
    Not sure about the cases, but you will need another sata cable since both dvdrw and hdd are oem. Stick with the PSU.
    OK thanks for the heads up. I had assumed I'd get (at least) one SATA cable with the mobo

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Ah thats true, didnt think of that! I've been stung before not having enough sata/usb cables for things

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    I prefer the Antec 300 as a case TBH!!

    The HD5850 should fit into an Antec 300 as the longer HD5870 seems to be fine:

    http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...0777_15_0.html

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    Thumbs up Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 860 + which GPU?

    OK, so here's the plan:



    ...plus http://www.dabs.com/products/sapphir...-dvi-662D.html (whenever it arrives) which gives a grand total of £785.60, comfortably under £800! Should be pretty nippy I think?

    All good? Anything to spend that final £14.40 on?! Slightly nicer RAM or just call it a day?

    Thanks everyone for your comments

    Oaf

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Is your friend concerned about noise? If so you may want to change some of the stock fans to Nexus ( around £5 each delivered) and perhaps change the power Supply to Enermax Moud82+ (525W is crica £71) or Corsair HX650 if you want more Watts. Both are very quiet PSUs

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Hi

    I don't think he's going to be particularly fussed about noise, the machine will be tucked under a fairly big desk anyway so unless the fans/PSU in the components above are ridiculously loud I reckon he'll live with it. I have a feeling they'll be an improvement on his current machine anyway.

    Where would I get the quiet Nexus fans (might go for some for my own machine!)

    Cheers

    Oaf

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    It would definitely be worth getting at least one intake fan for the case (doesn't come with any intakes as standard). I hear those Nexus fans are good, although I'm not sure where you can get them from, sorry!
    "I want to be young and wild, then I want to be middle aged and rich, then I want to be old and annoy people by pretending that I'm deaf..."

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Noctua are generally good and quiet: http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/92mmfans

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    What im going to suggest is a definate wild card. Instead of the Antec 300 have you looked at the Antec 200?

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Antec...plus120mm-fans

    The reason im chucking this in is that its cheaper, almost exactly same size and layout as its bigger brother the 300 but it has hot swappable drives and a CPU cutout on the motherboard tray to acess CPU cooler brackets if needed in the future.

    Only thing is that its worse looking than the 300 I think. Feel free to shoot it down

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    Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Chnage the PSU to a Corsair VX 550 ?
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
    CAT-THE-FIFTH: "The Antec 300 is a case which has an understated and clean appearance which many people like. Not everyone is into e-peen looking computers which look like a cross between the imagination of a hyperactive 10 year old and a Frog."
    TKPeters: "Off to AVForum better Deal - £20+Vat for Free Shipping @ Scan"
    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Talking Re: Sub £800 Gamingish Build i7 920 + which GPU?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cheapy View Post
    Instead of the Antec 300 have you looked at the Antec 200?

    The reason im chucking this in is that its cheaper, almost exactly same size and layout as its bigger brother the 300 but it has hot swappable drives and a CPU cutout on the motherboard tray to acess CPU cooler brackets if needed in the future.

    Only thing is that its worse looking than the 300 I think. Feel free to shoot it down
    Thanks for reading my thread and taking the time to reply, I wasn't aware of the Antec 200 case. It is a bit ugly though isn't it?! Looks aside, I can get the Antec 300 and the 650W TruPower PSU for £110.74 from ebuyer (as a deal when you buy the two together) whilst when buying the Antec 200 and 650W PSU you don't seem to get the reduction (so they'd still cost £109.80!). I'm not sure the downgrade is worth the 94p saving

    Thanks anyway

    Oaf

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