Advice Needed for new system

[nicksimms]

IN the new year between jan-apr iam intending to do my 3 yrear pc replacment but need help on a few things before i can make an informed choice

I look after my disabled son 7 days a week during hte night so i play a lot of games on my pc whilst watxhing him on a monitor so i am after a robust system that will last me about 3yrs allthought upgrading parts is done as needed just not the whole system

I know i want a system that is eather pre clocked or clockable. Here is the questions/information that I dont fully understand

i5 v i7 v AND Hex

I understand that both chips are quad core but the i7 has a turbo mode and hyperthreading but what i dont understand is how this is effected by overclocking.

If i have a i5/7 clocked at 4gz what is the performance differnce taking into account the turbo and HT. By this i dont seem to understand if HT or turbo mode would still work with a system that clocked at that speed

How does the black edition again clocked at 4gz compete with intel chips above in a gaming situation

Nvidia v ATi

I am currently interested ATI 6870 or nvidia 460470 but am unsure what the actual difference are but i do know i only intend to link the card to a single montor and my tv. I have no use for 3D as this currently doesnt interest me but may down the line.

I am only looking to run a single card at the moment with the possability of adding a cheaper Nvidia for a physx card down the like

What would be the best card to go far based around this


Harddrives

Is a solid state really worthy getting at the moment for a boot drive or would a raid do the job just as good or would a hybrid be a good option i i have hard drives al lready for data loking mainly as a windows and games drive

I understand that some drives come 2 processers but i dont understand the differnce that makes if the drives spin speeds are the same a single processor

Now that they are out of the way let get to the nitty gritty

My budget is around the £900 mark give or take £50

Would i get a better deal building the system myself or gettting it pre made. In order for you to answer this i will explain my skills/knowledge. I am capable if building my own system as i have in the past including wiring behind the mother board but i have zero knowledge on how to overclock a system or a single thing about water cooling

If i was to get a pre overclocked system (just base unit) based on the above information what ofthe pre build base units would you recommend and what upgrades/changes you suggest on them to stil lbe within my budget

If i was to but the parts (overclocked mb/cpur/ram/cooler bundle) what would u recoomed i got the rest of the pc (I currently have a Haff 922 case so can buy a cheaper case for the old parts as its going to be a media server)

If i decied to save the cost of the pre over clocked bundles and buy buy the items how easy is it overclock the system for a complete novice (based on the same parts as a pre clocked but without paying for the clocking service)

Compremises i am happy to make

Case - i can use my HAF 922
PSU - can always ugrade to a better one later down the line to power a 2nd gfx card (the psu would still need the juice to power a single gfx card and a 8800 GTX for physx)
Hardive - if needed i can go to 2 smaller drives (single processor) in Raid 0 or a single sata iii


Thank you for reading all this and your time

 

[95thrifles]

Hi and welcome to the forums

Firstly you have a very nice budget so shouldnt have to make too many if any compromises on your build

Secondly youll get more for your money building yourself, but some people do prefer the peace of mind of OcUKs prebuilds which come with warranty and no hassle of putting together/OCing

Thirdly its really quite easy to OC if you have a little time and patience (If you havent done it before just read the guides in the OCing & Cooling subforum - 3rd down)

Fourthly a SSD is nice, but it is a luxury item yes, however RAID doesnt come close, depending on the rest of the build either just get a normal single mechanical HDD or a SSD, more on that later (nearer time of build when can see how your budget fairs)

Fifthly theres not a problem getting a decent PSU now, as I say you actually have a very healthy budget

And lastly, whilst your questions are good if you were buying one today, and youre looking at the right systems (i5 v i7 v AMD) by time you come to buy there WILL be new gfx cards, new Intel platform (SandyBridge) and possibly new AMD (Bulldozer)

That being said, for your uses (gaming yeah?) if I were buying today Id go i5 route as i7 offers no advantages in terms of gaming, and Id prob go for an NVidia 470 as it stands, as I say though by time you come to do rebuild chances are that will of changed, so youre best checking nearer the time

Oh and re HT and turbo mode, Hyper Threading adds more logical cores, an i5 quad has 4 physical cores where as an i7 has 4 physical and 4 virtual, this helps with situations such as encoding/rendering (which can use lots of cores) etc but makes next to no difference in games (its only very recently games have started using more than 2), it is independant of OCing
Turbo mode is Intels way of self OCing the chip if it uses less than the max number of cores, so an i5 has 4 cores but if the program only makes use of 2 it will enable turbo mode to make those cores run faster, however if you OC past the turbo mode limit, this becomes redundant

Hope thats answered most/all your questions

 

[(ST)Pohaku]

In no particular order:

PSU - if you're investing £900 in a rig, don't skimp on the PSU. No need to blow a load of dosh on a 1200W monster, but calculate how much power you'll need (including the future extra GPU), add 25% or so, and then get the best brand you can to cover it. Corsair and Antec are good I believe, and other brands like OCZ and maybe XFX. Don't get a generic or cheap one, as this can (a) damage the other components if it goes bad, or (b) not generate the wattage advertised and therefore not run properly.

SSD - unless you're really concerned by boot times or game load times, I don't think there's much point. They carry a hefty premium for a pretty small peformance boost, and if it were me I'd be investing that premium in other areas of the system.

Build your own / Prebuilt - if you're confident enough to build your own (and it's not that difficult, if you're a little bit savvy) then definitely do this. This forum (and others) is loaded with helpful people, who'll help out with pretty much anything you get stuck with. Obviously there is a risk of cocking it up, but as long as you pay attention to advice and you take care, that risk is very small. The satisfaction of building your own and seeing it work is brilliant, and will also give you a tonne of confidence when it comes to maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.

Pre-overclocked - my advice if you go for this option (or pre-clocked components for a self-build) is to avoid anything that is 'extreme' overclocked. My previous rig, I spent a fortune on two XFX 7800GTXs that were pre-overclocked to some crazy speed, and they were never stable. It took me weeks to figure out how to actually down-clock them so my games wouldn't crash.

Graphics - nVidia or ATi (now AMD) - there is no right answer about which is better. I have a GTX 460 (pre-overclocked but moderately so!) that I'm very happy with. The only comment I'd make, and you may already know, but don't be led simply by what's new / what's got a higher model number. The AMD 5850 and 5870 are very good cards, and are mid-to-high price. They then released the 6850 and 6870 as updated cards, but aimed at a lower price point - so the 6850 and 6870 are newer than 5850 and 5870, but are not actually better - they don't perform as well. If you really want performnce, wait for the 6950 / 6970, which will be the updated high-performance cards, aimed at the enthusiast market again.

I've not covered everything, and I've bored myself now with this reply, so I'll leave it at that - the last bit of advice is not to take just one person's advice. OcUK forumites are very friendly and helpful - stick around!

 

[nicksimms]

Thank you for the help and it has made me decide to pick pc based on today availabily and prives and have come with a system that appears to meet my price and needs

He is my proccess

1: decided to used an i5 as more than 4 cores would be pointless and as pointed out HT wouldnt really help there eather so would be an over kill just to shave a pcl of seconds of loading times

2: if i am doing the intel route i might as well get Nvidia card (stupid reeason i know but its true)

3: i decided to get a hybrid hard drive after seeing performance/comparisson videos its seems a sensible option its not that much slower than a SSD but a hell of a lot faster tha a normal HD even with Raid

so now to the system that my new pc wil lbe based on

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-252-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=1712

has all that i need but i wanted to make a few changes

1: change gfx to a GTX 470 (ty for tips on choosing this)
2: Seagate Momentus XT 500GB Hybrid SATA-II 2.5" 7200RPM 32MB hard drive (hopefull i still get the one that normally came with the pc)
3:get a HAF 922 case becase i like them instead of the antec 300

Now to sweet talk the wife as to when i can actually start to oder my new bad boy

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thank you for the help and it has made me decide to pick pc based on today availabily and prives and have come with a system that appears to meet my price and needs

He is my proccess

1: decided to used an i5 as more than 4 cores would be pointless and as pointed out HT wouldnt really help there eather so would be an over kill just to shave a pcl of seconds of loading times

2: if i am doing the intel route i might as well get Nvidia card (stupid reeason i know but its true)

3: i decided to get a hybrid hard drive after seeing performance/comparisson videos its seems a sensible option its not that much slower than a SSD but a hell of a lot faster tha a normal HD even with Raid

so now to the system that my new pc wil lbe based on

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-252-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=1712

has all that i need but i wanted to make a few changes

1: change gfx to a GTX 470 (ty for tips on choosing this)
2: Seagate Momentus XT 500GB Hybrid SATA-II 2.5" 7200RPM 32MB hard drive (hopefull i still get the one that normally came with the pc)
3:get a HAF 922 case becase i like them instead of the antec 300

Now to sweet talk the wife as to when i can actually start to oder my new bad boy

The Corsair CX 600W is rated for 600W at only 30C:

http://www.corsair.com/products/cx600/default.aspx

TBH,it would probably be better to assemble your own system.

 

[nicksimms]

The reson i have decided to build myself if ease of use right away without hte kids bugging me and the 1 year waranty

"The Corsair CX 600W is rated for 600W at only 30C:"

i am sorry i dont understand what that really means i am happy to upgrade the psu but i assumed it was good enough as it came as part of the system

i also decided not to clock myself i dont feel confident enough to try it

would an upgrade to a 650 better?