Need help Speccing a new build

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Hi every1

I'm looking a bit of help speccing a new gaming rig. My current spec uses a agp or PCIe graphics card Mobo and my gfx card is around 3-4 years old. I really need help , i did plan to upgrade around christmas but the new cpu series from intel and AMD were due so ive delayed till now.

What I was thinking of doing is going for a high end Mobo that will last me a long time, then going for mid/high range cpu/gfx/ram and ill most likely need a new psu as well.

Also i was thinking of getting a new monitor(currently a 13" and nearly older than me lol) and maybe a new case but the case isnt essential at the moment. Need to see how much im gonna spend on main components 1st.

Money to spend would be around the £1k mark but willing to go a little more.

My current spec is in my sig.


Thx in advance for any help given, I dont mind getting a full spec reply or even just a nudge at what manufacturer items I should maybe look at.
 
It's difficult to answer your question as you have said you are waiting for new hardware to be released for AMD/Intel .. as AMD's new chip is not yet hit the shelves..

Personally if you want to just game the i7 920 is overpriced - great for multi tasking (photoshop/video edit) but gaming IMO you can do it for a lot less.

Buy a Phenom 720be - overclock he hell out of it and use the spare cash to get a kick ass video card.
 
Here you go, youve got a little room, you could add W7 if needed, or maybe up screen to 24" which would take you a bit over

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95th rifles , N1 bud

Just had a look at most of that in the OcUk shop page and looks sound to me, The monitor is just right I was looking for maybe 20-22" so thats perfect. Plus i dont need a HDD or CD drive so thats £90 saved :) Would u change anything knowing u have the extra budget?

IS there anything else any1 would like to add or comment on in this thread?

Im also using Windows XP will 4gb ram b ok?

I see the case has 2 optional 120mm fan spaces, Which 120mm fans would u recommend?
 
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No this is pretty much spot on, if you wanted you could change the PSU to a modular one such as the BeQuiet, that'd push it up prob £30ish, re the case fans, dont bother with the optional ones, theyre not necessary, Ive got the 1200 and you dont need em, one is a side fan which makes no difference, its meant to add cooling to the gfx cards but doesnt really work, the other is an inside one on HDD caddy, not really necessary either.
Your other option would be to go for an i7 build, I'll have a look at one now for you
Here you go, i7 build, included the alternate PSU for you and also an NVidia gfx card, either ATI or NVidia will do, theyre both on a par performance wise, depends which you fancy, just showing you options

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If i was you id hold of building till I5's hit the shelves around oct - dec they will be cheaper to build then the current I7, that and socket 1366 will be aimed at the high end market so any future cpu upgrade will cost a small fortune. Rumour has it intel are just waiting to see what amd are upto, I5 is basicly ready to go, so if u can resist temptation id wait like u where planning too.

You will be able to get more for your money with I5 then you could with I7, personally im holding off upgrading till the westmere cores come next year when ever that is, as they have all ready been pushed back lol.
 
Cheers guys thx for all the feedback so far.

To Bifday thx for the heads up but i was gonna upgrade just before I7 and Phenom quad cores came out, If i keep waiting till the next architecture is released ill never upgrade lol. Cheers for the info but i think il definately be getting my upgraded system within next 2 weeks.

K from the specs being posted ive decided on the following so far

CPU:- AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3)
CPU FAN:- Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775/LGA1366)

GFX:- XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 XTX XXX Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.)

CASE:- Antec 1200 Twelve Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)

RAM:- OCZ Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1600EB4GK)

PSU:- Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 750W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant Power Supply

MOBO:- Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard

MONITOR:- BenQ G2410HD 23.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor

Total £948.92

I was wondering too is there much diff between the Antec 1200/Antec 902 cases? 1200 seems to have a lot of room in it but none of the 902 reviews give a comparison so im not sure whether I should save myself £55 or not. What do u guys think of the spec?
 
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Ive heard the new chipsets I7 and Phenom arent compatible with windows XP is this true or just a load of rubbish? Also I cant remember whats the max ram you can have thats seen by the OS when using XP?
 
I don't see why they wouldn't be, but XP is an old operating system. Don't use it. You can pre order Windows 7 for pennies and just use the release candidate until then.

Also, i really would wait until around Christmas, or sometime after. I can feel it... we're on the tip of something huge.
 
How old is the hard drive and cd/DVD drive you intend to use?

I only ask as an old slow hard drive will pull the performance of your shiny new system through the floor!
 
Here you go:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - fast and has one of the quietest fans for 4890 series.

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Currently the fastest AMD CPU and is very bang for buck.

Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - best AM3 motherboard, comes with onboard sound (save you some money there)

Corsair TX 850W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXUK) - Strong and reliable PSU.

OCZ Agility Series 30GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT30G) - cheap and fast for your operating system.

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) - cheap and fast for storage.

Prolimatech Megahalems Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1366) - best cpu air cooler at the moment.

Prolimatech Retention Kit For AM2 - retention adapter for the air cooler.

OCZ Platinum AMD Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1600LVAM4GK) - one of the best rams for AMD

LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Cheap, can read Blu Ray and write DVD!

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Plenty of airflow and is a good quality case.

Samsung SM2233BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Cheap and was one of the better 22" around!

Total : £1,151.44

It might be a little over budget, but those were the reasons I picked these parts for you.
 
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I honestly would wait, you'll regret spending so much money now when so much stuff is just about to come over the Horizon:

32nm
6 or more Core CPUs
DX11 Graphics Cards
Single Threads for Multiple Cores
SATA III

And that's just what i can think of off the top of my head. You would really benefit from getting the first parts from this next generation rather than parts now, from the end of this generation.
 
I disagree, if you keep wiating its a never ending game, just get a midhigh end system now eg AM3955BE/crosshairIII mobo/4890 gfx etc, imo thats best sort of system to be gettting atm
Edit: That'll be my first spec then, lol
 
Here you go:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - fast and has one of the quietest fans for 4890 series.

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Currently the fastest AMD CPU and is very bang for buck.

Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - best AM3 motherboard, comes with onboard sound (save you some money there)

Corsair TX 850W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850TXUK) - Strong and reliable PSU.

OCZ Agility Series 30GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT30G) - cheap and fast for your operating system.

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) - cheap and fast for storage.

Prolimatech Megahalems Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1366) - best cpu air cooler at the moment.

Prolimatech Retention Kit For AM2 - retention adapter for the air cooler.

OCZ Platinum AMD Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1600LVAM4GK) - one of the best rams for AMD

LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Cheap, can read Blu Ray and write DVD!

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Plenty of airflow and is a good quality case.

Samsung SM2233BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Cheap and was one of the better 22" around!

Total : £1,151.44

It might be a little over budget, but those were the reasons I picked these parts for you.

+1.

Decent, rock solid spec there!
 
Usually i'd agree with you, due to that PCs are getting twice as fast every two years... on average. But then if you start thinking about that it would be... oh, if i wait another year it will be faster and better, and you never end up buying anything.

But what i'm talking about is a giant leap. 32nm is going to be amazing, so much less power consumed, heat given off and just generally better performing. CPUs are going to be better, naturally. DX11 is going to be huge. Single threads will take advantage of more cores without tons of silly programming and SATA III will be three times as fast as SATA II. I'd say this is worth waiting a few months for.
 
I disagree, if you keep wiating its a never ending game, just get a midhigh end system now eg AM3955BE/crosshairIII mobo/4890 gfx etc, imo thats best sort of system to be gettting atm
Edit: That'll be my first spec then, lol

Yes, it started to get annoying waiting for the new stuff and i seemed to be upgrading and building whole new rigs every bloody couple of months (slight exaggeration) but you get the idea!

I just keep plodding along with steady slightly more (mid range) upgrades now and i am mucho happier, AND No waiting for new tech :p
 
Usually i'd agree with you, due to that PCs are getting twice as fast every two years... on average. But then if you start thinking about that it would be... oh, if i wait another year it will be faster and better, and you never end up buying anything.

But what i'm talking about is a giant leap. 32nm is going to be amazing, so much less power consumed, heat given off and just generally better performing. CPUs are going to be better, naturally. DX11 is going to be huge. Single threads will take advantage of more cores without tons of silly programming and SATA III will be three times as fast as SATA II. I'd say this is worth waiting a few months for.

Even if youre right in how much of a step forward theyre all going to be (Im a bit sceptical myself but would like to be proved wrong) as with all new tech initial prices will be prohibitively high for most users for at least first 6 months if not year, I wouldnt recomend anyone buying latest kit atm dont get me wrong, but if youre wanting to upgrade Id say go for it now as it'd be more like a year to 18 months b4 the new tech is affordable
 
Re: PakJais spec: a couple points Id make, you dont necessarily have to agree but
1) the cooler, that cooler is a passive heatsink and doesnt come with fan, you'd need an extra 120mm fan such as the P12 if youer getting this, whilst it is a good cooler when you add up the cooler (45) retention kit (8) and fan (17) thats 70quid for a cooler, a nice cooler, but unless youre really into your clocking youre not going to get the worth out of it
2) I wouldnt buy a SSD atm, theres still a few bugs in them being worked out, incl partition offset and block rewrite penalty. Dont get me wrong I do want one but considering how much they cost (for a decent one with decent storage - 30gig will dissappear rapidly) Im going to wait til w7 is fully released and see if TRIM does what it promises and which manufacturers actually adapt it - still no news from intel, Samsung seem to be the best placed atm but the problem with them is they dont allow end users to update their own firmware so theres no way to benefit from improvements in performances - hoping to see this change soon
Other than that the spec looks good
 
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