Building for the first time ~£1000

Porcelina

Porcelina

Porcelina

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2 Aug 2010
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251
Location
Sheffield
Hello. I am hoping to get some help with building a computer. I do not have a lot of experience first hand with components, though I have been following the scene from the outside as an interested observer for quite some time.

I have some friends who will help me actually build the thing, as I would not really trust myself to do that without any input or supervision. However I would appreciate some help in choosing the components. I have a fairly good idea about what specs I am looking for an my stylistic choices, but I would want to know for sure about the compatibility and would also appreciate any first or second hand experience with the components.

In general, I am looking to build a gaming computer. I will do work on it, but nothing that involves requirements surpassing those from my gaming. I am looking to have a computer that will last, my goal is to try to get some staple components that will let me upgrade in the future.

My gaming requirements will be based around playing MMOs, RTS and DOTA games online as well as RPGs solo. The only MMO I am looking to play currently is World of Warcraft, but I would like the rig to be able to handle new MMOs on the horizon; The Old Republic might get picked up. On the RTS front StarCraft II is probably going to see quite a lot of online play. For RPGs, anything from BioWare and Bethesda, so Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Fallout III and their equivalents and successors.

With these things in mind, what I ideally would want is to stretch my budget in order to get some staple components that will last. I am looking for a good case that will stay with me for a long time, one that will have room for upgrades and for new cooling systems if they become necessary. I would ideally want a motherboard that will support Crossfire or SLI even if I am not interested in investing in GFX cards for it currently. I also want SSD compatibility even if I do not get that drive at this first pass, although I would very much like to stretch my budget into getting one big enough for Win7 as well as one game of my choice, probably WoW at the first pass.

I am not sure that these wishes really mesh with my budget. I am looking to spend around £1000. Unfortunately, I need to spend money on a monitor and an OS. I also need a keyboard. The budget is stretchable, but not by a great deal. If there are things I can give a miss at the first pass and upgrade later, I would appreciate any thoughts about the best way of going about doing that.

For the monitor, I am looking for anything in the 22’ to 24’ range. Real estate is not as important as performance to price ratio. Ideally I would like a lightweight monitor that I can move around a little bit so that some videos can be played. The OS I am pretty sure will be Win7 Retail.

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail [BX80605I5760]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-339-IN

Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard [GA-H55M-UD2H]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-233-GI

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5750 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [11164-04-50R]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-219-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=708

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) [HD103SJ]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA

LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-090-LG&tool=3

Zalman CNPS10X Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/775/1156/1366) [CNPS10X]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-041-ZA&tool=3

Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-LN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1447

Antec TruePower New Blue Modular 750W Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-115-AN&tool=3

Samsung P2370 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black [LS23EFHKFV/EN]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-115-SA&tool=3

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) [GFC-00025]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-124-MS

Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard (967929-0120) [967929-0120]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=KB-090-LG

Optional:

OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-047-OC&tool=3


For choosing a processor, I have little experience with the AMD setup but have no biases either way. As said, the main function of the rig will be gaming, and getting value for money is the premium. The same logic goes for graphics cards, the current graphics card will mainly need to run World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, though being able to upgrade and at some point support Crossfire or SLI would be appreciated if compelling reasons for forego this do not come up.

Any help is appreciated. Having been on laptops of varying quality since the early 2000s means that I am quite excited about this; avoiding the pitfalls and having a greater understanding of the process of building a good desktop is something I am sorely lacking.
 
looks good, you could save money on the PSU though going for a 600w OCZ PSU as that build will only need a 500w PSU

also on the SSD, spend the extra for a 50GB revodrive as the speeds are about double that of a sata ssd
 
I wouldn’t use that CPU with that motherboard, it will work but it’s not ideally suited. If you want to keep that board (it’s a very good choice BTW) get the Intel Core i3 540 or better yet replace it with a P55 chipset. The latest P55’s come with USB3, SATA 6Gb’s so there’s some future proofing there, going the Core i3 route means the CPU will ‘only’ be a dual core but for all intensive purposes for games it will more then give any quad core a run for it’s money but since you like RTS they would in theory benefit from the extra cores (better suited to handling complex A.I and pathfinding calculations).

Also using a Core i5 760 on a H55 board is waste since you can’t use the spare video outs on the motherboard (handy if you have a graphics card problem), onboard GPU’s these days come on the CPU rather then the chipset and the 760 doesn’t come with integrated video.
 
AMD option with a slightly faster GPU (from what I remember WoW runs a bit better on Nvidia cards anyway):

OcUK Value GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£127.65) £149.99
(£127.65)
Samsung P2370 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black Samsung P2370 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £133.94
(£113.99) £133.94
(£113.99)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £123.36
(£104.99) £123.36
(£104.99)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £86.99
(£74.03) £86.99
(£74.03)
Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £85.99
(£73.18) £85.99
(£73.18)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £82.24
(£69.99) £82.24
(£69.99)
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
(£38.29) £44.99
(£38.29)
Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / LGA775 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 ) Akasa AK-CCX-4001HP Nero S Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / LGA775 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 ) £32.99
(£28.08) £32.99
(£28.08)
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard (967929-0120) Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard (967929-0120) £30.98
(£26.37) £30.98
(£26.37)
LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£12.76) £14.99
(£12.76)
Sub Total : £805.48
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £20.10
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £144.48
Total : £970.06

Edit:

If you want the option of going Crossfire later go with this motherboard:

And an HD 5770
 
Last edited:
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £162.14
(£137.99) £162.14
(£137.99)
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £154.99
(£131.91) £154.99
(£131.91)
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5830 PCS+ 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £140.99
(£119.99) £140.99
(£119.99)
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply £84.99
(£72.33) £84.99
(£72.33)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £82.24
(£69.99) £82.24
(£69.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
(£38.29) £44.99
(£38.29)
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower Case - Black £42.99
(£36.59) £42.99
(£36.59)
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard (967929-0120) £30.98
(£26.37) £30.98
(£26.37)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.91) £13.99
(£11.91)
Sub Total : £836.84
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £17.85
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £149.57
Total : £1,004.26
 
Wondering about a few of these suggestions.

The first reply pointed out some compatibility issues with my suggested Motherboard and Processor pairing, I assume those have been fixed with Stulid's build?

In Stulid's build, will it be possible to have a Crossfire setup in the future should I wish to go down that route? Likewise in Redmint's build, will the Asus/AMD combination allow for an SLI setup?

Will downgrading from the Lancool case to the Silverstone case have any real impact on my upgrading capability? As far as case real estate, is there much of a difference?

Finally, for the monitor: Is the BenQ really that good, disregarding the upgrade in size, that it is the best choice in the 22 to 24'' range? If it is, I have no issues going for it, but if not I would not mind saving some budgeted money by going for a smaller screen.

Thanks for all the help, it has been very useful in narrowing down choices.
 
The Benq screen gets very good reviews, but I wouldn't like to say if it's really that easy to tell the difference between that one and the Samsung.

See the last part of my post for the motherboard to pick if you want a crossfire option. :)

The Silverstone case is very nice for the money and would be fine for dual graphics cards.

The motherboard Stulid suggested is also a good choice and supports both Crossfire and SLI.
 
Thanks again for the further explanations.

I think I am closing in on some decisions. However, the motherboard recommended by Stulid is out of stock at the moment. I am not quite ready to make the order yet, but if it remains out of stock, are there any Gigabyte or Asus replacements that will fit my needs? I.e. supporting the Intel i5 750/760 processors and being Crossfire ready?

Also, for gfx cards I have been recommended both the ATI 5770 and the ATI 5830. Seeing that the price is reasonably close, is it more of a judgment call than anything else or are there compelling reasons to choose one over the other?

Again, thanks for all the help.
 
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