New Build - Pick Apart and Suggestions.

[hnosyalnif]

Here is my build as I have it so far: http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/f1...93ae5f5d6aae9a

Main aim is to play BF3 on high/max settings (at 1080p when I get a new monitor but at 1280*1024 for now) for around £1000-1100 whilst maintaining a good upgrade probability. Will also need it for some Photoshop and perhaps some modding (I do some stuff for the Battlegroup42 mod who although we are on BF42 at the moment are moving to more modern engines after our final release). Main space is for backup/pictures etc.

CPU: I am set on this and as I'm sure most of you will agree this is a good one.

Cooler: I did make a thread but I think for the price this is the best option for an overclock of around 4Ghz with the possibility of going higher if required.

RAM: Pretty happy with this as well.

GFX: Again pretty happy with my choice, at this price point seems best bang for my buck. Don't really want the free game but will see what I can do with it afterwards.

CASE: Happy with my choice again, offers everything I need.

SSD: A solid choice, a little more expensive than the Corsair/OCZ offerings but from what I've read should be a little more reliable. So worth the extra.

HDD: No issues here. WD Blacks are good reliable fast drives, although this will be mainly used as a backup with the main OS and games on the SSD. Could go with a slower drive but as some games will be on here as well I thought best to get one of these, might get a second one when the time needs.

MB: This is here as a placement to get an estimate of build cost. Will replace with the Gen3 version when it appears in stock. Liking the Pro over the V for now because of the extra SATAIII ports which are more than likely unnecessary.

PSU: This is where I'm having most trouble making a choice. I have a thread here looking for suggestions. This one is just a full review.

DVD: Should be now issues here, have one of the LG ones in my current PC (second one as first failed after 3 years). Sony one is a little quicker for no price increase and should be a solid drive but if it does fail inexpensive to replace.

OS: Not really many options here, might dual boot with Ubuntu but probably won't...

Overall, I think it is a pretty good overall build for the price, could make it cheaper by getting a smaller SSD but with the amount of space that games take up these days I think the bigger drive is the better option. Upgrade paths would be a new GFX/2nd 560Ti, another 8GB of RAM and then perhaps Ivybridge. My last build was 5 years ago and ideally I would like this one to last (at least the main components) about that long hence the Gen3 board.

Main issue for me is PSU, find them a little confusing. 850W is overkill for the build but I'm thinking of the future, 750W is probably a bit more economical although the ones I was looking at are all around the same price.

Just now waiting for the Gen3 ASUS boards and seeing what parts come on special offer at Scan. Was ideally looking for doing it one shipment but that might actually cost me more than splitting it by when each item is on special offer.

Looking to have it completed before BF3 is released (in part because the current PC/HDD are dying slowly).

Thanks for looking, and thanks in advance for any pointers.

[Jasp]

Looks pretty solid tbh, I'd go for the retail 2500k its the same price as the OEM one and comes with a longer warranty.

Don't forget with enough posts 30-40 I think you get free scan shipping so buying parts in bits wouldn't really be a issue.

[hnosyalnif]

Looks pretty solid tbh, I'd go for the retail 2500k its the same price as the OEM one and comes with a longer warranty.

Good point on the warranty of the retail 2500k, will probably go with that then as the price difference is negligible.

Don't forget with enough posts 30-40 I think you get free scan shipping so buying parts in bits wouldn't really be a issue.

Certainly something I will think about when the milestone is reached (would save another £20 of the build at least).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This cooler is better:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...-1366-amd-am2-

I would get an HD6950 2GB:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-m...cores-mdp-hdmi

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

The HD6950 2GB seems to be a much faster card in the BF3 Beta than a GTX560TI:

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-b...nce/page5.html

[hnosyalnif]

Looked at the A70, it is worth the extra money then? With less issues with taller RAM (like the Vengeance I'm going with?) - read the issues with the Hyper 212.

Certainly it is a tough decision between the 2 cards. From what I've read the Nvidia drivers are working better and the Twin FrozrIII is £20 more expensive - worth it, I've read it scales better in Crossfire than the 560Ti in SLI. The MSI 6950's are not unlockable to 6970's from what I've read but that isn't really an issue for me. Gone Nvidia each build in the past but always willing to change and it is a hard choice between the two.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Looked at the A70, it is worth the extra money then? With less issues with taller RAM (like the Vengeance I'm going with?) - read the issues with the Hyper 212.

Certainly it is a tough decision between the 2 cards. From what I've read the Nvidia drivers are working better and the Twin FrozrIII is £20 more expensive - worth it, I've read it scales better in Crossfire than the 560Ti in SLI. The MSI 6950's are not unlockable to 6970's from what I've read but that isn't really an issue for me. Gone Nvidia each build in the past but always willing to change and it is a hard choice between the two.

The A70 was originally around £45 to £55 last year and Ebuyer is still selling it for around £55. The Hyper 212 is a cheaper cooler.

You could go for lower profile RAM. Sandy Bridge does not gain much from faster RAM AFAIK so any decent quality 1.5V 1600MHZ DDR3 will be fine. I have the Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM too and the heatsinks are a silly height and I replaced them with the low profiles versions.

It looks like BF3 is an AMD sponsored game so I would expect the HD6950 2GB to be the better choice IMHO:

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/games/P...lefield-3.aspx

Two of the recent Battlefield games are also AMD sponsored:

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/games/P...company-2.aspx

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/games/P...play4free.aspx

You could wait until the reviews of BF3 are released to see what card to get.

[hnosyalnif]

Ok, that settles the A70. I probably won't remove the RAM heatsinks for now, unless I encounter problems with them getting in the way.

Would be a good idea to wait for a review but I'm not sure I'm that patient. Unless they come in the next week I suppose, can always buy the rest and wait on the GFX. Going to pre-order the game when I hear back from GAME as I asked them what day I would receive the DVD of the game vs the near instant download version from Origin.

[hnosyalnif]

Going with this card: http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?productid=44218

Not the 2Gb 560Ti Twin Frozr listed above. On special offer today and offers a little more performance for not much more money (performance compared to the 1GB Twin Frozr so similar results to be expected from the 2GB).

CPU cooler will be the A70 I think.

PSU is difficult now with the XFX out of stock for a while. I would say these are my options (as listed in my PSU thread):

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-eps-12v-quiet

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-12v-quiet-fan

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...v-fan-atx-v291

[hnosyalnif]

Bought the following. Should do alright with BF3.

1 2GB MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC
1 128GB Crucial RealSSD M4, 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD
1 1TB Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache
1 Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced Dominator, Black, Mid Tower Case
1 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black, PC3-12800 (1600)
1 Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sndy Bridge, Quad, 3.3GHz, HD3000 IGP 850Mhz, 6MB Cache 95W Retail
1 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM
1 Corsair Cooling Air Series A70 High-Perf Heatpipe 2 Fan CPU Cooler Intel 775/1155/1156/1366 AMD AM2/AM3
1 Sony AD-7261S-0B 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, Lightscribe, OEM

Should arrive on Wednesday (although I won't be here). Just waiting for the Asus Gen3 boards to come out to order one of those and then got to order a PSU as well. Will be one of these (depends how much the Asus Gen3 boards are):

Corsair Enthusiast 850W: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-eps-12v-quiet
Corsair HX-750: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...v-fan-atx-v291
Corsair AX-750: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...2v-quiet-fan-a
Silverstone Tech Strider Plus 850W: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-12v-quiet-fan

[hnosyalnif]

Bits above arrived, can't wait to get them together. Just waiting for the Gen3 ASUS motherboards to hit stock here in the UK. Going with the Corsair HX-850 PSU.

Hate seeing the bits just sitting there and not together.

[hnosyalnif]

All parts are now here or in transit. Went with the HX-850. Motherboard and a headset (Corsair HS1A) should arrive tomorrow, PSU by Saturday. So will put most of it together on Friday and then plug in the PSU when it arrives (at least currently that is my plan).

Hope to be playing BF3 on Saturday too

[hnosyalnif]

Main parts together, just got to put in the PSU and HDD's.

Powered it up on another PSU and all working fine. Had to take the heatsinks of the RAM (Corsair Vengeance) to fit them under my Corsair A70. 6950 also installed, was thinking about using the GFX holder that came with the case (Advanced Dominator) but don't think I'll need it, 6950 seems stable enough as is.