Gaming Rig around £1000 inc. Monitor

stulid said:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2311h.htm
http://www.flatpanelshd.com/review.php?subaction=showfull&id=1275291737
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3414/quick_review_dell_u2311h_lcd_monitor/index.html

They all come to the same conclusion. And if you go into the monitor section and see some of the "recommended me a 24" gaming monitor" these keep coming up.
Click to expand...

I never realised there was such a difference, I'm drooling a little now, lol. Will definitely be the Dell U2311H. The image sharpness and colour even in photos is dramatically better.
 
Its not just the picture, look at the stand, its full tilt and swivel and solid too so less wobble.

Does landscape as well as portrait mode.

4 USB ports.

Display port input, DVI and older D-SUB.

Its loaded.
 
stulid said:
Its not just the picture, look at the stand, its full tilt and swivel and solid too so less wobble.

Does landscape as well as portrait mode.

4 USB ports.

Display port input, DVI and older D-SUB.

Its loaded.
Click to expand...

They all add a lot to the monitor, didn't want to just focus on the aesthetics although the 90 degree rotation is a great feature and all the added ports too!

Build now looking like:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £229.99
(£191.66) £229.99
(£191.66)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
(£174.99) £209.99
(£174.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £155.99
(£129.99) £155.99
(£129.99)
Coolermaster HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942) £129.98
(£108.32) £129.98
(£108.32)
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition Power Supply £72.98
(£60.82) £72.98
(£60.82)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £19.99
(£16.66) £19.99
(£16.66)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £890.74
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £22.20
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £182.59
Total : £1,095.53

Slightly over budget but that's due to me being stubborn with the HAF-X and improved graphics and monitor from the original list but I'm happy with it.
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
no further questions then.

oh, seen this?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18274849

Sorry stupid phone got the link wrong.
Click to expand...

I'd found the page, it does present me with a different option, the features look a lot better but not as pleasing for me to look at from outside the case IMO. Inside looks great. I'll need to consider the looks/functionality balance, probably need a sleep on it but definitely a possibility for replacing the HAF-X.
 
stulid said:
no further questions then.

oh, seen this?

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18274849

Sorry stupid phone got the link wrong.
Click to expand...

After a nights sleep and some time looking in to it properly. The case factors that affect me are:

Cooler Masters 942 HAF-X
Better looking outer casing and interior.
Larger case so more free space for airflow.
Water cooling feature.

Silverstone RV03B
Little thing but the hidden USB panel is always a nice feature.
Better cable management layout for improved air flow.
More bays for future expansion.
Interior looks good once it's all set up. I do want to see it with some interior lighting in that post.

Can anyone advise on what case has the best natural airflow as it will be air cooling for the first 24 months at least and I will be overclocking. Also, if water cooling would make much difference on the i5 2500k's overclocking limits down the line? If not, then natural air flow design moves up the priority order a lot.

The more reviews and comparisons I read about the Dell Ultrasharp U2311H, the more I'm glad you pointed me in that direction.

A MOBO question, I had considered the GD53 for SLI support originally because the GD45 is listed most places as SLI supported (like this site and it does have a SLI mark on the MOBO) but was wary due to the actual tech manual stating SLI n/a but as I'm going the Xfire route is there any reason not to go to the GD45? The GD53 has x2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 but will drop to x8/x8 in Xfire and I'm guessing the GD45 with x1 PCI-E 2.0 x16 and x1 PCI-E 2.0 x16 (x8 bandwidth) will run at x8/x8 too?

Also, with the GD45 SLI support as n/a does it work with the SLI hack or is the manual wrong and it's SLI supported out the box. Any real benefit from paying a bit more and going a GD55/65 route?
 
Last edited:
Do you mean the GD65? at £135

Or the £105 G45 which is crossfire only

The first MSI board in the range that has SLI is the GD53, it also runs both PCI-E slots at equal speeds, not all the low priced motherboards with two pci-e slots do this.

As for natural airflow, well with all the parts pointing upwards, that Silverstone case is onto a winner with the old saying "heat rises";)
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
The GD45 doesnt support SLI, its Crossfire only.

The first MSI board in the range that has SLI is the GD53, it also runs both PCI-E slots at equal speeds, not all the low priced motherboards with two pci-e slots do this.
Click to expand...

Does the GD45 fall in to the equal speed or do they both half to x8/x4? Might stick with the GD53. Also, when it comes to going Dual GPU, NVidia might offer something better for the price so I switch to single NVidia rather than dual, then go SLI further down the line, so covers that as an option.

stulid said:
As for natural airflow, well with all the parts pointing upwards, that Silverstone case is onto a winner with the old saying "heat rises";)
Click to expand...

With the rig set up and all those fans, the Silverstone does look a beast on air cooling. The HAF-X interior sold me at first then the exterior grew on me so hoping the same will happen with the Silverstone.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £229.99
(£191.66) £229.99
(£191.66)
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
(£174.99) £209.99
(£174.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £155.99
(£129.99) £155.99
(£129.99)
Silverstone SST-RV03B-W Raven 3 Windowed Case £128.99
(£107.49) £128.99
(£107.49)
MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition Power Supply £72.98
(£60.82) £72.98
(£60.82)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366) £19.99
(£16.66) £19.99
(£16.66)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £889.91
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £22.20
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £182.42
Total : £1,094.53

Again, slightly over budget but Monitor, PSU and Graphics upgraded from the initial build which I'm still very happy with and that's what I'll be going with I think. Thanks Stulid, all the help has been much appreciated!
 
The G45 board is a 8X/8X too, crossfire only, £5 more for the GD53 gets SLI also.

The OCUK page for the G45 has a nice big SLI symbol, the MSI homepage doesnt;) the GD53 homepage has both Crossfire+SLI symbols.
 
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