£2k budget - Give my spec the once-over!

Exsertus

Exsertus

Exsertus

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5 Feb 2011
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Hi all,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

I've been doing my homework over the past few days for a new build. It's a top-to-bottom build - complete new system, including monitor, keyboard, decent set of headphones etc. The one exception is a 22" monitor I already have, which I will use as a second display. Budget is in the region of £2k.

The goal is a powerful rig that is reasonably quiet as well. I've made my initial picks along those lines - the H50 cooler instead of the supposedly louder H70, the MSI GTX 580 with the Twin Frozr II cooler, etc.

Here's the basket as it stands (the total is just over £2k):

spec.png


Comments welcome!
 
Well I don't really have anything to add other than I'm on a similar budget so it's cool to see someone with a set up in a similar price range. Look forward to other responses though so I can see if I should go with something similar (even if I'm not getting one until next month/April)
 
You're spending £75 on a headset but only half of that (combined) on your mouse and keyboard?

I'm not a real expert on which specific pieces of kit you should go for, but I'm certain you'll regret going so cheap on the peripherals when the rest of the PC is so swanky.
 
PaddyMC89 said:
You're spending £75 on a headset but only half of that (combined) on your mouse and keyboard?

I'm not a real expert on which specific pieces of kit you should go for, but I'm certain you'll regret going so cheap on the peripherals when the rest of the PC is so swanky.
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I have to agree. That keyboard you selected is fine for your average user to browse the internet and play music. It's not really intended for gaming. It's also really light and feels kinda flimsy. Not played with the mouse in person but I don't hold much hope. Something like a Logitech G500 might be better especially for all that gaming.
 
Thanks for the comments all, I will take a look at the components that were suggested. As for your PSU comment in particular stulid, you're right there - I had been considering going up to a 1000W of the same brand of power supply to give myself that headroom for SLi in the future, but forgot to stick it in the basket.

dave_beast said:
You don't really need the TIM as the H50 comes pre-applied with a decent TIM.
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Ok, that's good to know!

PaddyMC89 said:
You're spending £75 on a headset but only half of that (combined) on your mouse and keyboard?
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Had a feeling the keyboard/mouse might draw a comment, they do look peculiar next to the pricier components. :)

I don't really have any particular need for a premium keyboard. The Logitech actually represents an upgrade over what I've currently got, as my current keyboard has no media keys! I could spend extra on a brushed aluminium keyboard or an illuminated keyboard or a keyboard with a display on it, etc., but I don't feel I'd get any extra value from it. I never look at my keyboard anyway. So long as it looks reasonable and the keys work as they should, I'm happy to spend money on other components instead.

As for the mouse, that's an area I would be willing to spend more on. My reasoning for this initial pick was that while the price of the Gigabyte mouse does raise an eyebrow initially, the reviews I've found for it look very positive. It would probably meet my needs, and I could shift it to my work PC if it did not (which currently has an awful mouse!) That being said, I'll be taking a peek at some other mice before I take the plunge.
 
even a 1000w psu is unnecessary, two GTX580's need more like 800w(complete system including the i7 test system) according to Anandtechs total load Furmark power draw tests.

Also have you seen the OCUK(Palit) GTX580 with 3GB of ram and custom cooler? £429
 
stulid said:
even a 1000w psu is unnecessary, two GTX580's need more like 800w(complete system including the i7 test system) according to Anandtechs total load Furmark power draw tests.

Also have you seen the OCUK(Palit) GTX580 with 3GB of ram and custom cooler? £429
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Thanks for the suggestion stulid. I'm fond of the Twin Frozr II design, but I'll check out the Palit too - the extra RAM doesn't seem to add too much to the price.

As for the 1000W PSU, I was going on the recommendations from the GTX 580 review on guru3d.com that I checked out recently (I haven't read the Anandtech article):

guru3d.com said:
Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

GeForce GTX 580

On your average system the card requires you to have a 650 Watt power supply unit.
GeForce GTX 580 in SLI

A second card requires you to add another 250 Watts. You need a 900+ Watt power supply unit if you use it in a high-end system (1 KiloWatt recommended if you plan on any overclocking).
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The author states elsewhere that he likes to leave a bit of extra PSU headroom in general (for better energy efficiency etc.)
 
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Ah yes, Guru3D's test rig is 1366 alright, now that you mention it. Interesting wattage difference between the current and last generation on that chart you linked.

The Coolermaster Silent Pro has 850W and 1000W increments. Given the improved Sandy Bridge efficiency and the wattage charts for 580 SLi, I'd imagine 850W would be enough alright. Nonetheless, I'd be tempted to grab 1000W over 850W to have that extra bit of headroom, as the difference in price is not immense between them (£20) - even though I'd never push it all the way up to full load.
 
Exsertus said:
The Coolermaster Silent Pro has 850W and 1000W increments. Given the improved Sandy Bridge efficiency and the wattage charts for 580 SLi, I'd imagine 850W would be enough alright. Nonetheless, I'd be tempted to grab 1000W over 850W to have that extra bit of headroom, as the difference in price is not immense between them (£20) - even though I'd never push it all the way up to full load.
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Max wattage i seen from my own i7 @4600mhz with SLI GTX 580's @900core/2150memory power draw is around 730watts
 
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The difference between the power consumption numbers that Anandtech and Guru3D posted is explained by Anand using an i7-920 and Guru using a i7-965, which is more power hungry than a 920, which is more power hungry again than anything Sandy Bridge.

I really don't think a H50 is a good use of £60, you can get better, quieter air coolers for less.

stulid said:
this F3 harddrive is just as fast and cheaper - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA

and if you ever wanted to go SLI, then a slightly stronger psu would be desirable, the motherboard is capable of SLI/Crossfire after all.

save £50 on this ram - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-105-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
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+1

The Samsung is also quieter and produces less heat according to the reviews I've seen. And actually faster in most aspects., despite 'only' being SATA 3Gbps.
 
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