Advice on new pc build please...

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 12:29

Hello all,
I have been out of the pc loop for a while now current system is a sn45g shuttle that I've had release day so you can imagine I'm over due a upgrade.
I have a budget of around £400 I need the pc for some light gaming but mainly for internet, media sharing and HD video. The AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz cpu caught my eye heard it clocks well and being a fan of amd cpu's it seems the obvious choice.
Any opinions on this cpu? I want to go am3 and ddr3 other than that what would you suggest?
Just after the base unit only.

Many thanks in advance

Kennysevenfold · 13 Sep 2009 at 12:50

How about something like this.?

Product Name Qty Price Line Total

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £92.99
(£80.86) £92.99
(£80.86)

Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £73.99
(£64.34) £73.99
(£64.34)

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £52.99
(£46.08) £52.99
(£46.08)

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 420W Power Supply £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)

Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black (No PSU) £28.99
(£25.21) £28.99
(£25.21)

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£14.77) £16.99
(£14.77) Sub Total : £325.15 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £50.46 Total : £386.86

roop128 · 13 Sep 2009 at 14:40

Will you need a Graphics Card

mynameisjarvis · 13 Sep 2009 at 15:40

light gaming mean, little gaming time. or little gaming performance?

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 17:34

I'm not looking for the best gaming performance will be playing on a 720p tv so doesn't have to be the highest performance video card.
Seems like I may have to increase my budget to get a half decent video card.
Kennysevenfold's spec looks like it would be a good machine any advice on what video card to go with it?

Kennysevenfold · 13 Sep 2009 at 17:47

neojay said:
I'm not looking for the best gaming performance will be playing on a 720p tv so doesn't have to be the highest performance video card.
Seems like I may have to increase my budget to get a half decent video card.
Kennysevenfold's spec looks like it would be a good machine any advice on what video card to go with it?

Could pop something like THIS in there

Or drop the cpu down to THIS and get THIS graphics card

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:27

Kennysevenfold said:
Could pop something like THIS in there

Or drop the cpu down to THIS and get THIS graphics card

How well do those cpu's overclock?

LittleChimp · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:33

The motherboard kenny specced comes with decent onboard graphics and supports hd playback. You could use that for now until the new ati cards come out at the end of the month.

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:38

LittleChimp said:
The motherboard kenny specced comes with decent onboard graphics and supports hd playback. You could use that for now until the new ati cards come out at the end of the month.

Thanks for the info I wasn't aware the new generation of video cards was so close. Think ill go with that exact advice

Thanks for all the guidance its very much appreciated.

fizzle-187 · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:45

Kenny's spec + 4850? Great piece of kit to be fair.

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:47

fizzle-187 said:
Kenny's spec + 4850? Great piece of kit to be fair.

Do you think I'll get a better video card once the new ones are out for the same price?

Kennysevenfold · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:48

neojay said:
Thanks for the info I wasn't aware the new generation of video cards was so close. Think ill go with that exact advice
Thanks for all the guidance its very much appreciated.

Yeah that onboard 4200GPU would be ample for your needs just now i think bud. When these new cards come out, there should be some price drops, so could always pick up a graphics card then if you feel the onboard is no longer cutting it

Kennysevenfold · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:50

neojay said:
Do you think I'll get a better video card once the new ones are out for the same price?

Better card for the same price.

or

same card for a better price

lol

And that tri-core with the stock cooler should hit 3.0Ghz easy, no real need for anything faster than that tbh.

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 18:55

Kennysevenfold said:
Better card for the same price.

or

same card for a better price lol

And that tri-core with the stock cooler should hit 3.0Ghz easy, no real need for anything faster than that tbh.

Haha good point, I'll get the system and wait for new gen of video cards to arrive then see how much I can get a 4850 for

Not built myself a new pc in almost 6 years very excited about getting some decent hardware ready for windows 7.

Kennysevenfold · 13 Sep 2009 at 19:03

Awesome

Well i hope all goes well for you, should run W7 like a dream

neojay · 13 Sep 2009 at 19:13

Kennysevenfold said:
Awesome

Well i hope all goes well for you, should run W7 like a dream

Thanks again mate for your great advice

neojay · 15 Sep 2009 at 17:50

One last question for you all i promise lol
What is the best cpu cooler to go with the spec kenny has picked out for me?
Something cheap but will allow me some good overclocking room
Thanks in advance