Gaming PC £1000+ budget

smashing666 · 23 Feb 2011 at 19:24

Hi All,

I'm looking for a gaming computer to run my simulator on rfactor ( 3 projector configuration) and I'm wondering what the best system would be. I'm no computer expert, but I imagine a sandy bridge i7 would be a good place to start, with an HD 6970 (possibly two?). What about motherboard, cooler, memory etc?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Julian

stulid · 23 Feb 2011 at 19:30

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £213.59
(£177.99) £427.18
(£355.98)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £165.59
(£137.99) £165.59
(£137.99)
Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £137.99
(£114.99) £137.99
(£114.99)
XFX Pro 650W Core Edition Power Supply £68.99
(£57.49) £68.99
(£57.49)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £61.26
(£51.05) £61.26
(£51.05)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1600C9ELV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £20.99
(£17.49) £20.99
(£17.49)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66) £13.99
(£11.66)
Sub Total : £803.30
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £162.91
Total : £977.46

Just knocked this together.

Have included two 6950 cards.

Did you want an operating system?

smashing666 · 23 Feb 2011 at 20:36

Yeah, what would you suggest, windows 7 pro?

stulid · 23 Feb 2011 at 20:38

home edition I think, 64bit OEM copy.

smashing666 · 23 Feb 2011 at 22:09

Hmmm and what about going down the i7 sandy bridge route? Would you say there's a big difference?

Maxi011 · 23 Feb 2011 at 22:40

smashing666 said:
Hmmm and what about going down the i7 sandy bridge route? Would you say there's a big difference?

For gaming, barely any difference at all. Pretty sure I am safe in saying hyper threading will do nothing for your games and that's the main benefit of the chip over the 2500k.

stulid · 23 Feb 2011 at 22:48

Maxi011 said:
For gaming, barely any difference at all. Pretty sure I am safe in saying hyper threading will do nothing for your games and that's the main benefit of the chip over the 2500k.

^
that sums it up really.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=288

smiley1987 · 23 Feb 2011 at 22:51

+1 for stulids build if i wanted a new rig thats exactly the route i would go .

smashing666 · 23 Feb 2011 at 22:56

Thanks a lot! Anything else I could add to make it a better gaming PC? Would running the 3 projectors with warping software and possibly running software called x-sim to control some actuators whilst gaming affect the requirements?

How hard would it be to build myself, or would I buy it ready built from overclockers?

Thanks

Julian

adamknox · 23 Feb 2011 at 23:23

While two 6950 is all well and good.. you may get micro stuttering while using two cards. Spesh from ati

Maybe just a single gpu card would be better.

mikey1090 · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:04

smashing666 said:
Thanks a lot! Anything else I could add to make it a better gaming PC? Would running the 3 projectors with warping software and possibly running software called x-sim to control some actuators whilst gaming affect the requirements?

How hard would it be to build myself, or would I buy it ready built from overclockers?

Thanks

Julian

What about an SSD for better boot times and game loading times? Just a thought.

smashing666 · 24 Feb 2011 at 19:07

Unfortunately computers are not my speciality...What difference would the SSD make? Also would you recommend me to buy it complete or build it myself, how difficult would it be?

Also, should I go for 2 graphics cards or not? And can I make any modifications to the above spec to make it any better 'for gaming'.

Thanks

Julian

Tythus · 24 Feb 2011 at 19:21

smashing666 said:
Unfortunately computers are not my speciality...What difference would the SSD make? Also would you recommend me to buy it complete or build it myself, how difficult would it be?

Also, should I go for 2 graphics cards or not? And can I make any modifications to the above spec to make it any better 'for gaming'.

Thanks

Julian

I don't find SSD's worth while for money's sake as a 60GB can set you back £100 very easily which I like most people can't justify yet.
Its generally advised to go for a better single card if possible than 2 lesser cards also I don't like the idea of the PSU it should be a bit more beffier maybe a 750W

smashing666 · 24 Feb 2011 at 19:37

So you'd go for the HD 6970? Any other changes apart from PSU? How about actually assembling the computer, how hard is it?

DefiantAsh · 24 Feb 2011 at 19:51

stulids build was with 2x 6950's, can be flashed to 6970's? and that would be the best ati card at this time, however not an original 6970 but flashed, so really hes got near enough the best, twice over? unless a 3gb edition of the 580? but thats like £400 anyways and im not sure on the differences compared with a original 6970, not flashed 6950 - if he was to go for a single 6970 rather than 2x 6950 that is.

stulid · 24 Feb 2011 at 20:27

I am still happy with the spec posted, a SSD is nice, but will only reduce the boot-up time/in game level loading time and will add a extra snappiness too the system response.

Building yourself using guides available online, youtube videos and the system build guide at the top of this forum is the best way to get maximum bang for your buck.

OCUK may build the system for a fee? this you may have to ask about.

Edit, almost forgot,

this shows 6950 in crossfire vs a single 6970 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/299?vs=292

plus the fact that 6950 2GB models can be easily turned into 6970 - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18221844

And you end up with some stunning performance for the price

Tythus · 24 Feb 2011 at 20:44

smashing666 said:
So you'd go for the HD 6970? Any other changes apart from PSU? How about actually assembling the computer, how hard is it?

PC's are relatively easy to self build as long as you follow guides and I would say you should go with 1 6970 or wait a little bit as a 6990 is coming out very soon (late feb/early march)

DefiantAsh · 24 Feb 2011 at 23:19

stulid said:
I am still happy with the spec posted, a SSD is nice, but will only reduce the boot-up time/in game level loading time and will add a extra snappiness too the system response.

Building yourself using guides available online, youtube videos and the system build guide at the top of this forum is the best way to get maximum bang for your buck.

OCUK may build the system for a fee? this you may have to ask about.

Edit, almost forgot,

this shows 6950 in crossfire vs a single 6970 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/299?vs=292

plus the fact that 6950 2GB models can be easily turned into 6970 - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18221844

And you end up with some stunning performance for the price

very nice indeed, good spec as always, and near enough fault free

, will probably ask for a re-spec closer to september/october for a new pc for me, soz for hi-jacking thread!

David Koh · 24 Feb 2011 at 23:38

Lots of good tech news coming, wait till april pay checks till you decide imo, though if you want to buy now:

Intel sandybrdige i5
ati 5950/570 (un lock the ati)

Best tech and very good priceperformance

Just only use your 6gb sata ports and you shouls be fine

smashing666 · 25 Feb 2011 at 08:46

Sorry for the ignorant question but what do you mean by only use 6gb sata ports?