New PC Gaming Rig.

[Jasp]

So hoping for a nice paycheck and considering the majourity of it is mine i would like a new PC, i really don't have the space for one but can't warrant the money on another underpowered laptop lol.

So budget is £1500 including a monitor and keyboard (got a mouse lol) i am willing to slightly exceed the budget if the performance increase is worth it.

Very quick build :



Ive built 3 systems using the AM3 processors but this was before X-mas and to lower budgets so am willing to consider intel, bearing in mind the primary use is gaming with a little video encoding now and again and i really don't like overclocking...

Really looking towards cat on this one on build advice, is the 5870 worth the difference over the 5850 or would it be better spent on a dell IPS panel? also choose the 850 PSU as i want modular and maybe looking to expand later down the line with another GPU, also explains the MB choice.

Willing to entertain ideas or suggestions.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Core i7 920 should be better for video encoding but not necessarily for gaming:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/17402/4

Basically a Phenom II X4 at 3GHZ will not bottleneck a HD5970:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869&p=12

A Core i7 920 at 2.6GHZ will not bottleneck an HD5970:

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869&p=2

I would look at the charts if I were you.

However do remember that a Core i7 920 is around £70 more expensive than a Phenom II X4 965 and £140 will get you one of the cheaper X58 motherboards.

The Core i7 860 would be a better bet than the Core i7 920 and uses socket 1156 motherboards.

However socket 1156 is limited to Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X.

With a pair of HD5850 or HD5870 cards there would be a tiny performance drop. OTH,if you intend to replace the pair of HD5800 series cards with something faster in the next 18 months or so I cannot say if there would be a limitation or not.

The Phenom platform is basically the cheapest Crossfire platform for Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 16X.

The HD5870 in a single card setup is faster than an HD5850 even at 1920X1200:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/..._card_review/1

However I would not pay more than £300 if possible for an HD5870 and not more than £230 if possible for an HD5850.

Also a decent 750W would more than enough for a pair of HD5870 cards and a Phenom II or Core i7.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Tell me what you are thinking of going for and I can suggest some parts!

[Jasp]

To be fair im easy either way, crossfire would primary depend on finances and if their was no other better single card option avaliable at the time, but don't really wish to fully rule it out hence the slightly larger PSU

My primary uses for the PC are general use email/web browsing etc, it doesn't get used for anything work related and is basically for pleasure so gaming.

Say a I7 920 coupled with a USB3 capable MB and a single 5870, at least this way its future proof for the gulftown CPUs and offers me X-fire if needed.

Hmmzzz well that didnt work :



Seems the I7 860 fits my budget better :

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

For gaming I would ditch the Core i7 920 based build as I think it is poor value for money.

The Core i7 860 is a better processor for gaming especially if there is no overclocking:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=108&p2=47

Secondly I don't think six core CPUs are going to make much difference ATM for gaming when quad cores are barely fully used for gaming. The Core i7 860 also has HT too.

Even the Phenom II X6 six core CPUs are coming out soon with improved AMD quad core processors:

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...processor.html

The HD5870 has similar power consumption as an HD4890:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/...card_review/12

Even a dual HD5970 setup can run on a 800W PSU with a massively overclocked socket 1366 Core i7:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/H...ossFire/2.html

The socket 1366 Core i7 processors consume far more power than their socket 1156 Core i7 cousins.

An HD5970 is basically two underclocked HD5870 cards on a single PCB.

Hence a decent 750W would do the job easily:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-...-80plus-Bronze

The PSU I linked too has got an excellent review:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=140

The prices Scan are charging for 1600MHZ DDR3 are OTT!!

I would also look on the Scan Today Only webpage as many items you may need for the build are on offer:

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

[Jasp]

Will those kits of memory be ok as their rated as 1.8v?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Will those kits of memory be ok as their rated as 1.8v?

Just checked - I thought they were the 1.65V kits!! Doh!! It must be getting too late for the poor Moose!!

However there is much cheaper 1.65V memory on Today Only!!

This is the kit:

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=30579

It is on offer for £83.41!

The case,processor,hard drives and motherboard are also on offer.

You also need to add a DVD rewriter which is also on Today Only!!

Edit!!

The monitor is also on Today Only too!!

It is probably worth ordering the parts before midday today when the offers change.

[Pob255]

Couple of things I would consider.

As CAT has already said, reduceing the psu, if you went for a 5850 esp with an eye to going crossfire then this would also reduce the demands.

One this I would consider now is a display port monitor, if you have any intrest in trying out eyefinity it would be best to get a disploay port monitor ready.

here's another factor in am3 vs 1156 you might want to consider, auto overclocking, quiet a few of the higher end p55 motherboards have a built in auto overclocking feature, while they don't get as good resaults as a manyal overclock they are simple and quick to use.

Otherthings to look at:
Multiple smaller capasity hard drives in RAID
What are you trying to go for with that cpu cooler case combo? esp if you're not overclocking.

[Jasp]

Well this is what ive got so far, can you see anything im missing? or improve on, i know i said i won't be overclocking but have got the H50 just in case lol.

What are you trying to go for with that cpu cooler case combo? esp if you're not overclocking.

Love the case, built a system using it before and found it to be near silent with plenty of room inside, only issue i can see is mounting the H50.

Multiple smaller capasity hard drives in RAID

Got 2X250gb HDs in my laptop and found it useful to have one as the OS/Storage and use the other just for games, makes it easier to backup as well rather then dumping it on disks or external HD.

Didn't think about the monitor tho..

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Get the HD5870 from Aria:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=37984

It is £299.99 with free postage.

[Jasp]

Right off to bed before i end up spending loads of money lol. Mull it over in morning, cheers for the info cat, if you haven't already got it ive got a free copy of HL2 on steam to give away.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Right off to bed before i end up spending loads of money lol. Mull it over in morning, cheers for the info cat, if you haven't already got it ive got a free copy of HL2 on steam to give away.

I would get the HD5870 ASAP as it is a very good price indeed!!

When you mean HL2 is it the original game or one of the episodes??

[Terbinator]

For £100ish you can pick up a Lian-Li for that price !

[Jasp]

I would get the HD5870 ASAP as it is a very good price indeed!!

When you mean HL2 is it the original game or one of the episodes??

Its the original HL2 Cat