Computer build advice

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:10

I've been wanting to make a much quieter computer which I'll be able to have on a desk next to me without irritating me while I'm doing work (I've still got an old Antec 900 with as many fans as possible from when I was in that kind of 'phase'). I want also want to be able carry on playing most modern games at with reasonable quality and performance (I don't mind bumping up the cooling and overclocking a bit for when I decide to play something).

I've come up with this build mostly from price/performance charts so I'm not too sure how they are doing in reality, I would appreciate some advice, thanks!

I'd prefer to keep the price as low as possible too, £400 would be ideal but I've landed at £500~. I'll be reusing power supply, DVD drive, HD drive etc.

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:26

Thinking about it, is it a little too cpu heavy for a budget gaming computer? This could be closer ground to what I'm looking for, but then there wouldn't be much point in the water cooling kit. And would it be much of an upgrade from a Q6600?

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:28

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:29

Idleman said:
You do realise the OEM Cpu only comes with 1 year warranty.

I didn't, are they likely to be need to be returned?

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:46

Oh I should probably mention I'm using a 28" monitor at 1920*1200, would the 6850 have enough texture memory or would that be a problem? Cheers

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 01:56

Thanks guys, I think I'm narrowing it down a little. Are there any processors a little closer towards £100 that would still be a good choice?

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 02:12

Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Dirt3 PC Game £167.99
1 x Fractal Design Define R3 Midi Tower Case - Arctic White £79.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.38
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £556.33 (includes shipping : £12.50).

What cooler do you have on your Q6600?
What Psu do you have?

Yes I was thinking the same thing but with possibly a more budget cpu. I've got a Tuniq tower 120 on my Q6600 atm, but it's probably one of the loudest parts of my computer. I wanted to try the water cooling kit just for the small pleasure of installing it, but it might be more reasonable to just use stock for now? Thanks!

(also how do you link baskets?)

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 02:14

wozzsta said:
The next step down is a i5 sandybridge. but thats still £162 for the overclockable version. but you wanted to go for the non OC version, that its 150, this would also mean you could get a cheaper mobo as you wouldn't need any overclocking features.

ill see what i can get with that.

I think that would probably be great for the performance range I'm looking for, but I'd like the option of overclocking it a bit. I take it AMD aren't looking great still?

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 02:27

And I can't remember what wattage my PSU was without taking the side of my case off, I'll have a look tomorrow morning. But I think it was 600W? It's powering a 4870.

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 17:45

Okay so with your suggestions I'm thinking this

Overclockers should pay you guys a wage

Is there any reason to spend the extra few pounds to get the motherboard you suggested? And is getting OEM over retail a bad move for overclocking?

pijeon · 24 May 2012 at 18:57

Idleman said:
The OEM 3750k only has 1 yr warranty, the retail version has 3yrs.
You won`t be able to overclock with that mobo.
Not sure how good that cooler is.

Alright I'll switch the motherboard and maybe get retail instead, I'll take a chance with the cooler. Worst that can happen is that I'll just leave it at stock settings. Cheers!