Advice on gaming/editing pc

weyland yutani · 18 Mar 2011 at 13:09

Im looking to buy/build a PC for gaming and some photoshop/video editing for £900 to £1000 max. I dont have a clue about PC specifications to be honest but I have been reading this forum a lot these past few days trying to get up to speed and have come up with a list of possible parts.

I will attempt to build it myself to save costs :eek:

Windows 7 64bit

i7 2600k SandyBridge 4.6GHz overclock bundle http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-066-OE
Asus P67
Venom Cooler
Corsair 4GB Ram

ATI HD6950 (xfire another one at a later date for less ££) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS Is this a good GPU route to take? I fancied a GTX480 initially.

Corsair HX 850w http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-019-CS
Samsung F3 1TB HDD http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA
Sony 24x DVD RW http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-060-SO

Antec 100 case http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-161-AN Will everything fit in this case?? I'm trying to save money with this part of the build but I dont want it to become a fan assisted oven lol

Im actually thinking of waiting a few months before actually going ahead with this for the games I really want to play like F1 2011 and BF3. Can I make a significant saving and get better parts if I wait 6 months?

Still I wanted to make this thread to get up to speed on pc specifications etc and get some feedback on a potential build. Many thanks in advance

weyland yutani · 18 Mar 2011 at 21:15

Any thoughts on my spec? I would really appreciate some expert advice.

Im thinking of saving some money and going with an i5 instead of i7 since I will mostly use it for gaming. This bundle seems good http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-063-OE

Thanks.

Knightinator · 18 Mar 2011 at 21:27

Looks good to me. The 6950 can be flashed to a 6970 so that is a good option for the gpu. The power supply is overkill until you crossfire but if that's the plan then it makes sense, although the 6 series are less hungry so a 750w might be sufficient. Going for the i5 would make sense for a mainly gaming rig and save you a few pounds. Just my thoughts, I am by no means an expert

MumboJumbo · 18 Mar 2011 at 23:49

Something to consider is the fact that everyone starts off with the idea of xfire or sli on their first build and then quickly discovers that by the time they get around to either needing more power or having the money to put another one in it is a lot better to just get another more powerful single card. I would suggest lowering the psu and not bothering with xfire later.

weyland yutani · 18 Mar 2011 at 23:58

Thanks for the tip. Would you say a 650w PSU is enough for most needs?

SeeknDestroy · 19 Mar 2011 at 00:19

650w is plenty

wilko49 · 19 Mar 2011 at 01:24

Crossfire isn't always a bad route - I put in a second 5770 at christmas, and I'm pretty sure it was the best price/performance option at the time. Either way is fine though.

Only suggestion I would make is that you might want more than 4GB of RAM for video editing.

weyland yutani · 19 Mar 2011 at 11:50

Does anyone know if a Corsair A50 CPU cooler will fit in a CoolMaster HAF 912 case? The A50 is quite large apparently.

olivier renault · 19 Mar 2011 at 12:08

No idea but LegitReview did a review of the A50 using a Haf 912. The problem could be the case and the graphics card.

weyland yutani · 22 Mar 2011 at 12:15

Amos91 · 22 Mar 2011 at 12:55

Might as well switch that WD Caviar to a Samsung F3.

It's a better performer and in stock.

weyland yutani · 22 Mar 2011 at 13:12

Hadn't even realised it was out of stock

I did spec a Samsung F3 at first but it seems people are having issues with them http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18254599

Rexton · 22 Mar 2011 at 13:15

MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
(£174.99) £209.99
(£174.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £134.99
(£112.49) £134.99
(£112.49)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
XFX Pro 750W Core Edition Power Supply £73.99
(£61.66) £73.99
(£61.66)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £57.98
(£48.32) £57.98
(£48.32)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99
(£32.49) £38.99
(£32.49)
Patriot Viper 2 Sector 5 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66) £13.99
(£11.66)
Sub Total : £717.41
Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £143.48
Total : £860.89

I'd go with this, but if you want a modular power supply this would suffice,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-116-AN

And overclocking is simple, follow this for 4.5ghz

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/07/how-to-overclock-the-intel-core-i5-2500k/1

weyland yutani · 22 Mar 2011 at 13:23

Yeah I'd preffer a modular psu just to make my life easier whilst building for the first time and keep the cable clutter to a minimum. I could make a significant saving here but the Corsairs get rave reviews from everyone.

Amos91 · 22 Mar 2011 at 16:12

weyland yutani said:
Yeah I'd preffer a modular psu just to make my life easier whilst building for the first time and keep the cable clutter to a minimum. I could make a significant saving here but the Corsairs get rave reviews from everyone.

I would personally get the Antec over the Corsair IF you want modular.

Read this review:

Click

Evil-I · 22 Mar 2011 at 16:30

Gaming wise I think its all good.

Couple of thoughts for you on the video editing front.
Consider two seperate hard drives. One system and programmes, the other data/ video. Modern hard drives are easily capable of editing video on the same drive that the systems on, but if you're doing multiple layers of concurrent video its more stable and more reliable to run all the video of a seperate drive to the OS.

Lots of RAM can also be helpful for video. 4Gb will be fine, 8Gb better, especially if you ever use things like After Effects.

I wouldn't worry about the Samsung F3's they are actually pretty reliable, its just because they have sold such a massive quantities due to thier very good price per Gb compared to the other manufacturers, that there seems to be a lot of people having issues. I've now bought probably 20 or more F3s for work, home, freinds and family with not a single failure so far.

E-I

olivier renault · 22 Mar 2011 at 16:35

Just keep in mind the 6950 is a long card. The HAF has removable 3.5'' hard drive bays to leave room for long cards.

weyland yutani · 22 Mar 2011 at 16:50

Thanks for your input fellas.

The modular XFX 750w is back in stock and looks like a good deal http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-001-XF

I'l definately up the RAM at a later date but 4GB is plenty at the moment and keeps costs down. I'l have a think about two HDD's, two 500Gb's sound sensible? I cant afford a SSD right now. For the case I opted for a CoolerMaster 690 II but does anyone know the difference between the Dominator and Lite versions?

Rexton · 22 Mar 2011 at 17:24

weyland yutani said:
Thanks for your input fellas.

The modular XFX 750w is back in stock and looks like a good deal http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-001-XF

I'l definately up the RAM at a later date but 4GB is plenty at the moment and keeps costs down. I'l have a think about two HDD's, two 500Gb's sound sensible? I cant afford a SSD right now. For the case I opted for a CoolerMaster 690 II but does anyone know the difference between the Dominator and Lite versions?

As far as I'm aware the only difference is that the advanced has a HDD dock at the top, and comes with a GPU weight holder kinda thing.

And I'd go for the XFX, it's fully modular if that's what you want, the antec isn't.

weyland yutani · 22 Mar 2011 at 18:20

Thanks. I have no need for the drive dock at the top so I'l go with the Lite for sure.