All round PC for about a grand?

ng93 · 17 Oct 2011 at 11:50

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to build my first PC. I have a grand to spend however I can go over a bit if its really worth it. I don't mind shopping around or getting some b spec/second hand parts, so can probably knock 5-10% off the price posted here. I'd also like something upgradeable so I can save some money now and then add parts when they're needed. PC will be used for pretty much everything, but mainly video game development. I'm a heavy multi-tasker, usually Unity3D, 3dsMax, Photoshop plus all the normal web browser, office, anti-virus etc. simultaneously. I'm planning to buy it within the month so unfortunately can't wait for any new product launches

I need all hardware, have a separate (larger :eek:

) budget for software.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex Games £247.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-120G) £124.99
1 x Dell ST2220M 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £104.98
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower Case - Black £74.99
1 x Logitech Performance MX Mouse with Darkfield Technology (910-001121) £69.98
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
1 x Lepa N-Series 600W Power Supply £43.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A) £37.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £34.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £29.99
Total : £1,086.95 (includes shipping : £20.10).

Bit over budget, however with free shipping and shopping around i'm confident I can get it in budget. Any suggestions?

TIA,
ng93

Edit: forgot to say I already have an old 160GB HDD i'm planning to use as a scratch drive, and an old DVD-RW. These were out of a packard bell but i'm assuming they'll work in the new build?

lrlcr · 17 Oct 2011 at 11:58

do you need the 1tb and 500gb hdd?

Also i'd avoid the fractal cases as the build quality and packaging is pretty poor. I'd go for a corsair carbide 400r personally.

mp260767 · 17 Oct 2011 at 11:58

i'd be tempted to drop the graphics card down a bit and go for the 2600K processor, specially with a 22" screen.

i'd also check the hard drive re the ssd, seen good things about the crucial m4, ocz had issues with firmware but they might have cleared them up now.

drives will need to be sata unless you buy a ide/sata convertor but i wouldnt bother.

as per lrlcr why the 500gb and 1tb, along with the ssd ?

barneystuta · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:02

Looking at that build, assuming you need all the storeage, my only concern would be the PSU. If you are spending over £1000 on PC parts, I would get a much better PSU. Something like this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN

ng93 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:07

The plan was have the 1TB for data storage, the SSD for windows and whatever software I could fit on it, and the 500GB for other less used software and games (doubt i'd be able to fit everything into 120GB).

I think the DVD is IDE

, can you recommend a SATA one?

Case is a shame, what about a bit fenix instead?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-BX&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1850

The screen is 1080p, so still a fair resolution plus I want to add another when I can afford to (sorry should have put this in the OP but forgot

).

Does the 2600K help? I was under the impression it was only faster than the 2500K in encoding and rendering? (I do neither).

Thanks for the replies, keep 'em coming!

Edit: barneystuta, HDDs can't use up that much power, surely?

olivier renault · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:08

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £239.99
Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £157.99
Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £124.98
Dell ST2220M 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £104.98
Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £79.99
Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £34.98
Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £30.98
LG GH24NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £20.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £168.83
Total : £1,012.96

olivier renault · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:09

ng93 said:
Does the 2600K help? I was under the impression it was only faster than the 2500K in encoding and rendering? (I do neither).

Thanks for replies, keep 'em coming!

Multithreaded rendering.

Basically a choice between a 2600K + 64GB SSD, or a 2500K + 128GB SSD. I would still think a 2500K will be good enough for your purpose.

ng93 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:40

olivier renault said:
Multithreaded rendering.

Basically a choice between a 2600K + 64GB SSD, or a 2500K + 128GB SSD. I would still think a 2500K will be good enough for your purpose.

Sorry, I may be being a bit thick here, but I don't do any CPU rendering, so i'm guessing a 2500K would be good enough?

olivier renault · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:55

Yeah, I'd go with that and a 128GB drive.

Can swap Corsair Vengeance with low profile so you have no problems with air coolers. Incidently, I didn't put one. Not sure how much you will gain overclocking, if you don't do CPU intensive tasks.

mp260767 · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:56

fair enough on the graphics card, if it takes into account future plans.

as for the 2600K, i thought 3dsMax at least would make decent use of it.

ng93 · 17 Oct 2011 at 13:16

I'm completely confused on which graphics card to get, was looking at the Toxic 6950 2GB, but then looking at reviews I could get a normal 6950 2GB/1GB or a GTX560Ti and get the similar performance for less? But then can I unlock the Toxic to a 6950? Or overclock it more with the after market cooler? Would the extra RAM make a difference in future games? Damn i'm confused

Anywayyyy, heres my new spec, figured I can probably get away with a 64GB SSD, and changed it to a Crucial. Changed the mouse as well (can't really justify spending twice as much when this one is getting 5/5 reviews), and the case. Also changed the gpu but as above I have really no clue which one to get. Wasn't going to get an aftermarket CPU cooler straight away, figured a 2500K at stock would be quick enough for the time being?

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £205.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Dell ST2220M 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £104.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
1 x Lepa N-Series 600W Power Supply £43.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A) £37.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £34.98
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £30.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £29.99
Total : £934.75 (includes shipping : £19.10).

Thoughts?

TIA,
ng93

Edit: oh and was going to get a ide > sata adapter for my dvd drive (its cheaper than getting a new drive), but ocuk dont sell them so havent included it in the build above.

Edit2: @mp260767 AFAIK only the rendering makes use of hyper threding, but the modelling doesn't (please correct me if i'm wrong though).

Doomedspeed · 17 Oct 2011 at 13:23

Swap your power supply for this: Antec True Power 650W £70

Its 80+ rated and will do a lot better job than the one you have specced.

I think you should stick with the 6950 2GB, Its better than the competion in that price range.

olivier renault · 17 Oct 2011 at 13:53

I've got two TOXIC in crossfire for my next build. They are basically factory overclocked 6950's, with a chance maybe for shader unlocks. I like them for crossfire as they are reference design, dump heat outside the case, and also have stronger VRMs (to unlock to 6970), and I got a good price for them. £250 is not worth it. IMO, a GTX 560ti will do a good job, but if you have the budget, then why not a 6950 2GB.

The G400 is the replacement for the MX518. Like the MX510 before, it's a very solid all rounder. Not sexy or crazy, but good build quality and performance. Equally, the X4 is probably the best value 'gaming' keyboard of the lot.

mp260767 · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:12

ng93 said:
Edit2: @mp260767 AFAIK only the rendering makes use of hyper threding, but the modelling doesn't (please correct me if i'm wrong though).

only benchmarks i can see relate to it in rendering mode

, so fair enough on the call to go with the 2500K.

olivier renault · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:48

Doomedspeed said:
Swap your power supply for this: Antec True Power 650W £70

Its 80+ rated and will do a lot better job than the one you have specced.

I think you should stick with the 6950 2GB, Its better than the competion in that price range.

The TP-550 will be powerful enough, if you looking at saving money. 650W gives you loads of headroom. In fact, the 650W is borderline for 6950 crossfire but it'll do it.

MrBlobby · 17 Oct 2011 at 16:00

personally I'd go for a Raspberry Pi (http://www.raspberrypi.org/ ) and spend the rest on beer

MrBlobby · 17 Oct 2011 at 16:11

Blooobeeeeeeeeeeee blloblboblbobeeeeeeeeee

ng93 · 17 Oct 2011 at 16:34

Regarding PSU if 550W is enough for an overclocked CPU and single GPU (don't like crossfire/sli) which of these would be best? TIA

OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply [OCZ-ZS550W-UK]
Cooler Master GX 550W '80 Plus' Power Supply [RS-550-ACAA-E3]
BeQuiet Efficient Power 600W '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply [BN188]
XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Antec TruePower New Modular 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply [OCZ600MXSP-UK]
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) [CMPSU-600CXUKV2]

I'm currently leaning towards the BeQuiet as it's 80+ Gold and i've heard good things about some of their other PSUs.

MrBlobby said:
Blooobeeeeeeeeeeee blloblboblbobeeeeeeeeee

Long day?

ng93 · 21 Oct 2011 at 14:16

Just wanted to say thanks for the help guys. I ordered the PC yesterday, but changed a couple parts due to unexpected budget increase

D). Should be here tomorrow, it feels like christmas eve

.

GTO656 · 21 Oct 2011 at 14:22

ng93 said:
Just wanted to say thanks for the help guys. I ordered the PC yesterday, but changed a couple parts due to unexpected budget increase D). Should be here tomorrow, it feels like christmas eve .

Great components you chose there, good luck on the build

post pics of finished build?