£500 Build check please :)

xJcBx · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:19

Hi guys

As I'm going to be moving out and to uni soon (hopefully), I will need a new computer, and as it was my birthday on the 5th the 'rents gave me £500 to spend on a computer for it.

I've looked into many of the other threads of around the same budget and I've decided to push my budget for i5, because I don't want to be tempted to 'waste' a chunk of my student loan on an i5 upgrade, like I know I will if I don't now.

Just wondered your opinions on this build, and weather I would be better off on an i3. Any money over £500 will be out of my own money, which I have none of. Importantly, is it all compatible?

i5:

Has a lower end graphics than my i3 build, but a better processor (imo?). Thoughts?

i3:

5770 overclocked graphics and 2.9 duel core.

Not even sure if I need a 5770, might just get the 5670 as in the i5 build to keep down my costs, I will only really be playing WoW, CSS, and other not-very-demanding games. And Folding.

(with lower GPU)

Thanks! Jes

stulid · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:26

the second one.

RJC · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:31

Second one due to the better GPU.

Will you be using your own cpu cooler, as the oem is just a bare chip.

xJcBx · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:37

Yeah a Freezer 7

stulid · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:38

Or if you want AMD?

quad core, crossfire capable motherboard and a ok graphics card.

OR

dual core, still crossfire capable motherboard, but a 5770

OR

HEX core, NOT crossfire capable and a ok graphics card

you get free delivery too, so take £12 off each build

Marine-RX179 · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:39

2nd option.

Fallen god · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:53

Wouldnt Nv card be better suited for folding?

stulid · 8 Jun 2010 at 15:59

Fallen god said:
Wouldnt Nv card be better suited for folding?

but at what price? and the 9800GT doesn't count, not much of a gaming card these days.

haven't ATI sorted there drivers out yet for FOLDING?

Marine-RX179 · 8 Jun 2010 at 16:00

Fallen god said:
Wouldnt Nv card be better suited for folding?

crap, you are right. Missed the part he said about folding...
I guess he would have to look for a GTX260 216 then...

Fallen god · 8 Jun 2010 at 17:10

He could get a 2nd hand GTX260, plus most of the games he plays arnt extremely demanding.

xJcBx · 8 Jun 2010 at 18:03

Folding isn't extremely important, I just leave it on sometimes when I remember.

I don't really like AMD or Nv, I don't know why, but all of my past expierances with it have ended in a not-as-good-as-the-other-option result.

Thanks for your input and feedback, I will go for the second option

Just to end, is a Freezer 7 still a good choice? The last build I did was early last year sometime and it was the best Bang:Buck back then. I won't be overclocking to the extreme, maybe have a play to get it to 3Ghz from the 2.93 or so (Is this possible wiht this low end Mobo?)

Cheers, Jes

Marine-RX179 · 8 Jun 2010 at 18:25

xJcBx said:
Just to end, is a Freezer 7 still a good choice? The last build I did was early last year sometime and it was the best Bang:Buck back then. I won't be overclocking to the extreme, maybe have a play to get it to 3Ghz from the 2.93 or so (Is this possible wiht this low end Mobo?)

To answer your question, check out this overclocked bundle:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-042-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=

Mak3R · 8 Jun 2010 at 18:27

I'd like to think any mobo could take it from 2.9 to 3.0

Marine-RX179 · 8 Jun 2010 at 19:46

Mak3R said:
I'd like to think any mobo could take it from 2.9 to 3.0

Except the ones that DOA or the ones that don't have the right socket

Fatboy · 8 Jun 2010 at 21:45

Second one but you will need a cooler.

xJcBx · 9 Jun 2010 at 13:13

Do I want a micro-ATX motherboard? Just about to buy it and I noticed the the mobo was micro-ATX. Surely an Antec 300 doesn't need micro-ATX.

Is that normal, I can't remember my last builds using micro-ATX.

Cheers.

Edit. I think its fine.

Marine-RX179 · 9 Jun 2010 at 14:06

xJcBx said:
Do I want a micro-ATX motherboard? Just about to buy it and I noticed the the mobo was micro-ATX. Surely an Antec 300 doesn't need micro-ATX.

Is that normal, I can't remember my last builds using micro-ATX.

Cheers.

Edit. I think its fine.

As long as you don't need the extra PCI-E slots etc, Micro-ATX boards are perfectly fine. Also it uses less energy than standard ATX boards

IKMS · 9 Jun 2010 at 14:07

I've had problems with mATX boards

It's also nice to have the option fo crossfire later on which you don't get with mATX.

Marine-RX179 · 9 Jun 2010 at 17:14

IKMS said:
It's also nice to have the option fo crossfire later on which you don't get with mATX.

1156 boards that can crossfire/SLI properly is 50-100% higher in price. Also, the PSU would need to be higher in W, unless it is CF5000 series below 5830/5850 (i.e. 5670, 5750, 5770).

I mean who got a 1156 socket CPU doesn't want a 1156 board that can crossfire/SLI? Unfortunately they ain't costing as little as £70.

NathWraith · 9 Jun 2010 at 17:29

I'd go for an i3 rig around that price range, you can overclock up to 3.60GHz on the stock cooler iff that is any use to you which will give a stock i5 750 a run for its money, plus then you will be able to use the onboard graphics on your mobo!