5870 a waste for this rig?

Hey guys..first time poster :)
Im looking to build a system over the next few weeks. I have around £1200 to spend, but obviously im looking to reduce this as much as i can.
I've came up with this rig so far and im wanting to know if a 5870, which i originally planned to use, would be a overkill...if so what would be my best option?, as i say i dont mind spending up to £300 on the card but i dont want to be paying for extra headroom i would never/rarely feel the benefit of.

The standard of games i would be wanting to play, at maxed out settings would be Lord of the rings online, Napoeon TotalWar, and the upcoming Star wars the old republic in particular.
The monitor i have is the Dell Ultrasharp at 1680x1050.

CPU: Intel i7-930 (Overclocked to 3.8GHz)
MOBO: Asus P6T deluxe V2
Case: Antec 1200
Memory: Patriot Viper 6GB 1600MHz C8Low Latency Tri-Channel
PSU: Antec cp-850W
Optical Drive: Sony DRU-870S
CPU Cooler: Coolermasters V8
Hard Drive : Samsung Spinpoint F3 1Tb
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium

Any input is greatly appreciated, regarding any parts.
Stephen

5870 would definitely be overkill at 1680x1050, but then so is an i7 930 and 6GB RAM! Given the rest of that spec I wouldn't bother with anything lower than a 5850 though, otherwise your build will become seriously lop-sided: and I'd seriously think about getting a new monitor with a 1920 x 1080/1200 resolution to get the best from such a powerful rig. Also you could use a lower power PSU - something in the 500W - 600W range would be more than sufficient.

If you're adamant that you won't be getting a new monitor during the life of this PC, then save yourself a whole heap of cash and go for an absolute maximum of a Phenom II X4 or an i5 750, 4GB RAM and a HD 5770. You should be able to spec up a suitable build for < £600 on that basis, and still pick up a CPU that should have reasonable overclocking headroom.

However, do bear in mind that overclocking results are never guaranteed and you shouldn't buy a CPU based on the speed you think it will overclock to. Just because someone else has an i7 930 that will run at 3.8GHz doesn't mean that every i7 930 will run at 3.8GHz - in fact there's no guarantee than any individual CPU will run even 1MHz above stock.

Reduce cost if possible
i7 920
GA-X58A-UD3R
6GB Corsair C9
500-600W PSU (anything made by Seasonic)
HD 5850
Samsung F3 500Gb

It's worth shaving the money off each of the above to buy
Intel G2 160Gb SSD

1680x1050 is a good gaming resolution because it's not too tough on the GPU
GPU overkill is simply headroom for future more demanding games or a new monitor
Money on GPU is not wasted but I would limit spend due to higher than normal prices
ATI are not pricing aggressively because Nvidia is all messed up (sort of)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scaryjim

5870 would definitely be overkill at 1680x1050, but then so is an i7 930 and 6GB RAM! Given the rest of that spec I wouldn't bother with anything lower than a 5850 though, otherwise your build will become seriously lop-sided: and I'd seriously think about getting a new monitor with a 1920 x 1080/1200 resolution to get the best from such a powerful rig. Also you could use a lower power PSU - something in the 500W - 600W range would be more than sufficient.

If you're adamant that you won't be getting a new monitor during the life of this PC, then save yourself a whole heap of cash and go for an absolute maximum of a Phenom II X4 or an i5 750, 4GB RAM and a HD 5770. You should be able to spec up a suitable build for < £600 on that basis, and still pick up a CPU that should have reasonable overclocking headroom.

However, do bear in mind that overclocking results are never guaranteed and you shouldn't buy a CPU based on the speed you think it will overclock to. Just because someone else has an i7 930 that will run at 3.8GHz doesn't mean that every i7 930 will run at 3.8GHz - in fact there's no guarantee than any individual CPU will run even 1MHz above stock.

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Excellent advice IMHO!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scaryjim

5870 would definitely be overkill at 1680x1050, but then so is an i7 930 and 6GB RAM! Given the rest of that spec I wouldn't bother with anything lower than a 5850 though, otherwise your build will become seriously lop-sided: and I'd seriously think about getting a new monitor with a 1920 x 1080/1200 resolution to get the best from such a powerful rig. Also you could use a lower power PSU - something in the 500W - 600W range would be more than sufficient.

If you're adamant that you won't be getting a new monitor during the life of this PC, then save yourself a whole heap of cash and go for an absolute maximum of a Phenom II X4 or an i5 750, 4GB RAM and a HD 5770. You should be able to spec up a suitable build for < £600 on that basis, and still pick up a CPU that should have reasonable overclocking headroom.

However, do bear in mind that overclocking results are never guaranteed and you shouldn't buy a CPU based on the speed you think it will overclock to. Just because someone else has an i7 930 that will run at 3.8GHz doesn't mean that every i7 930 will run at 3.8GHz - in fact there's no guarantee than any individual CPU will run even 1MHz above stock.

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Hi :D
Thanks for the reply!

I, sadly, only just bought this monitor at Christmas, so im afraid i cant change it. Though it is a e-Ips pannel so its pretty decent quality.
Ive had a think about it and im going to change my build to a i5 750 orientated rig, with probably a 5850, then might put the savings to use elsewhere.
Just need to sort though the motherboards tomorrow and ill have an outline i can post.

Final question for now is, Any point in having the Antec 1200 case(which bear in mind it is a whopping £130) for a i5 750 rig? .. would then subsequently downgrade the PSU to a 600W.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stephenm1

Hi :D
Thanks for the reply!

I, sadly, only just bought this monitor at Christmas, so im afraid i cant change it. Though it is a e-Ips pannel so its pretty decent quality.
Ive had a think about it and im going to change my build to a i5 750 orientated rig, with probably a 5850, then might put the savings to use elsewhere.
Just need to sort though the motherboards tomorrow and ill have an outline i can post.

Final question for now is, Any point in having the Antec 1200 case(which bear in mind it is a whopping £130) for a i5 750 rig? .. would then subsequently downgrade the PSU to a 600W.

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I'd go for a nice e-IPS at 1680x1050 over a higher res TN display any day! Definitely agree with the change to an i5 and 5850 - much better value for a very similar level of performance.

Whether you need a HUGE case is not determined by your CPU choice though - if you need the slots/space then you need them. 600W would be overkill even for your original spec, so certainly isn't a problem with the more efficient one.

Personally:

i5, 4GB, 5850, 500W PSU

Case is a whole different kettle of fish. Do you want something small to fit in a gap, or huge to make working with components very easy? Do you like the aesthetics? I would spend big on the case though, if you pick one that you really love (I failed in this regard) it could last you a decade.

As snooty (no, we're not related ;) ) says, case is very much a matter of personal taste an opinion. A good case should last you through two, three or more builds, and can be seen as a real investment (much like a decent monitor), and if you really like the Antec 1200 and can afford it then there's no reason not to get it.

Cheap cases can work out well too, but since it sounds like you're keen to overclock with air cooling I'd suggest investing a decent proportion of your budget in a case that has space for enough 120mm (or larger) fans to ensure decent airflow. Airflow tends to be the achilles heel of cheap cases, making them fine for stock-clocked systems but less appropriate for overclocking.

If you're concerned about spending masses on a case, though, this Casecom KM-6788 from ebuyer is a well built, well designed case for a tight budget - hexus even has a user-written review by Pob255 :hexlub:

but ultimately, the case is a personal choice and you should get what you feel happy with :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snootyjim

if you pick one that you really love (I failed in this regard) it could last you a decade.

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The grass is always greener! I think this too.

To the OP; http://www.pcgameshardware.com/m,0000 has lovely articles on Napoleon and Empire TW to help you make your decision.

As you know your res you have a great place to start.

Personally I would get the 5850 over the 5770. I think the 5770 is highly rated because there is nothing to knock it down into its rightful value section. perhaps after last year and plenty of cheap 4000s I've been spoilt.

Having chosen the 5850 you know what your limiting factor is and go on that. Even a cheap PII X3 or X4 or even an i3 would probably be fine as the card won't be bottlenecked. The i5 is a sterling choice though.

Definately a 500W PSU; I would just make sure it has a 6pin and a 6+2 PCIe cable.

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Originally Posted by Domestic_Ginger

... I think the 5770 is highly rated because there is nothing to knock it down into its rightful value section. ...

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I'd agree with this - the real question is how much leeway you want to build into the rig for future gaming. While the 5770 will handle pretty much anything you can throw at it at your current resolution *now*, games will become more demanding in the future, and the 5850 will be better placed to handle those. I'm not sure if the 5770 pricing is artificially high, but the 4850 / 4870 prices were *definitely* pushed artificially low which makes the 5770 look even worse value, of course!

I just don't like the fact it performs worse than the 4870 1gb/260 and costs more now than they did near the end of their life. The 4890/275/4870 1gb/260 are a better deal imo; of course if you can find one for less. I just think that less price for more performance thing grates a little.

Okay I think I have been spoilt.

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Originally Posted by Domestic_Ginger

Okay I think I have been spoilt.

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We all have - it's like the 5570 / 5670 being comparitively expensive compared to the 4670. But let's not forget that a big part of that is the exchange rate - when the 4000s were released the £ was hovering close to $2, now it's about $1.40. It's a pretty huge difference...

This build is under budget and should do the job at 1680X1050 IMHO:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 ~ £125

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

Asus M4A89GTD PRO ~ £96

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/197748

Has a split 8+2 phase VRM with cooling,SATA 3.0 and does symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X.

OR

Asrock 890GX Extreme3 ~ £94

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204534

Has a split 8+2 phase VRM with cooling,SATA 3.0, USB 3.0 and does symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X.

4GB low latency 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £99

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...L8D-4GBRM.html

You can get Quidco and TopCashback cachback on Novatech purchases.

Titan Fenrir V2 CPU Cooler ~ £33

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...120532850.html

HD5850 1GB ~ £220

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p.../nov-5850.html

Antec TruePower New 650W ~ £85

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159920

This is made by Seasonic and has 4 PCI-E power connectors.

CM Storm Scout Case ~ £72

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165238

Samsung F3 1TB ~ £61

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...B/HD103SJ.html

Intel 40GB SSD ~ £88

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...MP040G2R5.html

Pioneer SATA DVD rewriter ~ £18

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177398

Windows 7 Retail ~ £95

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168373

You may have to add some extra fans and maybe a bay adaptor for the SSDs. However I think the Intel SSDs come with an adaptor already.

The total comes to just under £1000 and both Ebuyer and Novatech do free postage.

The first iteration of AMD Bulldozer is supposed to be on socket AM3.

If you're going to spend that much then how about something like this:

http://www.cryopc.co.uk/cryo_nano.htm

not much point in getting a 930 over a 920, I wouldn't have thought, as I believe one just has a higher default clock speed so, if you are overclocking anyway there isn't much point, aria was also doing i5 750s the other day I noticed for £131.40 or something, if you're just going to play games that would probably be just as good. Also a Prolimatech megahalems plus a decent fan, would probably be better than a coolermaster v8 (it is roughly the same price but you do have to buy a fan to go with it).