My PC build help please. :)

[SilentIcdea]

Hey guys,

What do you think of this build:-

OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 PC Game £191.99
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £104.99
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £59.99
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500413AS) £30.98
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £27.98
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Now my budget is £670 at the max. What can I replace to reduce the cost as atm this build goes ove rmy budget.

[Pob255]

Well personally the first issue is OcUK, I'm still never using them again.

Next sony Optiarc, swap that for something else, the optiarc's are rather noisy, LG, samsung or LiteOn

to obsious area's to save on would be drop down to a 6780 or gtx560

[SilentIcdea]

Well personally the first issue is OcUK, I'm still never using them again.

Next sony Optiarc, swap that for something else, the optiarc's are rather noisy, LG, samsung or LiteOn

to obsious area's to save on would be drop down to a 6780 or gtx560

I don't suppose you can recommend me one? I am rubbish when it comes to specs. Do you think 500GB will be enough for now?

Also I don't suppose you can recommend me a different case? I don't fancy buying from OCUK but I really like the zalman z9 plus and I can't find it on ebuyer or scan for free delivery. (without preorder). ;L

[Pob255]

Yes and it's a bit cheaper http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...an/Z9PLUS.html
You'll need to make the order up to £50 for free shipping with novatech (like ebuyer) but they also have the same hard drive for a few pence less, although I'd pay a couple of quid more for a samsung F3 500mb, or up to £40 for the 1tb version
However 500gb is fine because you can always add in an additional drive later

MSI HD 6870 HAWK £135 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...x-dvi-hdmi-mdp
or
Asus gtx560 £140 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...-x-dvi-i-mhdmi
Note: not ti version, the plane version, which is neck and neck with the 6870

Also remember to check scan's today only before buying there may be some cheaper cards.

[SilentIcdea]

Yes and it's a bit cheaper http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...an/Z9PLUS.html
You'll need to make the order up to £50 for free shipping with novatech (like ebuyer) but they also have the same hard drive for a few pence less, although I'd pay a couple of quid more for a samsung F3 500mb, or up to £40 for the 1tb version
However 500gb is fine because you can always add in an additional drive later

MSI HD 6870 HAWK £135 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...x-dvi-hdmi-mdp
or
Asus gtx560 £140 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...-x-dvi-i-mhdmi
Note: not ti version, the plane version, which is neck and neck with the 6870

Also remember to check scan's today only before buying there may be some cheaper cards.

Keeping my 19" HDTV for now, what do you guys think of this revised build:-

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/192/unled2dqd.jpg/ £396.45 with free delivery.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/695/unledbqp.jpg/ £259.94 with free delivery.

Giving me a total of £656.39. The mobo is only for preorder atm and by the time I come to purchasing it, it will be in stock. Probably at a higher price (£115 maybe). My total gives me some leeway with the mobo price. I have kept the CPU cooler from my previous build as I like it.

What do you guys think?

[Blackmage]

This is what I would buy

And a SSD

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb-...s-write-95mb-s

Should come in budget!

[SilentIcdea]

This is what I would buy

And a SSD

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb-...s-write-95mb-s

Should come in budget!

Unfortunately it's over my budget. I can't stretch it further than £670. Also, how is the build you suggested better? I'm not very good with all the specs.

[Blackmage]

Unfortunately it's over my budget. I can't stretch it further than £670. Also, how is the build you suggested better? I'm not very good with all the specs.

Remember my build has scan insurance, which can be removed.

The balance is better, You should have £70 left I would find the extra £15 to get a better graphics or SSD. They are both wonderful upgrades.

[SilentIcdea]

Remember my build has scan insurance, which can be removed.

The balance is better, You should have £70 left I would find the extra £15 to get a better graphics or SSD. They are both wonderful upgrades.

Heya,

Thanks for your input. The build you suggested looks good! With this £70 left should I get a 1TB HDD and maybe that gtx560ti I had in my previous budget?

Will I be able to overclock the CPU and GPU in the future? I will be able to go SLI/Crossfire in the future too?

Thank you.

[Blackmage]

Heya,

Thanks for your input. The build you suggested looks good! With this £70 left should I get a 1TB HDD and maybe that gtx560ti I had in my previous budget?

Will I be able to overclock the CPU and GPU in the future? I will be able to go SLI/Crossfire in the future too?

Thank you.

Yep, you could overclock the CPU and GPU in the future, the storage will come in handy for games and the 560 ti will have a lot more horse power to those games.

Also you do get free postage from scan, I think you need 20/25 decent posts to be entitled to it.

Here is a 560ti that I recommend.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...30mhz-384-core

[Pob255]

What I'd do is actually swap the motherboard for a z68 and then later on add in a small SSD (30-40gb) with the intel SSD cache feature, this uses the SSD as a cache for the hard drive not as a separate drive, not as fast as using a full SSD but a good boost which shouldn't involve reinstalling everything and no messing around with what data goes on which drive.

[SilentIcdea]

What I'd do is actually swap the motherboard for a z68 and then later on add in a small SSD (30-40gb) with the intel SSD cache feature, this uses the SSD as a cache for the hard drive not as a separate drive, not as fast as using a full SSD but a good boost which shouldn't involve reinstalling everything and no messing around with what data goes on which drive.

Hello,

Thanks for the advice. Is it worth getting the ~40GB intel SSD cache feature with the z68 mobo instead of getting the gtx560ti?

I don't have a clue regarding SSD's.

[SilentIcdea]

Yep, you could overclock the CPU and GPU in the future, the storage will come in handy for games and the 560 ti will have a lot more horse power to those games.

Also you do get free postage from scan, I think you need 20/25 decent posts to be entitled to it.

Here is a 560ti that I recommend.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...30mhz-384-core

That looks good. Do you think the price will increase anymore, as it is only for pre-order atm. Thanks.

[Blackmage]

That looks good. Do you think the price will increase anymore, as it is only for pre-order atm. Thanks.

I would go for this then, Hexus review here

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...0mhz-384-cores

[SilentIcdea]

I would go for this then, Hexus review here

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...0mhz-384-cores

Heya,

I don't mind if it increases by about £10. Which one of the two gtx560ti cards should perform better?

Thanks again.

[Blackmage]

Heya,

I don't mind if it increases by about £10. Which one of the two gtx560ti cards should perform better?

Thanks again.

The asus one is fine, The msi one should be slightly faster due to the higher clocks.