Aaarrgghhh, so many choices.......spec help

Rob78 · 24 Feb 2011 at 16:04

My wonderful wife has finally decided to buy me a new pc

We've got up to 600 quid to spend (not including a monitor) and I've spent the last week looking at loads of sites with benchmark tests, reviews, this forum, and now I can't think straight anymore :confused:

Here's what I've come up with so far, excluding graphics card:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit - (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
Cherry Black CyMotion Expert (USB/PS2)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

I'm looking at any of the Nvidia GTX 460 series on the graphics front, or the MSI ATI Radeon HD 5850 Twin FrozR II. Then again there's also the two cheaper ATI 6870's...spoilt for choice on this one!

I'll eventually be getting a 1920x1080 monitor too.

I'm re-using my HDD, my PSU (OCZ 500w Stealth X Stream mk1) and my case.
I'll be palying ArmA II and want to be able to set it at the highest setting and still get good fps, also play a lot of WoW too. I'm very picky (which annoys the missus) over how quiet my systems need to be so I want everything running whisper quiet if I can

Any thoughts on the system, and any recommendations on the graphics, would be much appreciated - help put me out of my misery!

Redmint · 24 Feb 2011 at 16:44

From my experience the Twin Frozr cards are pretty quiet, I'd suggest picking this one up while it's still on special offer: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS The rest of your spec looks fine.

Pighardia · 24 Feb 2011 at 16:48

Redmint said:
From my experience the Twin Frozr cards are pretty quiet, I'd suggest picking this one up while it's still on special offer: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS The rest of your spec looks fine.

I had this card- very quiet if you set the right fan profile

Rob78 · 24 Feb 2011 at 17:59

Are you sure the Twin FrozR II will be up to scratch on the performance side of things? I've found a couple of video's on you tube of people running this card, playing ArmA II, and they were barely reaching what I'd consider a decent fps.

Redmint · 24 Feb 2011 at 18:03

It's possible that ARMA II favours Nvidia cards, over the range of benchmarks review sites usually run the 5850 generally beats the GTX 460 on average.

Tythus · 24 Feb 2011 at 18:15

I would go with the 460 but thats me if you can get a 560 it would take it up that notch

Rob78 · 24 Feb 2011 at 21:20

Been looking at the 560's, which one would everyone recommend? I can't really go above 200 quid for a card.
Looking at either a KFA2 GeForce GTX 560Ti EX OC Edition or a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti OC at the mo.
Haven't heard of KFA before but had a nosey round and they seem ok.

stulid · 24 Feb 2011 at 21:20

Rob78 said:
Been looking at the 560's, which one would everyone recommend?I can't really go above 200 quid for a card.

The cheapest then?

Actually the Gigabyte at £201 seems to have some slightly higher clocks than the £199 KFA2