Help for n00b , greatly appreciated!

[sn00b]

Hi All

I plan on ordering parts for a new system build in a few days, please see spec below. Any suggestions on the components or the compatibility of the system in general would be greatly appreciated.

I've been out of the Gaming PC scene for a while so apologies in advance for any ignorance/lack of knowledge!

Many Thanks!!!

Primary Choice - (Secondary Choice)

Case: Antec Nine Hundred II Gaming Case
PSU: Antec True Power 750W Modular PSU Blue
CPU: Core i7 920 Retail
Motherboard: Asus P6TD Deluxe (Gigabyte EX58-UD5)
GPU: Sapphire ATI 5870 (Nvidia GTX 295)
HD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Memory: OCZ Xtreme XMP 1600MHZ Tri-Channel DDR3 6GB (3 x 2GB) (Corsair XMS 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 9-9-9-25 CAS)
DVD/CD: Any Generic DVD/RW for £20

Have put my primary choices down, any reason why i should go with my secondary would also be welcome!


Thanks in advance

[nibbler]

I would get a samsung spinpoint f3 instead of the WD. Make sure the CPU is the D0 stepping.
Otherwise nice choice!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Unless the OP needs to use Crossfire or SLI a socket 1156 based build would be a better choice for a gaming build AFAIK! I would look at the Core i7 860 or even the Core i5 750.

[pinocchio]

Wait until Intel launch the new i7 9 series chips with 6 cores, it's possible that 920 prices will drop then.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Core i7 930 is also replacing the Core i7 920 in January AFAIK.

[sn00b]

ahhhh didn't expect to get so many replies so quick!! thanks all, great advice!

1. if the core i7 930 is replacing the current 920 would the pricing also be similar? (approx 200-250 GBP retail) i.e should i wait 2 months for the newer cpu, also i've read the ati 5870's are currently in constraint can't seem to find them anywhere??

2.regarding the HD, is the spinpoint just faster/more reliable than the WD?

3.Also is it worth getting a separate CPU fan or is the retail one good enough?

from the above, it now seems i wont be building for a while yet...

anyone know of any other upcoming parts? that would affect my build, am glad i asked before i was abt to buy!

[Will404]

get a seperate CPU fan if you want to overclock, otherwise the standard one will do fine.

Not much in it reli, personal preferance - I would go with cheeper from sammy, or wd or seagate (mabi). Look at scan today only: http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

could not say buy probablly round the same or less when the 6 core i7's come out


EDIT

These 1TB sammy f3, and wd black are at £64 and £67 on scan today only

nd This 1.5tb sammy f2 eco is less than a tenner more at £72 on today only

[sn00b]

Thanks for your reply Will,

Just saw a review for the spinpoint

"In short the F3 is an awesome hard disk drive, and while an SSD will still give you a bigger boost in performance and response times, the F3 is very much the next best thing and at a fraction of the £/GB. Get One."

think that puts and end to the HD choice

the product labelling confuses the hell out me for half these parts, a core i7 860 is for a 1156 board with dual channel but performs the same as a core i7 920 (1366 board with tri channel)????

i would like to overclock at some point, so is it worth sticking to a L1366 board? my budget is 1200 GBP max, and i don't mind waiting a month or so, but that being said i dont like the idea of spending 200 pounds more for an L1366 setup for a minor performance increase...

am i making this much harder than it has to be....or is it always this friggin annoying to make a pc???

[ashikamlani]

If you intend to use a multi GPU setup in the future, then you should go with X58 and an i7 920, becuase of the full speed PCI-E lanes.

If, however, you are only intending on ever using 1 GPU, then you might as well go P55 and an i5 750, because it's cheaper.

As far as I know, hyperthreading, which is the main difference between the CPUs listed there, is not that advantageous anyway.

Also the i5 750 has turbo boost, which is useful if you're not overclocking initially.

[nibbler]

You may as well go for i5 anyway because 8x/8x has about 98% of the performance of 16x/16x...

[woody_294]

Yep I'd 2nd the i5 choice, you'd save yourself a packet and get similar gaming performance with the 750. Plus 4GB in dual channel is enough and fast enough for pretty much anything.

[Will404]

Also if you do buy from scan save yourself on shipping by getting your post count up to 20 non spam posts:

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...0-07-08-a.html
http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...tup-guide.html

[sn00b]

thanks all for your help!, new build is up and running awesome,now i just need a monitor

have been looking around definitely want 24", 2 or 5ms response, Full HD, preferably with HDMI if i can get it, budget is £200 max

i did want a samsung as i have a samusng tv and they look awesome but there arent many that fit my specs for the price...

any thoughts or opinions on

Samsung 2494hm , Liyama E2407HDS , ASUS VW246H

any other ideas also welcome

[Terbinator]

thanks all for your help!, new build is up and running awesome,now i just need a monitor

have been looking around definitely want 24", 2 or 5ms response, Full HD, preferably with HDMI if i can get it, budget is £200 max

i did want a samsung as i have a samusng tv and they look awesome but there arent many that fit my specs for the price...

any thoughts or opinions on

Samsung 2494hm , Liyama E2407HDS , ASUS VW246H

any other ideas also welcome

Spend a bit extra and get the Dell Ultrasharp E-IPS monitor off Scan.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/22-De...en-6ms-DVI-VGA

[Phage]

As per the Terbinator.
Although Ars has a few other recommendations that you might find enlightening.
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/guid...-edition.ars/3

[sn00b]

sorry if i seem like a neanderthal :S

i wanted the biggest baddest screen i could find for around £200

is a TN panel really that bad (i assume its what all cheapo monitors are made with??)

i currently have a £99 19" pile of crap LCD monitor and sit directly in front to use for mostly gaming, and occaisonal movies

while it seems ok i did want something better, is this what all these 24" panels will be like except larger?