Another spec thread

Big T

Big T

Big T

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14 Aug 2011
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Ok in the next month or 2 i will be getting my self a new rig to replace my current 6 year old one.

After asking a few question and lurking around the forums i have come up with a "boring" but decent I5 build

This is for gaming only and my budget is around the £1500 mark but can go up a few hundred if needed (don't tell my wife).

One of the things im hoping to get is a 3 monitor set up i currently own a Dell 2407wfp and play at 1920 x 1200 so 2 monitors to suit this would be nice or a can just eBay the dell and get 3 monitors if you lot recommend.

One last thing im hoping to do some braiding and stuff at a later times so im trying to keep the colours to black and gold only.

What i have so far

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £167.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £145.99
1 x OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
Total : £942.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).




Ok missing a cooler and Gpu from that list as you lot have noticed.

Cooler wise i was leaning to a closed water loop or a be quite
so one of these 3 below

The overclock i will go for is pretty much setting the vcore to 1.35V and see how high I can go.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-000-BQ&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-006-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

As for the GPU i have no preference at all as i said if possible and within budget ... more or less i would like 3 a monitor set up if not i will stick with the dell

Thanks a lot in advance
 
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Firstly you should get a retail i5 2500K so you get a 3 year warranty, retail packaging and a intel heatsink.

You can get Win7+1Tb HDD as a bundle - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-000-OP

==================================

You want to run three screens, this means if you go the Nvidia route you will need two graphics card in SLI, with ATI you can run 3 screens of a single card.

But one of the screens must have a displayport input or you can buy a "active" displayport to DVI adapter.

Or you can use a Sapphire "FLEX" card whch has the necessary extra circuitry onboard the PCB to power up to 5 screens, three of which can be DVI powered or any combination.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-272-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752


As for coolers, I have used many and am currently rocking a Antec Kuhler920 and am finding it extremely quiet and great temperature, it also has the advantage of not leaving a chunky large metal heatsink blocking you motherboard and gives a much more minimalist look.
 
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3 year warranty for 10 quid isnt bad so thanks for the tip will make the changes as for the Graphics i was thinking of a single gpu for now and possible sli or xfire later as if im right some new gpu reases around the corner
 
Big T said:
as for the Graphics i was thinking of a single gpu for now and possible sli or xfire later as if im right some new gpu reases around the corner
Click to expand...

Sounds wise, may even be able to pick up a second hand card when people are upgrading to the next gen stuff next year.
 
if you want the triple monitor thing then sadly i cant really recommend the gainward GTX 580 good edition because that would sit very well with your black/gold theme (unless you massively up the budget, which the other half would not be too pleased about)

have you also considered the cheaper 850W OCZ Z series 80+ gold PSU thats available, or do you not like the looks of it?

as for coolers i'd probably take the bequiet although im not 100% sure on that

this is the best i could do while keeping the black/gold theme (only gold graphics card i could find was the gainward which is overkill)


YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £371.99 (£743.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £145.99
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366, AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / 754 / 939 / 940) £54.98
1 x LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (Retail) £47.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
Total : £1,704.49 (includes shipping : £16.85).
 
Your right about overkill there but it is a godly looking card ok i should change it a little Black and gold if possible just no big colors if that makes sense ik no blue cards but black with a little blue is fine
 
As with the bundles im trying to avoid them at the moment as this computer is a month away at best. so in the planing stages. as i said the 3 montior thing is optionall tbh i want it but dont feel its withing my budget
 
Big T said:
Your right about overkill there but it is a godly looking card ok i should change it a little Black and gold if possible just no big colors if that makes sense ik no blue cards but black with a little blue is fine
Click to expand...

I wouldnt spend that much money on a pair of GTX580's, that s a silly idea, newer cards are only a few months away, you can get a pair of 6950's for much less and have performance within 10% while saving £300

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=gx-128-ms&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/msi/hd_6950_twin_frozr_iii/3.html
 
Ok 2 possible builds then that im more than open to improvment for

Build 1 3 Montior compliant and a little under my budget and some space for the 2 extra monitors i need


YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with upto 5 Monitor Support & with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £145.99
1 x OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM2+/AM2+/AM3+) £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
Total : £1,270.38 (includes shipping : £13.75).




Build 2

Stick with the single monitor or the 47" in the front room (divorce incoming)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £371.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £145.99
1 x OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM2+/AM2+/AM3+) £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
Total : £1,403.58 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 
Either is fine, but 1-2 months is a long time in the hardware world and their could be something better. trust me, be patient.
 
Your right but to be honest ive been building this over and over again got a real bug now, My mates have coined it shiny Kit syndrome :)

But of course before i hit buy i will be racking your brains still if any one could suggest 2 monitors to go with the dell 2407wfp or would i be better off getting 3 monitors and ebay the other .
 
You would want three identical screens in front of you, so they look all the same and the colour reproduction is uniform across all three, selling the one and then getting three identical screens will look much better and you wont have that nagging feeling in the back of your mind about the image not looking "right" across them.
 
Fair enough so 3 new monitors it is suggestions welcome while i look up the cost of 3 23" or 24" monitors and a fair few reviews
 
Looking like a good choice so at the moment

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with upto 5 Monitor Support & with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £175.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £145.99
1 x OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £129.98
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM2+/AM2+/AM3+) £79.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
Total : £1,270.38 (includes shipping : £13.75).



With 3x http://3dvision-blog.com/review-of-t...aming-monitor/ off eBay most likely so + £450

So for a grand total £1720 ish - what ever i get for my dell.

Ok improvements are welcome or are we good at the moment with an update at the end of the month for any dells or if something better comes
 
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