New computer help please

[MattyGriffo]

EDIT current set up -

Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 - 173.99 pounds
Motherboard - Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 - 125.62 pounds
Powersupply - Antec High Current Gamer 620W - 50 pounds
Harddrive - Samsung SpinPoint F3 - 44 pounds
Case - Corsair Graphite 600T - 120 pounds
RAM - 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance, 1.50V - 39pounds
Cooler - Antec KUHLER H2O 620 CPU Liquid Cooler - 40 pounds

just unsure what GFX card to get for about 180-220 based on the set up above. Or if i should downgrade some parts to give me more cash for the graphics card.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Once you get to 20 posts on Hexus you can get free postage from Scan:

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...-delivery.html

Scan also does special offers:

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

http://www.scan.co.uk/shops/homepage..._icmp=7Uz238zS

The following build uses parts from Scan.



An HD6970 is a good alternative to a GTX570:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253396

The motherboard I listed does Crossfire and SLI and the PSU is modular.

The PSU is made by Seasonic and has got good reviews:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...Story&reid=165

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/...supply_review/

I would consider the following LCD screen too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-de...cp-displayport

AFAIK,it can be had cheaper if you shop around.

Edit!!

If you want to save some money on the graphics card an HD6950 2GB for around £200 would do the job:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-m...0mhz-1408cores

This HD6950 2GB is unlockable to the same number of shaders as an HD6970 2GB:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-x...vi-hdmi-2x-mdp

The only reason I have included a larger PSU is if you intend to get another card in the future for Crossfire or SLI.

Also,a modular PSU does mean less cable mess in the case.

An SSD will make the system more responsive but won't improve gaming performance. I have one myself but unless you buy a big one most of your games will end up on a normal hard disk anyway.

BTW,I assume you have a copy of Windows too.

[planet436]

Could save yourself a lot of money by choosing slightly cheaper vendors (though the parts you selected seems okay).

Gigabyte 560ti £173
2500k £163
Msi C45 £85
Corsair 600t £120
Antec 520W £55
Mushkin 2x4GB 1.5V £55
Samsung F3 1GB £39
Asus Xonar £24
212+ £19

Logitech Media £11
Microsoft mouse £16

Few pointers: gaming at 1920x1200 or below a 560ti or 6950 is all you need. Don't pay those overclockers prices, should be able to get one for around £170-£180, will be very little differences between manufactures. Assuming you don't plan to sli then the MSI motherboard will save you a few pounds. Again, if you don't intend to sli then though that corsair psu is good it is way more power then you need. A good 500W-600W psu will be fine, anything made by Corsair, Antex, XFX or Seasonic will be sufficient.

Don't overpay for ram, with DDR3 prices as they are currently, I would recommend 2x4GB of ram rated at 1.5V. Any ram less then £60 would be fine, don't overpay for better latencies or fancy heatspreaders it is a waste of money. Green hard-drives are too slow except for storage. The F3 is a well regarded, fast and cheap drive. Are you sure you need a PCI card? I would hold off and see what the onboard is like before you commit to this. Keyboard and mice are personal preference. I really don't like Razor products and the two mice I have had previously from them have both died within the year. Monitor recommendations I will leave to others .

Finally, I would definitely recommend getting an SSD as a boot drive (you should be able to afford this if you original budget included all the above components), this will massively improve your computing experience and is the biggest upgrade you could get for any computer. Since you will not notice outside of benchmarks differences between SSD's I would recommend an Intel or Crucial SSD (newest sandforce controllers have reported issues).

Intel 80GB £127
Crucial 64GB £89

[Jasp]

Why not look at scans pricing? they are over £20 cheaper on the gigabyte soc. Also the caviar green is gonna cost you in game, get a 7200rpm drive like a black.

[MattyGriffo]

Thank you for all the replys and going into so much detail. would a MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard do the job? i am going to be Over clocking would that MB be good for this along with that ram i mentioned (as it was on 40 pounds) also could i still drop on the power supply if i will be OC?

one more thing, can drop the sound card? would the motherboard mentioned above play a 5.1 headset?
really stuck for a GFX card i dont wont to sli or crossfire just want 1080P graphics

thank you all again for the advice it has really helped.

[planet436]

It doesnt have a full 2nd pci-e slot so definitely no sli/xfire. If you are okay with that then is a sufficient board for OC no problems.

Don't spend £40 on 2x2GB ram it's a waste of money. Either get a cheaper set for around £33 or 2x4GB for under £60. a good 500W psu will be fine as long as you aren't massively overclocking the 560ti and running 5+ hds, 2 optical drives etc. See



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Onboard sound will play 5.1 np, it has 8 channel audio built in.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Spend some time shopping around. 212+ is £16 at play.

OCUk do some great deals but unfortunately seem to price gouge particular areas and unfortunately have so/so bits available.

TBH try giving the OC thing a go as its good fun but unles you know you will benefit form it I would run at stock.

The 560 and 560Ti are not the same card iirc. Another great naming slipup from nvidia's marketing division.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thank you for all the replys and going into so much detail. would a MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard do the job? i am going to be Over clocking would that MB be good for this along with that ram i mentioned (as it was on 40 pounds) also could i still drop on the power supply if i will be OC?

The MSI P67A-GD53 is one of the best value P67 motherboards out there:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/mot...53-b3-review/1

"Conclusion
The P67A-GD53 (B3) is an excellent motherboard, as MSI has made sensible decisions about which features to keep and which to cut out. The on-board power switches and rear-panel CMOS reset switch are useful additions, and the removal of the internal USB 3 ports and rear FireWire port are sacrifices with which we can live quite easily.

The VRM circuitry is this motherboard’s party piece, though, as it remained cool, even when we were shoving bucket-loads of extra voltage through it with our overclock. If you’re in the market for a new LGA1155 motherboard, this is the one to buy – we’ve yet to see a more well-rounded example than the MSI P67A-GD53 (B3). "

It only costs £15 more than the MSI P67A-C45:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-p...usb30-firewire

On top of this DON'T skimp on your CPU cooler. I have seen many people buy cheap coolers,find it does not do the job and end up buying another one. At least get a decent £30 air cooler and it will do the job for years even if you change your motherboard.

The PSU I suggested is modular,has high efficieny,a long warranty and is priced around the same as a 750W PSU. If you have the budget I would consider a modular PSU. A PSU is a another part of your computer like the case which will last 4 to 5 years before people replace it.


I don't understand why people are recommending 1333MHZ RAM TBH. If you want 8GB of RAM you can 1600MHZ DDR3 for around the same price as Scan has 8GB 1600MHZ kits for around £60 to £65 on offer.

one more thing, can drop the sound card? would the motherboard mentioned above play a 5.1 headset?
really stuck for a GFX card i dont wont to sli or crossfire just want 1080P graphics

thank you all again for the advice it has really helped.

one more thing, can drop the sound card? would the motherboard mentioned above play a 5.1 headset?
really stuck for a GFX card i dont wont to sli or crossfire just want 1080P graphics

thank you all again for the advice it has really helped.

OTH,Crossfire or SLI gives you the chance of getting another cheap card down the line to improve performance.

An,example is with people who got HD5850 1GB or HD5870 1GB cards a while back. Since,these are EOL they plummeted in price and many people have taken advantage of this to get another card.

The HD5850 1GB cards were recently going for around £100 and a pair of these in Crossfire is faster in most games than an HD6950 or GTX560TI.

[MattyGriffo]

would a Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 80 PLUS® be to much even if i wanted to put a ssd and do some OC? or would a Corsair Builder Series CX 500W ATX Power Supply be ok?

thanx again

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

would a Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 80 PLUS® be to much even if i wanted to put a ssd and do some OC? or would a Corsair Builder Series CX 500W ATX Power Supply be ok?

thanx again

They have poor internal construction and are budget CWT DSAII PSUs. They use sleeve bearing fans and cheaper capacitors.

Dropping the quality of your other components is not the way forward. It really is not worth it in the long run.

BTW,one of the chaps on this therad has a 750W Corsair AX750W modular PSU,Crossfire capable motherboard and a £45 CPU cooler.

[planet436]

If he says he has no interest in sli in the future then it makes no sense to recommend a sli capable motherboard, else its wasted. Without any idea of how tight his budget is I would certainly recommend spending extra on things that would have an appreciable difference; an ssd or higher end graphics card.

A 850W PSU is massive overkill as well, I have a 750W AX which is overkill for my current setup, then I'm willing to pay for a Corsair 7 year warranty, didn't have budget constraints and will be sufficient for when I get another 6950. I wouldn't recommend that however for someone who wants to play with a single graphics card, a more budget minded one would be fine.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If he says he has no interest in sli in the future then it makes no sense to recommend a sli capable motherboard, else its wasted. Without any idea of how tight his budget is I would certainly recommend spending extra on things that would have an appreciable difference; an ssd or higher end graphics card.

A 850W PSU is massive overkill as well, I have a 750W AX which is overkill for my current setup, then I'm willing to pay for a Corsair 7 year warranty, didn't have budget constraints and will be sufficient for when I get another 6950. I wouldn't recommend that however for someone who wants to play with a single graphics card, a more budget minded one would be fine.

The 850W PSU is around the same price as the other 700W to 750W modular PSUs and TBH,the GD53 seems to be a better motherboard than the C45 or G45 for overclocking anyway. The XFX PSUs are made by Seasonic anyway and have 5 year warranty. The same goes with the cooler. I have seen enough people buy cheap CPU coolers and then replacing them a year or two later.

I have an SSD myself but I would not skimp on other parts just to put into a system. Unless you get a bigger SSD they are simply too small to fit may games on and in most cases people will keep their games folder on a slower hard disk anyway. A faster graphics,a better CPU cooler,decent case or a decent quality PSU or a better motherboard are better uses of the budget IMHO.

Even a decent 550W to 650W modular is around £65 to £75 nowadays. A decent 500W to 600W non-modular PSU is around £50 to £65 too.

In fact the best value non-modular PSU is this 620W Antec when it was only £50:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/620w-...-fan-atx12v-23

Edit!!

It seems OcUK has them in stock for £50:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-148-AN

[MattyGriffo]

im not sure on what board the

MSI P67A-GD53 (B3)

or

Gigabyte P67A-D3 Intel P67

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The G53 seems a better motherboard. BTW,OcUK do have the 620W version of the PSU planet436 suggested for around £50:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-148-AN

[planet436]

Thats a good deal, isn't overclockers delivery quite expensive though? PSU's regularly come up in the Today's Deal section on scan, that would be the best time to pick one up once you get free delivery sorted as mentioned earlier.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

OcUK do also have free postage if you have enough posts on their forum. Hoopefully,Scan will have the PSU back on offer soon.