1st build - advice please

macca672 · 12 Dec 2009 at 23:27

Hi guys, have recently come into some cash so gonna pay off my credit card, treat the mrs by popping the question and get myself a new pc.

Ive picked out the parts I want but would like opinions on any possible changes you would make to either save cash or improve performance.

The system will be used mainly for gaming but also the odd movie encode etc. Dont need kb and mouse as going to use my G15 and razer naga. And dont need an OS as I have a copy of vista Im going to put back on this machine and use my windows 7 on the new one

heres what I have picked out ...

and comments or suggestions welcome

thanks in advance

rhysduck · 12 Dec 2009 at 23:49

Good choice of monitor

Can you stretch to a 58** series graphics cards - will give you that bit more oomph??
A good setup though none the less.

macca672 · 13 Dec 2009 at 00:21

yeah i could stretch to a 58** if they were ever in stock

got 2-3 weeks before I buy so hopefully they will be in stock by then

macca672 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:21

so no compatibility problems that anyone can see? never built a pc before so want to make sure Im not gonna hit any bumps when I put it all together

Martini1991 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:23

At that res you'll see no difference in Phenom II to i5.
Could switch to a C3 965 and get a 5850 which would be better than an i5 and 5770.

macca672 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:45

Martini1991 said:
At that res you'll see no difference in Phenom II to i5.
Could switch to a C3 965 and get a 5850 which would be better than an i5 and 5770.

if the 5800's are in stock then ill be going for one of them worth sticking with the i5 if I do?

always been an amd man in the past but have read great things about the i5

Martini1991 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:49

macca672 said:
if the 5800's are in stock then ill be going for one of them worth sticking with the i5 if I do?

always been an amd man in the past but have read great things about the i5

I personally wouldn't pay the premium for gaming, at higher resolutions an Athlon II x4 will perform the same as an i7 in reviews.
5850 stock has increased and I can find it in stock for around 240 easy, more will be available on the 15th too.

will0812 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:50

I would stick with the i5, just buy that bundle before wednesday

Martini1991 · 13 Dec 2009 at 12:52

will0812 said:
I would stick with the i5, just buy that bundle before wednesday

Why? What benefits does it offer over the PII in gaming? You can get a 940 for 105 pound,

macca672 · 13 Dec 2009 at 16:31

which is more future proof? the amd or the intel?

macca672 · 2 Jan 2010 at 19:37

ok have decided to change a few bits on this and go x-fire, will the power supply be upto the job or should I get a more powerful one?

macca672 · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:19

a quick look on the coolermaster psu calc suggests i would be needing a minimum of 750w. does that sound about right?

w1llyg · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:35

i personally think the 650w will be fine, but the corsair 750w will provide more than enough power.

Dont go with the i5 if your going to go xfire. This is because the pci slots go to x8-x8 in xfire. Go for the Phenom II x4 965 if your going to go xfire cause tht supports x16-x16

EDIT: go for the 750w just to make sure

xen_ · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:41

Seems like a good setup like others have said, the i5 is good, but it does seem pricy compared to what you can get from AMD. If I was you I'd look at some PII bundles, and with the saved money there look at getting a 5850. Either way it will be a good setup.

macca672 · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:06

w1llyg said:
i personally think the 650w will be fine, but the corsair 750w will provide more than enough power.

Dont go with the i5 if your going to go xfire. This is because the pci slots go to x8-x8 in xfire. Go for the Phenom II x4 965 if your going to go xfire cause tht supports x16-x16

EDIT: go for the 750w just to make sure

ah nice one cheers
have decided to go for the AMD and an 850 modular just to be absolutely certain and give some upgrade scope in future (plus it saves me £70 to buy some games

)

xen_ said:
Seems like a good setup like others have said, the i5 is good, but it does seem pricy compared to what you can get from AMD. If I was you I'd look at some PII bundles, and with the saved money there look at getting a 5850. Either way it will be a good setup.

yeah have decided to go for the phenomx4 965
trouble with the gfx is the 5850's are not in stock so gonna stick with the x-fire, unless they come in stock before i actually order in which case ill swap em over for the 5850

will be final spec unless the 5850's are in stock

Simps · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:13

That i5 bundle has gone up nearly £100 from the 12th Dec to now hasn't it ??

macca672 · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:16

Si Lad said:
That i5 bundle has gone up nearly £100 from the 12th Dec to now hasn't it ??

yep it was on this week only now its gone back up and the vat increase has pushed it up

Simps · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:19

AMD is looking rather nice at the moment then.

Biz.Kid09 · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:56

Macca i would'nt bother with the bundle as a 400mhz overclock is not worth the extra your paying.... I would go with the Antec CP850w instead of HX850 as its cheaper and same wattage...

macca672 · 2 Jan 2010 at 22:18

Biz.Kid09 said:
Macca i would'nt bother with the bundle as a 400mhz overclock is not worth the extra your paying.... I would go with the Antec CP850w instead of HX850 as its cheaper and same wattage...

what are the antecs like for reliability? I was always led to believe that the power supply is the one place you shouldnt skrimp on

EDIT: have read some reviews and its come out with glowing reports so good call thanks