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fmagosso

fmagosso

fmagosso

Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2010
Posts
27
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Hi everybody,

First of all, I'd like to say this website rocks. It is really informative.
Thing is, I'm planning on getting myself a good computer. Not specifically for games, but I'd like to have good hardware anyway. I was planning to buy a PC from Dell website but then a friend told me about overclockers.co.uk website. :)

Anyway, going direct to the point. The configuration I want is something like that:

i7 950 3.06 GHz
8GB DDR3 Tri-Channel (I was able to select this option on dell website but here it seems to be only 6GB).
500GB/1TB Hard drive 7200rpm (or maybe SSD for system partition)
GeForce GTS 470/480

The configuration above is what I'm looking for. All the rest is not mandatory.
My question now is, is it really relevant for me to get 8GB instead of 6GB of RAM? I will not be doing any heavy multi-threading processing anyway. Just some video editions, software development and of course, some games.

Could you guys give me a little help? I would appreciate!

Thank you!
 
There are a number of prebuilt systems on special right now that you might want to look at. I am going to address one or two little points that might clear up stuff for you and make the ordering experience a little less fraught.

First of all the X58 chipset is as you know a Tri-channel system. What that means is three slots need to be populated with the same ram to get the full benefit of the tri-channel configuration. So curently you have a few options with regards to total amount of ram in system and still having tri-channel benefits. They are 3 GB, 6 GB and 12 GB the 3 GB is not that common anymore nor particularly usefull unless you are running a 32 bit OS. For the 6 and 12 GB ram set up you simple need to devide by the number of slots you are going to populate. So it will be 3 x 4 GB for the huge 12 GB and 3 x 2 for the 6 GB configuration. There are some applications that can use the huge amount of ram offered by the X58 chipset but not many. So right now 6GB is pretty huge, you will hardly max out that amount of ram during any game play and only a select few application will come close, plus 6GB and will be reasonably cost effective when compared to 12GB.

A SSD for your OS is a very good option and will make even average components, CPU and Ram seem super speedy. It is the one item currently that can most improve a tired or dated system.

The CPU you have selected is on special currently so I suggest you go have a look see in the pre-builds think it is one of the weekend specials too. But not sure of that.

Enjoy.
 
Hi and welcome to the forums. Had a read of the sticky at the top of the general hardware forum for an idea of builds.

I've spec'd a system below, but to be honest it sounds like it might be a bit overkill for your needs that you've described. Would you prefer a completely prebuilt system or something you can put together yourself. To save money you could buy the cpu/mobo/ram individually.

1000i7470.jpg


For a solid prebuilt system I'd look at the Titan Exodus
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-252-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=1712
 
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Hi Guys,

Thank you!!! All the information was great!
Anyway, I didn't know about the three-channel system. So that means I have no other alternative but use 2, 6 or 12GB. Umm... I wonder how Dell website is selling 8GB then. Or they're not selling X58 or they're putting 2+2+4.
So it is very likely I'll be going to SSD as it will affect components, CPU and RAM speed.

I also liked the specs by shadow_boxer. I've been looking for some reviews on video card, I really like GeForce 470/480 but people are often saying it has some heat problems and whatnot. It's hard to go for a decision here. :S

625W would do the job then? I don't need 650W or 750W? Great!

Ah, BTW mp260767, this is a very close build for my needs (Titan Onyx).
I just have to add the SSD, OS and Video Card (GTX 470/480).
It's really expensive though. But I would easily go for it, as it looks like a great machine altogether.

Another doubt... If I order it, I'll get all the parts and I'll have to build it myself, right? I found some vids on youtube of people who bought in here so that's why I'm asking. I don't get it fully built, right?
Again, guys, my apologies for my questions, they might sound really stupid.

Thanks and all the best!
 
Hey, do you have a budget in mind? With one people can come up with a spec to suit
TBH a lot of the reports on heat/noise form the 470/480 is scaremongering, its only a few degrees more than other cards so ignore it
the 625W PSU will be fine and is great value
If you buy one of the systems sucha s Titan Ony it comes ready built, windows installed if you get it with it
If you buy custom specification then yes youd have to put it together yourself, its really not that difficult as things only go where they fit, use the guide at the top to help you
 
Once you've done it for your first time, you'll certainly know what you're doing. But it all looks really nice, and we'll all be here to help you along :)

If you contact the staff at OcUK, they can make something to suit your needs, and help you pick what best suits you :)
 
Hi again,

TBH, I like "Titan Onyx" build better than "Titan Exodus" just because of the processor. I really want to go for i7. One thing that I found interesting is that the spec created by shadow_boxer looks better than "Titan Onyx" and also is the cheapest. I don't know, probably my math is wrong there. :)

Anyway, my budget would be around 1000 - 1300 euros. That would be 1200 GBP, tops!!!! not more than that, given the fact I would have to buy the monitor, keyboard and all the rest.

I friend of mine told me I should go for CoolerMaster, re the case. I don't know either, I have to take a look on whatever ocUK has to offer, check reviews and of course, one that looks nice. :)

I cannot really close the deal at the moment as I'm going to Brazil to get married (so money is really scarce now)... But by the end of the year I'll back on track and hopefully have chosen a good specs.

You guys helped a lot!!! Thank you again!

All the best
 
By then you'll have the ATI 6 Series cards either pushing prices down or pushing performance up. So not worth speccing til a week before purchase really.

All good advice, come back to this thread for reference, but things change quickly in the hardware world ^^
 
Hi Snooble,

We're talking not more than two months here. wow!
I didn't know things could change that fast.
BTW, ATI Series 6? What is that? Video card?
But... According to "people", GeForce is better. Or is it? Damn! I feel really ignorant here right now...

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll be coming back to this thread alright.
I'll do some research myself trying to figure out more hardware stuff.
Thanks!
 
If your budget remains the same you may find a few of your items in the Christmas/New year sales. Well worth the wait, if it saves you £50, that's money to put toward a bigger SSD or better case etc :)

The 6 Series is the name given to the new ATI cards, the first set of which are due out next week. They won't compete at the level you're looking at. There's no release date for the high end 6 series as of yet (unless someone can correct me?) but you're likely looking at a 5-20% increase over the 480gtx by assumption. Still, the release of the earlier cards may cause Nvidia to drop prices slightly.

On an apposing note, VAT increase to 20% happens soon :s

If I were you I'd just visit back a week before you're ready to purchase, and we can see where the market sits. You may be looking at a cheaper 470 after ATi get their competition out - or a 6 series that blows it away.

As for manafacture bios. Your decision who you go with, ATI have held the DX11 market well with the best bang for buck cards in most sectors, but lack of hardware tessalation hurt certain benchmarks, Nvidia has produced hotter, higher drawing cards that perform tesselation well with a few (460's etc) dominating price brackets.

You may see 460's decrease in price considerably, resulting in 460 sli being an option to consider.

Regardless, see you in 7 weeks!
 
I think it is fair to say that nVidia cards aren't "better" than ATI cards, or the other way around (unless you want to use linux) - it all depends on WHICH card you are getting. Go on performance, not brand.
 
Yeah, I've got that.
I better wait and check on new specs one week before I buy it.
So VAT is going to increase, eh?! Damn!
ocUK deliver to Dublin, Ireland, too, right??

My apologies about the "better" video card. I just don't know which brand should I go for. But not to worry, I'll make my mind in time.

See ya guys in 7-8 weeks.
 
I'm back

Hi everyone,

I have a build in mind and as I'm not an expert in hardware, I'd like to get some opinions from you. I've been doing some researching about hardware parts and I'm trying to avoid bottlenecks mostly. As you can see on my build, I'm getting SATA-3 on HDs and 1600 Mhz on RAMs with low latency and all that kind of stuff for a better performance. I don't want to spend more than GBP 1000 because I still have to buy monitor, mouse, keyboard and all the lot.

I guess I'd have to add shipping value to Ireland on top of that amount. :)

Thanks again!

buildv.jpg
 
If building from scratch i would factor in a after market cpu cooler and thermal paste,also i would look at what fans are provided with the case and if i need any more for the build.Non of these are essential but if you are planning to overclock,needed.
 
Yes, I'd prefer to stick with Intel processor so that's another reason I'm going for GTX 460.
As I don't plan in overclock it, I'll keep the stock cooling. One question though: I've checked and it seems that i7 heatsink already comes with the thermal paste applied, is that right?
Thank you guys!
 
Yes, a retail cpu will come with the heatsinks thermal compound pre applied to the cooler.

And on the 8gb dell are doing they are probably filling the ram sockets with 2 x 2gb and 1 x 4gb but in doing so losing the advantages of the triple channeling and possibly reducing performance in spite of the larger amount of ram.
 
If I was spending £1200 right now I would go for:

MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail

Asus X58 Sabertooth TUF Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard

Corsair HX 750W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750HXUK)

OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G)

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9)

Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1156 / 1366)

Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM



Total : £1,104.17


Which leaves you enough for W7 64bit.

Or look at the Tian Onyx or Titan Goliath plus SSD and GFX options. I would choose GFX > SSD if you can't get both in budget and add an SSD later to really notice the difference of having an SSD.


Wu
 
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Ahh, Dell is already out of the question. I won't be buying it.
I'd rather assembly it myself at this stage. I know I should wait until January so prices will drop a bit but it is really hard waiting another month.

Now, I'm already 100% sure about the CPU, MoBo.
For RAM, I know I'll be getting a Corsair 6GB 1600Mhz 7-7-7-24 16.5v. I don't like the high voltage but the low latency looks great. High voltage = higher temperature, right? Something I'm really trying to avoid.

GPU: GTX 460. But there are different manufacturers for it. MSI, EVGA, nVIDIA, etc... I don't know which one should I go for. So I'll pick any.

Well, the rest is just... the rest!
 
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