First time build (1000ish)

mtnorris

mtnorris

mtnorris

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Joined
20 Jul 2010
Posts
216
Hello all, new here and so far really liking the site and forum! It's been masses of help along with a friend, so much so I am confident enough to try my first build.

The reason for a new pc is going into my 3rd year of uni in September studying architecture and I need a system that will run autocad and more specifically autodesk's Revit program as efficiently as possibly (my laptop currently will work slower than me which is a massive problem time wise) and obviously faster rendering is the aim (currently 1 image takes me an hour up to 12 depending on light settings in the program).

However I am a student so sticking to my budget is important. I have 1000 which I need to include a monitor and keyboard with.

I am going with AMD (6 core) because of the superior ability to cope with the rendering software at my price (although other thoughts here would be handy). Also 8GB of good quality RAM will be needed. The only other thing I am determined to get is a mobo with crossfireX so that when i can afford to upgrade in the future I can.

Here's what I have come up with so far...would love some thoughts!

http://a.imagehost.org/view/0375/compsetup2
 
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Are you planning on overclocking? If not then you could use the stock cooler, it will definatly be cool enough for stock clocks. Also if you just want to get a larger cooler yuo could get the Freezer Pro 7, which is very highly reccomended, and under half the price.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Other than that looks pretty good (allthough im not an expert on AMD boards, will this one run symmetrical xfire?)
 
Well I was planning on taking the CPU up to 3.40 Ghz perhaps 3.60 as well as clocking up the GPU to match the XXX version of the same card (so from 4800Mhz to 5200Mhz). Which is why I figured investing in a good CPU cooler would be wise. Although looking at that link the price/reviews will get me thinking!
 
How's about:

suggestion.png


Pre-overclocked AMD 6core bundle, with an extra 4GB of ram (so 8GB)

- This board won't do xfire though, so limited upgradeability.
- I've also chosen a slightly cheaper PSU and graphics card.
- Have opted for a 24" monitor, more shiny workspace for you.
- Chosen Samsung F3 hdd because I love them.
- Slower RAM but I would think you'd be very hard pressed to notice the difference.



Granted it's a tiny bit over your budget but it comes pre-overclocked which should help your rendering.



Edit: Just seen you plan to overclock yourself, in which case you might as well buy the separate bits and save a bit of money.
 
im afraid the M4A88TD-V aint a crossfire board. you need to look at something with either 890GX or 890FX chipset (or the corresponding 7 series if you want to save some money)
 
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I shall go investigate about that mobo on the Asus site me thinks and if there isnt Xfire i shall find a replacement!

Also I didn't think about a overclocked bundle, which might be the better option for a first time builder.

Thanks for the input guys. Lots for me to think about!
 
Small update on where I am at.

hmmmm1.jpg


The remainder of the budget is for the little things really, a better keyboard than is in the image along with a 2nd 120mm fan for the case etc.

Anything else people would/could suggest??
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £159.79
(£135.99) £159.79
(£135.99)
AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £157.44
(£133.99) £157.44
(£133.99)
HIS IceQ 5 Turbo ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Dirt 2 Full Game) HIS IceQ 5 Turbo ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Dirt 2 Full Game) £137.99
(£117.44) £137.99
(£117.44)
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £93.99
(£79.99) £93.99
(£79.99)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz Dual Channel (PVS34G1333ELK) Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz Dual Channel (PVS34G1333ELK) £70.49
(£59.99) £140.98
(£119.98)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £56.99
(£48.50) £56.99
(£48.50)
Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black £56.99
(£48.50) £56.99
(£48.50)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £35.24
(£29.99) £35.24
(£29.99)
Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler (754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1156/1366) Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler (754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1156/1366) £32.99
(£28.08) £32.99
(£28.08)
Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) Logitech MX518 Gaming-Grade Optical Mouse (910-000616) £24.99
(£21.27) £24.99
(£21.27)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.91) £13.99
(£11.91)
Logitech Ultra-Flat Keyboard (967653-0120) Logitech Ultra-Flat Keyboard (967653-0120) £11.99
(£10.20) £11.99
(£10.20)
Sub Total : £785.84
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £19.10
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £140.86
Total : £945.80


Still 55 left for either bigger storage, Blu-ray, budget SSD or GPU upgrade to 460/465 ( they're supposed to give nice boost to rendering ).

Avoid cheap cases at this kind of budget tbh, 20quid extra gets you a lot better case which will last you for years, the 30quid ones you'll regret buying the first second you start building your PC.

Freezer pro is not a bad cooler for it's price BUT it's not very good either, a bit more quieter than the stock, slightly better cooling but nothing I'd use to OC.

And 24" monitor is good addition as well.
 
Ye i saw that thread about the keyboard just before i posted that last image of my basket, hense saying it was a mistake lol.

Having used laptops for the last 8 years now (yes i even played wow/cs1.6 on them, please dont hate me) a 22 inch but slightly higher quality screen will be more than big enough for me.

The two least articled parts of a computer seem to be about the PSU's and cases, the later in particular. So I shall rethink my case choice (know any good guides about cases?) since a lot of the idea of this computer is that it will last me for 3-4 years with only a few upgrades and see me through to the end of my time at university.
 
Good case is essential, the things to look at when buying a case:
Side mounted HDDs ( gives you more space for GPU and better airflow in the case )
You want top exhaust fan.
Then all the rest is extra features depending on your needs if you either want better cooling solutions, noise dampening, size etc.

I would avoid the cheap cases unless I'm on super tight budget or it's just office use PC.

------
If you wan't 22" only, this would save you a few quid here:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-057-IY .

EVENTUALLY, what you could do is get 2x 19" or 20" ; ).
 
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Quite a nice selection of parts you are pondering on there!

The antec 300 is a nice case. It may be wise to get a more powerful PSU now if you are considering running two cards at a later date. The 5770 is a good budget card and if run in xfire is equal to (a pips in somecases) the 5870.

Just wanted to add, you do realise you need a 64bit version of windows to utilise 8gig of ram dont you?

Good luck with your build
 
mtnorris said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN

A better option?
Click to expand...

No. It's not a good case at all, it's small rubbish case the only good thing about it the top fan and it's overpriced as well. And the fans that come with it are noisy.


Seriously if you have a 1k budget, you should be able to spend at least 60-70quid on half decent entry lvl case that's big enough to fit large GPUs, has side mounted HDDs and decent airflow.

Case is a second thing after PSU that I wouldn't skimp on, a good case will last you for the future builds and will allow you for easy upgrading without having to worry that your new GPU might be 1cm too long or that your HDDs are getting hot coz everything is packed too close and your new cooler won't fit. Also a good case will give you a nice drop in temperatures, keeping all your components cool and allowing you for better OC.

You can get a good case already for around 60-70, you choose:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-175-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-LN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-188-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-LN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-104-TT&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-TR&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=


If you don't wanna spend much, pick the dominator I've posted on my build, it's good case and for that price it's a no brainer, just over a tenner more over the antec and you get a much better quality case that can actually fit something in.
 
stulid said:
no its not!!! LOL.
Click to expand...

Don't know what's so funny about it !
I remember when it first came out it costed 30quid, that's where it had it's place and gained it's fame, the price went up now by nearly 50% but because of its old hype people still keep recommending it while for a tenner more you can get much better case.

Once you get a proper case you'll never look back !
 
PhoenixUK has a point but we have to remember this guy is on a budget being a student. I'd be willing to bet the 1K is the entire loan for that 3rd year!

I think the OP's done a pretty good job balancing performance to price (especially for a first build). The storm scout case suggested is still said to be small and fiddly (reading this sites owners reviews) and it's more money than the antec which im sure will do ya for a first build.

As myself & PhoenixUK said don't skimp on the PSU you will regret it later, that extra £20-30 he suggested spending on a case will be better served going to the PSU now. Yes the antec isn't perfect but you can change that case later. Would you rather write off a £30/40 budget case for a better one further down the road or be caught short on power write off £65 on your PSU and spend around £100 or more on a new one.....I know what i'd rather do.

We may all differ in opnion but at the end of the day we are all looking out for your best interest. Once again good luck with the build, keep us posted!
 
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