Check me a spec please!

airdrawn

airdrawn

airdrawn

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5 Nov 2005
Posts
61
just about to pull the trigger on a new build, looking to spend around £500 and have PSU, Case and DVD Writer, just need to verify what i have chosen is as good as it can get for the money, or where i could save a few quid.

I don't have any intention of crossfire and the PC will be used for gaming (BF2:BC) and PS, web work.

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £136.98
(£116.58) £136.98
(£116.58)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £109.99
(£93.61) £109.99
(£93.61)
Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £99.98
(£85.09) £99.98
(£85.09)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £82.99
(£70.63) £82.99
(£70.63)
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £69.98
(£59.56) £69.98
(£59.56)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £39.99
(£34.03) £39.99
(£34.03)
Sub Total : £459.50
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £82.08
Total : £551.08
 
There's cheaper ram then that but it's 1333Mhz not 1600Mhz if you swapped it you will save £21.

I assume that's just a stock XFX HD5770 1Gb - Powercolour and Club sell cheaper versions of the same card and have the same warranty as XFX (2 years). Or you should consider the Asus HD5770 1Gb which is £132 and comes with a 3 year warranty, it seems AMD have sold out of Dirt 2 Steam vouchers which is a shame as I bought the Asus HD5770 1Gb (V1) for £125 and it came with Dirt 2 and a ATi Ruby Action figurine.
 
Why the AM3 quad, is it just as future proof and good as I3? Could you recommend a spec based around the Am3?

Current spec below;

E6300
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
ATI X1800
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit
 
I would upgrade your current system first! If you are not overclocking a Q8000 series or Q9000 series quad core will be a good upgrade. I would look for one secondhand if possible to save money. You should be able to get a secondhand Q9550 for under £150. If you are overclocking a Q6600 or Q6700 is worth looking at as long as you get one for under £100.
You can then add an HD5850 1GB providing you have a decent enough PSU.
 
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Tbh I wouldn't move from a core 2 duo to an i3, I think a quad core phenom would give you more of a boost in games. Btw, are you a student? I'm pretty sure students can get cheap copies of windows from somewhere, not sure though.

You're probably looking at closer to £600 for an am3 setup. You want to get an Phenom II 955 BE, an AM3 mobo and 4 gig of ddr3 memory
 
This is an alternate AMD Phenom II X4 based build:

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £136

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-244-AM

Asus M4A785TD-V Evo ~ £75

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

This has a split 8 phase VRM with cooling.

OR

Asus M4A87TD Evo ~ £85

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-408-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1782

This has a split 8 phase VRM,USB 3.0 and the SB850 southbridge with 6 SATA 3.0 ports.

HD5770 1GB ~ £125

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-C3

4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 ~ £89

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-019-PA

Windows 7 OEM ~ £83

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-127-MS

Western Digital Black 640GB ~ £50

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-C3

The total comes to around £560 to £570 excluding delivery.

I assume that the OP has a decent PSU.
 
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The cheap upgrade option for him would be to buy a HD5770 1Gb and have done with it, that would give his PC an extended lease of life and along with a some overclocking on that old Conroe chip (or look for a 2nd hand Q6600, Q6700 on that auction place).

Given the stupid of ram at the moment I wouldn't be in a rush to purchase any new system. I would go along with the other posters about getting an AM3/PII 965 setup, for gaming it's just as good as any Intel based system but as I said I wouldn't be in rush given that a simple video card upgrade would see you good for some time to come.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, going to plump for the below spec which should see me ok for a year or two!

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £127.98
(£108.92) £127.98
(£108.92)
Club 3D ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
OCZ Gold Low Voltage 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1600LV4GK) £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £82.99
(£70.63) £82.99
(£70.63)
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
(£63.82) £74.99
(£63.82)
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) £49.98
(£42.54) £49.98
(£42.54)
Sub Total : £477.38
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £85.20
Total : £572.08
 
Just changed the RAM to Patriot Sector 5 G Series 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz Dual Channel (PGV34G1600ELK), looks like a good deal, will it be OK with my spec?
 
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