New gaming and graphics pc ~£900

DarkMage

DarkMage

DarkMage

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Joined
25 Sep 2003
Posts
15
Location
UK
Hi all,
Am speccing a new PC for gaming and also work. I am a games artist, so use lots of graphics programs and do lots of rendering. I've been out of the hardware loop for ages (built my last system 3 years ago and don't keep up) so was hoping for some advice.

I don't need any new peripherals or optical drives, and am not planning on adding anything extra to the system once it's built (ie. 2nd gfx card). Will be running windows 7.




Bundle Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz @ 4.00GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel
- Cooler: Akasa Nero S CPU Cooler
- Artic Cooling MX-3 Thermal Compound


£908 is probably the top of my budget, unless there can be a large performance jump for a fairly small price increase.

The main thing I am worrying about is the PSU, will 650W be enough to power that system + 2 additional HDD + case fans?

I'm also in 2 minds about the GFX-card, for £5 less there is the:

Which, from the description, is slightly faster. Would this be a better choice?

What are your thoughts and advice?

Many thanks,
 
DarkMage said:
The main thing I am worrying about is the PSU, will 650W be enough to power that system + 2 additional HDD + case fans?

I'm also in 2 minds about the GFX-card, for £5 less there is the:

Which, from the description, is slightly faster. Would this be a better choice?

What are your thoughts and advice?

Many thanks,
Click to expand...

the PSU is plenty.

and you may as well save that £5 difference by getting the cheaper GTX470.
 
I'd go for:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-277-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=

I have this machine with the i5 760 & 6870 and I wouldn't swap it for the world. It's a good gaming machine, and good multimedia machine, and it seems within your budget. I'd recommend it, and that way you don't have all the hassle that goes with trying to overclock. In addition, the i5 is pretty much on par with i7's for gaming, and in some cases are better due to turbo. This needs confirming by someone with a little more experience. All in all, if you got the above machine, I think you'd be more than happy!

EDIT: In-terms of performance, I am running Metro 2033 (arguably the most graphically demanding gameto date) at:

Res: 1920x1200
Quality: Very High
Dx version: 11 (Depth of Feild = on, Tesselation = on)
Antialising: AAA
AF: 4x

The game is stunning, and it plays really well for the biggest part of the game, bar the odd scence here and there.
 
Last edited:
GangsterSte said:
I'd go for:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-277-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=

I have this machine with the i5 760 & 6870 and I wouldn't swap it for the world. It's a good gaming machine, and good multimedia machine, and it seems within your budget. I'd recommend it, and that way you don't have all the hassle that goes with trying to overclock. In addition, the i5 is pretty much on par with i7's for gaming, and in some cases are better due to turbo. This needs confirming by someone with a little more experience. All in all, if you got the above machine, I think you'd be more than happy!
Click to expand...

why?

when he can build himself a much faster pc for the same £900?

plus this isnt just a "gaming PC" did you actually read the OP?
 
Thanks for all the replies so far.

Have swapped the GFx for the cheaper option, and the Antec 200 instead of the 300 (can't find the 100 on OCuk).

GangsterSTE, that's a nice rig, but I'd like an i7. I do a lot of 3D rendering, so the extra grunt really comes in handy.
I don't mind building myself, have done it several times in the past, and I think the bundle comes pre-overclocked so that shouldn't be a problem.
 
If I try to goto the product page I get a "Product Unavailable" error :(

From those pics you are right, it's much better looking than the 200, would prefer it.
 
Have decided to go with the Silverstone SST-PS03B.

This is the basket now:



Anyone got any more thoughts, or am I good to go?
 
Last edited:
are you thinking of sli'ng that gtx 470 in the future,if you are maybe its worth it to up the psu to 850w?
 
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