Printable View
its been a bad day so i have decided i need to treat myself to a new gaming pc, so i am after some input and recommendations on what to get. i have some ideas on what the spec will be for the new build
- big tower casing with silent power supply
- 22" screen (with 2ms response time, and HDMI and DVI inputs)
- mid to high end vid card(s) - prefer nvidia
- intel cpu
- 8gig ram minimum ??
- solid state hard drive for c drive, and then another sata2
- on board sound will be fine
- windows 7 64 bit
I would upgrade your current computer. A better PSU and a new graphics card would do the job.
AMD Bulldozer is being released in Q2 2011 and this would mean lower prices for current Intel CPUs.
Even if you decide to do a build now it will take a few more weeks for the fixed socket 1155 motherboards to be widely available in retail channels.
i thought about upgrading my current pc but am more inclined to rob some parts out of it for the new build ie memory and hard drive as the current pc has 4 gb ddr3 and two sata hard drives.
i certainly can wait a few weeks to build the pc if it means getting the spec right.
What processor do you have BTW??
Since you already have a decent enough computer I would be inclined to wait and see how AMD Bulldozer performs. It is the first fully brand new AMD high end architecture since the Athlon 64.
Well, i'm not ignoring your requests, however i'm just trying to think a little outside the box, so how about the following:Quote:
Originally Posted by oddjob
SSD: 120GB OCZ Vertex 2E £167. Review here..
Monitor: 24" Dell Ultrasharp £479. Review here.
Edit: Although I'd have to acknowledge that a 24" at £479 is a tough ask, compared to the 23" at under £200!!
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750AXUK £135. Review here.
Graphics card: AMD Radeon 6950 2GB (XFX) £220. Review here.
Edit: Or change that 6950 to this GTX 570 for £251.
Total = £1032
What do you think? It would massively change your gaming experience!
Edit 2: Am also happy to spec you your original request, if you still want that.
Can I also ask how you feel about peripherals? By that I mean keyboard, mouse and speakers... are you happy with what you currently have? because again, good quality ones can really change your PC experience. Just a thought.
the current processor i have is an amd II x3 425 which i have had for about 15mths with a ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO mobo which admittedly does run well and will replace my day to day pc when i build the new games pc (i usually upgrade approx every 18mths) so this ones being done slightly earlier than usual due to having a bad day ( personal probs).
MSIC - you forget the case, mobo and cpu lol . not sure about the monitor maybe this one
http://www.trustedreviews.com/monito...IPS-Display/p1
if you spec for original spec it would be appreciated and dont worry if the price goes over by £200-£300 pound
Okey-dokey :)
BTW, didnt forget the other specs, I just suggested some alternatives.
Right then, here we go:
(I'm assuming you want something moderately quiet given what you wanted with the PSU request.)
Base Unit
Case: Lian Li PC-K60B Black Lancool Dragon £65.
PSU: Seasonic M12II-620 620W Modular £80.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 £104.
CPU: Core i5 2500K £162.
CPU HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 £20.
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz 1.50V £87.
SSD: 60GB SSD Corsair Force Series £95.
HDD: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green £65.
Optical Drive: Sony SATA dual layer DVD writer £17.
Graphics card: Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti £199.
OS: Windows 7 HP 64bit. £75.
Monitor: Dell 23" UltraSharp £213.90.
Total = £1180. How does that feel to you?
Re monitors:
Bought the U2311h and it is fantastic. Bit bright in its default setting, but easy enough to sort that out. It's currently out there for circa £200 if you shop around. Some stores offer pixel checks to ensure no dead (sub)pixels on delivery. Dell's 3 year no bright sub-pixel, no dead pixel guarantee on the U series is also well worth having.
U2410 is also good (provided you can get one without the green, pink tint issue) but I couldn't justify the extra cost. My mate has one and it is simply stunning. The fact his work sold it him for £50 due to accounting depreciation just makes me more envious.
TFT Central do good reviews of both the Dell monitors and a number of other IPS screens. They also give useful settings for tweaking the monitor settings for those of us without calibration software.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2311h.htm
re PSU:
I got recommended the NZXT Hale 90 series when I was looking for a new one. I took the advice and have not been disappointed so thought I'd pass on the suggestion.
The 750w and below models are really quiet. approx 20dB across the power range out of the 750w model. 850w and above models go up to nearer 30dB. They are all 88% min efficiency even at 20% load. They regularly comes up in Scan Today Only offers eg the ones listed this morning from 18/02/2011.
Have you tried unlocking the CPU?? One of my mates has an Athlon II X4 435 which unlocked to a Phenom II X4.Quote:
Originally Posted by oddjob
If I were you I would get a new case,PSU,graphics card and monitor first and get a new CPU and motherboard at a later date.
Like I said before the fixed Sandy Bridge motherboards are only starting to ship and it will still be a few weeks until full availability.
Also Intel has not even started shipping the Z68 based motherboards which should be out next month. These may affect the pricing of the current P67 and H67 motherboards.
BTW,do you intend to overclock the CPU or not?
After doing some reading about the sandybridge problem i am definitely going to wait before buying the processor and cpu and may even look at the amd alternatives.
I aways try not to have to overclock the processor to get it to do what i want it to so the answer would be no i have no plans to overclock it but i did unlock my current processor so it runs all 4 cores.
based on the info about the intel issues i will simply work on the build minus the mobo and cpu for now and get one either when the new boards hit the retailers or go down the amd route again.
i do like the look of the dell monitor suggested but may opt for the 2410 (if i can get one without the tint issues) due to the extra connections it has unless anyone can suggest an alternative.
i do appreciate everyones input and am taking it all on board and spent hours last night reading reviews on the components suggested and intels issues
Bulldozer should be out soon also although how it actually performs is kind of an unknown factor at the moment
I'm wondering if the ~£26 between the cost of this 570 and the Gigabyte SOC GTX 560 is worth it? I imagine the 570 has more headroom for overclocking while the 560 is already oc'd to to the limit. Trouble is I'll be gaming on 1680x1050 until I can afford to get a new monitor so even the 560 is overkill atm.Quote:
Originally Posted by MSIC