£700 gaming rig just need a quick check over

SBD

SBD

SBD

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My friends case has just come into stock and so now we are looking to buy everything today / tomorrow to have it built on Monday.

Here is a run through for the spec:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640
Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD/USB3
Ram: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
GPU:HIS ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5
Hard drive: 500GB Samsung HD502HJ Spinpoint F3
Case: Lian Li PC-A05NB Aluminium Mini-Tower Case
PSU: 600W Corsair CMPSU-600CX Builder Series
DvD drive: Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW
Monitor:BenQ G2222HDL 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor

Everything is subject to change apart from the case :D

The plan is to overclock the CPU to around 3.6Ghz which should give him enough performance to not hinder the 6850.

Also if someone could recommend a CPU cooler for under £30 that would be great ;)

Is this the spec you would go with for around £700?
 
Decided post a pic, gives you the costs and there is a bit left for the heatsink. He said that the max he will go to including shipping is £720 so I have a little bit more to play with :D

 
Ok so if I go with that CPU cooler what should I spend the extra £10-15 on :p

Is it worth saving a bit more on the mother board and buying a AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition or even a 6 core ;)

Edit: There doesn't seem to be much difference between the Asus M4A87TD EVO and the non EVO could save £15 there and put it towards the better CPU, any thoughts?
 
Last edited:
SBD said:
Ok so if I go with that CPU cooler what should I spend the extra £10-15 on :p

Is it worth saving a bit more on the mother board and buying a AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition or even a 6 core ;)

Edit: There doesn't seem to be much difference between the Asus M4A87TD EVO and the non EVO could save £15 there and put it towards the better CPU, any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Get a 955 over a 965. Money in the bank and it is the same thing. Just clock it up a bit.
 
Agree with the above and the cooler choice is really good for the money.

I would say spend the remaining on MX-3/MX-4 paste and 1TB Samsung F3.
 
Found a 955 for £110.39 any difference between the this and the 965 apart from clock speed. Is this CPU a fair bit faster than an AMD Athlon II X4 640 if clocked the same?

Major difference seems the L3 cashe?
 
SBD said:
Found a 955 for £110.39 any difference between the this and the 965 apart from clock speed. Is this CPU a fair bit faster than an AMD Athlon II X4 640 if clocked the same?

Major difference seems the L3 cashe?
Click to expand...

Well worth the extra tbh. I have a 965 (even though i said get a 955) as I was flush with cash when I bought mine. Should clock nicely with that cooler I have mine at 4ghz. The only difference (as far as I can tell) is that the 965's have just been tested at a higher clock. they are essentially, one and the same.
 
oh, one last thing as I just remembered. For a gaming rig, especially if he is using headphones, £25 or so would be well spent on an ASUS Xonar DG soundcard. :)
 
Oh pooop I completely over looked the sound card due to having an AV receiver which does all my decoding lol

Erm is there a big difference from using the ASUS Xonar DG soundcard he will be using headphones :(
 
SBD said:
Decided post a pic, gives you the costs and there is a bit left for the heatsink. He said that the max he will go to including shipping is £720 so I have a little bit more to play with :D
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong but you're eligible for free delivery aren't you? Could save some money there if you make some arrangements :)
 
SBD said:
Erm is there a big difference from using the ASUS Xonar DG soundcard he will be using headphones :(
Click to expand...

Massive. I recently bought the ASUS Crosshair IV mobo. The sound on it was far better on it than the Creative soundcard (£35) I was using. I then got the DG. Whole new world of sound. :)
 
Definately agree with the above; the lack of reviews is a bit of worry. You can go down to 500w too and save some pennies.

I would get a tricore personally or the full fat PII if sticking with AMD. the i3 and 6950 look decent value for money too. Never really been sold on the AII x4s.

I own the monitor and having moved from a crt I'm a bit disappointed with the ghosting tbh.
 
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