New PC - Advice please

[sleepyhead]

In my own view, either CPU setups will be more than enough for gaming. If, however, you require the PC to do, say, editing video, encoding etc. then the i7 is a much better investment.

Also, if you are going to use your PC to store data it be best to invest in a backup solution of some sort.

Anyhow, to sum it up from my own perspective:
The AMD is more than adequate for a gaming rig but for kudos, an overclocked i7 would be better.
GPU selection will ultimately be the breaker for playing games.

BTW...you should ask if SCAN will overclock the GPU for you and for how much...saves you buying a factory overclocked GPU.

[Andy14]

If Scan overclock GPU's and warrantee them with the system then that could be interesting. Unfortunately it seems that the 280 / 285 are very different prices (about £50 difference) so a overclocked 285 will be expensive no matter who does the OC.

No worries on the backup solutions I already run Acronis and have both 750gb and 1.5 TB external Seagate drives hanging off my present system. On top of this I will be keeping the old system and it will also keep backups of the really important core stuff.

I will need a KVM switch that works with USB mice and keyboards, but for every one that I've looked at all I find are very mixed reviews. Long times to switch over, issues with some mice / keyboards even through to not working at all. Although some complaints are from people with MAC's and they obviously deserve everything they get

[sleepyhead]

If Scan overclock GPU's and warrantee them with the system then that could be interesting. Unfortunately it seems that the 280 / 285 are very different prices (about £50 difference) so a overclocked 285 will be expensive no matter who does the OC.

No worries on the backup solutions I already run Acronis and have both 750gb and 1.5 TB external Seagate drives hanging off my present system. On top of this I will be keeping the old system and it will also keep backups of the really important core stuff.

I will need a KVM switch that works with USB mice and keyboards, but for every one that I've looked at all I find are very mixed reviews. Long times to switch over, issues with some mice / keyboards even through to not working at all. Although some complaints are from people with MAC's and they obviously deserve everything they get

I've used PS/2 KVMs in the past and they are ok....

Anyhow, quick look on SCAN shows a USB KVM for £20.

USBKVM

In theory it should work smoothly...and at £20 I'd give it a go.

[Andy14]

I was hoping someone might have used a USB one and have a recommendation. Just looking at reviews there seems to be a load of issues with these things, but one is required as I don't have the space for another 24" monitor, keyboard and mouse on the desk.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Edima...ction-2-cables looks good.

[Andy14]

Just a quick update for those that helped or were interested.

I phoned Phil yesterday and after 10 minutes on the blower almost everything was sorted bar a couple of quick checks. Below is the system (roughly) that I ordered.

Case: Antec P182 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case Gun Metal Black
CPU: Intel i7 920 2.66GHz 4.8GT s QPI 8MB Cache Retail
CPU Coolers: Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme 120mm Heat Sink Fan
Overclocking: 3XS System Core-Logic Overclocking*10 - 20%*
Memory: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics - Multi GPU SLI Options Available: 1GB XFX GTX 285 Black 690MHz GPU 240 Cores 2600MHz GDDR3
Power Supply Unit: 620W Corsair HX Series Modular PSU (Single Graphics Card)
System Drives: 1500 GB Seagate
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±R 12x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6
Blu Ray Reader Writer: LG GGC-H20L - Super Multi DVD Writer & Blu-Ray + HD-ROM Reader
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card 7.1Ch
Operating system: *Operating System Not required* (System Tested under Microsoft Vista)
Extended Warranty: 1 Year Scan Extended System Warranty (£1001 - £2000)

I also then did quite a bit of research and found this beauty of a KVM switch.

ATEN CS1782 USB 2.0 DVI KVM Switch
Link to a review

I'm sure that there's bits that I customised I've forgotten, but that's the core.

The big decisions were the case and the Graphics card. I went for the case because Phil really recommended it and it offers very good levels of quietness. They only had 1 left in stock - so good job I made my mind up when I did. And on the Graphics card.... Well I didn't want to go SLI, so I simply went for the fastest thing out there based on a single card solution.

[sleepyhead]

That's a pretty nice system there.

I'm not a fan of the GTX285 but your money your choice.

Wow, you plonked for the 1.5TB seagate drive. What made you buy that?

Is the XFX "black" GTX285 pre-overclocked?

[Andy14]

Yes the GTX285 "Black" is the overclocked version from XFX. If I played a lot of games that utilise SLI then the 295 would have been the obvious choice, but as I don't I'd actually get lower frame rates, spend more, need a bigger power supply and constantly have to feed the machine more juice for something rarely needed. The 260 was the best value but I wanted something that really provided as big a speed boost as possible over my present system and also it should mean the system lasts that bit longer.

Also, as I "only" run at 1920 x 1200 the 285 will really never be struggling. At least not with today's games.

I chose the 1.5Tb Seagate drive for the obvious reason, capacity. I already have one of these drives (that I use as a backup device) and am very pleased with it. Perhaps others are slightly faster, but this just gives me huge capacity on the main system and that's very useful to me.

Now I just have to sit back and wait.

[sleepyhead]

Make sure to ask for build pictures put up here (well if you want to show it off) as well as post some benchmarks

Glad you are buying what you want.

[Andy14]

Phil offered straight away to post pictures up. I'm not sure about benchmarks.

What benchmarks do you usually run now-a-days ? I'd be interested in running some to start with on this old PC to see how much better (hopefully) the new one is.

Obviously my PC will ne nowhere near the fastest. 295's (or 4870x2's) are standard fare and tests will make full use of SLI. The real hardcore have 2 or 3 of my cards chained together, or even 2x295's. So my results will merely be for interest. Useful to some I'm sure though as I can't be the only person in the world not wanting to bother with dual (or more) cards.

[sleepyhead]

I suppose just run some synthetic benchmarks and post screenshots up...say one of 3DMark Vantage. Not sure if you can get a free demo of SiSoft Sandra but that has nice synthetic tests too. Others might pop along and suggest more appropriate benchtest software but those two I mentioned are two I know and used (well used 3dMark 05 and 06 not Vantage....yet).

Don't forget Andy14, you're getting a 3.6Ghz i7 as well as a factory overclocked GTX285!!! The EVGA GTX260 SSC (factory overclocked) is just as fast as a GTX280 (stock) even though it has less stream processors/cores....so who knows how fast your factory overclocked Black GTX285 is.