Building a new system! Need Some HELP Please

[stevesmenagerie]

Hi
Building a brand new system moving up from an "AMD Athlon 64 2400Mhz 4000+, 2GB 3200 DDR SDRAM, Geforce 6600GT" !!!!! Had it for nearly 5 years.
Been using a PS3 for the games! I know BOO!!!!!! Now want to move back onto the PC for playing the latest Games,Video Conversion and I've never overclocked but would like to give it a go!
Want a complete new build as Son is having old Base Unit, Looking to spend between £600 to £800. Please can you give me build that will cover the above?
Thanks to all in advance.

[dfour]

Quick AMD build



Quick Intel build



This assumes you just need the base rig and a new OS. You will also need some more fans for the case to improve the airflow. The base intel cooler is a slug so I included the well respected artic cooling freezer 7 pro.cooler. Different hard drives as the intel doesnt support SATA 6 but the AMD board does.

Both rigs will overclock the CPU and GPU's. The AMD stock cooler is very good and will allow some overclocking but if your serious a better cooler would be advised.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Novatech seem to be only decent retailer which have the Phenom II X4 955BE in stock at a reasonable price including postage:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...55FBGMBOX.html

You can get cashback from TopCashBack and Quidco on Novatech purchases.

The Intel Core i5 760 will be faster than even an AMD Phenom II X4 965BE although the Intel socket 1155 motherboards cost more for the same amount of features.

For instance you can get AMD motherboards with symmetrical Crossfire,SATA3.0 and/or USB 3.0 for under £100. The Intel P55 motherboards under £100 do asymmetrical Crossfire and many lack SATA3.0 and USB3.0 AFAIK.

If you are going with an AMD based build I would suggest looking at the following motherboards:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/197546

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-sata-raid-atx

Both motherboards do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X and have the SB850 southbridge which means they have SATA 3.0 too. The Gigabyte motherboard also has USB 3.0 although the Asus motherboard is supposed to be better for overlclocking.

If Crossfire is not so important then I would look at the following 870 based motherboards:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/21893

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-sata-raid-atx

Both have SATA 3.0 and USB3.0 ports although the 890GX motherboards have cooled VRMs which may mean they are a bit better for overclocking.

I would suggest going for the following PSU:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...-12v-120mm-fan

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

[Cozwin]

Im not going to imput much as above says it all, but honestly follow from my recent pain... avoid Ati, they have the worst drivers i think i have ever used... seriously... nothing but problems.

[jim]

And others, like me, haven't had any driver problems at all with any of my previous 3 ATI cards.

[Cozwin]

And others, like me, haven't had any driver problems at all with any of my previous 3 ATI cards.

well Ati forum is full of people complaining about driver problems, guess they are dreaming it? Mostly BSOD from what i can read.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have had both ATI and Nvidia cards and TBH not had any major drivers issue AFAIK.

well Ati forum is full of people complaining about driver problems, guess they are dreaming it? Mostly BSOD from what i can read.

Well I had an 8800GTS 512MB just suddenly go kaput and it has happened to other people too. What about bump-gate then?? I know people who had their Nvidia notebook cards have issues due to this fault and this is well documented in the media. Does this suddenly make Nvidia cards unreliable?? Not necessarily as I have other Nvidia cards last years.

[jim]

well Ati forum is full of people complaining about driver problems, guess they are dreaming it? Mostly BSOD from what i can read.

It would be though, inevitably!

How many people in the world own an ATI card? All it takes is a few people to start complaining, and before you know it you have a full-blown crisis.

I'm not saying that you're lying, but I am saying that a few reported driver issues on a forum shouldn't affect someone's choice of graphics card.

[dfour]

Im not going to imput much as above says it all, but honestly follow from my recent pain... avoid Ati, they have the worst drivers i think i have ever used... seriously... nothing but problems.

I have had no problems with my last 8 ATI cards and drivers. IMHO they are only getting better and are way more stable than they where a few years ago.

Can we not take this and leave it as a build thread advice and not XXXXX drivers are bad avoid them please.

[kurosagi01]

antec truepower new 650w modular for cheaper price??:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...-12v-120mm-fan
And for case i would reconmend the Xclio Nighthawk Extreme which has similar features to the CM HAF 912 and you can get it for like £25-30 on scan today:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/xclio...-18cm-side-fan
extra £4 you can get the XFX 650w modular aswell:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...-12v-135mm-fan
I'm basing this off the build dfur putted down.

[stevesmenagerie]

Thanks to all for your thoughts, got quite alot to think about!!!!!!!!
Does anybody think its worth a little extra to get Motherboard with SATA3 & USB3?
Cheers

[dfour]

Thanks to all for your thoughts, got quite alot to think about!!!!!!!!
Does anybody think its worth a little extra to get Motherboard with SATA3 & USB3?
Cheers

I would say if your planning to keep it for a couple of years then yes its worth the extra as that is what will be used soon. If your going to be upgrading in 6 months time then probably not worth the extra money (altough if its only a couple of pounds more it could help the resale value).

[stevesmenagerie]

Thanks dfor, I will be keeping it for quite awhile, this one I've had for 5 years,
See you live in Bracknell? I'm in Sandhurst. Isn't sunny here!
Due you have a preference between the AMD or Intel?
Should I wait to see what Sandy Bridge brings?
Cheers

[jim]

In my opinion, it would be crazy not to get USB3 and SATA3 right now.

If in a couple of years you buy an external hard drive, you'll be kicking yourself as you sit there for hours waiting for the USB2 to get a move on

[jawilba]

I to am going to be doing a new rebuild so rather than make new thread thought I'd post in here.

I'm a bit stuck on whether to go Intel/AMD now or wait. I've seen from a few sources online intel and amd have new cpu's coming next year so should I buy now or wait for these.

[jim]

I to am going to be doing a new rebuild so rather than make new thread thought I'd post in here.

I'm a bit stuck on whether to go Intel/AMD now or wait. I've seen from a few sources online intel and amd have new cpu's coming next year so should I buy now or wait for these.

I would recommend making your own thread, else it will get a bit complicated.