Advice Required Gaming Intel Build (£950ish)

[Callum1001]

Hi there. My first , well second, post here. Been doing ALOT of reading and trying to learn stuff.. alot to take in!

I have roughly £950 to spend on a new gaming computer. I'm saving on the VAT so we're actually looking at like £800, so if you think an extra £50 somewhere will make a huge difference, go for it!

I entered my current setup in my profile.

I've built two Intel i5 setups, one on eBuyer and one on Scan. Both total pretty much the same, but have a different graphics card and mother board (pricing and availablity).

See below:

img716.imageshack.us/img716/8781/scanintel.jpg
img440.imageshack.us/img440/9513/ebuyerintel.jpg

** had to wrap in code as it wouldn't allow me to post a link **

And


How would you rate this system? Good for the money? Or would I better off geting an AMD setup and save some ££ and get the same performance?

Also, I'm planning on getting another 5870 at the end of the following month - good idea or waste of money?

Thanks in advance!

Useage: Gaming, running multiple instances of WoW (looking for 6+)
OC: Will be my first OC Project
Cooling: Looking to go for a watercooled system built up over time

[Callum1001]

57 views and noone has any advice?

[jim]

For the sake of easier browsing/viewing

[jim]

Personally, I don't think there's a lot wrong with that Scan build - haven't looked at the eBuyer one as they seem to be more or less the same. Obviously you can get improvements... an extra £40 for HT, an SSD, more disk space, all sorts of things - but it all costs money. I wouldn't particularly want to cut anything there to reinvest the savings.

You could manage with a lower wattage PSU I suspect, but you give yourself more headroom with the 650 so it's definitely not a bad thing - future upgrades are much easier if you already have the right PSU.

As for the processor, AMD vs Intel... I guess a lot depends on whether you intend to overclock it or not. Had any thoughts on that yet?

[Callum1001]

Thanks for posting the images for me!

I have never overclocked, but I was seriously thinking about giving it a go.

Being a newbie, some might say dont do it on an expensive system?

[jim]

You're not really at much risk in my opinion. If you overvolt, then it can get a little bit hairy, I admit. But if you're just starting out, you can almost just try upping a few of the speeds and see what happens. There are quite a few excellent guides on the web for specific processor families - such as i5. If it gets too hot, it'll detect the overheating and shut down, then usually reset itself to stock speeds. It can be best to leave the voltages alone initially, and go back to it once you've read up and are a bit more confident - if you desperately want the extra performance you can gain from a little overvolt. Depending on your usage, you may not need that additional performance anyway.

Usually I just google for a while, see what voltages people recommend as limits for that particular CPU and then experiment a bit. I don't really need that much horsepower so I tend to go with fairly tame overclocks anyway.

The main reason I ask is because you can get an AMD Quad Core at 3.2GHz for less than your Intel 2.67GHz (especially when you consider that the AMD mobos are cheaper), and whilst the Intel will outperform the AMD clock for clock, I seriously doubt that it would outperform a 3.2GHz AMD given the huge differences in clockspeeds. They're both fairly easy to overclock, so no big concerns there.

Obviously if you wanted to overclock, a new cooler might be a good idea. I would be tempted, in your position, to go for a Phenom X4 at 3.2GHz, make sure I get a USB 3 and SATA 3 motherboard, save a few bob compared to the Intel, and then invest the money saved into a decent CPU cooler. I'll leave specific recommendations for someone a bit more knowledgeable though

Only other thing that you should mention is your intended usage - gaming presumably! Are you thinking about doing video editing/transcoding much, or photoshop editing? Anything CPU intensive really.

Oh, and I just noticed you were thinking about getting a second 5870. Would it not make more sense to hold off and grab a 5970 instead? I know the 5870s will outperform the 5970, but with one card you will save money, have a quieter and cooler PC, and have more room in the case along with a spare slot for more upgrades later. Speaking from experience here - I switched from 2 4870s to a 4870X2 and was much happier with the result.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Wait and see how one 5870 performs before getting a second, you may not find you need it.

Blurting out questions here.

If overclocking maybe a better cooler would be a sound investment (as stated). Do enough case fans come with the case and hows teh cooling on it? Ram looks a little steep but that may be the prices these days. You ok for OS, speakers and screen?

20posts on hexus gives you free postage (sure you already knew!)

[vicar]

Don't use the stock cooler, get an aftermarket one, makes life easier on the long run.

[Callum1001]

Hmm I like the idea of the AMD (I've always been an AMD man but was thinking about changing). At the moment I have a 19" VGA monitor which im looking to upgrade but not a priority. If I make an AMD build perhaps I will have enough cash for a decent monitor with the rest of the stuff.

I'll take a look now and whip up an AMD build and see what you think.

Im thinking about going for a water cooled system (basically something I want to build on over the coming months). From what I read that case was quite good and has decent cable management, plus the dust filter stuff sounds good as where my pc sits its extremely dusty!

It will be used for gaming, I play quite abit of World of Warcraft (Its not graphic intense I know) however I'm looking to run multiple instances of the game at once (up to 6+ if possible). Also once I get a super computer I'll be getting the newer games.

I will get a single 5870 to start with and see how it goes, I can't really offord the 5970. I can justify splitting payments over the months though . (Something you need to know is im pretty impatient too )

Will report back with a new build idea shortly.

[Callum1001]

Just finished messing about, turns out it didnt actually come out any cheaper atall!



I have upgraded the case (by £4!). Rams gone up today by nearly £5 and a mb with usb 3.0 is actually more! Unless I've missed one?

I'm assuming the gfx card is well worth the £60+ I would spend over a 5850? (trying to see if i could squeeze the monitor in on budget if there isnt a great deal in performance change)

[Cornholio]

Just finished messing about, turns out it didnt actually come out any cheaper atall!



I have upgraded the case (by £4!). Rams gone up today by nearly £5 and a mb with usb 3.0 is actually more! Unless I've missed one?

I'm assuming the gfx card is well worth the £60+ I would spend over a 5850? (trying to see if i could squeeze the monitor in on budget if there isnt a great deal in performance change)

DO NOT GET XFX, if it breaks the returns policy is a tw@ !.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Any socket 1156 based build can only do Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X and the 790FX motherboard you have chosen does Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 16X. The cheaper 790X and 890GX motherboards do Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X. Ebuyer also has the X4 955BE for £122.

Let me see what I can come up with!

[jim]

Wow, that mobo isn't cheap! I was thinking about the 790X boards, rather than 790FX - they're more like £105 with USB3. Admittedly they're PCI-E x8, but then so is the P55 AFAIK. And the performance different isn't particularly big IIRC.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Also the Phenom II X6 is being released next month AFAIK and one or two newer AMD Phenom II quad cores.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is what I would look at:

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £125

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190673

Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 ~ £113

http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/

Has SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 and can do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X.

4GB Crucial 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £100

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191175

PowerColor HD 5850 PCS 1GB ~ £229

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199769

OR

PowerColor HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 ~ £295

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/175996

OR

2XHD5830 1GB ~ £376

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...39787&context=

Seasonic S12D-750 ~ £92

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190306

Fractal Design Black Pearl Define R2 Case ~ £80

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190866

Samsung F3 1TB ~ £62

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804

Sony SATA DVD rewriter ~ £16

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164449

The total comes to around £817 to £964 excluding postage.

An HD5850 1GB once overclocked to the same clockspeeds as an HD5870 1GB is only slightly behind in performance AFAIK.

[Callum1001]

Thanks very much CAT. I think I'm going to go with the build you mentioned with a 5850 (Overclocking it and possibly even adding another if required), as I'm saving on the VAT the build comes to £700 total, leaving plenty of room to look for a good monitor and aftermarket cooling.

1 quick question, why the intense psu? Is it better for cable management or just I'm going to need it if im looking at watercooling/crossfire?

Cheers!