Help me £1000 build, please.

[ArcticFox]

Looking to build in the next month or two been trying to research my options but ive been out of the loop for 3 years im still using my Q8200 machine i built in 2007.

My 2 options are:

Intel
Core i5 760 2.8Ghz 8Mb Cache
Biostar TPOWER I55 P55 Board (cheapest board i could find with two x16 slots that run 8x by 8x and not 16x by 4x like most boards with 2 x16 slots)
Total - £1082

or

AMD
Phenom II x6 1055t 2.8Ghz 6Mb Cache
Asus M4N98TD EVO, NF 980a SLI (i realise that Nvidia chipsets have their quirks because my current board is an Nvidia 750i chipset)
Total - £1061

With the following hardware:
2x2Gb Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 XMP Ram
60Gb OCZ Vertex 2E 2.5" Sandforce
2x 768Mb GTX460 SLI
Corsair H50-1 Watercooler
Coolermaster Storm Scout Mid Tower
750W Silverstone ST75F Modular Quad 12V Rail
Assorted Fractal Design Silent Case Fans with Rubber mounts with a Scythe Nesteq 8 Channel Fan Controller

I did want to try and squeeze in a 5970 and remove the SSD but i struggled to find a case i liked that would take the card as its massive and i only have about £60 budgeted for the case.

So, is there anything wrong with what i posted above, will i have any issues with SLI as far as games not supporting it and only being able to use 1 of the cards, i do a lot of video encoding so would the phenom x6 be a better choice over the intel, i want it to be as futureproof (a joke i know) as possible and i wont be upgrading for another 2 years, and finally bearing in mind my £1000~ budget (certainly no more than £1100), can someone recommend an alternative or better spec?

I already have a 1Tb storage drive from my current machine that will be going into it, so only need an OS drive.

Thanks.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What is the specification of your current computer?? You could always overclock your Q8300 a bit as it is still a capable processor. For gaming the Core i5 760 would be a better choice whereas for video encoding the Phenom II X6 1055T would be usuallly faster.

TBH,I would upgrade your computer in around six to eight months time when Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Bulldozer are released. AMD Bulldozer will be the first new CPU architecture from AMD since the Athlon 64. Intel Sandy Bridge is a further evolution of the current Intel Core i3 and i5 processors.

[ArcticFox]

Ive tried overclocking i did have 4gb of 1066 ram at one point but i could barely get 200Mhz overclock out of the cpu so i sold the good ram for some cheap ram.

My current spec is:
Q8200 2.33Ghz
Intel G45 Motherboard
2Gb DDR2 800
Nvidia GT240 512Mb
500Gb System Drive
1Tb Storage Drive
Crappy case
520W PSU

Im one of these if i have the cash and i dont spend it all at once i will start dibbing into it and wasting it on crap, i would rather buy a half decent machine that will last me a while, im not too bothered about the next generation stuff as its always pricey, like i did with Q8200 i will stick with one of these specs for a good 2 years then do a whole new machine again rather than upgrade.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What make is your PSU BTW??

It is a shame you downgraded to 2GB of RAM though although I would probably upgrade the graphics card if your framerates in games are a bit low. If you have one of the Intel G45 motherboards it would explain your low overclock as the Intel motherboards are quite limited for overclocking. Do you have a GT240 GDDR3 or GDDR5 BTW?? A GTX460 768MB or 1GB would be a good upgrade or perhaps an HD5770 1GB.

Like I said before a Core i5 760 would be better for gaming and the Phenom II X6 would be better for video encoding.

Perhaps,it would be worth looking a Core i7 based setup.

[Rob_B]

A new cpu/gfx card and some ram would be a cheap(er) but worthwhile upgrade no?

Pop the rest In an ISA and upgrade in 12months time

[ArcticFox]

My PSU is a Tagan i think, GT240 is the GDDR5 version.

As for an upgrade ive already promised this computer to my father as hes running an old junker machine from 1990s.

I will probably go for the i5 760, thanks.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably spend the extra on the 1GB version of the GTX460. Not only is it faster than the 768MB version but the extra RAM will be useful too.

Also,I would consider the following PSU:

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

TBH,the 650W version maybe enough.

This motherboard is also worth considering if you don't mind using OcUK:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...source=froogle

[Jasp]

My only concern would be running those 460s in 8x/8x, could bottleneck them at higher resolutions.

[ArcticFox]

My only concern would be running those 460s in 8x/8x, could bottleneck them at higher resolutions.

I did a quick search and apparently the GTX480 at x4 retains 95% performance, x8 is more than enough so that should mean there will be plenty of bandwidth available for GTX460.

I would probably spend the extra on the 1GB version of the GTX460. Not only is it faster than the 768MB version but the extra RAM will be useful too.

Also,I would consider the following PSU:

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

TBH,the 650W version maybe enough.

This motherboard is also worth considering if you don't mind using OcUK:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...source=froogle

I did spec out 1Gb versions but i dont think its worth the extra money, even the 768Mb versions in SLI is faster than every single card apart from the 5970 which is £190 more expensive. I will look at a different PSU but i dont really want to spend anymore money than ive budgeted, i really wanted to spend less than £1000 but i couldnt resist the SSD.

[dfour]

Why not just buy 1 pre overclocked 460 like the gainward GS GLH

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...source=froogle

Spend a little more on a better PSU (for later upgrades)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/750W-...80-Plus-Silver

Only £6 more but better efficiency and a single rail

or a better case.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/NZXT-...r-Case-w-o-PSU

Much deeper than the storm (562mm v's 492mm)


The GLH will be head and shoulders better than your old 240 and will easily cope with most games and you can always buy another cheaper down the line when you need more power.

Also if you buy an asus P55 board (and maybe some 3 pin fan splitters) then you could do away with some of the fractal fans and the fan controller and use the asus fan control software to control the fan speeds. I have and it works very well. Saving even more money.

[ArcticFox]

Because 2x 460s are faster than a single 480 and halfway to 5970 performance for £200 less, i dont like the Evo which is why i went for the scout i built a Phenom for a friend using Scout case and i like it plus the evo is nearly £30 more expensive the £1000 budget is quite tight as it is.

Im not trying to save money, any money i dont spend out of £1000 for the PC will probably get piddled up the wall so it would be nice to use as much or all of it as i can.

[tao65]

If I was you, I will get a I7 930