Help with shop's spec for my PC

cristoff

cristoff

cristoff

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Hi, i was after some help, i have asked my local shop for a decent PC for all things media (burning DVD's, streaming films to PS3, converting) and also to play some top end games (not a heavy gamer but would like the option)

I told them my very top end budget was £750 but would like it a bit cheaper if possible!

I have the monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc so am just after the tower, they have given me essentially 2 options and i just wanted feedback on spec and price.

Case - cooler master elite £35
M/B - Asus M4A89GTD £115
PSU - Winpower 800W £36
CPU - Phenom2 x4 965 £162
RAM - 4GB GSkill DDR3 £100
Graphics - HIS 5670 1GB £100
HDD - Western Digital SATA2 -500GB £45
Writer - Samsung DVD-RW £25

Total £618

The other is all same apart from;

M/B - Asus P6T SE £160
CPU - Intel I7 920 £230
RAM = 6GB Gskill DDR3 £150

Total £781

They also did an option of an intel I5 750 with ASUS p7H55M Pro M/B which came in at £627.

They also explained that for an extra 50 quid they could put a top end Graphics card in, but did not say which.

I do like I7 option for slightly over budget but wondered just how much extra performance difference i would notice from the others?

Whats everyone elses thoughts on spec and price?

Many thanks for taking the time to read

Chris
 
Umm you could probably build those specs cheaper on this site. Definately the i7 build £180 for i7 920 on here and a Gigabyte UD3R mobo for a bit less and Kingston DDR3 tri cahnnel 6gb for £139.99.
 
The graphics card they specced won't be great, PSU looks a bit dodgy too.

I'd grab something like this if I wasn't prepared to build myself. Upgrade CPU to an i5 750 if you want to go quad.
 
5770 would be great for current games at high settings, 58XX would nail anything. As for power supply, anything branded from ocuk is fine. 800w 'winpower' is unnecessary.

For example, This is more expensive yet half the power. Gives you an idea of the kind of quality you can expect from it...

The corsair would be fine for a quad core and a 5770, but might be worth going for something a bit better if you plan on upgrading down the line (i.e. adding a second graphics card). A decent power supply should outlive many builds.
 
this lot is £765

amd phenomII X4 955 £125.98
asus M4A79XTD-EVO £89.99
gskill ripjaw DDR3 4gb £99.99
samsung F3 500gb £44.99
sony ad-7240s £15.99
ocz modxstream 600w £63.99
lancool dragonlord pc k62 £85.99
xfx HD5850 avp edition £236.99

hopefully gives you an idea what you can get for approximately your budget.
 
I would def give OCUK a call, they would make you something a lot better with good parts for the same price. That shops is offering you a dodge PSU and PSU is one part you dont want to go wrong.
 
stulid said:
this lot is £765

amd phenomII X4 955 £125.98
asus M4A79XTD-EVO £89.99
gskill ripjaw DDR3 4gb £99.99
samsung F3 500gb £44.99
sony ad-7240s £15.99
ocz modxstream 600w £63.99
lancool dragonlord pc k62 £85.99
xfx HD5850 avp edition £236.99

hopefully gives you an idea what you can get for approximately your budget.
Click to expand...

This is a good build for the money. I would get the following Antec PSU though if the budget allows:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN

Perhaps even consider the following case to reduce the price (if the budget cannot exceed £750):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-033-ZA
 
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mattjd said:
Umm you could probably build those specs cheaper on this site. Definately the i7 build £180 for i7 920 on here and a Gigabyte UD3R mobo for a bit less and Kingston DDR3 tri cahnnel 6gb for £139.99.
Click to expand...

so if i swapped those components and went with a 57xx graphics card and decent power supply, would the rest of the components be suitable and would i have a decent machine?

thanks for all the help so far
 
Yeah if you got a OCZ 600w modular power supply and a 5770 you will have a decent build but if you can afford it I recommend strongly on the 5850.
 
So, in my mind i have gotten to something like this;

Intel I7 920 £180
Gigabyte UD3R ????
gskill ripjaw DDR3 gb £150 or kingston DDR3 tri cahnnel 6gb for £139.99.
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 64MB Cache £52.99
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe £18.99
Corsair VX 550W ATX £75.99
Zalman Z7 Plus Midi £42.99
HIS IceQ 5 ATI Radeon HD 5770 £146.99

Dont know which Mobo to go for so assuming around £100 for mobo that comes out a shade over £750.
Cannot really afford a 58xx card unfortunately!

What would you say to that as a system? SHould i still give Overclockers a ring and see if they could build me something comparable? I have been looking at those overclocked bundles, could i concievably just get one of those and add on the additional bits? I do like the sound of an I7 at 4.0ghz!!!

Thanks everyone for their patience with my dumbness!
 
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Having spoken to the guys at Overclockers i have been recommended this;

Intel I5 750 £164
Asus P7P55D £115
GSkill Ripjaw 2x2GB DDR3 £100
Western DIgitial Caviar Black 640GB 64MB cache £53
Sony DVD-RW £19
Corsair TX 650w ATX £81
Antec 300 £46
ATI 5770 £147

£725 - another £80 for 58xx card is too much i fear.

Whats the thoughts on this? I still can hear my brother bragging about his I7 and how he can play Battlefield whilst converting a film and wonder whether i will be wishing i had gone the extra if i build this system instead?
 
most media things, burning, playing, streaming, etc will be fine on any system really, and an i7 would be overkill.

however, encoding/converting would make use of a good cpu.
So if you do a lot of this, an i7 might be the better choise.

as for gaming, theres little difference between the i7 and i5.

if the converting is more important to you than gaming, then u should go for a better cpu, over a better gpu if you have that choise.

the 58xx would be overkill if you dont do a lot of gaming
 
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