New PC Build

gmurdock91 · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:10

Hi,

New user to the forums and also first-time PC builder.

I'm looking to keep a maximum budget of £1000 and want to get as high a spec as possible for the money.

I currently have the following components in mind;

Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail [HDZ965FBGMBOX]

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard [GA-790FXTA-UD5]

GFX - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [21163-00-20R]

RAM - OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) [OCZ3G1333LV6GK]

PSU - Corsair TX 850W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXUK) [CMPSU-850TXUK]

Case - Thermaltake VL10001W2Z Element G Case - Black [VL10001W2Z] (Don't want to change)

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Drive - Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP 8x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail)

HDD - Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) [HD103SJ]

CPU cooling - Akasa AK-CC017 Freedom Tower CPU Cooler (Socket AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1156 / 1366)

Hoping to get some advice, if you think there's better components I could use, or just general comments, it's all appreciated.

Thanks.

cmndr_andi · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:16

What will the system mainly be used for?

gmurdock91 · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:17

It's to be used for gaming mainly, not for particularly demanding games just now, but would like to get some games to really test performance.
Also looking to make it as future proof as possible, had my current PC for 2 and a half years now.

Cheers.

cmndr_andi · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:22

I would suggest going for something like this. If you replace the DVD drive with a Blu ray reader/ DVDRW then you should be at your £1000 budget.

i5 is a bit more powerful that Phenom II X4 965 at stock and when both are overclocked to the same clockspeed the i5 is much faster.

Also that motherboard overclocks well and supports x8x8 crossfire, which is plenty of bandwidth for crossfire 5850s.

stulid · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:29

For the first post spec, triple channel memory is not needed, needs to be a dual channel kit.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:35

gmurdock91 said:
Hi,

New user to the forums and also first-time PC builder.

I'm looking to keep a maximum budget of £1000 and want to get as high a spec as possible for the money.

I currently have the following components in mind;

Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail [HDZ965FBGMBOX]

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard [GA-790FXTA-UD5]

GFX - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [21163-00-20R]

RAM - OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) [OCZ3G1333LV6GK]

PSU - Corsair TX 850W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXUK) [CMPSU-850TXUK]

Case - Thermaltake VL10001W2Z Element G Case - Black [VL10001W2Z] (Don't want to change)

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Drive - Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP 8x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail)

HDD - Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) [HD103SJ]

CPU cooling - Akasa AK-CC017 Freedom Tower CPU Cooler (Socket AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1156 / 1366)

Hoping to get some advice, if you think there's better components I could use, or just general comments, it's all appreciated.

Thanks.

The Phenom II X4 runs its RAM in dual channel so either go for 2 or 4 sticks of DDR3.

The motherboard does Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 16X/16X.

If you don't mind going for Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X(all Core i5 motherboards are limited to this) then you should get a cheaper 790X or 890GX based motherboard.

I would also consider getting a Seasonic X650 or X750 PSU as they are among the best PSUs under £150 currently available.

A Titan Fenrir is probably a better choice for an air cooler.

Also in the next few weeks the 890FX chipset is being released and so will the new Phenom II X6 processors. This may drive down the price of existing parts.

Nvidia is releasing its Fermi graphics cards today.

I would probably wait until the end of next month TBH.

Fallen god · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:40

I would go with what CAT-THE-FIFTH said unless you really need the pc now its better to wait a little while and see what happens.

Vision · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:46

Could wait a while and save some money like these guys said. Andi's spec looks good tho. Gl with building it when you decide which parts to buy

phartars · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:47

£1157 but gives you a 64GB SSD - USB 3.0 and SATA III ?

cmndr_andi · 26 Mar 2010 at 21:53

phartars said:
*snip*

Nice Idea, but the 5770 is a pretty weak GPU for a £1000 gaming PC.

Also, the RAM is only 4GB dual channel and more expensive than a decent 6GB (3x2GB) 1600MHz kit, especially when the X58 is capable of triple channel.

Finally, at this kind of price level the power of an i7/X58 is not needed for gaming, and an SSD will give little gaming benefit for a large cost - especially when it means downgrading graphics to afford it.

phartars · 26 Mar 2010 at 22:05

So adjust the RAM (my bad) and drop another graphics card in ?

SSD was suggested mostly because I just bought 2

gmurdock91 · 26 Mar 2010 at 23:46

Thanks very much for the replies, much appreciated.

After reading through the posts, I'll probably wait just a wee bit to see what happens with prices etc, I was considering hanging off by about a month anyway to get some more money behind me.

I'll probably have another go and coming up with a setup a couple of weeks down the line and see what you guys think.

Cheers for now!

gmurdock91 · 31 Mar 2010 at 13:54

New possible spec, thoughts?

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail

Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard

Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Akasa PowerMax 850W Power Supply

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM)

Samsung SH-B083L/RSBP 8x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)

NZXT M59 Mid-Tower Windowed Case - Black

OcUK Value Twin Pack of 30cm Blue Cold Cathods

2x Akasa AK-191-SM Smoke Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin

Feedback is greatly appreciated, cheers.

stulid · 31 Mar 2010 at 14:21

Firstly the red text is annoying!

Secondly I can just make out a crummy akasa psu, when ANTEC 750W TRUEPOWER or CORSAIR psu are proven performers.

gmurdock91 · 31 Mar 2010 at 14:27

Apologies, text colour has been updated.

Seeing as I don't actually know much about building PCs, what would you recommend power-wise for a PSU?
I'm planning on having 2 HHDs (possibly 3 in a while) and also that fan controller from no competitors. What would I need to run all that and have a bit spare?

Cheers.

stulid · 31 Mar 2010 at 14:32

Now remove the competitor link, or you will be going bye bye.

I like everything with only one change.

ANTEC new truepower 750w is £94.99, and far superior.

gmurdock91 · 31 Mar 2010 at 14:34

Awesome, might order it this evening then.

Thanks for your help.