Final check before ordering.

danclivo

danclivo

danclivo

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4 Jun 2010
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658
Location
Aberystwyth
Final check before ordering + Build Log!

Hello :) The time has finally come to upgrade from a 6/7 year old P4 Prescott rig that has been really struggling for the past couple of years.

Saved up for a decent rig (wanted an i5-2500k), although I'd like to not go over the price of the build below if possible.

Basically I need a decent all rounder. I'm a media student so photo and particularly video editing are important. I will be playing some games as well, mostly CoD, Total War games, Halo 2 and Football Manager. I only have a 22" monitor so I doubt I'd need one of the very top end cards (chose the 6870 as it is currently on offer). Also for general usage: office work, email, video playback etc.

I already have a copy of Windows 7 and peripherals. I like the look of the Fractal XL as i might reuse it in future higher end builds.

I am not interested in SLI or Crossfire.

The build:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560Ti OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99

MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £89.98

Fractal Design Define XL Full Tower Case - Titanium Grey £84.98

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £65.99

Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99

Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £27.98

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98

Akasa 8-Pin 30cm PSU Extension Cable £4.79

Sub Total : £614.72
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £14.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £125.89
Total : £755.36
 
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change the gpu to either off these as there the same price and faster

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-147-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-032-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1810

personally i would go for the 470 as it has more ram (which well help a lot with new shogan total war game as) and when over cloked will be faster that the 5870 with higher levels off AA and nvida cuda tech is more freindly with video editing programs

apart from that the rest off the build looks fine mate

might be worth looking at this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18255161
 
Antec High Current Gamer 620w PSU on offer at £49.99 which is a Seasonic designed unit, as the XFX is but a lot cheaper :) but price goes up once stocks run out (by 20-25 quid) so grab it while you can :p
 
Mr. May said:
change the gpu to either off these as there the same price and faster

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-147-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-032-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1810

personally i would go for the 470 as it has more ram (which well help a lot with new shogan total war game as) and when over cloked will be faster that the 5870 with higher levels off AA and nvida cuda tech is more freindly with video editing programs

apart from that the rest off the build looks fine mate

might be worth looking at this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18255161
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply mate.

Didn't know the 470 had dropped to as low a price as that, but looking at reviews it seems to get a bit hot under load. Although I probably won't be pushing it that hard, it still has me worried over its longevity. Someone else verify?

I won't be gaming at 1920x1200, so the video memory shouldn't be an issue. Thanks for the link though, very handy in planning future upgrades should I ever need them :)


sk82jack said:
Antec High Current Gamer 620w PSU on offer at £49.99 which is a Seasonic designed unit, as the XFX is but a lot cheaper :) but price goes up once stocks run out (by 20-25 quid) so grab it while you can :p
Click to expand...

Had a look at that as well, but the deal seemed too good to be true. Will it run an OC'ed i5-2500k as well as a 470 if I do decide to get that instead of the 6870?
 
Yeah man:D It's a top quality PSU, it will handle any single card set-up!

Funky Kit Review
As expected, the Antec High Current Gamer 620W power supply didn't disappoint in terms of stability and power efficiency. For a power supply with a rated power output of 620W, it's one of the best we've come across. During our tests, we put the Antec HCG 620W through a load typical of a standard gaming setup of around 320W. At this load, the power efficiency was calculated to about 87.8%, which is unbelieveable. For our max load of PSU test, power efficiency dropped to 84.2%, which is expected. It's way beyond the specified 80Plus Bronze certification, in fact it's closer to 80Plus Silver, which I think is very good indeed.
Click to expand...


Hardware Heaven Review
The performance of the unit is good for a product in this price range with stable voltages recorded as well as bronze level efficiency. There were no issues with AC Ripple and minimal noise levels with low temperatures were a highlight.
Click to expand...
 
if you stick an after market cooler on it i have one on a 465 with a470 bios in my htpc and it is so quite and cool i just find it best to go for asmuch power as you can afford just incase you want to upgrade the monitor or a new gpu killer off a game is relised what res do you game at is it 1680x1050 ?
 
470 is on a par - on a good day, with the HD6870 and will not compare with an OC example.

On top of that it runs silly hot, very noisy and draws enough power to run a HTPC or two off.

I would try and strectch for a GTX560 (even a Ti version if you can) as they're better than the HD6870 (to my annoyance) and the HD6950 - unless flashed.

The XL case gets worse reviews than it's smaller brother - swapping it out for the little bro or indeed a different case will fund the difference for a GTX560 :)

EDIT: Can easily save some more pennies by swapping the cooler for the A50 - or even a Hyper 212 Plus, as both will cool it more than adequately.

Put it this way, you can get 4.4GHz on the stock cooler with acceptable temps ;)
 
Cookeh said:
470 is on a par - on a good day, with the HD6870 and will not compare with an OC example.

On top of that it runs silly hot, very noisy and draws enough power to run a HTPC or two off.

I would try and strectch for a GTX560 (even a Ti version if you can) as they're better than the HD6870 (to my annoyance) and the HD6950 - unless flashed.

The XL case gets worse reviews than it's smaller brother - swapping it out for the little bro or indeed a different case will fund the difference for a GTX560 :)

EDIT: Can easily save some more pennies by swapping the cooler for the A50 - or even a Hyper 212 Plus, as both will cool it more than adequately.

Put it this way, you can get 4.4GHz on the stock cooler with acceptable temps ;)
Click to expand...

Well that's given me quite a lot to think about! :p

Kinda drifting off the 470 idea to be honest, having looked around. A 470 plus a cooler for it for would take me close to 560Ti prices anyway.

I suppose it wasn't the brightest idea in speccing the XL when I'm only planning on using one graphics card. I knew the XL isn't renowned for cooling, but I liked the cable management (especially since I'm going non-modular) and the noise dampening. The XL and the R3 are the same price (on here anyway). The CoolerMaster 690-II Advanced which I've also looked at isn't in stock either :(

Good call on the cooler, especially since I probably won't go much further than 4.4GHz.

After all those changes I'm at £750 and I really don't want to go any higher. Thanks to everyone for their help so far :)
 
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I've got the fractal XL, and personally think it's great. Excellent build quality, masses of room, whisper quiet and I like how it looks. Proper cable management as well. The only thing I'd say is you'll need an 8 pin CPU power extension cable, because it's a long long way from the PSU to the top of the motherboard.
 
Mr May - 1680x1050 or possibly 1920x1080. Depends how it looks, 1680x1050 seems good at the moment.

Blue160 - Those are the exact reasons why I've chosen the XL. Thanks for reminding me about cable length! I knew I'd forgotten to ask something :rolleyes:
 
The only problems worth mentioning about the Fractal XL is CPU cooling, and how far the PSU is from the motherboard (a common problem with big cases and bottom mounted PSUs). It's not great at cooling due to inadequate front intakes. However, There could be some way to fix this replacing the top exhaust fan, and adding more front fans to increase airflow at the top. Not researched this properly, but it's worth a look. I quite like the case myself.
 
I can't say this for sure but i don't think you need 8GB RAM. I would instead buy 4GB and with the difference of that maybe invest in a slightly more powerful PSU. Thats just my thought though, other than that all looks good.
 
Zalman Z9 Plus gets some stonking reviews and I really like it.

The lite version of the Dominator really isn't that much of a compromise over the advanced either ;)
 
logi-cat - I picked 8GB primarily for the editing, but if the difference is not worth the extra £30 I'd happily bump it down to 4GB.

Cookeh - I think OcUK removed it from the listings recently due to a problem with suppliers. Won't be in stock for another month apparently :(

CM-690 Lite looks interesting, but like I said I'd be hoping to reuse things like the case in future builds. If I someday decide to go for a higher end spec it would be nice to know I already had a case which could house everything. Looking to the future I am :)
 
danclivo said:
logi-cat - I picked 8GB primarily for the editing, but if the difference is not worth the extra £30 I'd happily bump it down to 4GB.)
Click to expand...

At the price of DDR3 at the moment if you can afford exta RAM, why not? But that's just my opinion. Obviously it's a bit silly going for 16GB just for gaming but 8GB just gives you that extra headroom:) Obviously if you on a tight budget then it's not a necessity, and 4GB will be just fine.
 
sk82jack said:
At the price of DDR3 at the moment if you can afford exta RAM, why not? But that's just my opinion. Obviously it's a bit silly going for 16GB just for gaming but 8GB just gives you that extra headroom:) Obviously if you on a tight budget then it's not a necessity, and 4GB will be just fine.
Click to expand...

8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 for £66 - bit of a steal if you ask me. I've heard that it helps a lot with encoding and rendering so happy days :)
 
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