£1000 Build

V4NT0M

V4NT0M

V4NT0M

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2007
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Land of the Scots
Hi guys, always appreciate help with builds from you guys. I'm looking to build a new PC soon here are my requirements:

* Budget about £1000, I don't mind going a little over, this is only for the unit, I do not require peripherals or a monitor.
* Want it to be significantly better than my current rig: FX4100, 8GB, 560 TI 1GB
* Needs to have a primary 128gb SSD and a secondary large HDD (1-3GB) (I have other drives to move over too)
* Want to have SLI/XFIRE ability
* Want to include a blu-ray drive, do not need a blu-ray writer, just a reader
* Nice case, currently have a CM Storm Enforcer

Thanks as always.
 
I did start putting a spec together, but thought that logically having a 1155 setup isn't going to be the best choice, and that 2011 got a little costly with a 7950 - I'd be willing to wait for Haswell, to see what happens in all fairness. However I will put my proposed spec below.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £251.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £173.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £94.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Windowed Dominator Case - Black £89.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £61.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020059-UK) £54.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
Total : £1,004.89 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Last edited:
I agree with reaper. Well worth waiting for Haswell, should be out in June.

Reapers spec is a good start though that PSU won't support Xfire. The XFX XXX 750W would be my choice.
 
You've made me think a little more, did not realise there was something new around the corner. Had a buyer lined up for my current PC so wanted to move more quickly.

I'm gathering with a lot of the more intensive games I would be getting a pretty big performance boost over my current rig with this setup, especially with the CPU... I guess I can always upgrade later :)

Can anyone recommend any good reads on xfire basics, I have never SLId or crossfired a PC and want to be as clued up as possible. Wanting to maybe add another card into the mix in a few months time... I just literally have no idea what other kinds of cards I could crossfire with or how effective it would be.
 
Again, I would stick with a single card, not all games are optimised to work with Xfire/SLI however with single cards it saves you the hassel and you can get a single powerful one rather than 2 that perform just a tad bit better. Here's some more fuel for thought.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail with Dead Space 3 PC Game £239.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £169.99
1 x Asus HD 7850 DirectCU II V2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £161.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £94.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £53.99
2 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2B1600C11) £43.99 (£87.98)
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £1,008.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



2011 build.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, I gathered that was mainly the case, I like both specs and have a lot of food for thought...

I like the zalman case :)

Also considering going for the 7950 and the I7 with a little higher budget.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3, Farcry3, Shogun2, Dirt Showdown & Bioshock PC Games £233.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £97.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2B1600C11) £43.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x BitFenix Internal USB 3.0 Adapter £7.99
Total : £1,064.26 (includes shipping : £17.85).

 
Thanks again for the suggestions, pretty sure I've got exactly what I need here. Quite excited to build it, but have to wait until I can actually take delivery (working every day on overtime).
 
So I have been having a think, the 560 TI I currently have is still a pretty good card and I'm not sure that the 7950 is going to give me the "wow factor" I want for a new rig...

Definitely going to go for the I7 3770k as that is undoubtedly going to be a big step up. I was looking at going for a 7970 rather than 7950 though and upping my budget by whatever the difference is between the cards. Is this a good bet? Or should I be looking at another card rather than the 7970 in that price range.

10x more thanks
 
Skyfall said:
So I have been having a think, the 560 TI I currently have is still a pretty good card and I'm not sure that the 7950 is going to give me the "wow factor" I want for a new rig...

Definitely going to go for the I7 3770k as that is undoubtedly going to be a big step up. I was looking at going for a 7970 rather than 7950 though and upping my budget by whatever the difference is between the cards. Is this a good bet? Or should I be looking at another card rather than the 7970 in that price range.

10x more thanks
Click to expand...

A 7970 is a beast of a card and plows through games trust me on this;)
 
Skyfall said:
So I have been having a think, the 560 TI I currently have is still a pretty good card and I'm not sure that the 7950 is going to give me the "wow factor" I want for a new rig...

Definitely going to go for the I7 3770k as that is undoubtedly going to be a big step up. I was looking at going for a 7970 rather than 7950 though and upping my budget by whatever the difference is between the cards. Is this a good bet? Or should I be looking at another card rather than the 7970 in that price range.

10x more thanks
Click to expand...

You'll find the extra VRAM will help, 1GB is going to be holding you back on that 560Ti.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £251.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD128BW) £109.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.95
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £83.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £73.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £40.00
Total : £1,124.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Wifi and bluetooth included with the mobo, along with some other nice freebies. Overclock the 7950, paying the extra for the 7970 isn't really worth it. This GPU exhausts the heat out of the case making it better for a dual GPU setup.

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing what you settle on in the end :)
 
honosuseri said:
You'll find the extra VRAM will help, 1GB is going to be holding you back on that 560Ti.
Click to expand...
Indeed, I could have gone for more vram when I built but I wasn't thinking ! But this has definitely been an issue with 1080p and max textures.

honosuseri said:
Wifi and bluetooth included with the mobo, along with some other nice freebies. Overclock the 7950, paying the extra for the 7970 isn't really worth it. This GPU exhausts the heat out of the case making it better for a dual GPU setup.

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing what you settle on in the end :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input, have got a good 2 weeks or so to think it through so plenty of time to make the "right" choice.
 
Heres a spec which has a 7970 and the amazing Gigabyte UP4 motherboard which has the superior IR3550 powerphases;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7970 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £319.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £161.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £94.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced USB3.0 Windowed Dominator Case - Black £89.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £83.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £61.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £49.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £48.95
Total : £1,166.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Long 3 year warranty with this 7970 too, great cooler also as the Windforce 3X is regarded as one of the best;)
 
Last edited:
I've had a think and this is what I've come up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7970 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £319.99
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) HDD £97.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £83.99
1 x BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £61.99
1 x Seasonic S12II 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x Zalman Z9 USB 3.0 Midi Tower Case - Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2B1600C11) £43.99
Total : £1,167.85 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I figure there's overclocking to be had with the 7970 too, I'm not too bothered about spending the extra £100 or so as my "budget" was more of a ballpark. Any crits welcome or any glaring issues or mistakes, let me know.

The only thing I'm not sure on in this build is the PSU, do I need more W considering this is now a 7970 and there will be another 250GB ssd going in there.

Also, I have no idea what this actually means lol:
stulid said:
which has the superior IR3550 powerphases;)
Click to expand...
 
Your spec could do with a modular or semi-modular PSU, helps cable managment etc.


As for the powerphases - http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1128

Basically they run cooler, more efficent and provide strong stable power to the CPU, the board overclocks very well.

CustomPC mag reviewed it awhile ago and noticed that it needed less Vcore for the same given overclock compared to rival boards, in my review of the UP5 TH, I also noted that the Vcore needed was lower than the Z77X-UD5 to gain the same overclock.
 
Thanks, I'm not massively into overclocking and will probably not be doing a lot of maxing out, more of a safe and easy overclock for me, which is why I'd rather spend a little more on the stock.

I'll pop the XFX in there instead of the Seasonic, still need to make a final decision on the case too, might go with a CM.
 
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